Published
Thu, Apr 16, 2015, 17:15
- Third-party plug-ins will now have access to the same level of integration with its Komplete Kontrol hardware as the company's own software instruments.
Native Instruments is giving third-party plug-in developers a door into some of its controller hardware.
Announced at a private event at Musikmesse in Frankfurt yesterday, the Native Kontrol Standard concerns how software instruments interact with the company's Komplete Kontrol S-Series of MIDI controller keyboards. They featured full parameter mapping, a "light guide" giving extra visual feedback to what was happening on the keyboard, and the ability to browse through instruments stored on the host computer directly from the keyboard—but so far, full integration has only been possible with instruments from Native Instruments' own Komplete collection. From this summer onward, developers from outside the Berlin-based company's walls will be able to access these features "at the same deep level" as the proprietary instruments. The press release says that NI "is already working with major software instrument manufacturers, as well as the wider development community."
"Integration for us ultimately means to make a technical setup act and feel like a true musical instrument," says Mate Galic, NI's CTO, "and we have put a lot of thought into Native Kontrol Standard to enable this crucial quality for the widest possible range of software instruments on the market."
The new standard will be accompanied by a Komplete Kontrol software update in May, and NI hints there will be a new product in the line at some point this year. The announcement follows on a couple of big reveals from last month: their Stems audio format and a new Traktor controller.