Guessing that ‘new’ flag will not be a feature. This image has been making the rounds.
Keeping new musical instrument announcements under wraps prior to embargo dates is proving, again, to be more or less impossible. Native Instruments’ Komplete updates, teased in a video on Friday, have now been prematurely revealed via one print magazine hitting newsstands (Beat, in Germany), and multiple leaks by dealers (some even crawled by Google, according to a CDM reader). Forum members at GearSlutz have been dutifully reproducing everything, leaving few secrets. From there, the cat’s out of the bag; I’m seeing this spreading through German-language outlets and expect others will pick this up soon. Oddly, forum members and commenters have also proceeded to review the announcement in some detail, apparently on the merits of a serious of text bullet points and screen shots alone.
I think that’s a little ridiculous. You need to hear instruments to judge them; you need to actually use hardware and software to judge its quality. Implementation is everything.
This isn’t the whole story – not yet. The leaks don’t yet reveal any details of how that works, only the basic physical form of the keyboards, as well as what instruments have been added in Komplete 10’s software.
So, I’m posting it here in the hopes that more inquisitive CDM readers will ask us some questions. What would you want to see tested; what would you want to know? Let’s see some questions rather than premature reviews, and we can find some answers. (My experience is, readers here ask terrific questions.)
But for starters, here’s the information shared on GearSlutz and in a story on (German-language site) Amazona.de. The big story, as the teaser video suggested, is keyboards designed for controlling instruments in Komplete. Many of the hardware features you’ve already seen in the “teaser” video (which actually showed quite a lot):
Komplete Kontrol keyboards:
25-, 49-, and 61-key models
8 encoders with displays
Touch strips
Browser
Scale and Arpeggiator controls
USB, MIDI in/out, pedal inputs
Pricing starting at 499€ (as reported in Beats’ print article, now on newsstands here in Germany)
Komplete 10 update – 12,000 sounds, 130GB of content:
Three new pianos: The Grandeur, The Maverick, The Gentleman
Three new synth/instruments: Kontour, Rounds, and Polyplex
Drumlab, Session Horn, and Supercharger Driver now included
Komplete Kontrol keyboard ready
Do stay tuned for official information from Native Instruments and CDM’s own take. (For instance, I would hope you’re wondering a little bit about what’s behind these leaked screenshots.)
That said, I think it’s hilarious that one forum poster has already prepared a parody image. The team at NI is pretty thick-skinned; I think they’ll have a chuckle at this and assume the serious reviews will occur once people actually try what they’ve built.
And – yes, forums are amazing, weird places. I don’t have enough time to do things like this image, and this is actually my day job. Kudos. I think.
Someone should create a Reaktor ensemble for The Disappointment that actually makes sound. I’d use it in a set. Where’s Tim Exile?
Lolz all around. Someone named “jokerone” on GearSlutz has a lot of time on his/her hands. Actually, I’d very much like an impulse response of a dumpster. Let’s get on that.
See you soon with all the solid details. Have a good weekend, and make sure your Photoshopping leaves some time for making music.