In previous issues of ISP Música magazine we reviewed Native Instruments' Audio Kontrol 1 interface, highlighting, among other things, its programmable controllers, which provide what NI calls “Feel the software.” This time it's the turn of Kore, an audio and MIDI controller and interface that takes this concept to a higher level.
Kore isn't just a physical controller that gives access to the parameters of plugins or virtual instruments. Kore is a new proposal, a new concept. Behind this name lies a system meant to revolutionize the way music is made (at least that's the manufacturer's idea; time will tell), made up of the hardware controller and a program designed to work together. And it's precisely in this software that much of Kore's potential lies...

The concept
The system offers an environment for working with virtual instruments and plugins, as long as they are VST or Audio Units (AU). This makes it ideal for sound designers, producers, arrangers, etc. and, in general, for any user of synths and virtual instruments.

The program works on two levels, each of which has a virtual mixer. The lower level is called the Sound level, and the higher one is the Performance level. At this point it should be noted that practically every part or function of Kore has a specific name, and until you assimilate the terminology it's a bit hard to follow the manual. I wouldn't want this text to become convoluted by going into all these concepts, but there are some essential ideas needed to properly explain Kore's power.

One of them is the two levels mentioned above. On the sound level there's a mixer that works in the traditional way. You can create as many channels as your computer allows and, on each one, insert a virtual instrument or effect. Each channel also has four insert slots for plugins, four send buses (which can be pre-fader, post-fader or pre-insert), and there are also subgroups for handling sets of channels.

So on Kore's sound level you can create practically any combination of synths, virtual instruments and/or plugins you can imagine. Once you have a satisfactory configuration, the mixer's state can be saved in what's called a KoreSound. This is a new file format (.ksd extension) that stores all the information about the mixer, plugins and instruments used.

A KoreSound could be, for example, an Absynth string pad thickened underneath with an FM7 synth bass and percussive sounds from Reaktor, all suitably equalized and mixed, with any kind of processing applied, either channel by channel or in parallel.

All of that can be saved in a small .ksd file (it only contains data), and can easily be exported to another system, as long as, of course, the same plugins and instruments are available. Then the next level comes into play, the performance level, which also has a virtual mixer, but in this case designed to mix different KoreSounds.

Like the lower-level mixer, the performance mixer lets you create channels into which, in this case, KoreSounds are inserted, and for which four insert slots, four stereo send buses and subgroups are also available. Again, once this mixer is configured, another file format (in this case with the .kpe extension) lets you save all the data in what's called a KorePerformance, which can also be exported easily.

It's easy to glimpse the power of this dual-mixer topology. On one hand, the sound level lets you experiment with and layer multiple textures (let's call synths, virtual instruments and/or plugins that) to create different KoreSounds. These can then be called up on the performance level and in turn be suitably mixed and processed.

This type of work, in which different kinds of sound are layered on top of each other, is essential, for example, in sound design applications in which new creations often emerge from complex combinations of multiple instruments and effects.

Note: this is how it works in standalone mode, but Kore can also run as a plugin. In that case, only the sound level is available, since the performance level is handled by the DAW's own mixer. As a plugin, Kore comes in VST, DXi, RTAS and Audio Units formats.

The database
Another new feature Kore offers is its database. It stores all the presets of the instruments and plugins contained in the system and applies a series of tags to them. These tags define the sound the preset produces (which the program treats as a KoreSound), indicating the type of instrument emulated, the sound source, the timbre and processing, the articulation and the music genre.

This lets you search for sounds in terms like “warm-sounding analog piano for reggae,” and the database returns all the KoreSounds matching those criteria. Presets in any program are generally a very useful tool, whether as a starting point for work or as a quick solution when there's no time to experiment.

However, we've probably all found ourselves at some point digging through a long list of presets with names as undescriptive as “Bonanza,” “Old Style” or “Morpheus.” As NI points out, Kore's database represents a radical change in thinking, allowing you to work with presets in musical terms.

A lot of work
For those wondering: yes, someone has to categorize all those presets in order to use the database properly, and that's a huge effort.

For its part, NI has categorized all the presets of the instruments and plugins included in the Komplete 4 software bundle, which amounts to more than 11,000 KoreSounds ready to use.

