ENGLISH

EASTWEST/QUANTUM LEAP
SYMPHONIC CHOIRS

and

Kompakt Instrument

Operation Manual

Kompakt Instrument
English – 1
 The information in this document is subject to change without notice and
does not represent a commitment on the part of Native Instruments Soft-
ware Synthesis GmbH or East West Sounds, Inc. The software and
sounds described in this document are subject to License Agreements
and may not be copied to other media. No part of this publication may be
copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose,
without prior written permission by Native Instruments Software Synthe-
sis GmbH or East West Sounds, Inc. All product and company names are
™ or ® trademarks of their respective owners.

Operation Manual by Doug Rogers, Nick Phoenix, John Philpit, and Brian
Tester

© East West Sounds, Inc., 2005. All rights reserved.

© Native Instruments Software Synthesis GmbH, 2005. All rights re-
served. Kompakt is a trademark of Native Instruments Software Synthesis
GMBH.

East West Sounds, Inc.

9000 Sunset Blvd., Suite 1550
West Hollywood, CA 90069
USA
1-310-271-6969 voice
1-310-271-6968 fax
info@eastwestsounds.com
www.soundsonline.com

Native Instruments GmbH

Schlesische Str. 28
D-10997 Berlin
Germany
+49 30 6110 35 0 voice
+49 30 6110 35 35 fax
info@native-instruments.de
www.native-instruments.de

Kompakt Instrument
English – 2
 ENGLISH
Table of Contents
Welcome 8

Producer: Doug Rogers 10

Producer: Nick Phoenix 11

Recording Engineer: Prof. Keith O. Johnson 12

Recording Notes 13
Recording Practice 14
Post Production 14
Three-Dimensional Samples 15
One-Dimensional Samples 15

Two Revolutionary Concepts 16

Overview 17
The Samples Library 17
WordBuilder 18
Kompakt 19

Hardware and Software Recommendations 20

Minimum Systems 20
Recommended Systems 20
Supported Software Interfaces 20
MIDI Loopback Connectors 21

Installing Choirs 23

Starting Symphonic Choirs 27

WordBuilder as a Stand-alone Module 28
WordBuilder as a VST MA Plug-in 29
WordBuilder as an MFX Plug-in 30
WordBuilder Running Stand-alone with Logic 30

Kompakt Instrument
English – 3
Using the Choir Samples 32
Using Multis with WordBuilder 32
The Multis in Symphonic Choirs 33
Full Men’s and Full Women’s Choruses 35
Memory Considerations When Choosing Multis 36
The Component Programs 36
Full Chorus, Church 40

Using The Soloist Samples 41

Soloist Files 42

A Tour of the WordBuilder Interface 44

Your Settings 45
The Text Modes 45
Typing English 46
Typing Phonetically 48
The Time Editor 49
The Tools 51

The WordBuilder Menus 53

Using WordBuilder 57
Starting the Program in Stand-alone Mode 58
Starting the Program as a Plug-in 59
Data Flow 59
Setting Velocities for Letters 59
Controlling Segment Transitions 61
Adding New Words and New Pronunciations 62
Soloing a Word 63
How WordBuilder Learns Timings 63
Draw Only Mode 65
Whether to Use “Learning” 66
Making Changes to “Learned” Text 67
Other Ways to Adjust Timings 67
Resetting the Syllable Cursor 68
Using Built-in Cross-Fades 69
Other Envelopes 71
Note Volume 71

Kompakt Instrument
English – 4
 ENGLISH
The WordBuilder Options Dialogs 72
The General Tab 72
The Timers Tab 72
The Voices Default Tab 74
Default Voice Properties Dialog Box 74
Default Voice Advanced Midi In 75
Default Voice Advanced Midi Out 76
The Events Tab 77

The Phonetic Alphabets 79

Lists of The Phonetic Symbols 79
Comparison Table: English Vowels 80
Comparison Table: Latin Vowels 81

Playing Music with Symphonic Choirs 82

Programs and Multis 82
The Choir Multis 82
The Choir Programs 83
Full SATB Choirs: 3 Approaches 83
The Soloist Multis 84
Cross-Fades and the Modulation Wheel 85
Segment Transitions and Keyswitches 86
Volume, Velocity, and Expression 87
MIDI Envelopes and Control Data 89
Release Trails 90
Panning 91

Understanding DFD 92
The Basics 92
Sizing Considerations 93

The 3 Mic Positions 96

Reverb Control 99
Some Sound Advice 99

Various Ways to Combine the Samples 101

Using C and S Mics Sparingly 101
Blending All Three Mics 101
Go for the Intimate—or the Expansive—Sound 101
Beyond the Panning Controls 102

Kompakt Instrument
English – 5
Surround Sound Samples 103
Stereo Mixing 103
Surround Sound Mixing 103

Notes from the Producers 105

Hints 105

Credits 108

Product Authorization 109

What is the Product Authorization? 109
Conducting the Product Authorization 110
Registration support 115

Installation under Windows 116

System Requirements and Recommendations 116
Software Installation 117
DXi 2 Plug-in Setup 118

Installation under Mac OS X 119

System Requirements and Recommendations 119

Audio Interfaces 121

Stand-alone Application 121
Plug-In 122

KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT as Plug-in 125

VST 2.0 Plug-in 125
DXi 2 Plug-in 129
RTAS 130

KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT Stand-alone Version 131

KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT Architecture 134

Kompakt Instrument Interface 135

The Multi Instrument Section 136

Options Menu 139

General Options 139

Kompakt Instrument
English – 6
 ENGLISH
Group Edit 141
Group Amp 141

The Instrument Section 142

Sampler 142
Filter 142
Instrument Amp 144

The Modulation Section 145

Envelopes 145
Volume Envelope 145
Filter Envelope 146
Free Envelope 146
LFOs 147

The Effects Section 149

Reverb 149
Chorus 150
Delay 150
Master Filter 151

Index 153

Kompakt Instrument
English – 7
Welcome
The EASTWEST / QUANTUM LEAP SYMPHONIC CHOIRS virtual
instrument is the result of years of planning, scoring, recording,
editing, and programming by over 100 creative professionals. Our
goal was to create a Symphonic Choirs virtual instrument that
would blend perfectly with the multiple-Award-Winning EAST-
WEST / QUANTUM LEAP SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA—and could
be reproduced in surround sound—recorded where choirs and or-
chestras sound most natural, in a “state of the art” concert hall.
First, we had to find the right team to execute the plan. To cap-
ture the sounds, we needed someone with an impressive history of
recording choirs and orchestras live. The answer was Prof. Keith
O. Johnson. His 90-plus recordings have long been considered
the standard for high fidelity, and include two GRAMMY award-
winners and eight additional GRAMMY nominations. All of the re-
cording equipment used in the project was either hand-built or ex-
tensively modified by him to optimize fidelity. Prof. Keith O.
Johnson had previously recorded EASTWEST / QUANTUM LEAP
SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA, so it was an obvious choice.
Next, we had to find the right concert hall in which to record
EWQLSC. Fortunately, his experience was invaluable here as well.
He had recorded in most of the “critically acclaimed” concert
halls throughout the world, and had a short list of favorites. After
the success of EWQLSO we decided to use the same concert hall
to record EWQLSC.
After the recording was completed, the post-production team was
put to work, which included some of the finest sound designers
and programmers in the business. Special software was developed
to edit the multiple tracks simultaneously, and keep them in
phase. An advanced version of our revolutionary WordBuilder™
software for both PC and MAC was developed specially for
EWQLSC. Nearly a year of post-production was necessary to
achieve the final result—a result we are all extremely proud of.
We hope you enjoy EWQLSC as much as we do—and we would
love to hear what you create with it. Explore the many sections of
this Guide, especially the section on the WordBuilder™ software

Kompakt Instrument
English – 8
 ENGLISH
where we expect you will spend most of your time, and use it to
spark the endless creative possibilities of this ground-breaking
virtual instrument!
— Producers DOUG ROGERS and NICK PHOENIX

Kompakt Instrument
English – 9
Producer: Doug Rogers

Doug Rogers

Doug Rogers has over 27 years experience in the audio industry,

and is the recipient of many recording industry awards including
“Recording Engineer of the Year.” In 2005, “The Art of Digital
Music” named him one of “56 Visionary Artists & Insiders” in the
book of the same name. In 1988, he founded EASTWEST, the
most critically acclaimed sound developer in the world, and recip-
ient of over 40 industry awards, more than any other sound devel-
oper. His uncompromising approach to quality, and his innovative
ideas have enabled his company to lead the soundware business
for 17 years. In the late eighties, he released the first commercial
drum sample CD, and followed it with the multiple-award-winning
“Bob Clearmountain Drums.” His last production Symphonic Or-
chestra, was awarded a Keyboard Magazine “Key Buy Award,” EQ
Magazine “Exceptional Quality Award,” Computer Music Maga-
zine “Performance Award,” and G.A.N.G. (Game Audio Network
Guild) “Best Sound Library Award”, plus endorsements from the
Who’s Who of the music industry. He persuaded audio legend
Prof. Keith O. Johnson to record EWQLSO and EWQLSC, and
came up with the revolutionary idea of recording all instruments
and voices with 3 simultaneous stereo mic setups so users can
control the tone of the performances and the acoustics of the con-
cert hall, as well as create surround sound mixes.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 10
 ENGLISH
Producer: Nick Phoenix

Nick Phoenix

Nick Phoenix is a Los Angeles-based composer. He founded

Quantum Leap Productions in 1997 to fulfill his needs as a work-
ing composer. Surprisingly, this is quite unique in the sound de-
sign business. He has produced all of Quantum Leap’s AWARD-
WINNING sound libraries (QL Guitar & Bass, QL Brass, QL Rare
Instruments, QL Voices of the Apocalypse, QL 56 Stratocaster, QL
Hardcore Bass, QL Stormdrum, QL RA, and QL Colossus) with the
exception of EWQLSO and EWQLSC, which he produced with
Doug Rogers. His composing credits include television series for
Fox, NBC, CBS, Disney, and the History Channel. Nick recently
completed the first season of Nightmare on Elm Street Real
Nightmares for CBS. He is also responsible for music in over 600
film trailers. Some recent examples are: War of the Worlds, King-
dom of Heaven, Matrix Reloaded, Minority Report, Spider-Man 2,
Sahara, Lord of the Rings Return of the King, Harry Potter 3,
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Island, Miss Congeniality 2,
Bruce Almighty, Bewitched, The Ring 2, Fantastic Four, and
Madagascar. His composition skills, real world experience produc-
ing top sound tracks for film and television, technical ability, in-
novative programming ideas, and energy, proved to be an
invaluable contribution to the team.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 11
Recording Engineer: Prof. Keith O. Johnson

