Kontakt 2 "Machine Gun Elimination" Patches

Background / Introduction

The patches available here are the result of experimentation led by Theodor Krueger (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) with additional input by Scott (Cairns, Queensland, Australia) and prodding by your web host for these, Kevin Fletcher Tweedy (known as "KevinKauai" on the Forums from Kauai, Hawaii, USA). They are offered in a "community spirit" of improving the way samples sound when notes are repeated in close proximity to one another -- sometimes known as "the machine gun effect".

The easiest way to see what is available is to do a directory listing (which will open an additional browser popup window to show you what is available in the "content" sub-directory here). If there is a compressed file, it will carry the suffix "RAR" (which can be opened by WinRar, WinZip and many other compression utilities) or ".ZIP". From the list of hyperlinks presented you can select the one[s] you want and "Save as ..." to your local system.

LATE WORD / UPDATE

NOW! A Tutorial by Keith J. Hersch on how to create TKT Patches using Kontakt 1.5x. (Patches created in K1.5x can be directly used by the Kompakt player in EWQLSO/Gold, for example. See the new TUTORIAL here.

Since announcing these pages (in conjunction with this technique) on various Forums (VI, NorthernSounds Sample and Kontakt areas, Native Instruments KONTAKT area, SoundsOnline and KvR) alternate approaches utilizing the Kontakt Script Processor have come into the discussion.

In the spirit of community sharing we are happy to host Paul Waring's files (as a downloadable "Waring.rar" file) here in the "Content" section. We hope to provide further comparison information (in the form of metrics from controlled tests) on the relative impact of the various techniques now put forth in the near future.

As noted above, do a directory listing to view the content currently available for download.

Hear for Yourself!

DOWNLOAD the A-B comparison MP3 -- here in 160K HiFi (5.4 mB) or here in bandwidth-friendly 64K LoFi (2.1 mB). Each of the examples features the original unmodified Patch first, followed by the same material with the modified "TKT RR" Patch.

This is what you will hear:

Cello Pizz

18 V marc Short

4 TP Stac

Xylophone

18 Violins Pizz

Piccolo Stac

Orchestral Chimes

Harp

Glocken

French Horn Staccatos

Flute Staccatos

Clarinet Staccatos

Small Repetitive A B Orchestration Comparison - One

Small Repetitive A B Orchestration Comparison - Two

All examples are from EWQLSO/Gold.

How to Recognize a "Theodor Krueger Technique" Patch

All of the patches supplied replicate the established name for a EWQLSO/Gold patch and then carry a suffix of "TKT xx", where "xx" represents either "RR" (for "round robin") or "RD" (for "random").

How Are the Patches Constructed?

In general, these Patches work through a tiny "transposition" and remapping trick. Using the original sample group as the "center key" an additional FOUR copies are "cloned", two shifted one and two semi-tones DOWN, and two shifted one and two semi-tones UP. Then the "Group Starts" option is set to either "cycle round robin" (in the case of the "RR" patches) or "cycle random" (for the "RD" patches). In practice, this means that when you press "E-4" 5 times in a row, you are likely getting the following:

E-4 as E-4,
F-4 transposed to E-4,
Eb-4 transposed to E-4,
F#-4 transposed to E-4, and
D-4 transposed to E-4.

In most cases this semi- or whole-tone transposition is far less discernable to the ear than the alternate (the "machine gun effect"). If the samples are relatively fine (i.e., at semi-tone intervals) this is a fairly minor amount of "sample stretching". (Note: for some section instruments, there are also TKT Patches with the designation "TKT 10RR" or "TKT 10RD" which have additional copies of the sample pointers to handle the likelihood of more than ONE note being played and repeated.)

How to Put These to Work?

THESE PATCHES ARE CURRENTLY FOR THE EWQLSO/GOLD LIBRARY. However, until there is an update to Kompakt that will understand Kontakt 2 Patches, you must use them in Kontakt 2. (An error message will be produced should you try to load one in EWQLSO/Gold Kompakt.)

These Patches were saved with a "relative path" to their corresponding samples, so if you place them in the same directory as their non-TKT Patches they will work, no matter if you drive is called "C:', "D:" or "SAM". (It also should not matter if the containing "upper" directory is called "Whatever" or "My_EWQLSO".

Using one of these Patches is simplicity itself. Select the "TKT RR" or "TKT RD" Patch in place of the non-TKT equivalent and enjoy the lack of "machine gun effect"!

Why Are the Patches Programmed in Both RR and RD Versions?

With Round Robin (Sequential Alternations as for 1-2-3-4) you will have better results in most occasions. The reason why both types are included is because some instruments are not sampled Chromatically. That means that when you apply this trick and have Round Robin, some keys which are mapped every two or three keys for example, will always have a repetition pattern which may be very obvious.

The downside on the other hand with Random is that there is a possibility for the same sample to be played 2 or more times in a row.

