the loop loft drum direktor user manual kontakt player

8/17/2019 The Loop Loft Drum Direktor User Manual KONTAKT PLAYER

1/33

DRUM DIREKTOR USER GUIDE


2/33

Drum Direktor User GuideDrum Direktor : Introduction 3

Drum Direktor : Sequencer 4Sequencer MIDI Controls 5

Sequencer Global Controls 5

Sequencer Drum Editing 6

Sequencer Grouping 7

Drum Direktor : Drums 9

Drum Pad Controls 10

Drum Pad Grouping 13

Drum Direktor : Mixer 14

Group Mixer 15

Group Effects 16

Master Effects 18

Global Effects 21

Drum Direktor : Config 24

MIDI Assign 25

Playback 26

Group Options 26

Drum Direktor : Installation 29

Drum Direktor : FAQ 30

Drum Direktor System Requirements 33

Drum Direktor Credits 33


3/33

Drum Direktor : Introduction

Thank-you for purchasing Drum Direktor from The Loop Loft. Drum Direktor is a sample/loopbased instrument for Kontakt 5.2.1 and above which was designed from the ground up to makeinteracting with and creating music using drum loops a seamless and intuitive process. One ofthe main goals of the instrument is to create a method of interacting with loops that could workinside of and enhance, many different workflows. Some of the highlight features of theinstrument include

• Internal 32 Step Sequencer with 8 recallable patterns that allow for the simultaneoussequencing of loops and samples within a single instrument. Shuffle, Global Accent, StepDynamics, Per group Sequencer Precedence and a convenient layout of Solo, Mute andDrum Loop auditioning all make sequencing patterns within Drum Direktor a natural andfast process.

• Flexible grouping architecture which allows for sophisticated organization and structure ofdrum loops and samples with easily identifiable colors and workflow features usually

reserved for dedicated hardware workstations.

• Powerful Drum Pad infrastructure which allows for 16 simultaneous loops or samples froma collection of over 300 to be played and sequenced simultaneously with a clear waveformoverview and playback positioning.

• A feature rich tools set of tools for processing each individual Drum Pad. Users have theability to set playback quantization, playback speed, sampler mode, slice start time, pitch,stereo width, randomization, filtering, distortion, velocity, volume and pan on each of theindividual 16 Drum Pads.

• A dedicated mixer for processing each of the 8 individual drum groups with high quality

internal effects which include a Transient Shaper and Compressor/EQ modelled after afamous Solid State Console.

• Global Effects for Delay, Reverb and a powerful Tape Machine which allows for quick andpowerful tone shaping. The Drum Direktor Tape Machine matches the quality and workflowof mixing drums to a multi-track tape machine in a fast and easy to use custom design.

• Internal master bus processors including EQ, Compression, Filtering and Distortion for apolished mix ready sound without ever having to use external effects or plugins.

• Powerful MIDI mapping controls for configuring Drum Direktor to behave exactly the wayyou want to work with your existing MIDI controllers.

• Highly customizable group options including user definable colors, choke times andexternal output for further processing and mixing within your favourite DAW software.

• Low RAM and CPU usage options for compatibility with a wide range of systems.

page 2


4/33

Drum Direktor : Sequencer

Drum Direktor features an intuitive step sequencer which allows for the simultaneous layering ofloops and samples across all 16 Drum Pads. The sequencer is controlled via external MIDImessages and allows for instantaneous starting, stopping and switching of Loops, Samples andPatterns.

Sequencer MIDI Controls 5

Sequencer Global Controls 5

Sequencer Drum Editing 6

Sequencer Grouping 7

page 2


5/33

Sequencer MIDI Controls

Blue KeysDrum Pad Triggers - Trigger the notes assigned to the individual drum pads starting fromDrum Pad 1 and extending to Drum Pad 16. By default this key range is C1 to D#2.

Yellow KeyPattern Mute Key - When this note is held down any Loops or pattern currently playing on asubsequently triggered key will be immediately silenced. This can be used to stop a longrunning loop or to stop the playback of the sequencer. By default this key is E2.

Red KeysPattern Start Keys - These notes are are assigned to the eight patterns of the sequencer.Pressing on the highlighted notes will instantly switch to the corresponding pattern. If no patternis currently playing these keys will start playback with the corresponding pattern of the keyselected. When Drum Direktor is running inside of an external host such as a DAW, or usingKontakt’s internal Sync playback, playback will be quantized to begin on beat 1 of the followingbar. By default this key range is F2 to C3.

Black / Inverted White KeyPad / Pattern Stop Key - This note when triggered will immediately stop all samples, loops andpatterns from playing. Each individual group will fade out by their corresponding group fadetime. By default this key is C#3.

