PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Beginners Forum Real Instrument VST's

1. Not really. Kontakt is what is referred to by many in the music production business as the lower end of the professional synths. In essence, you can use Kontakt synths to do production work for film and TV without having to worry that the end user will turn your music down for using a cheap sounding synth. It's not too hard to find samples and synths that are thousands of dollars. Kontakt is a good balance of quality sound and affordability. A lot of folks here use SFZ and sound fonts. These are a step up from the Coyote and TTS synths that are defaults for BB/RB. But they still lack that quality you're going to get in the synths and samples like Kontakt.

My recommendation is to look for online deals on Kontakt.... and this is the perfect time to be looking. Christmas specials are popping up all over.

2. I could never understand how someone could set down to a piece of sheet music in C# that they had never heard before and read it and play it like they knew it for years, but then have someone say to them, lets jam a 1,4,5 in the key of C major and get blank states in return. However, I have seen this multiple times from church piano players..... so apparently this is a real thing.

I studied piano and music and can identify the notes, but play it by sight reading....? Not on your life. But, throw down a jam in any key and I'm there and leading the way. They look at me and say, wow, how do you do that without sheet music?

So.... it's an acquired skill, just like reading. Since you have a good understanding of scales and theory from reading, it's not a major undertaking to learn to play by ear.

Step one: Can you memorize a song that you had to sight read?

Step two: Just for grins, play back the backing tracks to a song you know.... BUT... no sheet music. One the solo and fills, just insert something new. Doesn't matter if you screw it up.... go back and do it again...... and again...... and again.... until it becomes natural.

I learned to play by ear by putting records on and playing along.... over and over. Then, I started doing it to the songs on the radio. Learn the 1,4,5 progression and you have 98% of the popular songs done.

Playing by sight is like precision work. Playing by ear is like freedom and fun.



So yeah.... Get a DAW like Sonar and you can have as many tracks and synths running as you need to do this. I have seen people do some amazing full orchestral productions of classical stuff.... Beethoven kind of music.... in a DAW with over a hundred tracks, each with a different sample.... and it's absolutely amazing. A big band is what, maybe 24 tracks? Easy to do in a good DAW and using something like Kontakt. BTW: go to the Native Instruments web site. They have smaller packages for folks who might only want horns,,,,, or strings,,,,, or piano. Check it out and get what you need. All of their stuff is good quality that you will like. Kontakt is the big flagship synth and well worth the cost, but they do have smaller and less expensive stuff that might suit the job you need, better.