Prof. Keith O. Johnson

Prof. Keith O. Johnson has spent over 30 years developing a rep-

utation for innovative thinking, technical achievement and musi-
cianship which has elevated him to a position in the audio
industry occupied by only a handful of visionaries. His intensive
investigation of electronic behavior and acoustic perception have
led most recently to his development (with digital engineer
Michael Pflaumer) of the revolutionary High Definition Compati-
ble Digital encoding process, produced and marketed by Pacific
Microsonics (recently acquired by Microsoft). HDCD is widely con-
sidered to be the most accurate recording process ever invented.
His 90-plus recordings have long been considered the standard
for high fidelity, and include two GRAMMY award-winners and
eight additional GRAMMY nominations.
SOME REVIEWS OF HIS RECORDINGS: “How Johnson got that
huge climax at the end of the Dances cleanly onto tape tran-
scends engineering and goes into the realm of magic.” -- Harry
Pearson, THE ABSOLUTE SOUND. “Keith Johnson’s engineering,
mastering and production have, in this case, produced the finest
orchestral recording I have ever heard...” -- Russell Lichter,
SOUNDSTAGE

Kompakt Instrument
English – 12
 ENGLISH
Recording Notes
EWQLSC is a sample library that can produce full multichannel
sound like that from a good recording session in a concert hall.
The user can manipulate multichannel files within each sample to
move a section of the choir, create fully diffused or highly focused
sound, as well as offstage effects that have the same acoustic
character as having microphones on stage and mixing them.
Each choir sample contains high-resolution components recorded
in a good concert hall from microphone groups placed to achieve
close, full, and ambient sound. Microphone placement is mod-
eled after traditional Decca setups. The choir and soloists are
placed on stage as they would perform, so that signals from these
microphone groups can be mixed and have the general technical
feel and acoustic properties of a live session.
In addition, the placement of the choir correlates with the orches-
tral instruments recorded for EWQLSO, achieving a unified choral
and orchestral mix when the two libraries are used together. Con-
sistent microphone placement for the two sets of samples allows
them to work together perfectly whether building stereo or sur-
round sound recordings.
Much post-production work and active DSP is mandatory to align
the multiple time-phase paths from all of the sample groups. In
addition, a large concert space was required to avoid claustropho-
bic wall sounds and to capture the choir sound we hear at an ap-
propriate distance. These ultimately achieve overall mix clarity.
To provide process headroom for this work, a super resolution re-
cording chain was used. FM microphone responses extended to at
least 26 kHz, all signal paths had minimal discrete circuit elec-
tronics, and conversions and files were at least 24-bit, 88.2kHz.
(We also recorded everything at 176.4kHz for future updates).
Hence the Gigabytes of data needed to access the sounds of in-
struments from different angles, placements and distances. The
six-channel high-resolution files containing close, full and rever-
berant feeds can produce a real 3D orchestral sense like that from
a good recording. To do this, simplified user commands or pre-
setable instrument placements replace outmoded pan and gain
controls functions. The new controls make complex adjustment of

Kompakt Instrument
English – 13
 direct-to-reflected sound, time-phase relationships, and equaliza-
tions to track a section’s placement. In this manner, a section can
be accented within the whole choir, brought forward in the mix, or
moved off stage and the acoustic sound will correlate.

Recording Practice
A good recording setup often requires a close mic accent pickup
to assist the ear in focusing on an important phrase in the poly-
phonic mix. Once used, the accent is often removed, as only a few
of these spots are effective at any one time. Sometimes, a rever-
beration pickup is added or increased to restore a correct sense of
hall response to instrumental and choral power. Generally a good
recording setup for a concert hall has accent capability and will
be much like early big sound Decca setups: omni- or non-direc-
tional pickups at front; a center tree, often of directional micro-
phones; several close placed accents; and a hall sound
microphone group. Combinations of phase interferences, sonic
bleeds to microphones, time arrivals, and special energy convey a
“best seat” perceptual experience even though the microphones
are much closer to the performers than is the listener in the hall.
The sense of vocal directionality and its effect on stage and hall
sound is evident.

Post Production
The EWQLSO and EWQLSC samples originate from this Decca
setup. The user can manipulate or mix file perspectives to work a
composing project with the same mix capability as are available in
most soundstage and classical recordings. Microphone pickups
are selectable, allowing the user to mix and create a complex full
sounding performance. External equalization adjustments can
make soloists be very soft yet have pinpoint resolution in a lush
full ensemble. Offstage singers can sound diffuse and merge into
5-channel surrounds without creating distraction. Stereo accents
with time-phase control can extend near field images beyond the
speakers, a useful effect for computers and gaming.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 14
 ENGLISH
Three-Dimensional Samples
Three file groups operate in conjunction for each choral section,
soloist, or sample. They provide:
• a full soundstage
• a close, focused sound
• the hall response
All three pickup signals are synchronized to the choir’s position
for correct time-phase arrival, as well as pre-equalized so they will
fit into a traditional large-scale mix, with both other sections and
instruments from EWQLSO. In this manner, other preset synchro-
nization and mix variations can be made to modify the placement
of a section or soloist within the full sound of all choral parts and
instruments. Such automatic options are not only convenient but
they perform very well and reduce processing requirements to
help allocate computer resources to create the complex real
sound of a good recording.

One-Dimensional Samples
Note that a one-dimensional sample, even with extensive elec-
tronic support, doesn’t create the varying spatial energy relation-
ships that occur when singers sing different notes. The reflected
sounds from all the surfaces of a concert hall mix audibly in a
good space to provide the whole listening experience. Small room
and anechoic samples lack this complexity, a serious problem
when attempting concert hall reality. Convincingly complex—and
therefore, realistic—sound radiation cannot be achieved with cur-
rent sound processing software; the EWQLSC sample library was
made in a big space, where multiple paths for reflections achieve
the sense of space appropriate to a concert hall.
— PROF. KEITH O. JOHNSON

Kompakt Instrument
English – 15
Two Revolutionary Concepts
The first of these revolutions actually began with the companion
library, EASTWEST / QUANTUM LEAP SYMPHONIC ORCHES-
TRA, but bears repeating here: the recording of 3 microphone po-
sitions to achieve concert hall realism unparalleled in sampled
orchestras. This feature is described in detail starting on page 96.
The second revolution, unveiled with EASTWEST / QUANTUM
LEAP SYMPHONIC CHOIRS, is WordBuilder, an application that
lets the composer type sentences that the choirs sing. A large part
of this manual is devoted to various aspect of WordBuilder, start-
ing with a tour of the program on page 44, and continuing with an
in-depth look at how to use the application starting on page 57.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 16
 ENGLISH
Overview
The EASTWEST / QUANTUM LEAP SYMPHONIC CHOIRS is a
revolutionary advancement in the ability to use sampling technol-
ogy to create realistic choral tracks for live performances and
studio recordings. It goes far, far beyond the “ooh” and “aah”
sounds of many of the earlier choral sample libraries.
The Symphonic Choirs package consists of three parts:
• the samples of live choirs and soloists singing the various
sounds of sung speech
• WordBuilder,™ a software program that allows the user to
write out the words that the virtual choir is to sing and map
those words to the various sung samples at the correct
pitches.
• Kompakt, an instrument from Native Instruments that turns
the digital samples into continuous digital audio and allows
the user to control parameters that affect the playback of the
samples.
These three components work together seamlessly to provide a
single tool for creating and editing virtual choral performances.

The Samples Library

Five choir sections have been sampled to provide the full spec-
trum of the most common vocal ranges:
• Soprano section
• Alto section
• Tenor section
• Bass section
• Boys choir
The four adult sections also have range-limited versions that allow
you to create a women’s chorus and a men’s chorus with a wider
range than any section on its own. For example, you can send a
vocal line to both sopranos and altos without the risk of doubling
where the two natural ranges overlap.
And a full church choir with a range of more than 5 octaves is also
available when you need to quickly generate that SATB sound for
mock-ups or background use.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 17
 The library also includes soloist samples. Note that these samples
are not designed to work with WordBuilder. Instead, EWQLSC pro-
vides individual “instrument” files for each consonant, vowel, and
some vocal effect.
Three soloists have been sampled:
• Solo soprano
• Solo alto
• Solo boy soprano
These solo voices are used quite differently from the choral sec-
tions. See details later in this manual.
These samples were recorded in the same hall, and with the same
recording engineers and equipment as the EASTWEST / QUAN-
TUM LEAP SYMPHONIC ORCHESTRA. Therefore, SYMPHONIC
CHOIR blends perfectly with the samples in this earlier title. It
has all the same technical characteristics as the Platinum Edition
of that library: 24-bit samples, amplitude-matched release trails,
and phase-matched recordings from 3 separate mic positions.
For a further discussion of the sample libraries, see page 32.

WordBuilder
This software tool is the primary interface for constructing a cho-
ral performance. It is here that the composer or recording engi-
neer literally spells out the words that the choir sings and
specifies the fine details of the performance. The user is given
complete control over how long the choir holds each consonant
and vowel as well as the constantly changing dynamics that can
give a choral track added realism (if that’s the goal). Or the user
can accept the default settings and get less polished but faster re-
sults, perhaps for a preliminary mock-up.
When setting English words, one has a choice of typing the text
with:
1 standard spelling
2 an easy-to-learn phonetic alphabet
3 Votox, a phonetic alphabet that EastWest / Quantum Leap
created specifically to match WordBuilder’s sung speech
components

Kompakt Instrument
English – 18
 ENGLISH
WordBuilder includes a 100,000-word dictionary (from CMU) for
translating American English spelling to phonetic spelling. When
typing with one of the phonetic alphabets listed in items 2 and 3
above, the symbols are listed on the screen to assist the memory.
When setting text in languages other than English, or with
pseudo-words, like “be-bop-a-doo,” one must specify the sounds
in one of the two phonetic alphabets listed as 2 and 3 above.
WordBuilder runs in either of two modes. As a plug-in it is hosted
in another program, usually a sequencer. As a stand-alone module
it runs on its own, having equal status with the other programs
with which it communicates. The choice of which mode to use de-
pends on factors discussed later in this manual.

Kompakt
This sample player listens for MIDI events and converts the digital
data of the various samples into the continuous digital output of
the EWQLSC voices. In its graphical interface one can specify
which sample files to load into the computer’s memory and what
extra processing to perform on the samples (if any).
This is not a general purpose sample player; it only plays the
EWQLSC samples.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 19
Hardware and Software Recommendations
Listed here are the system requirements for WordBuilder plus
the Symphonic Choirs samples, programs, and multis. Require-
ments for the Kompakt instrument are listed separately, starting
on page 116 for PCs running Windows and page 119 for the Mac
OS.

Minimum Systems
Windows PC: Windows XP, Pentium III or Athlon 1 GHz, 512 MB
RAM, DVD drive
Macintosh: MAC OSX 10.3, G4 800 MHz, 512 MB RAM, DVD
drive
Both: The Symphonic Choir samples require 38 GB of free space
on the hard drive.

Recommended Systems
Windows: Windows XP, Pentium IV or Athlon 3 GHz, 2 GB RAM,
DVD drive
Macintosh: MAC OSX 10.3 or higher, G5 1.8 GHz, 2 GB RAM,
DVD drive
The EASTWEST / QUANTUM LEAP SYMPHONIC CHOIRS is very
demanding of the computer’s resources. Some sample sets re-
quire more processing and more RAM than others. A general rec-
ommendation is to run this program on the most capable
computer—or computers—available to you.

Supported Software Interfaces

The requirements for Kompakt start on page 116 for Windows
PCs, and on page 119 for the Macintosh. The requirements be-
low are specifically for WordBuilder.
Sonar 4.0.3 or higher: MFX version of WordBuilder plug-in in Win-
dows XP only.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 20
 ENGLISH
Cubase/Nuendo versions 2/3: VST-MA version of WordBuilder
plug-in, in Windows XP or Mac OS X, 10.3.

