Using KONTAKT as a Multi-timbral Instrument in Logic Pro X

This article explains how to route audio from each Instrument loaded in KONTAKT's Rack to separate channels in the Logic Mixer. Each of the channels can then be processed and mixed in Logic individually. You will be guided through the required steps to achieve this. We will use SESSION STRINGS as a Multi-timbral Instrument to walk you through this procedure:

• Creating a Multi-Timbral Track in Logic
• Loading KONTAKT and Setting up a Multi-Instrument
• Creating Auxiliary Tracks for each of KONTAKT's Multi-Instruments
• Using the Multi-Instrument Setup

Creating a Multi-Timbral Track in Logic

1. Open Logic Pro X and create a new project. Click the Add Tracks + button located above the track headers to open the New Tracks dialog.
   
2. The New Tracks dialog will prompt you to choose a type of track. Select Software Instrument. In the Details section for the software instrument track, check the Multi-timbral checkbox. Next to it, type in the number of Outputs you want to use in KONTAKT. In our example, we need four stereo outputs, so we select 4 parts. Once done, click Create to proceed.
   
3. Logic has created four new tracks in its arrangement window. Each of these Tracks is automatically assigned to a MIDI channel in ascending order. You can check which MIDI channel is assigned to each of the instrument tracks by selecting the track. In the Track information area, you can see which MIDI Channel will control it. This is important since you want to control different Instruments loaded in KONTAKT via separate MIDI channels.
   

Loading KONTAKT and Setting Up a Multi-Instrument

1. In the software instrument track's channel strip, click the Instrument slot, and navigate to a Multi-Output instance of KONTAKT. Here you can choose which type of output configuration you want to use. In our example, we choose the 16 stereo out instance Multi-Output (16xStereo), even if we will not need that many outputs.

   Note: read this article if you need more information on loading a NI plug-in in Logic Pro X.

   
2. In the KONTAKT plug-in window, load the number of Instruments you want to route to separate outputs to the Instrument Rack. To do so, double-click them one after the other in the KONTAKT Browser or drag them to the Rack. In the screenshot below, we have loaded four Instruments from the SESSION STRINGS Library. We have highlighted the Instrument's properties. A MIDI channel is assigned in ascending order to each new Instrument loaded in the Rack. The first Instrument receives MIDI from channel 1, the second one receives MIDI from channel 2, etc. For the time being, all of the four Instruments are routed to KONTAKT's first stereo output st. 1.
   
3. If KONTAKT's Output section is not visible under the Instrument Rack, tick Outputs in KONTAKT's Workspace menu.
   
4. The Output section is now visible and is configured by default. To create one separate mixer channel for each of the Instruments you have previously loaded in the Rack, click the Presets / Batch Configuration drop-down menu and select Batch functions > Clear output section and create one individual channel for each loaded instrument:
   
5. KONTAKT's Output Section now has four output channels, corresponding to and named after the Instruments loaded in the Rack. Under each channel strip, you can see the output channel used by KONTAKT to send audio to Logic.
   

Creating Auxiliary Tracks for Each of KONTAKT's Multi-Instruments

1. Make the Mixer visible by choosing View > Show Mixer from Logic Pro X's menu bar.
   
2. Click the + icon at the bottom right of the Kontakt instrument track. Each click will add a Logic Aux track. Add to the Mixer as many separate tracks as you have Instruments loaded in the KONTAKT Instrument Rack. The input of each Aux track is automatically assigned to a different KONTAKT output channel in ascending order.
   
3. The Mixer is now set up. Inst 1 plays KONTAKT's main output, corresponding to the first Instrument loaded in the Rack. Aux. 1 plays KONTAKT's 3-4 output, corresponding to the second Instrument loaded in the Rack, etc.
   

Using the Multi-Instrument Setup

Triggering and Mixing the Multi Instrument

1. In Logic's Arrangement window, you can draw or record MIDI events to trigger the individual Instruments loaded in KONTAKT's Rack. Each of these tracks is set to a different MIDI channel, corresponding to the MIDI channels assigned to the individual Instruments loaded in KONTAKT'S Rack. Tweaking the Volume or Pan buttons as well as activating Mute or Solo here will affect the whole KONTAKT instance.
   
2. You can use Logic's Mixer to process the audio coming from each of the Instruments loaded in KONTAKT separately. Here you can use the Volume and Pan parameters to mix the audio and add effects to the individual auxiliary tracks to process the audio coming separately from the KONTAKT Multi Instruments. You must also use the mixer to mute or solo the auxiliary tracks individually (and not the arrangement window's mute and solo buttons).
   

Using Automation on the Auxiliary Tracks

If you want to use automation for the individual auxiliary tracks in the Mixer, you must create new automation tracks. Proceed as follows:

1. Select the auxiliary track for which you want to use automation by clicking it. When it is highlighted in grey, right-click the auxiliary track and choose Create Track from the contextual menu.
   
2. A new track has been created in Logic's arrangement window for your first auxiliary track Aux 1. Use this track to draw the automation for the corresponding auxiliary track. This automation will only affect the first auxiliary track Aux 1. In the screenshot below, we have automated the volume of the first auxiliary track, which corresponds to the second Instrument loaded in KONTAKT's Rack.