native instruments komplete kontrol s49 mk2 keyboard review

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KOMPLETE KONTROL S49 MK2 KEYBOARD REVIEW MOD
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KOMPLETE KONTROL S49 MK2 KEYBOARD REVIEW PATCH
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KOMPLETE KONTROL S49 MK2 KEYBOARD REVIEW FULL
NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KOMPLETE KONTROL S49 MK2 KEYBOARD REVIEW SERIES

One of the more fun Live integrations comes is in the ability to control Live’s mixer using the knobs. You can play, stop, and set Live to record by pressing the transport buttons on the keyboard, as well as other basic commands like turn the click track on/off, enable / disable loops, quantise a set of notes, and so on. Ableton integration You can navigate Live using the Kontrol S49 Mk2’s four-way encoder and you can even view your mixer’s levels and control them using the displays and knobs.Īpart from working tightly with Komplete Kontrol software, the Komplete Kontrol S49 Mk2 also integrates nicely with Ableton Live, although in a more fundamental way. This alone has saved me so much time and effort, and it really encourages you to use the Komplete Kontrol app not only for browsing, but to stay organised with all your patches because you’re able to sort through them using tags.

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KOMPLETE KONTROL S49 MK2 KEYBOARD REVIEW PATCH

Provided you’re using Komplete Kontrol, this is the single biggest benefit of using this keyboard over others as it can be time consuming just looking for the perfect patch to tweak and use in your production. You can even audition sounds as you scroll through them using the chunky browse encoder. The keyboard has two displays onboard that can show a variety of parameters: if you’re using Komplete Kontrol, you can sort and browse for sounds using the screens and you can navigate and make changes using the knobs and buttons. You can even get in deep and adjust the arpeggiator settings, changing its behaviour, rhythm and sequence.

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KOMPLETE KONTROL S49 MK2 KEYBOARD REVIEW SERIES

This lets you play a series of notes repeatedly even if you’re just pressing one piano key. For example if you want to produce a tune in A minor, it removes all the black keys and makes them unplayable until you change the scale.Īnother neat feature that you won’t find in many Midi controllers is the onboard arpeggiator. One of the cool things about this keyboard is that you can pick a scale that you want to work in, and it disables all the other piano keys that aren’t a part of that scale. The keyboard has Scale and Arpeggiator functions that extend the playability of the device, especially during live performances.

You can also use them to denote which parts of the keyboard belong to one synth sound and which belong to another if you use a soft synth that has the “split keyboard” feature.

By default they glow brighter when you press on a key, but you can change the lights to show which piano keys belong to a particular scale you’ve chosen for example (more on that in a minute). Each key also has a light near the top: the lights change colour depending on what function you’ve got them set to. The Kontrol S49 Mk2 has semi-weighted keys and a FATAR keybed that feels great to play on – you don’t get the cheap plasticky feel that some Midi keyboard controllers give. These are easily some of the best feeling keys in its price bracket.

In Use Keyboard The keyboard has 49-keys and sits on a FATAR keybed that feels fantastic to play on. Since we teach production in Ableton Live, this review will focus on using the Komplete Kontrol S49 Mk2 using Live 10. The idea behind bundling them is that the Komplete Kontrol keyboard gives you hands-on, physical access to the commands and sounds in the Komplete Kontrol software, basically giving you a turnkey “synth studio in a box” solution regardless of which DAW you produce in.

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KOMPLETE KONTROL S49 MK2 KEYBOARD REVIEW FULL

Maschine Essentials is also part of the software package, giving you drum sounds from the esteemed Maschine library as well as the full Maschine beatmaking app. It also ships with Komplete 12 Select, which is soft synth and samples suite made by Native Instruments that includes the popular Massive and Monark synthesisers. It ships with Komplete Kontrol software, which is like a “sound librarian” that lets you manage and browse through all the patches and samples that are available in your collection of compatible soft synths and plugins.

NATIVE INSTRUMENTS KOMPLETE KONTROL S49 MK2 KEYBOARD REVIEW MOD

It’s got eight rotary knobs onboard, two high-resolution displays, transport controls, scale and arpeggiator buttons, a four-way multi-purpose rotary knob, and two mod wheels plus a mod touchstrip. The Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol S49 Mk2 is a four-octave keyboard controller meant to be used with a laptop running a DAW.

Native instruments komplete kontrol s49 mk2 keyboard review