Sequencer Global Controls

Sequence - Selects one of the 8 Sequence Patterns for playback. Alternatively these can alsobe selected via the Red Keys highlighted on the Kontakt keyboard or through external MIDIinput corresponding to the 8 keys ascending from the Pattern Start Key found in the ConfigPanel.

Copy - When selected the current Sequence Pattern will be copied to the next selectedSequence Pattern which is selected through the Sequence drop down menu or correspondingexternal MIDI note.

Page 5

The internal Kontakt keyboard displays the coloured keys which perform the various functions of the Sequencer.

Drum Direktor’s Sequencer Global Controls.


6/33

Clear - Clears all steps and Globals Accent for the currently selected pattern.

1-8 - Displays Drum Pads 1-8 for Sequence Editing.

9-16 - Displays Drum Pads 9-16 for Sequence Editing.

Length - Determines the Length of the Step Sequencer between 1 and 32 Steps. Controllablevia the length slider or by clicking and dragging up/down on the numerical representation ofsteps.

Rate - Sets the synchronized rate the Sequencer takes to progress between each step.Adjustable between 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16 and 1/32 time values.

Shuffle - Sets the shuffle and groove of the Step Sequencer. The centre position will cause thesequencer to play with a straight timing. Values to the right push each 1/8 note further behindthe beat and values to left rush each 1/8 note ahead of the beat.

Accent - Determines the Volume increase for steps that have Global Accent enabled. When setto the lowest position Global Accent will have no volume increase to corresponding steps.

Sequencer Drum Editing

Sequencer - Highlights the Sequence Step with a running light which illuminates the currentplaying step.

Accent - When selected adds a Global Accent for all Drum Pads on the corresponding step.The overall Volume level of this accent is determined with the Accent Knob.

Sequence Editor - Pattern editor for Drum Pad’s 1-16. Each pad is highlighted in a colorcorresponding to the group which the Drum Pad is assigned to. Click and Drag up to increasevelocity steps from 0 (off) to 4 (Max Velocity).

Drum Pad Indicator - Plays the current sound assigned to the selected Drum Pad when thecorresponding option is enabled in the config panel.

Drum Pad Mute - Mutes the Output Volume of the selected Drum Pad.

Drum Pad Solo - Mutes the Output Volume of all Drum Pads except the current Drum Pad.

Page 6

Sequencer Drum Editing in Drum Direktor. Currently showing the Sequence Editor for Drum Pad 1 (Highlighted in Orange)


7/33

Sequencer Grouping

Color plays a big role in helping to quickly identify many of the aspects of Drum Direktor. Withthe sequencer in particular there are a few considerations involving grouping which areimportant to keep in mind.

• Drum pads which are assigned to the same group will always choke each other onplayback. What this means is that if two Drum Pads are assigned to the same group andone of them has a value placed at a specific step, drawing a new value on the other DrumPad at the same step will automatically clear it from the first one.

• When a Drum Pad has a sequence and is switched into a group that also contains DrumPads with values at identical positions the user must make a decision regarding which DrumPad will take precedence. See the below images for a detailed explanation outlining theintended process for dealing with this.

Page 7

Advanced Group choking keeps Drum Pads assigned to the same group from playing at identical steps. Here no Drums Pads

assigned to that group has values placed at the same step.

Drum Pad 9 and Drum Pad 10 have steps which are occurring at identical steps. Because these Drum Pads are in different

groups this causes no problem and the two Drum Pads will play simultaneously.

Now you can see that Drum Pad 10 has been set to the same group as Drum Pad 9. This causes a problem because steps in the

same group are occurring at the same step on both Drum Pads. In order to correct this the user must make a decision on which of

the Drum Pads is to take precedent and remove values from the steps of the other(s).


8/33

Page 8

Sequencer Precedence occurs when a user selects the sequencer of a Drum Pad with the mouse. In this example the user has

clicked the sequencer for Drum Pad 10 causing the Drum Pad 9 to lose all values occurring at identical steps.

Alternatively if the user had clicked Drum Pad 9 instead of Drum Pad 10 the opposite would have happened. All values occurring

at identical steps in Drum Pad 9 would be removed from Drum Pad 10.


9/33

Drum Direktor : Drums

The Drums panel allows for the selection and editing of 16 unique Loops and Samples. Controlsfor Sample Start, Amplifier Envelope, Filter, Distortion and Output settings can be controlled foreach Drum Pad. The Drum Pads can also be assigned to one of 8 groups which can be furtherenhanced an processed in the Mixer Panel.

Drum Pad Controls 10

Drum Pad Grouping 13

Page 9


10/33

Drum Pad Controls

Drum Pad OptionsWaveform Overview - Displays the overview of the currently selected Drum Pads waveform.