MIDI Loopback Connectors

When physical MIDI devices communicate,
they do so through hardware cables. And
when an external physical device, such as a
keyboard controller, sends data to its com-
puter, it also uses a cable, typically a MIDI
cable, though nowadays USB and FireWire
cables can also carry the required data. But
when the two devices are “virtual”—that is,
they are computer programs acting like
more traditional MIDI boxes—you cannot
run a cable from one program to another
program inside the same computer.
Instead of running a MIDI cable from your
computer’s MIDI Out port back to the MIDI
In port, you need what’s called a Loopback
Connector. This is a software driver that ex-
poses several ports. Each port can be con-
nected to a MIDI In or MIDI Out within a
program that knows how to talk MIDI—for
example, Kompakt, a sequencer, or Word-
Builder.
Think of a Loopback Connector as a set of
“virtual cables.” Consider one that exposes
multiple MIDI In ports and MIDI Out ports.
Connect the same-numbered In and Out
ports between a program that sends data
and one that receives it, and you have a way
for them to communicate.
On the Apple Macintosh, a Loopback Connector is already part of
WordBuilder, and the ports appear in dropdown lists that ask for
MIDI In and Out connections.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 21
 On a Windows PC, you have to obtain one. There are many to
choose from. Some are a free download; others are commercial
versions with extra features. One of the recommended free drivers
is “Maple Virtual MIDI Cable,” available for download at
www.marblesound.com. Some other suggestions are:
• MIDI Yoke
• Musiclab’s MidiOverLan (commercial and which also works
between separate computers, including PCs to/from MACs)
• Hubi’s MIDI Driver
Make sure you obtain one that works within the operating system
you intend to use.
With the MapleMIDI installed, the choices
for a MIDI Out connection might look some-
thing like the dropdown list at the left. The
four choices with “Maple” in them are the
ends of four virtual cables. If you select Out
Port 3 in WordBuilder, for example, then select In Port 3 in Kom-
pakt to make the connection. The following diagram shows where
to do that in Kompakt. Choose Setup from the File menu and
click on the MIDI button at the top of the window. Click on the
“off” to the right of “Port 3” to turn it “on,” and also turn “off”
any other selection that was “on.”

When using WordBuilder as a plug-in within a host program,

there’s no need for a Loopback Connector; the plug-in’s interface,
such as VST MA or MFX, handles the MIDI data. When you run
WordBuilder as a stand-alone program, the Loopback Connector is
usually the best way to connect the programs together.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 22
 ENGLISH
Installing Choirs
A complete installation of EASTWEST / QUANTUM LEAP SYM-
PHONIC CHOIRS comprises several steps:
1 planning where you’re going to install the various
components
2 installing the software
3 copying the sample files from the DVDs to your hard drive(s)
4 upgrading the software to the latest version
5 upgrading the sound library to the latest version
6 authorizing the software
These steps need to be done in order, and the instructions fol-
lowed carefully.
1. Planning: Making decisions in advance about where to copy the
various components—specifically, the software and the sound li-
braries—can save you the hassle of having to move components
later.
EWQLSC works best when the Kompakt and WordBuilder software
are installed on a separate hard drive from the sample library, but
for smaller setups that may not be necessary. Take a realistic as-
sessment of the complexity of the scores you intend to write, not
only in the choral parts but instrumental libraries you may already
own or are planning to acquire. Are there usually under a dozen
tracks in your sequencer, or do you tend to write for large ensem-
bles? Also consider how fast your computer and hard drive are: If
you have a 10,000 RPM drive and a very fast processor, then you
may have more leeway in how large your projects can grow before
you need to separate the software and the sample libraries onto
separate drives, or even separate computers.
So, the first decision is often what media you want to copy files
to. The files can be moved later if you need to, but it’s always best
to get it right the first time. Whatever your arrangement, the goal
is to keep the load on each processor within bounds. How much
each computer can handle is a function not only of its clock
speed, but also the amount of RAM and the speed of its hard
drive.
2. Installing: Once you know where everything is going to be in-
stalled, you’re ready to start running the installation software.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 23
 Load the first DVD into a DVD drive on the computer where you’re
going to load this library. Open this drive on the screen so you can
see the files and folders in it.
Read the “ReadMe” file, if any, for any recent changes to the in-
stallation procedures.
Run the file whose name ends in “Setup.exe” by double-clicking
on it. A Welcome Screen appears. Follow the directions that lead
you through the setup. You will need the serial number on the
back of the card sleeve that contain the DVDs. (Note that Word-
Builder and Kompakt have separate serial numbers. Take care not
to confuse them.) When asked which components you want to in-
stall, unless you’re an advanced user with a reason not to install
all of them, leave all the components checked. When asked for
the locations in which to install the various components, enter the
paths to folders on the hard drive you chose in step 1 above.
At the end of this series of screens, several things will happen, in-
cluding:
• The Kompakt program for the library will be installed.
• A directory (folder on your hard drive) will be created and
two subdirectories, “Instruments” and “Multis,” will be
added.
3. Copying the Sample Files: The previous step has added to your
hard drive the definitions of the Instruments and Multis, but the
files containing the actual samples have not been copied. That
process has to be done manually.
There are a few large files with extensions of “.nks” on the DVD
already in your drive. Copy these files to the same folder that con-
tains the subfolders “Instruments” and “Multis.”
When those files have been cop-
ied, continue by placing the next
numbered DVD in the drive and
copying any “.nks” files to the
same directory on the hard drive.
At the end, the directory listing
should start something like this
figure; the exact details may be
different.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 24
 ENGLISH
4. Upgrading the Software: Changes may have been made to the
software and to the instruments and multis after the DVDs were
created. The next step is to update the software to the latest ver-
sion from the SoundsOnline web site. (If your DAW—short for Dig-
ital Audio Workstation—is not directly connected to the Internet,
you can download the files on another computer and then copy
the files to your DAW.)
Direct your Internet browser to
www.soundsonline.com/techsupport.shtml
and click on the link for EWQLSC. Scroll down to find the OS-spe-
cific instructions for updating the Kompakt software. There are
different sections depending on whether you’re running on a Mi-
crosoft Windows PC or an Apple Macintosh.
Note that the details of this section can change when new ver-
sions are posted. Follow the directions on this web page carefully.
Some of the downloads about upgrading Kompakt are accom-
plished at the Native Instruments web site. (NI is the author of
the Kompakt instrument.) Before you can download there, you will
need to register as a licensed user of NI software. Use the regis-
tration application inside the product folder which is in the East
West folder. Click Register Now and follow the directions. If your
computer is not online then use the Save Registration File and
copy the saved file to the computer you have online and register
from this file. (That file contains the other computer’s System ID
and the product serial number). If you do not have any Internet
access then you will have to mail or fax the information requested
in the registration application.
At the Kompakt web site, there are two parts of the software that
need to be updated:
• The Kompakt software may have been improved. Click on
the link; it will direct you to a page at the native-instru-
ments.de web site. Make sure you select the correct operat-
ing system. Download the file. If given a choice of opening
or saving the file, choose “Save”; select an appropriate tem-
porary folder. When the download is finished, go to that
folder. If necessary, extract the contents of the compressed
file. Run the downloaded program.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 25
 • The DFD extensions also need to be updated. (If you have
already downloaded the DFD extension because you’re run-
ning EWQLSO on the same computer, then this step is not
necessary.) Click on the link to download the .zip file (Win-
dows) or .sit file (Mac). If given a choice of opening or saving
the file, choose “Save”; select an appropriate temporary
folder. When the download is finished, go to that folder and
extract the contents of the compressed file. Run the setup
program after it has been decompressed.
Also look on the SoundsOnline.com web page to see whether
WordBuilder requires upgrading. If so, follow the directions.
5. Upgrading the Instruments: From time to time, EastWest / Quan-
tum Leap may modify the “Instruments” and “Multis.” Such
changes may not affect the large .nks sample files you copied
manually from the DVDs. Only the .nki files in the “Instrument”
folder and the .nkm files in the “Multis” folder might be affected.
Go back to the page at SoundsOnline.com that lists all available
updates to the edition being installed. There you may see a sec-
tion for “EWQLSC ‘Sound Library’ Updates.” Click on the link,
downloading the zip file. This compressed file contain replace-
ment folders for “Instruments” and “Multis.”
It’s prudent to save the folders originally created from the DVDs
before replacing them. Create a “EWQLSC Backup” directory
somewhere, then copy the folders for “Instruments” and “Multis”
to the backup folder you just created.
Then, in the folder where you’re installing the sample libraries, re-
place the two folders (“Instruments” and “Multis”) with the corre-
sponding directories in the compressed file.
6. Authorizing the software: You will be able to play the libraries as
soon as you finish all the previous steps, but not for long. After 14
days, you will no longer be able to open Kompakt unless you have
authorized your use by registering your license with Native Instru-
ments. See the instructions starting on page 109 for complete in-
structions of how to do this step.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 26
 ENGLISH
Starting Symphonic Choirs
After installing EWQLSC, you are ready to run it. Assuming you
are planning to use WordBuilder, you need to follow the instruc-
tions below carefully. To let the various components work together
and communicate with each other, they must be set up compati-
bly.
WordBuilder makes EASTWEST / QUANTUM LEAP SYMPHONIC
CHOIRS different from most other sample players in that there’s
an extra stage in the MIDI-processing data flow. Two modules
work together inside the sequencer: WordBuilder and Kompakt.
WordBuilder intercepts the MIDI data from the sequencer and
sends new MIDI data based on syllables and letters to the Kom-
pakt sample player. Not all music-generating hosts support this
architecture.
Note that it is possible to play some of the samples without run-
ning WordBuilder. You can load the EWQLSC Kompakt instru-
ment as you would any other sample player, but in doing so, you
lose the most powerful and revolutionary features in this package.
In this case, follow the instructions provided by the authors of
your sequencer describing how to load a plug-in. You then have
access to the component sounds—the vowels and consonants—
but not the ability to type in words for the singers to sing.
The rest of this section describes the three configurations that al-
low the sequencer/keyboard and WordBuilder and Kompakt to
communicate. They differ in which version of WordBuilder you
use:
• Stand-alone: this setup can be used in both Windows and
Mac OSX, and it works with any sequencer/keyboard that
can send MIDI signals on a specified channel and port. In
most configurations MIDI loop connectors are required.
• VST MA plug-in: this setup works in Cubase/Nuendo versions
2 and 3 on both Windows and Mac OSX. VST MA (for VST
Module Architecture) is not the same as VST.
• MFX plug-in: this setup works in Sonar 4 on Windows.
The stand-alone approach works whether or not your sequencer—
or other music-writing program—supports one of the plug-in for-
mats discussed below. Music notation programs, such as Sibelius

Kompakt Instrument
English – 27
 and Finale, do not support plug-ins (at least not at the time this
manual is being written). They need to use WordBuilder and Kom-
pakt as stand-alone modules.
For sequencer hosts that do support plug-ins, the sequencer
needs to host two programs: WordBuilder and Kompakt. The se-
quencers mentioned below have been tested using the plug-in ar-
chitectures described. If your sequencer is not mentioned here,
then you can always take the stand-alone route, but also check
with EastWest and on their online forum at
www.soundsonline-forums.com
to see whether other options have been tested after this manual
was printed.

