Kontext – using Kontrol S61 features to start a track

1

Let’s go on a track-starting journey using the Kontrol keyboard. Here in Studio One, our first port of call is the Komplete Kontrol plugin, where we’ll choose a patch under the Drums tag, eventually resting on a beat from Butch Vig Drums.

2

Thanks to our DAW transport controls, we can tell Studio One to record and use the keyboard to program a few bars of drumbeat to really get things moving. Things are pre-mixed to a good extent, so we’ll move on without making changes.

3

Onto the bassline, where in another instance of Komplete Kontrol we’ll select the Type tag for Bass, then choose the Stab tag from the Character selection. We come up with a Massive X preset, which we can confirm and load with a tap on the big-button joystick.

4

We record eight bars and then try another idea, but then stop short. In the DAW, we delete everything but those first eight bars, and return to start something new from bar 9. Again on the keyboard, we figure out something new. We could keep these bass variations till later, or use both right now.

5

We can add effects to the bassline, but for that we’ll have to turn to the Komplete Kontrol plugin on the desktop. Once the effect is added, though, we can control its parameters from the keyboard’s big screen.

6

Over to Kontakt, and we’ll choose a library that works as a bit of a wildcard: Kinetic Metal gives us something metallic and clangy, but we can keep it restrained by adding a bit of an offbeat and interesting character.

7

For our fourth channel we’ll return to Komplete Kontrol, and select the Pad category tag using the knobs on the main screen. It’s simple to scroll through the relevant patches using the controller, listening to their character as we go through.

8

For our lead, we can choose a quicker sound that we’ll send through the arpeggiator device in Komplete Kontrol. We’ll cover these performance features over the page, but for now we use them to get a more sophisticated musical part into the project.