Quantize - When synchronized to a host the currently select pad will quantize it's playbacktiming to the selected value. This is ideal for live performing when it would be desirable to havethe playback of a loop or sample begin on a specific beat. The options include 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8and 1/16.

Speed - Sets the playback speed of the currently selected loop. 0.5X, 1.0X and 2.0X speed.This can be useful for correctly synchronizing the speed of a loop to double or half time tempos.i.e. : Your song may be in 90BPM but you would like to set your projects tempo 180BPM for adouble time metronome. In this case the loops will play at double the expected speed but theycan be adjusted to play in the correct speed by selecting “0.5x” from the speed option. Thisoption is only active when the Mode is set to Sync.

Mode - Sets the Sampler Mode for the currently selected loop.

Sync - Synchronizes playback to the host tempo. When using the Speed parameter playbackcan be set to half, normal,or double time.

Free - Plays at the original speed. This is most useful for playing back samples andbreakbeat style one shots from loops without any time-stretching.

Vintage - Plays at the original speed and models the sound of a classic sampler. Like thefree mode this is most useful for playing back samples and breakbeat style one shots fromloops without any time-stretching. Vintage differs from free mode by lowering the bit depthand matching the tuning artifacts of vintage samplers. This mode is ideal for recreatingclassic drum sounds found in electronic music styles prominent throughout the 80s and 90s.

Tune - Changes the pitch of the drum pad precisely by +/- 12 semitones.

Page 10


11/33

Loop SelectLoop Filter - Filters the Loop Select to onlydisplay a specific category of loops andsamples.

Group - Assigns the currently selected pad toone of the 8 loop groups. When the group isadjusted the color of the pad will visually adjust to match the color of the selected group.

Clone - When enabled the current drum pad settings will be copied to the next selected drumpad. When used in combination with “Select on Note” in the Config panel MIDI notes can beused to quickly copy settings between Drum Pads.

Previous Loop - Selects the previous loop in the Loop List.

Next Loop - Selects the next loop int the Loop List.

Loop Select - Selects the assigned loop for the currently selected pad.

ModifiersSlice - Moves the sample start position ofthe current Drum Sample to the next orprevious transient. The slice marker isvisible in the Waveform Overview as asolid line which matches the color of theDrum Pad Group.

Offset - Moves the sample start position ofthe current Drum Sample by a finer value.This can be useful for selecting drum hits

not mapped to the slices or for creating new and interesting rhythms.

Pitch - Changes the pitch of the drum pad by +/- 1200 cents. Similar in function to the tuneoption but instead of changing by semitone it allows for finer increments of tune.

Width - Adjusts the stereo width of current drum pad from 0% (mono) to 200%.

Rnd. Pan - Randomizes the pan position of the currently selected drum pad within 0-100%.

Attack - Adjusts the Attack Time of the currently selected drum pad.

Hold - Adjusts the Hold Time of the currently selected drum pad.

Decay - Adjusts the Decay Time of the currently selected drum pad.

Loop / One Shot - When enabled the Attack, Hold and Decay settings are bypassed. Loops willplay continuously until stopped and Samples will play for their entire duration.

Rnd. Tune - Randomizes the tune of the currently selected drum pad within +/- 100 cents.

Page 11


12/33

FilterCutoff - Adjusts the Filter Cutoff Frequency of the currentlyselected Drum Pad Filter. When set to HPF the off position is fullycounter clockwise. When set to LPF the off position is fully

clockwise.

Res - Adjusts the Filter Resonance of the currently selected drumpad. With a value greater than 0, this control will boost a smallfrequency range around the cutoff frequency.

Drive - Adjusts the Filter drive of the currently selected drum pad.which controls the amplitude increase after the filter. This controlcan be used to compensate for amplitude reduction due to thefilter, or to increase the soft saturation of the effect.

HPF / LPF - Toggles between HPF and LPF filters. Note that the cutoff frequency dynamically

adjusts when switching styles.

Bit CrushDepth - Adjusts the Bit-Depth of the currently selected drum pad within 24-1 Bitby re-quantizing the signal. Fractional bit levels (such as 12.4 bits) are possibleand can add considerable “grit”. Audio CDs have a quantization depth of 16 bits,old samplers frequently used 8 or 12 bits, and 4 bits evoke memories of countlessirritating children’s toys.

Rate - Adjusts the Sample Rate of the currently selected drum pad within44100-50Hz by resampling the signal to an adjustable sample rate. Theresampling is done without any kind of (usually mandatory) low-pass filtering,which causes all kinds of wonderful aliasing artifacts. At 50 Hz not much of theoriginal signal will be left.

Output Controls

Pan - Adjusts the Pan Position of the currently selected drum pad.