WordBuilder as a Stand-alone Module

Start your sequencer (if not using a keyboard in real time), Word-
Builder, and Symphonic Choirs Kompakt, each as its own pro-
gram. Use a MIDI loopback connector, a sort of virtual MIDI
cable inside your computer, to create a port between the se-
quencer and WordBuilder, and a separate port between Word-
Builder and Kompakt. See a description of loopback connectors
on page 21.
For example, using a sequencer, you can connect the components
as follows. This setup provides the required MIDI data flow from
sequencer to WordBuilder to Kompakt.

Connections, with a sequencer

Sequencer MIDI track Port 1 Out
WordBuilder MIDI In port Port 1 In
WordBuilder MIDI Out port Port 2 Out
EWQLSC Kompakt Input Interface Port 2 In

When using a keyboard, you

need only one port on the loop-
back connector. The keyboard
exposes a connector that ap-
pears in the dropdown list in
the dialog that opens when WordBuilder starts.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 28
 ENGLISH
Here are the connections you need to make when driving Word-
Builder from a keyboard:

Connections, with a keyboard

WordBuilder MIDI In port Keyboard In
WordBuilder MIDI Out port Port 1 Out
EWQLSC Kompakt Input Interface Port 1 In

WordBuilder as a VST MA Plug-in

First, go to the Key Commands option in the
File menu. In the dialog box that opens,
choose the Clear All preset to disable the Cu-
base/Nuendo shortcuts.
In the MIDI track where you want to run Word-
Builder, click on one of the Insert Slots where
to want to insert the plug-in.

If you have installed the WordBuilder plug-in correctly, you can

select “WordBuilder [VST].”

Kompakt Instrument
English – 29
 Then choose VST Instruments from the Devices menu. In the VST
Instruments dialog, click on an instrument slot and choose “Sym-
phonic Choirs VST.” Then select “Symphonic Choirs VST” as your
MIDI Output. A picture of the two plug-ins inserted in the host ap-
pears below.

WordBuilder as an MFX Plug-in

Inside Sonar, right-click in the Effects Bin of a MIDI track. If
WordBuilder has been installed correctly, then it should appear
in the context menu. Insert the Kompakt player in the Sonar
Synth Rack, and load it into the MIDI Out port of the same track.
The picture below shows the Kompakt “Symphonic ChoirsVST”
already in the Out port and the WordBuilder MFX being inserted
into the Effects Bin.

WordBuilder Running Stand-alone with Logic

The following steps allow you to run EWQLSC with Logic:
1 In WordBuilder, route a voice to and from virtual WordBuilder
ports 1 and 2 (in and out).

Kompakt Instrument
English – 30
 ENGLISH
2 Open a new song in Logic. Go to the Environment window and
select the Click and Ports environment page. There you will
see the physical and virtual ports available on the system
(including the two WordBuilder virtual ports). You will also
see here a Sum cable from the Physical Input ports going to a
series of objects which lead eventually to an object called
Sequencer Input. Remove this virtual cable from the
environment, by clicking on the cable to highlight it and hit
the Delete key. (Not doing this step causes a MIDI loop.)
3 Create a new cable from your Master Keyboard’s port (usually
port A or B) in the Physical Input object, and connect to the
Input Notes object—it looks like a keyboard—or where the
Sum cable was before you deleted it.
4 Create a MIDI Instrument object and name it “Sopranos” (or
whatever). Go to the arrange page and go to a MIDI track.
Choose Sopranos from the popdown menu. Because you
created it in the Click and Ports environment you will see it in
the Clicks and Ports menu. With this track selected, you see
the track information on the left side of the Arrange window.
Set the port to WordBuilder 1, channel 1. In WordBuilder,
make sure Sopranos is also on channel 1.
5 From the Mixer environment window, select the channel
where you have Kompakt open and copy it into the clipboard.
Go to the Clicks and Ports environment page and paste the
channel into the page.
6 Draw a cable from the Physical Input port splitter where it says
“Virtual WordBuilder Port 1.” Connect this cable to the
Kompakt instrument. Make sure Kompakt is set to receive on
all channels. Set up Sopranos on channels 1–5.
7 Create more MIDI instruments as above, sent to ports:
“Virtual WordBuilder Port 1” on MIDI channels 2, 3, 4, 5.
Label them accordingly.
8 When selecting these different instruments, Logic sends data
to WordBuilder on these channels via Virtual WordBuilder
Port 1, and receives the channelized data back on Port 1,
which is cabled directly to the Kompakt player.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 31
Using the Choir Samples
This section deals only with choir samples, not those of the solo-
ists. For details of how to use the solo samples, see that section of
the Guide, starting on page 41.

Using Multis with WordBuilder

To accommodate the large number of separate phonetic sounds
associated with each note of the scale, a single section uses 5
sets of samples in a single collection known as a multi. Certain
rules must be followed to let WordBuilder work properly:
• You must load the entire multi into an instance of Kompakt.
Loading individual instruments will not work.
• The loaded multi must match the voice type specified in
WordBuilder. For example, if you load an “Altos” multi, you
must also set the instance of WordBuilder to “Altos.”
Following these rules guarantees that when you request a “z”
sound on the note E3, that’s what you get.
The tables below list the multis (.nkm files) for the “full” mics,
hence the letter F at the beginning of each patch name. The
“close” mics and “surround” mics use the same names, but with
C or S at the beginning. See the section on the 3 mic positions,
starting on page 96, for more detail about how to use them.
Each of the multis (except Boy Sopranos) provides a choice
among 4 separate articulations:
• normal: a natural attack
• legato: a fast, smooth attack
• staccato: short, level-3 velocity
• slurred: subtle and quick sliding up to the pitch
These articulations are selected in the WordBuilder UI. Because
they can be set for individual phonetic elements, this parameter
is set in the “Letter” section. The setting for “ks” (keyswitch) con-
trols the attack; “v” affects the velocity.
The Boys multis contain only 2 articulations:
• normal: a natural attack
• legato: a fast, smooth attack

Kompakt Instrument
English – 32
 ENGLISH
The Multis in Symphonic Choirs
The following tables list the names of the multis and a brief de-
scription of their sounds. The names that include “HRD MOD”
and “SFT MOD” warrant further explanation than what fits in the
tables:
• “HRD MOD” multis are a 2-way dynamic cross-fade between
medium volume, medium vibrato samples and loud, heavy
vibrato samples.
• “SFT MOD” multis are a 2-way dynamic cross-fade between
soft volume, non-vibrato samples and medium volume,
medium vibrato samples.

Sopranos
F SOPR WB DYN MOD 3-way Mod Wheel cross-fade
F SOPR WB DYN MOD N same as above, but normal attack only; memory-saving
F SOPR WB HRD MOD 2-way vibrato Mod Wheel cross-fade
F SOPR WB HRD MOD R same as above, but range-limited to create Women’s Choir
F SOPR WB SFT MOD 2-way non-vibrato/vibrato Mod Wheel cross-fade
F SOPR WB SFT MOD R same as above, but range-limited to create Women’s Choir
F SOPR WB NV non-vibrato
F SOPR WB VBF vibrato, forte
F SOPR WB VBM vibrato, medium

Altos
F ALTO WB DYN MOD 3-way Mod Wheel cross-fade
F ALTO WB DYN MOD N same as above, but normal attack only; memory-saving
F ALTO WB HRD MOD 2-way vibrato Mod Wheel cross-fade
F ALTO WB HRD MOD R same as above, but range-limited to create Women’s Choir

Kompakt Instrument
English – 33
 Altos
F ALTO WB SFT MOD 2-way non-vibrato/vibrato Mod Wheel cross-fade
F ALTO WB SFT MOD R same as above, but range-limited to create Women’s Choir
F ALTO WB NV non-vibrato
F ALTO WB VBF vibrato, forte
F ALTO WB VBM vibrato, medium

Tenors
F TENR WB DYN MOD 3-way Mod Wheel cross-fade
F TENR WB DYN MOD N same as above, but normal attack only; memory-saving
F TENR WB HRD MOD 2-way vibrato Mod Wheel cross-fade
F TENR WB HRD MOD R same as above, but range-limited to create Men’s Choir
F TENR WB SFT MOD 2-way non-vibrato/vibrato Mod Wheel cross-fade
F TENR WB SFT MOD R same as above, but range-limited to create Men’s Choir
F TENR WB NV non-vibrato
F TENR WB VBF vibrato, forte
F TENR WB VBM vibrato, medium

Basses
F BASS WB DYN MOD 3-way Mod Wheel cross-fade
F BASS WB DYN MOD N same as above, but normal attack only; memory-saving
F BASS WB HRD MOD 2-way vibrato Mod Wheel cross-fade
F BASS WB HRD MOD R same as above, but range-limited to create Men’s Choir

Kompakt Instrument
English – 34
 ENGLISH
Basses
F BASS WB SFT MOD 2-way non-vibrato/vibrato Mod Wheel cross-fade
F BASS WB SFT MOD R same as above, but range-limited to create Men’s Choir
F BASS WB NV non-vibrato
F BASS WB VBF vibrato, forte
F BASS WB VBM vibrato, medium

Boys
F BOYS WB DYN MOD 2-way non-vibrato cross-fade
F BOYS WB HRD non-vibrato, forte
F BOYS WB SFT non-vibrato, piano

Full Men’s and Full Women’s Choruses

To create a Full Women’s Chorus, load a Soprano “R” multi and
the corresponding Alto “R” multi in one instance of Kontakt (not
Kompakt, which is limited to 8 MIDI channels). A single instance
of WordBuilder drives both voices. Because no note is in both
sample sets, only one voice plays any given note.
A Full Men’s Chorus can be achieved in the same way by loading
a Tenor “R” multi and the corresponding Bass “R” multi with a
second instance each of Kontakt and WordBuilder for the men.
If you don’t own Kontakt, you can achieve the same results with 2
Kompakts and 2 WordBuilders for the Women’s Chorus. The
Men’s Chorus also requires 2 of each.
All of the samples for such an SATB Choir should fit in the RAM
of a computer with 2 GB of memory.
For those who own Kontakt, visit
http://www.soundsonline-forums.com
where you’ll find special programs designed for loading these Full
Men’s and Full Women’s Choruses into Kontakt.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 35
Memory Considerations When Choosing Multis
Note that the “DYN MOD” multis use a lot of memory and, there-
fore, require a high-powered computer. Use other multis when dy-
namic cross-fading is not crucial or when the computer’s power
and/or memory is too low to handle so many samples at once. In
addition, the multis with “N” in the name use much less memory
because they contain only the “normal” attack.
Another way to save on memory is to use the C mic position exclu-
sively; these samples do not include release trails. Adding some
artificial reverb will be more efficient in a memory-constrained
system than using the F mic samples, as is usually recommended
if only one mic position will be used.

