Native Instruments announced their new KOMPLETE KONTROL S-Series keyboards today. The company say the keyboards represent a hallmark in the history of the company, providing advanced innovations in hardware/software integration and unite the KOMPLETE Instrument portfolio under one purpose-built keyboard controller and software interface. The KOMPLETE KONTROL S-Series keyboards are available in a choice of 25, 49 or 61 keys and come equipped with premium Fatar keybeds for a luxurious playing experience. They are available online and at retailers worldwide October 1, 2014.
Daniel Haver, CEO of Native Instruments, told us: “In the last two decades our software instruments have shaped and defined diverse musical styles and genres. The KOMPLETE KONTROL S-Series keyboards finally bring our original vision to life, and elevate the experience of sounds to a whole new level. Only now the diversity of all KOMPLETE instruments and sounds becomes truly accessible in a single instrument, in ways that no controller or keyboard ever did before.”
The KOMPLETE KONTROL S-Series keyboards signal a new era of control for the KOMPLETE Instrument portfolio. The all-new KOMPLETE Browser™ unifies the powerful instruments in KOMPLETE, delivering tag-based access to all KOMPLETE Instrument presets from one plug-in interface. Instead of browsing by instrument, users can now search by sound, opening the breadth of the KOMPLETE Instrument range faster and easier than ever before.
Native Map™ technology automatically maps all key parameters for each KOMPLETE Instrument to the touch-sensitive controller knobs – all clearly visible on the keyboards’ Clear View™ display. Each instrument was carefully mapped by NI sound designers to arrange the most relevant parameters on pages laid out on the keyboard’s display. The need for complicated mapping is eliminated, bringing producers closer to the act of creating music and allowing them to stay in the creative flow.
A first-of-its-kind Light Guide™ shows key switches, zones, and more on multi-color LEDs positioned just above the keys. For example, key switches for KONTAKT Instruments such as ACTION STRIKES are illuminated in one color, while keys used for performance are lit with another. This puts the instrument’s layout on the keyboard at a glance without having to look at the software. The lights also provide performance feedback – scales, chords, and arpeggios light up across the keyboard as they are played.
KOMPLETE KONTROL S-Series keyboards also deliver Smart Play™ features to accelerate workflow and stimulate new ideas. Chord mode lets producers play complex chords with single keys. Chord Set mode provides ready-to-play progressions that can inspire and augment original compositions or add new flavor to remixes. The integrated scale mapping features deliver fast access to new melodic possibilities – notes of the currently selected scale light up on the Light Guide. Many widely-used musical scales can also be mapped to the white keys. ‘Wrong’ notes can be automatically re-mapped so melodies are always in tune. The arpeggiator works seamlessly with every KOMPLETE Instrument. And the eight controller knobs manage parameters such as direction, rate, rhythm, patterns, and variations.
Furthermore, two touch-sensitive Touch Kontrols™ tap into a new paradigm in software instrument control. They can mimic the behavior of pitch and mod wheels, and physical objects like springs and bouncing balls for interesting modulation curves – far beyond the capabilities of conventional mod wheels. Keyboard functionality such as key splits and Touch Kontrol behavior also function when using the keyboards as a standard MIDI controller, opening these control innovations to instruments outside the KOMPLETE universe.
Native Instruments say the KOMPLETE KONTROL S-Series keyboards are designed to integrate seamlessly with the 10th generation of NI’s acclaimed instruments and effects suites, released October 1st, 2014. Registered users of KOMPLETE 9 and KOMPLETE 9 ULTIMATE will receive a free download for the KOMPLETE KONTROL software, giving them the same functionality on KOMPLETE KONTROL S-Series keyboards as KOMPLETE 10 and KOMPLETE 10 ULTIMATE users.
KOMPLETE KONTROL S25 is available for $499 / 499 €. KOMPLETE KONTROL S49 is available for $599 / 599 €. KOMPLETE KONTROL S61 is available for $699 / 699 €.