Level - Adjusts the Output Volume of the currently selected drum pad.

Level Via Vel. - Determines the Velocity Sensitivity of the Output Volumefor the currently selected drum pad.

Page 12


13/33

Drum Pad Grouping

Each Drum Pad belongs to one of eight drum groups. These groups determine the followingbehaviors for the drum pads …

• The color of the Drum Pad and Group Mixer Track components determined by the GroupSettings section of the Config Panel.

• The mixer channel that the Drum Pad will be output to.

• The Choke Group the Drum Pad is assigned to. Only one Drum Pad per group may playsimultaneously. This means Drum Pads which belong to the same choke group will mute allother Drum Pads in the same group when played. The time that the other Drum Pads willtake to Fade Out is determined by the Choke Time found in the Config Panel

Page 13


14/33

Drum Direktor : Mixer

The mixer panel allows for the balancing and processing of the 8 Group Channels, Master Busand Global Effects. Track Effects include a Transient Shaper and Compression and EQmodelled after a famous solid state mixing console. Each group track also has access to aglobal Reverb, Delay and a powerful global Tape Machine. The Master Bus combines all eightgroups into a single stereo track and features master EQ, Compression, Filtering, Bit Crusher

and Tape Drive Effects..

Group Mixer 15

Group Effects 16

Master Effects 18

Global Effects 21

Page 14


15/33

Group Mixer

• Each of the 8 Groups provides independent control over Pan, Volume, Mute and Solo andthe display of the stereo level meters. All of these parameters may be viewedsimultaneously and in all sections of the Mixer Panel.

• The fader and level meters of the Group Tracks match the color of the specific group. Thesecolors are user definable and may be switched in the Group Settings Section of the ConfigPanel. Please refer to the Group Settings section on pages 26-27 for more details onchanging these colors.

• To select a group for editing of track effects select the “GRP #” button above the Group PanKnob. The buttons text will illuminate yellow to signify which track you are currently editing.

• To the right of the Master fader are three output knobs for the volume control of the Shaper,Compressor and EQ of the currently selected group.

Page 15


16/33

Group Effects

Each of the 8 Group Tracks features a dedicated Transient Shaper, Compressor, Quad-BandEQ and Reverb and Delay Send. To enable/disable the Shape, Compressor and Quad-Band EQselect the yellow light to the left of the effect name. Select the “GRP #” button above the GroupPan Knob to edit the effect parameters of a specific group.

ShapeShape Attack - Adjusts the Transient Shaper Attack Time for the currently selected Group.Increasing this parameter will add more punch and decreasing it will reduce sharp attacks.

Shape Release - Adjusts the Transient Shaper Sustain Time for the currently selected Group.Increasing this parameter will add more body to the sound and decreasing it will reduce thesound’s tail.

CompressorCompressor Threshold - Adjusts the Compressor Threshold for the currently selected Group.The Threshold determines the level above which the Compressor starts working. Only levelsthat rise above this threshold will be reduced by the compression; signals that stay below it willbe left unprocessed. To lower the threshold (thereby increasing the signal which is compressed)turn the knob counter-clockwise to the left.

Compressor Ratio - Adjusts the Compressor Ratio for the currently selected Group. Ratiocontrols the amount of compression. This is expressed as a ratio of “input level change” against“output level change”. A Ratio of 1:1 would mean that no compression will be happening. Forexample, a Setting of 4 represents the ration 4:1, which means for every 4 decibel increase ofamplitude above the threshold, the output will increase by only 1 decibel. This knob is steppedto six specific values : 1.5:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1 and 10:1. Smaller ratios are to the left and largerratios are to the right.

Page 16


17/33

Compressor Attack - Adjusts the Compressor Attack Time for the currently selected Group.Attack determines how long the Compressor will take to reach the full Ratio value after an inputsignal exceeds the Threshold level.

Compressor Release - Adjusts the Compressor Release Time for the currently selected Group.

Release adjusts the time the compressor will take to fall back to non-compression after the inputsignal falls below the threshold.

Compressor Makeup - Adjusts the Compressor Makeup for the currently selected Group.Makeup controls the output gain of the compressed signal. Because compression lowers thevolume of loud sections of audio the makeup is used to compensate for the gain reduction of theeffect.

Compressor Mix - Adjusts the Compressor Mix for the currently selected Group. CompressorMix controls the dry/wet mix of the compressor. This can be used to create a parallelcompression style routing, which increases the quieter signals rather than reducing the louderones. At a setting of 100% you will only hear the compressed signal, at a setting of 0% you willonly hear the unprocessed input signal.

Quad Band EQQuad-Band EQ Low Bell / Shelf - Adjusts the EQ Low Band Shape between Bell and Shelf forthe currently selected Group. When turned to the left the band becomes a shelf. When turned tothe right the band becomes a bell.