The Component Programs

The multis listed in the previous section are designed to be used
only with WordBuilder; you should not load any one of them into
Kompakt and call it from a sequencer directly. If you try that, you
will get unpredictable results. Instead, EWQLSC provides individ-
ual “instrument” files that you can load into the slots in Kompakt
to play any single phonetic component directly. These files are
documented below.
The “Instrument” files for the four adult choirs—soprano, alto,
tenor, bass—all have the same patterns of consonants, vowels,
and vocal effects. To save space, only the bass articulation files
are listed below. The others use TENR, ALTO, SOPR in their
names.
The file names below all start with the letter F indicating that they
play samples recorded with the full mics. The close and surround
lists are the same but with C or S at the beginning. That is, for
each entry in the tables below, there are actually 12 articulation
files (4 voices times 3 mic positions) on the DVDs.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 36
 ENGLISH
The first group listed is vowels. These are all dynamic cross-fades.
The keyswitches provide access to the same four articulations
available through WordBuilder:

Articulations Keyswitch
normal C0
legato C#0
staccato D0
slurred, sliding D#0

The table below lists the vowels and some example English words
that use those sounds. The third column provides the Votox equiv-
alent.

Vowels
F BASS uh DXF C0-D#0 money, rough u
F BASS ee DXF C0-D#0 green, ski E
F BASS oo DXF C0-D#0 blue, pool O
F BASS ih DXF C0-D#0 index, finger i
F BASS eh DXF C0-D#0 red, steady e
F BASS oh DXF C0-D#0 yellow, ocean o
F BASS eu DXF C0-D#0 put, could U
F BASS ah DXF C0-D#0 copper, wander a

Note that none of the effects listed below is available in Word-

Builder. To generate one, you have to load the individual file
listed here into an instrument slot in Kompakt.

Effects
F BASS cluster oh The voices sing notes close in pitch but not the same
F BASS whiswords Each MIDI note is a different unpitched, whispered word

Kompakt Instrument
English – 37
 Effects
F BASS ahiheh A slowly evolving sound through 3 vowels: ah, ih, eh
F BASS falls A held note with falling pitch
F BASS cluster fx Clustered slides, evolving shouts, etc.
F BASS eeoheh A slowly evolving sound through 3 vowels: ee, oh, eh
F BASS shouts Various short, unpitched shouted vowels

The whispered words are real words, such as “blood,” “dream,”

“evil,” “silence,” and “Hallelujah!”

Consonants
F BASS b blue, slab
F BASS d red, candor
F BASS g green, leg
F BASS j orange, fidget
F BASS l blue, less
F BASS m money, hammer
F BASS n green, snug
F BASS r red, car
F BASS rr a “rolling R”
F BASS th the, nether
F BASS v olive, avert
F BASS w wait, awash
F BASS y yellow, yonder
F BASS z zero, poison
F BASS non-pitched see table below

The non-pitched consonants are those that carry no breath; in lin-

guistic theory they are called “unvoiced.” The following table enu-
merates them. Because they have no pitch, only a single note is
required to play any one of these consonants, and those note

Kompakt Instrument
English – 38
 ENGLISH
names are listed in the table. (The meaning of note names can
vary with implementation; here C4 is MIDI note 72, one octave
above Middle C.)

Non-pitched consonants
ch chair, catch C4
f file, enough C#4
h hat, ahead D4
k black, coal D#4
p pink, upper E4
q quick, acquaint F4
s silver, lace F#4
sh flesh, nation G4
t white, true G#4
th theme, sloth A4
x fix, excess A#4

The individual “instrument” files for the boys choir are similar,
but not exactly the same. Here’s how they differ.
• The vowels have only two notes used as keyswitches. There-
fore, all the file names end in “C0-C#0” to indicate that.
Use the C0 (MIDI note 24) for Normal Attack and C#0 for
Legato. In every other way the same 8 cross-faded program
files exist for the boys choir samples.
• The vocal effects are a different list than for the adults. See
the following table.
• The consonants are identical to those of the adult choirs.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 39
 The sample set includes the following four vocal effects for the
boys choir.

Effects
F BOYS cluster Pitch-clusters on various vowels and M- and N-sounds
F BOYS ah staccato The “ah” syllable sung staccato
F BOYS oh slur DXF The “oh” syllable with a small upward slide at the start
F BOYS shouts Various group shouts

Full Chorus, Church

One quick way to create the sound of a full chorus (SATB) over
more than a 5-octave range is to use these component programs.
Like other component programs, they are not designed to work in
WordBuilder, but there are several instruments that can be used
together to produce a varied sound.
These are 2-way cross-fades from non-vibrato to light vibrato. Use
the Mod Wheel to achieve the amount of vibrato you need.
These programs are grouped in the “Full Chorus Church” folder.
Here’s a list of the available sounds.

Full Chorus, Church

S FULLCHORUS AH MOD ah
S FULLCHORUS OH MOD oh, using adult sopranos at the top
S FULLCHORUS OH2 MOD oh, using boy sopranos at the top
S FULLCHORUS MM/NN MOD mm and nn

These voices are only provided in S-mic versions, as a means to

recreate quickly the spacious sound of a church choir.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 40
 ENGLISH
Using The Soloist Samples
This section deals only with soloist samples, not those of the
choir. For details of how to use the choir samples, see that section
of the manual, starting on page 32.
The soloist samples are not designed to work with WordBuilder.
Instead they are provided as expressive voices. Such usage is
common in filmscores and ambient music.
Three soloist voices are provided:
• Soprano
• Alto
• Boy Soprano
There is no Tenor or Bass soloist because those solo voices are
less popular and rarely appear in film scores.
Each of these three voices is provided as three keyswitched artic-
ulation files, one each for the close, full, and surround mic posi-
tions. The first letter of the name, C, F, or S, indicates which is
which. Only the F mics are listed below; the others are named
identically.

Soloists
F SOP Solo KS C0-F#0
F ALTO Solo KS C0-A#0
F BOY Solo KS C0-A0

As a convenience when creating surround sound recordings, the

three mic positions of each vocal range have been collected into a
predefined multi. The “5.1” refers to a common surround sound
format.

Multis
Soprano Solo 5.1
Alto Solo 5.1
Boy Solo 5.1

Kompakt Instrument
English – 41
Soloist Files
Each of the soloist files uses keyswitches to control the syllable
that is sung and the style of singing. The following tables describe
the effect of each keyswitch.

Soprano Solo KS C0-F#0

C0 ah Non-vibrato
C#0 ah Expressive, vibrato
D0 mm Expressive, vibrato
D#0 oh Non-vibrato
E0 oh Expressive, vibrato
F0 oo Non-vibrato
F#0 oo Expressive, vibrato

Alto Solo KS C0-A#0

C0 ah Expressive, vibrato
C#0 ah Non-vibrato
D0 ah Expressive, vibrato slur
D#0 oh Expressive, vibrato slur
E0 ee Expressive, vibrato
F0 mm Expressive, vibrato
F#0 oh Expressive, vibrato
G0 oh Non-vibrato
G#0 oh Expressive, vibrato 2
A0 oo Non-vibrato
A#0 oo Expressive, vibrato

Kompakt Instrument
English – 42
 ENGLISH
Boy Solo KS C0-A0
C0 oh 2 boys, non-vibrato
C#0 ah Non-vibrato
D0 ah Slurred up, non-vibrato
D#0 oh Non-vibrato
E0 oh Slurred up, non-vibrato
F0 oo Non-vibrato
F#0 Random syllables
G0 Random syllables
G#0 Random syllables
A0 Random syllables

The last 4 keyswitches for the boy soloist generate common Latin
syllables. Stringing these together on a melody makes it sound as
if the boy is singing words in Latin or some language the user does
not understand. You have 4 syllables to choose from for each note
in the melody.
As an example, play the lowest B in the boy soprano’s range four
times, and precede each note, in turn, with the keyswitches A0,
G#0, G0, and F#0. That creates the text “noo-mah-nah-fee.”

Kompakt Instrument
English – 43
A Tour of the WordBuilder Interface
When started as a stand-alone
module, the WordBuilder win-
dow opens inside a frame, allow-
ing you to work on several voice
files at once within the same
program. Each voice requires a
setup like that described on
page 58. Each voice uses its
own MIDI ports for both input
and output. For example, if First
Sopranos and Second Sopranos
each have their own tracks in the sequencer, then each is set to a
different MIDI port, and those same two ports are assigned to the
two voices in WordBuilder.
When opened in a host program, you can insert as many instances
of WordBuilder as your computer resources allow.
The set of all voices open at once is called a choir. For example, a
choir might have two Soprano voices and two Alto voices (SSAA).
When you choose Save, all the voices are written to a single file
with a .cho extension. If you want to write a single voice to the file
system—for example, to copy it into a different choir—then you
need to Export it from one and Import it into the other.
When a project is first created, it looks like the image below.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 44
 ENGLISH
Along the left side is various information about the setup and the
text being edited. The large white rectangle, called the Text Edi-
tor, displays the text to be sung. Below that rectangle is a grid in
which you can fine-tune the timing and dynamics of each pho-
netic segment of the text. Finally, in the upper right corner, below
the EastWest logo, are several buttons that provide easy access to
often used functions.
Each region of the screen is described in more detail in subse-
quent sections of this guide.
Across the top of the frame window are various tools: easy short-
cuts to several of the most commonly useful menu picks.

Your Settings
The values you choose when you open a
new voice are displayed in the upper left
corner of the voice window. You are most
likely to refer to these setting when you
have more than one voice window open at
once. Here you can see the voice type, your in and out MIDI ports,
and your in and out MIDI channels.
The two plug symbols next to the MIDI channel numbers flash
whenever a MIDI message is received (the left symbol) or sent
(the right symbol). The gray vertical bar to the right of these fields
opens a dialog box, allowing you to change these settings.

The Text Modes

Below the display of your settings are three
buttons labeled English, Phonetics, and Vo-
tox. The button in yellow indicates which of
the three text layers appears in the Text Ed-
itor. Click on one of the other two buttons to change the text dis-
play to that mode.
When you type English words in the English layer, WordBuilder
automatically translates any word in its 100,000-word dictionary
into the other two layers (though they remain hidden until re-

Kompakt Instrument
English – 45
 vealed by clicking on the button for that layer). When you type
correctly formatted text into either the Phonetics or Votox layer, it
gets translated into the other of those two, but not into English.
When you place the cursor in
the Text Editor, information
about that selected word, syl-
lable and letter appear near
the bottom of the left side.
And to the right of that are the
Phonetics and Votox symbols.
Because WordBuilder uses
the Votox layer when dividing
a syllable into its sung sounds, it’s the Votox symbols that are
mapped to the colored bands at the right that represent the dura-
tion of each sampled sound.
The user controls in this section of the interface are discussed in
much more detail starting on page 59.

Typing English
When English words are typed into the Text Editor, they are color
coded to indicate their status.
• medium blue: the word was found in the dictionary
• dark blue: the word has more than one entry in the dictio-
nary; this happens when the word can be pronounced in two
or more ways
• brown: the word was not found in the dictionary; if it is mis-
spelled, correct it; or if not a common word, you will need to
enter the word phonetically
• light blue: the word was entered in the Phonetics or Votox
layer, and is displayed here phonetically, even in the English
layer
• dark red: 1. the word that has been chosen as the “solo
word”; see page 63 for more details about soloing.
2. Or there could be an error in syllable separation. If you
separate an English word into syllables, WordBuilder may
have to set the word in dark red to indicate it cannot make
good automatic phonetic separations. In this case, make the
syllable separations in the Phonetics layer.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 46
 ENGLISH
• gray: a comment; the number sign, #, and all text after it on
a line are considered comments and not sung
The following screen shot shows many of these colors. If you’re
reading this in black and white only, then try typing it yourself.

