Native Instruments Kore 2 Version 2.1.4 Update
Iberio Ralda
One of the core ideas behind Kore is that you can choose patches on the basis of what they sound like, regardless of what instrument(s) made them.Photo: Mark EwingLike many innovative new products (the iPod is a good example) Kore addresses needs that you may not have been fully aware you had. However, anyone who predominantly uses a computer to make music will have come across the same frustration: you have a number of soft synths, samplers, drum machines, effects and sequencer/recording packages, and it can be a pain trying to integrate these into some kind of workflow. It's no wonder that keyboard workstations are still popular, because they allow you to compose in one place, with all your sounds together and controlled with the same knobs, laid out in the same way. Workstation sound sources are blended, have appropriate effects, and are available as presets. Native Instruments probably felt particularly close to the problems of computer-based composition and performance, as their flagship Komplete 3 package installs no fewer than 13 separate instruments and effects. Not only does this mean 13 different user interfaces, but also 13 different places to look for the sound you want. If you want a warm pad, you could use Reaktor 5, FM7, Pro 53, Kontakt 2, Kompakt and more. In terms of hardware control, you would need to spend endless hours setting up templates to control all these instruments and effects from a traditional MIDI device. Kore confronts all these challenges in an attempt to combine the advantages of computers with those of hardware synths and effects.
In the example I've opted for the Kore Sound called Velvet Pads, which, as is indicated in the Plug-ins column, is made with FM7, Kontakt 2 and Reaktor 5. I've deliberately chosen a complex patch as it shows up several features of Kore. The majority of patches in the library are made with single instruments (for more about this, and other aspects of the Kore Sound library, see the 'Inside The Library' box). Double-clicking the patch opens it up into the first spare slot in the rack, and makes it immediately available for playing via MIDI, and controlling with the hardware.
The Sound layer displays all the elements that make up a Kore Sound.Photo: Mark EwingDouble-clicking the Kore icon in the middle of the Velvet Pads channel brings up the display below. You are now looking at how the Velvet Pad Kore Sound is constructed (note that the main display strip indicates you are now viewing a Sound instead of a Performance). The Sound has its own internal rack, which can accommodate individual instrument plug-ins. In this example there is one FM7 and one Kompakt 2. The third channel is a Group channel, where both plug-ins are being mixed in order to go through a filter plug-in. Notice that the instruments also have their own FX insert slots too. A Kore Sound has its own routing, effects, sends and key/velocity maps, all of which collapse to a single device when viewed from the Performance layer. Channels at the Sound level can use any VST or AU plug-in in the FX inserts, as well as the built-in Kore effects. There are also different controller assignment pages at the Sound level, although some special pages called Easy Access (EA) pages appear in the Performance too. This dual-layer, 'nested' nature of Kore's environment makes very flexible configurations possible and easier to manage. It also contributes to Kore's fairly steep learning curve, and causes some confusion early on! You can move between the Performance and Sound layer from the hardware controller, although it takes some practice to be confident about where you are, and you will want to simplify things with User pages when playing live. An important footnote to this section is that when you use Kore as a plug-in in a sequencer, the Performance layer does not exist. In a host you are always looking at the Sound layer, so when you open a Kore Sound you see all its separate components. This is because you would tend to use the host's mixer environment to open multiple Kore Sounds instead of Kore 's Performance mixer.
If you have Komplete 3 installed, the Kore library contains over 9000 Kore Sounds, of which about 7000 are instruments and 2000 are effects. These basically fall into two categories: basic, single-device patches that open up a factory preset for a Komplete plug-in, and more complex patches that take advantage of Kore 's layering, routing and effects. The vast majority of patches are of the first kind, which make all the presets in the Komplete bundle accessible to the Attributes library, and add Easy Access controller assignment pages.