Quad-Band EQ Low Freq - Adjusts the EQ Low Band Frequency for the currently selectedGroup. The frequency range is adjustable between 40Hz and 600Hz.

Quad-Band EQ Low Gain - Adjusts the EQ Low Band Gain for the currently selected Group.

The gain range is adjustable between -20dB and +20dB.

Quad-Band EQ Low-Mid Q Factor - Adjusts the EQ Low Mid Band Q for the currently selectedGroup. For most EQs, the higher the quality, the narrower the frequency band, but with this EQthe control is reversed to match the hardware it emulates and becomes a bandwidth control.

Quad-Band EQ Low-Mid Freq - Adjusts the EQ Low Mid Band Frequency for the currentlyselected Group. The frequency range is adjustable between 200Hz and 2500Hz.

Quad-Band EQ Low-Mid Gain - Adjusts the EQ Low Mid Band Gain for the currently selectedGroup. The gain range is adjustable between -20dB and +20dB.

Quad-Band EQ High-Mid Q Factor - Adjusts the EQ Low Mid Band Q for the currently selectedGroup. For most EQs, the higher the quality, the narrower the frequency band, but with this EQthe control is reversed to match the hardware it emulates and becomes a bandwidth control.

Quad-Band EQ High-Mid Freq - Adjusts the EQ High Mid Band Frequency for the currentlyselected Group. The frequency range is adjustable between 600Hz and 7000Hz.

Page 17


18/33


19/33

Quad-Band EQ Low Freq - Adjusts the EQ Low Band Frequency for the Master Bus. Thefrequency range is adjustable between 40Hz and 600Hz.

Quad-Band EQ Low Gain - Adjusts the EQ Low Band Gain for the Master Bus. The gain rangeis adjustable between -20dB and +20dB.

Quad-Band EQ Low-Mid Q Factor - Adjusts the EQ Low Mid Band Q for the Master Bus. Formost EQs, the higher the quality, the narrower the frequency band, but with this EQ the controlis reversed to match the hardware it emulates and becomes a bandwidth control.

Quad-Band EQ Low-Mid Freq - Adjusts the EQ Low Mid Band Frequency for the Master Bus.The frequency range is adjustable between 200Hz and 2500Hz.

Quad-Band EQ Low-Mid Gain - Adjusts the EQ Low Mid Band Gain for the Master Bus. Thegain range is adjustable between -20dB and +20dB.

Quad-Band EQ High-Mid Q Factor - Adjusts the EQ Low Mid Band Q for the Master Bus. Formost EQs, the higher the quality, the narrower the frequency band, but with this EQ the controlis reversed to match the hardware it emulates and becomes a bandwidth control.

Quad-Band EQ High-Mid Freq - Adjusts the EQ High Mid Band Frequency for the Master Bus.The frequency range is adjustable between 600Hz and 7000Hz.

Quad-Band EQ High-Mid Gain - Adjusts the EQ High Mid Band Gain for the Master Bus. Thegain range is adjustable between -20dB and +20dB.

Quad-Band EQ High Bell / Shelf - Adjusts the EQ High Band Shape between Bell and Shelffor the Master Bus. When turned to the right the band becomes a shelf. When turned to the left

the band becomes a bell.

Quad-Band EQ High Freq - Adjusts the EQ High Band Frequency for the Master Bus. Thefrequency range is adjustable between 1500Hz and 22000Hz.

Quad-Band EQ High Gain - Adjusts the EQ High Band Gain for the Master Bus. The gainrange is adjustable between -20dB and +20dB.

CompressorCompressor Threshold - Adjusts the Compressor Threshold for the Master Bus. TheThreshold determines the level above which the Compressor starts working. Only levels that

rise above this threshold will be reduced by the compression; signals that stay below it will beleft unprocessed. To lower the threshold (thereby increasing the signal which is compressed)turn the knob counter-clockwise to the left.

Compressor Ratio - Adjusts the Compressor Ratio for the Master Bus. Ratio controls theamount of compression. This is expressed as a ratio of “input level change” against “output levelchange”. A Ratio of 1:1 would mean that no compression will be happening. For example, aSetting of 4 represents the ration 4:1, which means for every 4 decibel increase of amplitudeabove the threshold, the output will increase by only 1 decibel. This knob is stepped to six

Page 19


20/33

specific values : 1.5:1, 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1 and 10:1. Smaller ratios are to the left and larger ratiosare to the right.

Compressor Attack - Adjusts the Compressor Attack Time for the Master Bus. Attackdetermines how long the Compressor will take to reach the full Ratio value after an input signalexceeds the Threshold level.