The proper name “Gerri” is not in the dictionary, so it’s in brown.

The words “must fly” and “me” were found, so they’re in medium
blue.
When WordBuilder looked for “with” in the
dictionary, it found two possible pronuncia-
tions. Although the word is usually pro-
nounced with the same “th” sound as in
“thigh,” in certain phonotactic situations, it
can be pronounced with the “th” sound in
“thy.” Decide how you want it to sound in your piece, and make
your choice by right-clicking (in Windows) or control-clicking (on a
Mac). You’ll see the context menu you see here. The choices at
the top are the two possible pronunciations. If the one with the
check is not the one you want, click on another choice.
Because the scat syllables “she-bop” are not in the dictionary,
they were entered by changing to the Phonetics layer and typing
them in phonetically. Returning to the English layer, they appear
in light blue. When writing in languages other than English, all
text is entered this way.
Finally, the text “# sung at entrance” is a comment to the user. It
is not translated and not sung. It appears in gray.
Note that you can also insert the #-symbol to remove text tempo-
rarily from what’s being sung. Then delete the # and WordBuilder
will sing that text again. But the effect of the # ends at the end of
the current line.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 47
Typing Phonetically
It is also possible to enter text using one of the phonetic “alpha-
bets.” You have a choice of either traditional Phonetics or Word-
Builder’s own Votox symbols.
Most users will find it easier to use the traditional
Phonetics alphabet, at least partly because the inter-
face provides examples of English words that contain
each symbol in the Phonetics “alphabet.” Next to
each phonetic symbol is an English word; the capital-
ized letter in the word spells the sound represented
by the phonetic symbol. If you don’t see the list
shown here at the left, then click on the small plus sign above the
title “Letters.” You can also click on Tools>Phonemes in the Word-
Builder menu.
Note that some symbols are two characters long; for example,
“Au” is the vowel sound in “brown.” These two-part vowel sounds
are called diphthongs. The information in this list—and more—is
repeated on pages 80 and 81 in this guide.
To type using the Phonetics (or Votox) symbols, click on the Pho-
netics (or Votox) button at the left. Whichever language has the
yellow highlight is what you’re typing in.
Here’s an example of a sentence typed in Phonetics. It defines
the sounds of the Latin phrase, “Sic semper tyrannis.”

And when you click on the Votox button, you can see the same
Latin spelled in Votox.

You are most likely to start a project in the Phonetics or Votox

layer if you are writing lyrics in another language, or have lots of
extra syllables in the setting, such as, “I love you-hoo when the
moo-hoon is bri- i- i- ight, be-bops-a-doodle.”

Kompakt Instrument
English – 48
 ENGLISH
You might also start in English, let WordBuilder translate the text
to one of the phonetic alphabets, then make adjustments phonet-
ically to get the exact performance you want. If you plan to use
WordBuilder a lot, then learning to work entirely in Votox is
strongly recommended; that will give you much more control, and
it’s easier than it might seem at first.

The Time Editor

Just as the Text Editor give you total control over the phonetic rep-
resentation of the words, the Time Editor allows you to fine-tune
how these sounds play out over the course of each note in the
melody.
Consider a syllable like “sweet.” Vocalists may sing the “s” and
“w” quickly, but how quickly? A careful choral director may give
the chorus direction to hold the “w” or to get into the long “e” as
soon as possible. With the Time Editor, you have control of such
decisions.
Some of the long “e” may need to continue after the end of the
MIDI note because human singers take a finite amount of time to
get the tongue in position to close the “t.” With the Time Editor,
you have control of that, too.
The Time editor looks like this when the syllable “sweet” is se-
lected in the Text Editor:

Note that the 5 Votox “letters” have been arranged one per row.
Across the top is a timeline with 50 milliseconds per vertical grid
line. The heavier vertical line just before the word “Off” divides
the display into the sounds that take place during the note itself
and the sounds heard during the release trail (that is, after the
MIDI note ends). The five colored bars represent the duration of

Kompakt Instrument
English – 49
 each Votox symbol: three during the note and two at the end of
the note. From this display, it looks as if the “s” will be heard for
about 100ms; the “w” will start a little before the “s” ends, at
about the 90ms point; the long “E” sound will start about 180ms
into the melody note.
The “E” bar seems to end at 500ms, but if you drag the heavy
vertical separator to the right (with the mouse) you’ll see that it
continues indefinitely. That is, it continues until the MIDI note-off
event. You do not need to specify here the duration of the note in
the melody. That is done in the sequencer, or when playing on a
MIDI controller in real time.
The two horizontal bars after the vertical separator are the sound
of the syllable being closed, so they are triggered by the note-off
event. The “E” persists until the tongue can move into position to
pronounce the “T” sound.
When you enter text in the Text Editor, WordBuilder uses default
setting for how long to make each bar. You can use the mouse to
drag the ends of the bars and change the start time and duration
of each sound in the syllable.
Even though the melody in the sequencer played only one note,
WordBuilder triggered 5 samples in the Kompakt player. And you
are given total control over when each sample begins and ends as
well as how much they overlap.
Sometimes the sounds of a syllable don’t exactly follow one an-
other; instead, one sound fades out as the next one fades in. This
is known as a cross-fade. If you consider the ending of the word

Kompakt Instrument
English – 50
 ENGLISH
“throw,” the sound shifts slowly from mostly “o” to mostly “w”
with no clear break between the two. WordBuilder handles this
situation by controlling the relative volume of the two sounds.

WordBuilder has automatically added volume envelopes to both

sounds, causing the “o” sound to disappear slowly while the “w”
sound becomes louder. You can, of course, modify or eliminate
these envelopes if you’re looking for a different effect. This exam-
ple shows the volume adjustments being added automatically
when constructing the Phonetics layer, but manual control of vol-
ume—as well as other MIDI parameters—can be used on any
sound in any syllable.

The Tools
In the upper right corner is a column of gray buttons
that provide access to several important functions.
The Undo button removes the most recent change
made in the interface. Clicking on the button repeat-
edly removes more and more consecutive changes. Up
to 100 of the most recent changes can be removed.
The Redo button undoes the Undo operation. For example, click-
ing on the Undo operation 8 times in a row, and then the Redo but-
ton 8 times in a row, returns you to the state of the UI before you
started clicking on the Undo button.
The Reset Position button resets the syllable position from the
point of view of the MIDI data. That is, the next MIDI note sent to
WordBuilder will start again at the beginning of the text in the
Text Editor.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 51
 The Bypass button sends the MIDI input data directly to an output
port without any WordBuilder processing. In the Advanced MIDI
Out dialog you can control to which MIDI port the data is sent.
The Panic button turns off every MIDI note on every channel. This
is an effective way to turn off a “stuck” note if, for any reason, the
sample player does not receive a MIDI note-off message and a
note starts playing indefinitely.
The Options button displays a dialog box in which the user can set
values relating to timers, voice defaults, events, and general data.
See page 72 for more detail on this dialog box.
The Help button opens a message box encouraging you to read
this manual.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 52
 ENGLISH
The WordBuilder Menus
Here are images of the menus, followed by an explanation of
each option. (There are no menus when used as a plug-in.)

File

The File menu options:

• New Voice Create a new voice within this choir
• Close Voice Close the active voice
• New Choir Create a new choir; the current choir and
all its active voices will be closed first
• Open Choir Open a Choir File from the file system,
including all its voices; the current Choir
File will be closed first
• Close Choir Close all voices
• Save Choir Save a Choir File with all its voices
• Save Choir As Save a Choir File under a new name on in
a new location in the file system
• Import Has two options:
1 Voice File Import a Voice File to a new voice
2 Voice Learn File Import a Voice Learn File, with its
information about syllable timing,
into the current choir
• Export Has two options:
1 Voice File Create a Voice File from the selected
voice
2 Voice Learn File Create a Voice Learn File with timing
information for the selected voice
• Exit Close WordBuilder

Kompakt Instrument
English – 53
 Edit View

The Edit menu options:

• Undo Undo the last change; can be used repeat-
edly to undo up to 100 changes
• Redo Reapply the last Undo; can be used
repeatedly until there’s no more to undo
• Cut, Copy, Paste The usual features
• Paste Text Only Paste only text from the clipboard; no tim-
ing data is copied
• Delete Delete the selected text
• Select All Select all the text
The View menu options:
• Horizontal Zoom Change the zoom of the time resolution in
or out in the Time Editor; has no effect on
timers’ values
• Vertical Zoom Change the height of the bars in the Time
Editor
• Toolbar Show or hide the main Toolbar
• Mini Toolbar Show or hide the Mini (Auxiliary) Toolbar
• Status Bar Show or hide the Status Bar at the bottom
of the WordBuilder window
A check next to any of the last three menu items indicates that
the toolbar or status bar is currently visible.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 54
 ENGLISH
Voice Tools

The Voice menu options:

• English Change the voice mode to English
• Phonetics Change the voice mode to Phonetics
• Votox Change the voice mode to Votox
• Reset Position Reset the syllable position so the next
MIDI note will sing the first syllable
• Reset Position Reset the syllable position so the next
to Text Cursor MIDI note will start at the current position
of the cursor
• Letter KS/Velocity Edit the keyswitch and velocity of the cur-
rent letter
• Syllable Speed Change the speed of the syllable timers
• Bypass Send all MIDI data for the current voice
directly to output
• Bypass All Voices Send all MIDI data for all voices directly to
output with no WordBuilder processing
• Properties/MIDI Open the dialog with the properties and
MIDI setup of the current voice
• Adv Midi In/Out Open the Advanced MIDI In or Out setup
dialog box for setting extra parameters
• Speed Learning Open a dialog box to initiate the Speed
Learning feature

Kompakt Instrument
English – 55
 The Tools menu options:
• MIDI Panic Turn off every note on every MIDI channel
• Phonemes Show or hide the display of phonetic sym-
bols with their example words
• Votox Letters Show or hide the display of Votox symbols
• Options Open the Options dialog box
• Save Options Save the options to a file (to be loaded
every time WordBuilder is opened)

Window Help

The Window menu options:

• Cascade Display multiple voice windows mostly
overlapping
• Tile Display multiple voice windows overlap-
ping as little as possible
• Arrange Icons When voice windows have been mini-
mized, their icons are returned to their
docked position at the bottom of the frame
All open voice windows are listed at the bottom of the menu. Se-
lecting one brings it to the front.
The Help menu option:
• About WordBuilder opens the About Box (which is also the
Splash Screen)