One of the joys of Kore is that whatever host you run it in, all your VST and Audio Units plug-ins are available.Photo: Mark EwingWhen running in a host, Kore only has one layer (the Sound layer) so the controller works slightly differently. Instead of toggling between the Sound and Performance layers, the controller's Sound button brings up a list of Kore instances in your mixer. Selecting an instance and pressing Enter switches the controller to address that instance. The lack of two layers certainly makes Kore easier to use in a host, but does slightly limit how easy it is to set up complex patches. This is because it's not currently possible to layer two Kore Sounds outside of a Performance (although this may change). If you load one sound from the Sounds browser, then try to load another, it replaces the first one. You can, however load additional instrument plug-ins into blank channels and layer these on top of the Kore Sound. You could also, of course, set up the same layering by using two tracks in the host application's mixer. Although the Kore Sound browser is one of the advantages of Kore, you don't have to use it. You can load plug-ins straight into Kore, and use them with the controller. The controller will map to automatable parameters on most plug-ins, and some third-party instruments have already had Easy Access pages added (like the Korg Legacy package). You can load a plug-in's presets from the Kore channel, or you can open up the plug-in's own interface. One problem, however, is that while the plug-in is open, you are locked out from doing anything else, so can't leave plug-in windows open. Another problem, visible in the screenshot on the previous page, is that any plug-in hosted by Kore appears as 'Kore' in the host application's mixer.
Development resources will be refocused from Kore to Maschine and its popular instrument hosting features. Maschine will be enhanced with specific preset management and parameter mapping features for Komplete and individual NI instruments in the upcoming free 1.7 update, and will be further expanded in its role as the central NI instruments host in the future.
They seem to be getting there. I think the main big one still not M1 native is Reaktor, which I guess is more challenging with its complexity but hopefully they can get there soon. In the meantime it works fine with Rosetta in my experience if you use AU
I designed one big cover for both MIDI holes, but as I am thinking of maybe adding a MIDI-IN function later I also designed a circular snap-in cover as an alternative so I can choose to plug either just one or both of the MIDI inputs. I have added the Fusion 360 design files and the 3D files (STEP and STL) in the files section.
Note: While working on the firmware I decided to modify the pedal connections. Check this post for the latest update: -ble-midi-controller-conversion-of-ni-kore/log/182494-modifying-the-pedal-inputs-and-rotary-encoder
Hello friends, I just registered, I have a KORE 1 interface, and to say that both the audio and the midi are recognized by W10... but I am trying with OSX MOJAVE... it is true that it does not recognize anything if you install its latest drivers, but if you install AUDIO 8, it recognizes the midi part and appears in the audio section, but no sound comes out, it doesn't work! Does anyone know if it is possible or is there a way for the sound to work with osx mojave kore 1????
KORE is a software/hardware concept that takes some explaining. The software side is basically a shell for all of your soft synths and plug-in effects. It allows for combining these to form new sounds and virtual instruments. The sounds are not bound to the host application, but rather to the KORE software itself. And because KORE can be loaded as a plug-in into almost any sequencer, it makes for easy travel of multi-layered sounds between programs.
Not to be confused with products like Muse Receptor VST (a stand-alone soft synth player), KORE must be run from a computer. It can function as a stand-alone application for organizing your virtual instruments or it can run as a plug-in from within most audio applications. Because the KORE plug-in is available in multiple formats, it can (for example) host VST instruments while the KORE RTAS plug-in runs inside of Pro Tools LE without the need for separate VST-to-RTAS adapters.
With KORE's touch-sensitive knobs, all you have to do is touch the knob and the screen tells you what you're about to control. Very cool. Right now you may be thinking that KORE hardware is a straight-up MIDI controller, but you would be mistaken. The KORE hardware can only control instruments that are used within its software. So, any plug-in you have loaded into KORE can be controlled (as long as it can be automated in a sequencer), but you can't control non-plug-in parameters. For example, sequencer fader levels cannot be controlled by the KORE hardware. And if you have any proprietary plug-ins that only work within a specific sequencer (in other words, they aren't VST or Audio Unit plug-ins), you can't control their parameters either.
For what it's worth here is a link to a spreadsheet that has links to videos about each of the plug-ins and instruments in Kontakt Komplete Ultimate 10 as well as all the manuals downloaded with clickable links in the MS Excel spreadsheet. I also included the spreadsheet here to have everything together if it helps anyone.
_Komplete_Ultimate_10.zip