Compressor Release - Adjusts the Compressor Release Time for the Master Bus. Releaseadjusts the time the compressor will take to fall back to non-compression after the input signalfalls below the threshold.

Compressor Makeup - Adjusts the Compressor Makeup for the Master Bus. Makeup controlsthe output gain of the compressed signal. Because compression lowers the volume of loudsections of audio the makeup is used to compensate for the gain reduction of the effect.

Compressor Mix - Adjusts the Compressor Mix for the Master Bus. Compressor Mix controlsthe dry/wet mix of the compressor. This can be used to create a parallel compression stylerouting, which increases the quieter signals rather than reducing the louder ones. At a setting of100% you will only hear the compressed signal, at a setting of 0% you will only hear theunprocessed input signal.

FilterCutoff - Adjusts the Filter Cutoff Frequency for the Master Bus. When set to HPF the off positionis fully counter clockwise. When set to LPF the off position is fully clockwise.

Res - Adjusts the Filter Resonance for the Master Bus. With a value greater than 0, this controlwill boost a small frequency range around the cutoff frequency.

Drive - Adjusts the Filter drive for the Master Bus which controls the amplitude increase afterthe filter. This control can be used to compensate for amplitude reduction due to the filter, or toincrease the soft saturation of the effect.

HPF / LPF - Toggles between HPF and LPF filters. Note that the cutoff frequency dynamicallyadjusts when switching styles.

Bit CrushDepth - Adjusts the Bit-Depth for the Master Bus within 24-1 Bit by re-quantizing the signal.Fractional bit levels (such as 12.4 bits) are possible and can add considerable “grit”. Audio CDshave a quantization depth of 16 bits, old samplers frequently used 8 or 12 bits, and 4 bits evoke

memories of countless irritating children’s toys.

Rate - Adjusts the Sample Rate for the Master Bus within 44100-50Hz by resampling the signalto an adjustable sample rate. The resampling is done without any kind of (usually mandatory)low-pass filtering, which causes all kinds of wonderful aliasing artifacts. At 50 Hz not much ofthe original signal will be left.

Page 20


21/33

TapeDrive - Adjusts the Drive for the Master Bus Tape Saturator which increases the amount of tapedistortion and compression. This parameter is able to shape the sound from subtle saturation toheavy fuzz and distortion. The Drive ranges from 0dB to +48dB.

Warmth - Adjusts the Warmth for the Master Bus Tape Saturator. The centre position has aneutral sound and Values to the left accentuate the high end and values to the right accentuatethe low end.

Makeup - Adjusts the Output for the Master Bus Tape Saturator. Because the Tape effect canlower or increase the volume based on the amount of Drive the Makeup can be used tocompensate the volume. The Makeup ranges from -12dB to +24dB.

Global Effects

The Global Effects allow for control of the Delay, Reverb and Tape Machine effects which areused globally by all tracks of the instrument. To enable/disable the Tape Machine select theyellow light to the left of the effect name. The Delay and Reverb effects are always active but tobe heard require the Reverb and Delay Send of a specific Track Group be increased. Select the“EFFECTS” button to the right of the “MASTER” button to edit the Global Effects parameters.

Please note that the Delay and Reverb sends run in parallel with the Master Bus. This means

that any processing applied in the Master Bus will not be applied to the return of the Delay andReverb effects. This is a design aspect of the Kontakt engine which Drum Direktor is built on.When applying EQ and Compression effects this is generally a non-issue however certainconsiderations may need to be considered when using Delay and Reverb with Master Filter andDistortion effects.

Page 21


22/33

DelayTime - Adjusts the synchronized Delay Time for the Master Delay Effect. Longer times are to theleft and shorter times are to the right.

Feedback - Adjusts the Feedback for the Master Delay Effect. Feedback is the amount of the

output signal that’s being fed back into the input of the delay line, thereby creating a series ofechoes that gradually fade into silence.

Width - Adjusts the Stereo Ping-Pong for the Master Delay Effect. A Ping-Pong is a delay effectthat is created by alternating echos between the left and the right side of the stereo panorama.Higher values will result in wider panning; at 100, signals alternate between the far left and farright channel.

Hi Cut - Adjusts the Filter for the Master Delay Effect. Attenuates high frequencies in thedelayed signal. Turning this control clockwise will increase the damping effect. If you have set afeedback level, the signal will gradually lose more high frequency content with each repetition.

ReverbDelay - Adjusts the Pre-Delay for the Master Reverb Effect which Introduces a short delaybetween the direct signal and the reverb trail build-up. This corresponds to the naturalreverberation behavior of large rooms, where a short time elapses before the first reflection of asound wave returns from a wall.