Kompakt Instrument
English – 56
 ENGLISH
Using WordBuilder
WordBuilder is a tool for approximating the sound of sung speech.
Its effectiveness in that goal depends on the craft of the user in
shaping the phonetic material into realistic patterns that the lis-
tener perceives as language. Where some projects require intelli-
gibility, others may need only the perception that people are
singing, without the need for conveyed meaning.
The success of WordBuilder in creating recognizable words and
meaningful phrases relies on the programming of many phonetic
cues. Consonants often require the most care; their duration and
their volume relative to the nearby vowels are often the keys to
clearly enunciated and understandable words. The use of small
gaps between phonetic elements—especially before an initial
consonant—can sometimes make consonants stand out more
clearly. Or the opposite technique—overlapping the end of one
segment with the start of the next—can integrate the sounds into
more recognizable patters.
The duration and loudness of a consonant are interdependent. Of-
ten the longer the consonant lasts, the louder it will be, and vice
versa. Experiment to see how this works on real words. Also, the
type of attack chosen for a vowel after a consonant will have a no-
ticeable effect on the sound of a word.
There is no rule except always to listen to the words spoken and
emulate what you hear. Be prepared to adjust any aspect of each
phonetic component, if intelligibility is one of your requirements.
You will soon learn many tricks that will improve realism. Look for
hints at http://www.soundsonline-forums.com.
This section of the Manual describes how to use the various fea-
tures of WordBuilder in pursuit of those goals, including how to
set the parameters that control its operation.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 57
Starting the Program in Stand-alone Mode
Each time you start Word-
Builder in stand-alone
mode (without first choos-
ing a file to work on), the
splash screen appears for a
few seconds, followed by a
Voice Properties dialog box,
like the image displayed at
the right. If you do not want
to create a new voice, but to
open an existing file in-
stead, then click on Cancel.
If you do want to create a new voice file, then provide a name for
a new voice by which you can refer to it later, and select which
voice type in EWQLSC will supply the samples.
WordBuilder sits between the source of the notes and the sample
player. In this dialog, the MIDI In port identifies that source of
notes, which is probably one of:
• your sequencer
• a MIDI keyboard or controller
This connection is likely to be a “MIDI loopback connection.” See
below and page 21 for more detailed information about loopback
connectors.
Also select the number of the MIDI channel on which note data
will be transmitted. (The Advanced buttons are discussed starting
on page 75.)
In the MIDI Out section of the dialog box, select the port with
which you’re sending data to the Kompakt player. If you’re run-
ning WordBuilder and Kompakt on the same computer, then you
need to specify the same “loopback connection” as an output
here and as an input in Kompakt.
You also need to select a MIDI channel by which data will be sent
to Kompakt. WordBuilder needs to talk to Kompakt across 5
channels; it reserves 5 consecutive channels starting at the num-
ber you select.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 58
 ENGLISH
Starting the Program as a Plug-in
It is also possible to start
WordBuilder within a host
program such as Sonar, Cu-
base, or Nuendo. The MIDI
input from the host is man-
aged by the chosen interface;
therefore, the opening dialog is much simpler. Name the voice,
select the sampled voice you intend to use, and select the chan-
nel over which MIDI data will be output. Remember that Word-
Builder reserves 5 consecutive channel numbers for talking to
Kompakt. The Port number is selected in the host program.

Data Flow
MIDI data entering WordBuilder is most often one MIDI note per
syllable; the composer thinks in terms of the S, L, and Y sounds
in “sly” being one sung entity. WordBuilder breaks the syllable
into 3 notes (all at the same pitch) so that each can trigger its
own samples. Many more MIDI events flow out of WordBuilder
than flow in.
The following sections describe how WordBuilder gives you con-
trol over the various aspects of the outbound MIDI data so that
you can shape the performance. For the most part you are working
in terms of words, syllables, and letters, leaving it up to Word-
Builder to translate your intentions into data the sample player
can understand.

Setting Velocities for Letters

The incoming note from the sequencer or keyboard has a MIDI
velocity parameter, and that velocity will be passed through to
the various samples that Kompakt plays. That is, unless you ask
WordBuilder to change some or all of them. If the English word
“fun” is being sung on a single note, there are three letters be-
ing played to enunciate the syllable; WordBuilder gives you the
control to adjust the velocities on the Votox “F” and “u” and “n”
separately.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 59
 To set the velocity for a letter, select it in
the Time Editor and make sure it appears
in the Letter display in the lower left corner
of the WordBuilder UI. Then click on the
gray button to the right of “v:” and below
the letter. The dialog box at the right ap-
pears. It is shown here with the 6 possible
selections displayed.
Selecting Nothing leaves the note’s velocity
unchanged. Selecting the equal sign sets
the velocity to the exact value specified in the box at the right. For
example, selecting “= 85” sets the velocity of the segment to 85,
no matter what the velocity of the played note is. Remember that
values for velocity range from 1 (almost silent) to 127 (played
with maximum force).
The other 4 symbols are the arithmetic operations plus, minus,
times, and divided by. Consider an incoming note with velocity of
50. Here are some examples of how the settings in this dialog af-
fect the outgoing velocity for the individual segment.

Setting Result
+ 12 62
- 30 20
*2 100
* 1.2 60
/3 17

All results are rounded to the nearest whole number between 1

and 127, inclusive. Using these relative settings (instead of abso-
lute instructions, such as “= 60”) allows you to change the veloc-
ity of notes in the sequencer and have WordBuilder adjust the
segments’ velocities proportionately.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 60
 ENGLISH
Controlling Segment Transitions
When setting lyrics, it is important to specify how the sounds flow
into each other—or don’t. Singing the word “alone” might need to
be noticeably different than singing the phrase “a loan,” even
though the sounds of the letters are the same, and even though
the notes on the staff are identical. As in all musical lines—in-
strumental or vocal—the performers need to make choices about
how connected, or disconnected, the consecutive notes should
be. WordBuilder distinguishes between staccato and legato, as
well as other styles.
Not only was each sung note recorded with all the various pho-
netic sounds, but also with four different attacks for each vowel:
• Normal
• Legato
• Staccato
• Slurred, Sliding
WordBuilder uses the concept of a keyswitch to move among
these four articulations. Instead of writing extra notes in your
score (as in EWQL Symphonic Orchestra) keyswitching can be
managed with per-segment settings in WordBuilder.
There are two ways to specify articulations: in a dialog box, or di-
rectly in the Text Editor. (Actually, there is a third, more tradi-
tional way: You can send the keyswitch notes directly, instead of
having WordBuilder translate your instructions into MIDI note
events. The note numbers are 24, 25, 26, and 27 respectively.)
To open the dialog, select the letter whose
articulation you want to specify. Then click
on the gray button to the right of “KS:” in
the lower left corner of the UI. The same di-
alog box that’s used to specify velocities
opens. You can select among 5 choices:
• [Text Syntax], use symbols in the text
to specify the articulation of this seg-
ment. (More on this option below.)
• Normal Attack, the natural articulation
of sung speech
• Legato, smoothly connected to the following syllable

Kompakt Instrument
English – 61
 • Staccato, disconnected from the following segment
• Slurred, Sliding Legato, a transition between segments in
which the voices slide upward into the note
Click “OK” to save your selection.
When the articulation in the dialog is set to “[Text Syntax],” the
default, WordBuilder looks to symbols in the Text Editor to know
which articulation to use. There are 4 symbols that can be typed
anywhere in the text to affect the transitions:

Symbol Articulation
= Normal
( Legato
> Staccato
< Slurred, Sliding

Here is an example of text whose articulation is specified with

these symbols: “>the why and (where-fore >of the <mer-ry =day”

Adding New Words and New Pronunciations

If an English word is not found in the dictionary,
and you intend to use it again, then you can add
the word and its phonetic spelling so that next time
it will get translated automatically. Right-click (in
Windows) or control-click (on a Mac) to open the
context menu, then select “Add.”
A dialog appears that
lets you enter the
Phonetics layer for
the word (not Votox).
Do not type in hy-
phens to separate
syllables.
The same facility can be used to add new pronunciations of exist-
ing words. This way, you can even teach your choir to sing in cer-
tain regional accents or in other languages.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 62
 ENGLISH
Soloing a Word
Sometime when you’re making changes to the sounds of a word,
you would like to hear it over and over while you tweak the set-
tings. You can do that with the operation known as “soloing.”
In the Word box at the left side of the Word-
Builder window is a button named Solo. Click
on that button while the cursor is within the
word in question. The word will turn to red to
indicate it is soloed, and the button will turn
light blue.
Now every time you send notes into Word-
Builder it will cycle through only this one
word. If playing the word with a sequencer,
you can set it to loop through the appropriate
notes.
Click on the same Solo button to turn off soloing.

How WordBuilder Learns Timings

When you first type text into the Text Editor, WordBuilder uses de-
fault lengths for each sound that makes up a syllable. As was
shown in the example on page 49, WordBuilder assigns the “ee”
of “sweet” to start at about 180 milliseconds after the start of the
note. But if the tempo is fast, the note could be over by then, or
the “sw” could take up most of the note’s duration, making it
sound unnatural. You could, of course, compute the number of
milliseconds for each note and adjust the lengths of the sounds
manually. But there’s an easier way.
The Learn button opens
a dialog box where you
can set two options. The
first specifies whether
you want WordBuilder to
adjust the duration of the phonetic segments, called Change
Speed mode, or only to indicate the length of each syllable in the
timeline at the top, called Draw Only mode.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 63
 With the second drop-
down list, you specify
whether you want Word-
Builder to learn dura-
tions for all voices or
only the currently se-
lected voice.
Once you pick the options you want and click on Start, another di-
alog box opens and asks you to start the melody. Begin playing
the notes for this part, whether from the sequencer or the key-
board. WordBuilder keeps track of how long the note for each syl-
lable lasts. When the green stripes in the progress bar fill it
completely, WordBuilder has received as many notes as there are
matching syllables. Click on OK to return to the program’s main
interface. Cancel discards the learned information.

If you asked WordBuilder to Change Speed on the notes, then the

horizontal bands that represent each phonetic sound’s duration
(in milliseconds) will change. Consider lyrics that include the
word “sleep.” Before the learning process, here’s what Word-
Builder shows in the Time Editor.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 64
 ENGLISH
After learning, the timing of the five phonetic segments is quite
different. The gray, red, and blue regions of the timeline at the
top represent the note (in dark gray), the rest between notes (in
red), and the next note (in dark blue).

+ + In this example, the syllable is sung on a dot-

A { ? A{ ? N
ted eighth note with a sixteenth note rest be-
SLEEP NO MORE fore the next note. The tempo is 90 bpm. The
staff at the left shows this configuration. Set-
ting the words to quarter notes with no rests between the notes
would yield similar, but not identical, results. Here the “p” that
closes the syllable occurs during the rest; with no rest between
notes all the phonetic segments happen within the duration of the
note itself, though the last segment might intentionally overlap
the start of the next note by a small amount.
Once WordBuilder has “learned” the note-on and note-off events
of a musical line, you can manually tweak the timings to fine-tune
the performance.
If you change the tempo or the note durations, you may want to
rerun the “Learn” feature to conform the phonetic segments to
the shape of the new melodic line. Changing pitches does not re-
quire rerunning “Learn.”

Draw Only Mode

If you choose Draw Only mode when starting the “Learn” feature,
WordBuilder writes the length of notes and rests into the gray,
red, and blue regions of the timeline at the top, but does not

Kompakt Instrument
English – 65
 change the actual lengths of the phonetic letters (the colored
bands next to each phonetic letter in the Time Editor). You can
manually drag the ends of the bands to achieve the desired effect.