If you are aware that an instrument is mapped chromatically, we suggest you use Round Robin. If a instrument has too many samples mapped at 2 or 3 semitone intervals, we suggest random. The final decision is up to you, of course! The ideal solution would be Random, but with an option of not playing the same sample twice. (Perhaps a future version of Kontakt may implement this approach.)

KeySwitches -- What These Patches DON'T Do

The TKT Patches are superior to the "normal" Patches, which present a bit of a problem (or opportunity) with regard to the included "KeySwitch" Patches. Obviously, if you use one of the existing KeySwitch programs, it will use the non-TKT Patches for articulations which the TKT Patches address. We will leave it to someone else to provide these "hybrid KeySwitches" in the future, perhaps. (In the meantime, if you've not seen it, Kevin worked with Christopher Caouette in documenting "Constructing Your Own KeySwitch Combinations" (in Kontakt 2) and that Tutorial can be found here.

Contribute YOUR Patches

We've gotten the ball rolling, but here's what YOU can do:

If/When you develop additional "Theodor Krueger Technique" Patches, contribute them and they will be added to the collection here for the benefit of the whole community. EXAMPLES: TKT RR and RD Patches for the included VSL content, Patches for additional packages which would benefit from "machine gun effect" elimination. Email them to Kevin through this link.

Waveform Comparison

Caveats

The "nki" files and any other material here are provided "as is" with no warranties (expressed or implied). (To the very best of our collective knowledge, there is nothing here which should harm or otherwise place your computer and/or samples in peril.)

What Can YOU Do?

If you want to construct your own TKT Patches and SHARE them with your community, check out the "TKT Tutorial" and then email your collections of TKT Patches for various sample products for others who have those products and Kontakt 2. (If there is anything not obvious about the Patches you construct, include a "README.txt" file when you email them to Kevin Fletcher Tweedy. They will be posted to the "download area" promptly and show up for folks to download.

COMMENTS? SUGGESTIONS?

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

From Theodor Krueger

The biggest thanks goes to our kind host, Composer/Musician Kevin Fletcher Tweedy (known as “KevinKauai” in most forums). Kevin took care of all the hosting/bandwidth, design, writing, beta tester coordination, creation of the nice detailed picture tutorial and countless other things while designing these pages. He spent a great amount of time on this but yet, he stays modest at all times and does not mention it.

Thanks for your time and devotion, Kevin. You are a true gentleman and a ground-breaking composer. It was very nice working close with you!

Thanks to the beta testers who volunteered and gave this development a preliminary “sanity check” -- you guys ROCK!

Hopefully sample developers will not try to pass-on libraries from now on which have 5 notes Round Robin and claim they recorded the samples for each layer. There are many ways for one to do such a trick like Re-saving the samples with different names and adding those again to make the size bigger, that would be like paying for Air! Not only we would be paying for air, but we would have to buy more RAM to load samples which are fake as well etc. (If you want to be sure for such claims, check the samples mapping C4, C#4, B3 and Bb3, for example, in a editor. If they are the same you know what to do. I don't think anyone would do it, but it's always a good idea to keep an eye open.)

Finally, we hope you are very happy from the outcome. It is for the advance of music and our community. Please enjoy these free patches and have fun applying this trick to all your old and newer sample libraries for a fresh breath of realism.

Best Wishes,

Theodor Krueger

http://www.theokrueger.com

From Kevin Fletcher Tweedy

When Theo first started posting information about what we now call the "Theo Krueger Technique" I had been suffering through a period of feeling bad about a lot of samples. Personally, when I'm in "create intensive" mode I don't want "excuses" from "my orchestra" -- I want solid delivery to feed my creative juices and bring the project in for a landing in a superior fashion.

So it was with much fascination that the LOGIC of what Theo was laying out started to sink in. What's surprising is that at first we both thought that it was perhaps due to new functions in Kontakt 2 that this legerdemain could be accomplished. Then some other commenters tried applying the approach in Kontakt 1.5.x and found that it could be done there, too.

The main function that I supplied in this effort was a "home" for the pages and associated files and doggedly pushing Theo to share this with our community. I would also like to encourage folks who take the "starter set" of EWQLSO/Gold Patches and who read the detailed "Tutorial: Theodore Krueger Technique for Eliminating 'Machine Gun Effect' in Repeated Samples in Kontakt 2" to GIVE BACK! Or "pay it forward" (if you prefer). I'll be happy to add "user contributions" in the form of "TKT Patches" from wherever they might apply (VSL, converted Giga instruments running in Kontakt 2, whatever).

One of my major points here is that we don't have to sit back and wait for the Sample Developers to give us the next best thing. Sometimes, with a little innovation and "can do" we are able to do an "end run" and get some solid improvement on our own. I have the utmost respect for Theo and the work that has gone into what I have pushed for calling "the Theo Krueger Technique". Some folks have piped up and said "oh, yeah, I did that 2 years ago" but they must have kept it their little secret, apparently. Anyway, here's a solid COMMUNITY delivery. Frankly, I think that Native Instruments should be adding Theo to the Australian staff, but he would probably be employee number 1 on that continent.

Onward!

Kevin Fletcher Tweedy