Size - Adjusts the Size of the simulated room for the Master Reverb Effect. This affects theduration of the reverb trail.

Color - Adjusts the Colour for the Master Reverb Effect. This control allows you to adjust theconstruction material of the simulated room and, consequently, the color of the reverb trail. Lowvalues simulate softer surfaces like wood, while high values simulate the reflection behavior ofhard surfaces like concrete.

Width - Adjusts the Stereo Width for the Master Reverb Effect. Higher values increase thestereo base width of the output signal. Lower values simulate a closer distance to the soundsource.

Hi Cut - Adjusts the Filter for the Master Reverb Effect. Useful for simulating the absorption thattakes place in rooms due to furnishings, people, or acoustic treatments affecting the reflectionbehavior.

Tape MachineInput - Adjusts the signal which is sent from the output of an individual group to the Tape

Machine effect. Similar to the drive for the Master Bus Tape Saturator this increases the amountof tape distortion and compression. This parameter is able to shape the sound from subtlesaturation to heavy fuzz and distortion. The Input range is dynamic based on the position of theDrive Knob.

Output - Adjusts the Group Output of the signal from the Tape Saturator. Because the Tapeeffect can lower or increase the volume based on the amount of Drive or Input the Makeup canbe used to compensate the volume. The Makeup ranges from off to +24dB.

Page 22


23/33


24/33

Drum Direktor : Config

The config panel allows for the configuration of MIDI, Playback and Group Settings. Thesesettings can be considered Advanced and in most cases would be unnecessary for users tointeract with unless so desired.

MIDI Assign 25

Playback 26

Group Options 26

Page 24


25/33

MIDI Assign

Pad Start - When the button to the right of this title is selected the next received MIDI note andthe following 15 notes will become the triggers for the Drum Pads. Triggering one of these notes

from a MIDI controller will trigger playback from the corresponding Drum Pad. The MIDI notewhich is the base trigger for the 16 Drum Pads is displayed to the left of this button. Alternativelyyou may also click the name of the Note and select the desired MIDI Note from the dropdownmenu.

Pad / Pattern Stop - When the button to the right of this title is selected the next received MIDInote will become the Pad / Pattern Stop Key. The Pad / Pattern Stop Key will immediately stopany loop, sample or pattern while it is held down and the corresponding MIDI note to trigger aDrum Pad or Pattern is entered from an external MIDI controller or Kontakt’s internal keyboard.This works similar to the Mute or Choke button found on some hardware Drum Samplers. TheMIDI note which is the trigger for the Pad / Pattern Stop Key is displayed to the left of thisbutton. Alternatively you may also click the name of the Note and select the desired MIDI Note

from the dropdown menu.

Pattern Start - When the button to the right of this title is selected the next received MIDI noteand the following 7 notes will become the triggers for starting the playback and switching theSequence Patterns. Depending on the current state of the sequencer triggering one of thesenotes from a MIDI controller will have one of multiple outcomes.

• If external Sequencer / DAW is not playing and the Pattern Start Note is received whilethe internal sequencer is not yet playing - Playback of the sequencer will start immediatelyon the pattern which corresponds to the MIDI Note received.

• If external Sequencer / DAW is not playing and the Pattern Start Note is received whilethe internal sequencer is playing - Playback of the internal sequencer will continue at it’scurrent step position but will switch immediately to the pattern which corresponds to the MIDINote received.

• If external Sequencer / DAW is playing and the Pattern Start Note is received while theinternal sequencer is not yet playing - Playback of the sequencer will at the down beat ofthe upcoming bar on the pattern which corresponds to the MIDI Note received.

• If external Sequencer / DAW is playing and the Pattern Start Note is received while theinternal sequencer is playing - Playback of the internal sequencer will continue at it’scurrent step position but will switch immediately to the pattern which corresponds to the MIDINote received.

Stop All - When the button to the right of this title is selected the next received MIDI note willbecome the Stop All Key which stops playback of all patterns and running loops. When this noteis received from a MIDI controller or the Kontakt keyboard playback of the internal sequencerand all running loops will be immediately stopped. The MIDI note which is the trigger for theStop All Key is displayed to the left of this button. Alternatively you may also click the name ofthe Note and select the desired MIDI Note from the dropdown menu.

Page 25


26/33

Playback

Select on Note - When selected playing a Drum Pad MIDI note will select the correspondingDrum Pad in the Drums Panel. This is a useful feature for quickly building rhythms and selecting

patterns. It is enabled by default but is generally not the desired function when editing the DrumPads and playing back a MIDI sequence from a Host / DAW in realtime.

Play Note on Click - When selected clicking a Drum Pad will play the Sample assigned to thatpad. This can be useful for auditioning the sound of a Drum Pad without a MIDI controller. Insome situations this may not be the desired behaviour and the option exists to disable it. Bydefault it is enabled.

