NI lays off 20% of global workforce and tease new platform [update 14 Sept]

[Guy Rowland]

I may be misunderstanding Daryl, but most theatre shows run on QLab - I definitely wouldn't use Kontakt for that job. (again, sorry if I've got hold of the wrong end of the stick there).

Someone is producing an open source sampler btw - I forget the name now, someone will surely know here. Personally I don't see Kontakt going anywhere for a long time.

[Daryl]

I may be misunderstanding Daryl, but most theatre shows run on QLab..

Not the keyboard players. I need to be able to deliver a score that includes the keyboard parts with samples. The ideal would be to have it all under the hood, but for now, Kontakt is the best bet, as getting a licence is easy and cheap. However, whilst the licence might still exist, there is no guarantee that it will run on new OS, once Kontakt has been discontinued.

Someone is producing an open source sampler btw - I forget the name now, someone will surely know here. Personally I don't see Kontakt going anywhere for a long time.

I would be good to know the details, if you can remember.

[Lawrence]

You mean you need Kontakt for house sound as well as for the players employed by the show?

Edit-I see you answered Guy, but it still seems strange. Freeze the OS, no?

[Guy Rowland]

Daryl - gotya. Its come up a few times in the recent ranty threads on KVR and VI-C I think in the wake of the (now abandoned) decision to terminate old authorisations, but can't find it in a hurry now. I'll let you know if I stumble across it.

[Daryl]

You mean you need Kontakt for house sound as well as for the players employed by the show?

Edit-I see you answered Guy, but it still seems strange. Freeze the OS, no?

The show needs 6 computers. Always dangerous relying on something that is out of date, in my view. For a small home studio, it's not an issue. For a commercial show, it's not a good idea.

[Daryl]

Daryl - gotya. Its come up a few times in the recent ranty threads on KVR and VI-C I think in the wake of the (now abandoned) decision to terminate old authorisations, but can't find it in a hurry now. I'll let you know if I stumble across it.

Thanks.

[Guy Rowland]

I still can't find the thing I was thinking of, which was something being actively developed if I recall (did I hallucinate it?), but the other popular alternates are:

EXS24. Still well loved, but obvs Apple only
Falcon. Highly capable, very well liked but proprietary
Zampler. I don't know much about this to be honest, but its come up a few times - https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... 51-zampler

Not sure how much you'd have to convert in any of these scenarios, but if its a lot it would put me off (unless you have a willing army of assistants of course)

[kpc]

You mean you need Kontakt for house sound as well as for the players employed by the show?

Edit-I see you answered Guy, but it still seems strange. Freeze the OS, no?

The show needs 6 computers. Always dangerous relying on something that is out of date, in my view. For a small home studio, it's not an issue. For a commercial show, it's not a good idea.

Most of the shows I have played are using RMS Keyboards for playing the parts. The other option I know of (I know the aMD for Book of Mormon) - is Apple's MainStage. Only for Apple Products, but I read an article from the MD of Howard Jones - and they run all the key sounds and the light cues on 1 computer running MainStage (with a backup of course).

RMS runs on both Mac and Windows - and it works really well in my experience.

[Daryl]

Most of the shows I have played are using RMS Keyboards for playing the parts. The other option I know of (I know the aMD for Book of Mormon) - is Apple's MainStage. Only for Apple Products, but I read an article from the MD of Howard Jones - and they run all the key sounds and the light cues on 1 computer running MainStage (with a backup of course).

RMS runs on both Mac and Windows - and it works really well in my experience.

Yes, I know what is often done for shows. Without wanting to sound needy, I need something way, way better.

Kontakt (actually hosted in Gig Performer, but it could be Mainstage) does the job well. I am just concerned for the future.

[wst3]

Licensing is the linchpin... and I'm not at all convinced that user licenses will survive if NI does not. Just look at the dustup over the retirement of Service Center.

That said, there were no credible alternatives when Tascam purchased GigaStudio, and Kontakt was still fairly new when Tascam pulled the plug... but we survived, and NI thrived.

If NI were to go away it would be difficult for many, I think we are far more depending on Kontakt than we ever were on GS. But something would appear, heck, something may appear regardless.

I think Darryl's concern is legit, but I'm not sure that there is an easy solution. I know, for example, that several developers are at least exploring HISE. OT and Spitfire have invested in their own engines. It isn't like there is no movement, just that there isn't a lot, and there isn't a community effort... which I think reinforces Darry's concerns.

And I agree completely Darryl - we are far beyond the "go it alone" path.

On the plus side, as an absolute last resort you can render all the MIDI data to audio when push comes to shove. Which hasn't happened yet.

[EvilDragon]

Kontakt is not a dead end. It's company's biggest earner as enabler of most content in Komplete. It's going to be updated for newer operating systems as required. I wouldn't worry. Ultimately you can always freeze the OS, as Guy already said. Or use Windows, because it's gonna work on there for at least 20 more years (can still run Kontakt 1 on latest Windows 10).

(I did some live shows with a W7 laptop and it was no hassle whatsoever. However I do know Windows quite well.)

[Daryl]

Kontakt is not a dead end. It's company's biggest earner as enabler of most content in Komplete. It's going to be updated for newer operating systems as required. I wouldn't worry. Ultimately you can always freeze the OS, as Guy already said. Or use Windows, because it's gonna work on there for at least 20 more years (can still run Kontakt 1 on latest Windows 10).

(I did some live shows with a W7 laptop and it was no hassle whatsoever. However I do know Windows quite well.)

I have already made the decision to stick with Windows, ruling out Mainstage for this very issue, but it is comforting to know that, as long as one can still get licences, it is likely to work on future OS. Thanks for the input everyone.

[EvilDragon]

I think you made a really great decision especially since your goal is being futureproof.