However, the other plugins and instruments from other manufacturers are not categorized, so they can't benefit from the database's sound-search power until this is done (although they can be used perfectly well in Kore). This is a huge effort, and NI hopes that the manufacturers themselves will take on this task so their products aren't left out of the Kore database.

As for new KoreSounds created by the user, they can easily be categorized with a few clicks, and you can even add comments, the author's name, the number of inputs and outputs...

The hardware controller
And let's go back to the controller, whose design is spectacular. The casing is aluminum, complemented by black acrylic which, together with the bright red used to light up the controls, makes Kore a really attractive piece of equipment.

The controller's main surface is divided into three parts. The first holds the eight programmable buttons and eight programmable knobs, the second houses the navigation controls and a display for showing application data, and the third has the knobs for setting input and output levels. The programmable rotary knobs are touch-sensitive, so when touched they light up to show they're active, and the display shows the parameter and value assigned to them.

On the back are the I/O connections, which from left to right are: two footswitch connectors, the USB 2.0 port, an S/PDIF output (not an alternative output; it mirrors the main output), MIDI In and Out ports, another input for a pedal (expression, sustain, volume...), the pair of TS inputs and the (balanced) TRS outputs and, finally, the stereo headphone jack (this one can be used as an independent output).

Pages and more pages
To organize the programming of the controls, there are different types of parameter pages. Each KoreSound can include one or more pages for accessing the controls of the different sounds from the hardware. There are also pages for the different parts of the two mixers and their channels, and users can create their own pages to have the parameters they need at hand.

Programming these custom pages is as easy as touching the button/knob on the hardware and clicking with the mouse on the value you want to control. The active page can be selected from the software or using the navigation keys below the controller's display. If you use this method, at first it's a bit hard to understand the logic by which the different types of pages are ordered, but once you get it, navigation is quite fast.

In this way you can control any programmable parameter in Kore, including virtual instruments and plugins, whether from NI or other manufacturers.

Live
Kore can also be useful for live applications. Assigning key ranges is really simple and is done graphically on the Mapping screen.

In addition, each KorePerformance can store different presets, which remember which instruments are active and how the keyboard is split, as well as the configuration of the two mixers.

This way you can create a performance for each song in your set list and, through presets, change the configuration for each part of the song, whether by turning instruments on or off, changing the keyboard layout, varying levels...

Switching between presets doesn't produce noise, and you can even program crossfades between them for smoother transitions. Kore's Live screen offers a summary of the program's status, including the available performances and their presets in a larger-than-usual size, so they can be seen comfortably on stage.

The dark side
The downside of all this is that there are several reports indicating that the system has bugs, both in the audio drivers and in the program itself. Some Kore users reproach NI for releasing a product without testing it enough, and the truth is that I myself have encountered some anomalous behavior. Nor should you expect to take the gear out on a gig shortly after buying it. As with powerful tools, Kore takes a certain amount of time before you can use it fluently.

There are some limitations that could be addressed, such as the fact that only NI effects plugins can be used in the performance mixer, that Kore doesn't support ReWire and therefore applications like Reason are left out of the system, and that DAW parameters can't be assigned to the controls...

However, it should also be pointed out that many other features haven't been discussed in this text for reasons of space, such as the fact that Kore is also a MIDI player, that there's PFL listening, that the program's sound can be output through other interfaces (it accepts Core Audio, ASIO and DirectSound drivers), and that each channel has a MIDI tab where you can select different velocity curves, transposition, etc.

Conclusions
As stated at the beginning of the text, Kore is an innovative proposal. Without a doubt, integrating VST and AU instruments and plugins under a single interface is a great step forward that many users will find extremely useful.

The new KoreSound and KorePerformance formats make it easy to integrate and move complex combinations of sounds efficiently, and the hardware controller gives physical access to all their parameters.

Perhaps one of the things most worth highlighting is that Kore changes the way you think about and create sounds. The system's interface allows combinations of instruments and plugins that were very hard to achieve until now, and this opens up a whole new world of experimentation. Add the database functionality, and you can say that Kore fosters creativity.

Unfortunately, breaking new ground means running into new stumbling blocks, and some users are experiencing bugs on their systems. However, it's also true that many users are working with the system without problems, and that NI is working hard on improving Kore. Hats off to them because, although this product may not yet meet current compatibility standards, Native Instruments continues to invent new ways of creating music.