Display Play Cursor - Disables the waveform Play Cursor when the Drums Panel. Because theplayback of the Play Cursor can cause considerably high CPU usage the option exists todisable this behaviour.

Group Options

Color - This option allows you to set the default color for each of the Drum Groups. There are12 options to choose from which you can select by clicking and selecting form the drop downmenu.

• Pale Green

• Indigo

•

Emerald Green

• Robin’s Egg

• Fuchsia

• Pink

• Sky Blue

• Orange

• Light Purple

•

Red

• Light Yellow

• Light Pink

Page 26


27/33

After changing a color you must restart the Kontakt engine in order for the changes to takeplace globally throughout Drum Direktor. There are two ways which this can be achieved.

1. Restart the Kontakt Engine within Kontakt Instrument. This can be done by selectingthe following within Kontakt …

a. Browse

b. Monitorc. Engine

d. Restart EngineFor information on this process please refer to page 125 in the KONTAKT 5Application Reference Manual.

2. Save your session or .nki instrument and reload Kontakt by closing and restartingyour host or standalone application.

Page 27


28/33


29/33

Drum Direktor : Installation

Installing and Registering- Download the Drum Direktor instrument files from your account at The Loop Loft and the

latest version of Kontakt Player (version 5.5.1 or higher) from Native Instruments.- After installing Kontakt Player you will find the program in your Application direction or in the

plugin location of your AU, VST or AAX compatible host. Launch Kontakt Player from one ofthese preferred methods.

- Select the Browse button from the Kontakt Player menu at the top of the window.- From the newly revealed Browser that appears on the left hand side of the Kontakt interface,

select “Add Library”. You will then be prompted with a select dialog window where you willselect the location of your Drum Direktor Library. Navigate to the instrument folder thatcontains the file “Drum Direktor FNK-4.nicnt” and select “Choose”.

- At this point you will be prompted for your Native Instruments account user name andpassword. If you do not have one you can register now. Otherwise please enter yourcredentials.

- In the next dialog you must enter the serial number which was given to you for your copy ofDrum Direktor. You have now successfully registered Drum Direktor.

Opening the Instrument

- You will now see a new entry in your Kontakt Library Browser for Drum Direktor. Select the“Instruments” button and browse the folders for the included presets or instruments. OpeningKontakt Player either as a standalone application, AU, VST or AAX plugin will reveal thisbrowser and allow you to use Drum Direktor.

Page 29

http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/samplers/kontakt-5-player/free-download/


30/33

Drum Direktor : FAQQ : Can I control the parameters of Drum Direktor with automation?

A : Yes, you can. To enable automation of a parameter within Drum Direktor use the Auto tab ofthe browser. Both MIDI CC messages and host automation can be used for external control.Controls can be enabled manually by selecting

a. Browse

b. Monitor

c. Dragging a CC or Host Automation control to any automatableparameter within Drum Direktor.

One important consideration to keep in mind regarding automation is that the knobs of theDrums and Mixer panel will always control the Drum Pad or Group which is in focus. For

example if Drum Pad 1 is selected, visibly automating the filter cutoff knob on the Drums Panelwill always adjust this pad. This allows all parameters of Drum Direktor to be controlled within127 MIDI CC messages.

For more details on automation within Kontakt please refer to page 128-131 in the Kontakt 5 -Application Reference Guide.

Page 30


31/33

Q : What is the internal signal flow of Drum Direktor throughout it’s Drum Pads, Groupsand Mixer?

• The samples are played back from RAM• Drum Pad effects are applied individually to each sample

• Group effects are applied to the stereo mix of all Drum Pads within a group

• Reverb and Delay are sent in Parallel from the volume fader of each group

• External outputs are tapped from the output of the volume fader

• The stereo mix of all groups are processed through the master effects

• The combination of the Reverb and Delay returns are mixed with the stereo output ofthe Master Bus effects and sent to the output

Page 31


32/33

Q : How do I use Drum Direktor with Multiple-Outputs in my DAW or Host?

A : Included in the ‘7 Templates’ folder is a file named “FNK-4 Drum Direktor Multi-Output.nkm”.This is a Kontakt multi which has multiple outputs pre-assigned. Once it is opened inside ofKontakt any Drum Direktor preset that is subsequently loaded will be able to see 9 individualoutputs. Master and Groups 1-8. Please be aware that master group effects are not available in

this scenario and for complete signal routing refer to the chart on page 30.

For more information on Multi-Output configuration please refer to page 137 - 141 in the Kontakt5 - Application Reference.

Page 32


33/33

the loop loft drum direktor user manual kontakt player

Documents