The above screen shot shows the Time Editor for the syllable
“sleep” after running Learn in Draw Only mode, but before adjust-
ing the position and length of each phonetic segment. The gray
and red bands in the timeline are the same as in Change Speed
mode, and the colored bands in each row are unaffected.
The last two segments are still timed to the Note Off event, as
seen by their position in the rightmost pane. If you want them
timed to the Note On event, then drag them into the left pane.
Their timings will change from negative values to positive ones.

Whether to Use “Learning”

This “Learn” function is a way to automate some of the precision
work needed to adjust letter timings to match note durations. It
does not achieve with a single mouse-click perfect enunciation of
the sung letters; you still need to listen to the result and fine tune
the performance.
Because Draw Only mode makes no changes to the output, it can
provide information about how the notes’ timings relate to the de-
fault letter timings within the syllables. Even for those who prefer
to adjust the timings of the phonetic segments themselves, this
extra information can be useful.
Change Speed mode provides the greatest benefit when used on
fast-moving music, where the default durations of phonetic seg-
ments may not have time to play out before the notes end.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 66
 ENGLISH
Making Changes to “Learned” Text
To remove all modifications made by the “Learn” feature, place
the cursor in the syllable you want to revert to its default tim-
ings—or select several syllables—and then choose Normal in the
Syllable Speed dialog (see page 67). This action has the side ef-
fect of removing any change you made to the affected syllables,
the same as if you deleted the syllable and then re-added it.

Other Ways to Adjust Timings

In the Syllable section of the UI, directly below the Learn button,
is a field marked “Speed:” with a gray button to the right. Clicking
on this button opens a dialog box for adjusting the speed of the
selected syllable (by adjusting the duration of its segments).
There are three options to choose
from. The first, Normal: Hold on first
vowel lets you use the default set-
tings. That is, it removes any adjust-
ments previously made to the
syllable. It also removes any Control
Changes that had been applied. It
has the same effect as removing a syllable and adding it in again.
The second option, Learn: Compress/expand by learning, is greyed
and not available unless the “Learn” functionality has already
been applied to this syllable. It is useful when a syllable has been
“learned” in Draw Only mode. Selecting this option and clicking
Okay completes the action that would have been done had Learn-
ing been done in Change Speed mode. You might also use this af-
ter changing a word in the text (leaving the notes as they are) and
you want WordBuilder to learn timings for the new phonetic seg-
ments.
The third option is Adjust Speed. If selected, the controls below it
become active. In the left drop-down list, you can choose whether
to apply changes to only the On pane, only the Off pane, or both
panes. The right text box allows you to enter a number that speci-
fies how long the new notes should be, compared to the old. Set-

Kompakt Instrument
English – 67
 ting it to “50%” cuts all lengths in half. Setting it to “250%”
makes all durations 2.5 times as long as before; a bar that before-
hand lasted 80 ms now lasts 200 ms (80 times 2.5).
For each syllable in the Text Editor window, the Syllable section
lists its speed in the UI. After the word “Speed:” appears one of:
• Normal, if the default lengths are still in effect
• Learned, if the lengths have been learned from either the
Learn button or the Syllable Speed button
• Edited, if lengths or start times have been modified with the
mouse
• Adjusted, if the Syllable Speed dialog box was used to
“Adjust” the lengths

Resetting the Syllable Cursor

As WordBuilder receives each note event, it has no way of know-
ing whether the sequencer is playing the next note in the musi-
cal phrase or the melody has been restarted. WordBuilder always
makes the assumption that it is being requested to sing the next
syllable unless it receives a Reset command.
There are three ways to tell WordBuilder to start again at the be-
ginning of the text:
• click on the Reset Position button in the stack of buttons at
the right of the window
• select Reset Position from the Voice menu, or press the F5
key (Menu options are only available in stand-alone mode.)
• send a MIDI message; see page 77 to learn how to specify
the message WordBuilder looks for
In either case, the Reset command performs three actions:
• repositioning the syllable cursor to the beginning of the text
• resetting any open keyswitch files back to “normal attack,”
the default keyswitch (C0)
• resetting the Mod Wheel to a zero value
It is also possible to reset the cursor to anywhere you want in the
text. Use the mouse to position the cursor in the syllable you want
to start with. Then select Reset Position to Text Cursor from the
Voice menu, or press the F4 key.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 68
 ENGLISH
Using Built-in Cross-Fades
The EastWest / Quantum Leap Symphonic Choirs includes cross
fades in some of its choral “instrument” files. These are voice
files that respond to changes in the Mod Wheel by changing the
mix between two contrasting sets of samples. You can use Word-
Builder to simulate turning the Mod Wheel at specific times dur-
ing a performance, thereby dictating which of these samples
predominates and by how much.
Changes to the Mod Wheel are transmitted using MIDI Control
Change 1, sometimes abbreviated CC1. WordBuilder lets you set
up envelopes that transmit via any Control Change number,
though you will probably only use a few numbers in this context.
Here is an example of how cross-fades are useful. The “Full” So-
prano voices are used in this example, but this functionality is
available in all of the vocal ranges and in all 3 mic positions. The
vocal file named “F SOPR WB HRD MOD” uses the Mod Wheel to
move smoothly from a value of 0 (medium volume, medium vi-
brato samples) to 127 (loud, heavy vibrato samples). This cross-
fade can create realistic swells—either within a note or over a
phrase—in which more vibrato is added at the same time.
To send Mod Wheel Control Changes you first need to set up an
envelope on any phonetic segment affected. Click on the small
plus sign to the right of the Votox letter in the Time Editor. A new
lane will open with a button for selecting the Control Change
number. The default setting is Volume.

Click on the button that says Volume and select “1 - Modulation

Depth” from the drop-down. Click on Okay to effect the change.
The button now says “CC 1.”

Kompakt Instrument
English – 69
 There’s a graph inside the long box to the right. You can drag
nodes with the mouse and create new nodes by double-clicking
with the left mouse button. (You can also delete nodes by double
clicking with the right mouse button in Windows, or double-click-
ing with the Command button held down on the Mac.) Add as
many nodes as you need to draw in the desired changes.

It is unlikely that you will want to draw complicated curves like

the one above inside a single phonetic segment (unless the choir
is holding the note for a very long time). Instead, you will probably
be matching the position of the Mod Wheel as the choir
progresses from one note to the next.
When dragging a node, a small rectangle,
called a tool tip, opens on the screen. The x
and y values locate the exact position of the
node as it moves. The x-coordinate locates
the node in time, measured in milliseconds.
In the accompanying screen shot, the x-value
is -201 ms; its value is negative because it is in the right pane,
calculated from the Note Off event. (The negative sign does not
mean that it’s earlier than 0 ms; it’s only a convention.)
The y-coordinate specifies the vale of CC1 on a scale from 0 to
127. In the screen shot, the node in the upper envelope is being
dragged with the mouse (not visible in the image). The Mod Wheel
is now at a position of 80, about 63% of the maximum 127.
You can use these y-coordinates to match the position of an enve-
lope at the end of one phonetic segment to the position at the
start of the next one, if desired.
It’s also possible that you may want to set the position at a fixed
value and leave it there. For example, if you like the sound of the
tenors at a Mod Wheel position of 20 in the F TENR WB SFT MOD
instrument, then you can set it to that level consistently. But be
aware that you will get more realistic results if nothing in a perfor-
mance remains static for too long. Real choirs don’t retain an ex-
act dynamic or a consistent level of vibrato over every note in a
composition.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 70
 ENGLISH
Other Envelopes
You can use the techniques described above to create continuous
changes in other MIDI parameters as well. Any Control Change
can be transmitted, but if the downstream MIDI processors don’t
respond to that CC, then nothing will happen.
Expression, CC11, is the best way to change the short-term dy-
namics that shape the singers’ nuanced performance. Small
swells within a single vowel, or a natural decrescendo at the end
of a long-held note can be important to making the final results
feel more human and less like computer-assisted composition.

Note Volume
One envelope that warrants special mention is the one that ap-
pears at the top of the drop-down list: “x - Note Volume.” This pa-
rameter affects the given phonetic segment without affecting
others. It can be used for fade-in and fade-out effects within a
single phonetic letter.
It can also be used to achieve cross-fades between phonetic ele-
ments. This use of Note Volume can be seen in some of the de-
fault Votox spellings.

The sound of the letter “y” in the English word “my” is spelled as
“aE” in Votox. WordBuilder knows that the process of closing the
syllable consists of moving the tongue in a way that smoothly
changes from the “ah” sound of the held vowel to the “ee” sound
at the end. This is achieved by fading out the “ah” and fading in
the “ee” until the “ah” sound is complete replaced with the “ee”
sound. The two envelopes in the screen shot effect this cross-
fade. You do not have to create these envelopes yourself; Word-
Builder does it automatically for you.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 71
The WordBuilder Options Dialogs
Among the buttons at the right side of WordBuilder’s window is
one named Options. Clicking it, opens the dialog box shown be-
low. From here you can change a number of parameters that af-
fect the ways the program operates.

The General Tab

The first item,
Sound Library, de-
fines the library of
samples that gen-
erates the sounds.
At the time of this
writing, EWQLSC
is the only library
available.
In a second drop-
down, called Lan-
guage, you can
specify from what language the dictionary will translate to Phonet-
ics. Only English is available at this time.
There are two modes in the Vowels drop-down list: English and
Latin. They affect the symbols used for Votox sounds, but do not
affect the sounds themselves. See page 79 for more information
about these two modes.

The Timers Tab

The upper section of this tab, Timers Resolution, provides two
slider controls. For Notes, you can set the resolution to any value
between 1 and 10 milliseconds.
A similar setting can be made for the resolution of Control
Changes: any value between 10 and 50 milliseconds. Fine-tuning
these two settings allows the user to specify how often the inter-
nal engine will convey note and Control Change data through the

Kompakt Instrument
English – 72
 ENGLISH
MIDI output. You should normally leave these settings at the min-
imum value, but they can be raised when it is necessary to con-
serve CPU processing or MIDI connection overhead.
For example, when
a cross-fade is in
progress the ear
cannot really hear a
small change in dy-
namics every 10
ms. Therefore, Note
Volume (and other
CC) data can be
sent less often to
conserve the pro-
cessing power in
the computer.
The Chord Timer, set at the bottom of the tab, permits the user to
specify how far apart in time notes can be and still be considered
a chord (that is, referring to the same syllable of text). Using this
feature is especially helpful when playing melodic lines on a key-
board in real time. If you’re not 100% accurate in hitting all the
notes of a chord at once, you could end up triggering different syl-
lables for what are supposed to be several voices singing the same
syllable. You can turn this feature on and off by clicking on the
small checkbox at the left and, when on, you can specify the tol-
erance in milliseconds. You can turn this feature off if you never
use chords in a single choral voice.
If you need to leave this feature on, then you may have to experi-
ment to determine the value that works best for your playing style.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 73
The Voices Default Tab
There are three dia-
log boxes that open
from this tab. Each
is used to set the
defaults that ap-
pear when Word-
Builder is opened.
If ever you want to
change the values
that you have set in
these dialog boxes
to apply to a spe-
cific project, you should do that in the project-specific dialog
boxes, not here. Details of this process are presented in the para-
graphs below.

Default Voice Properties Dialog Box

This is the same dialog box that appears each time you start
WordBuilder in stand-alone mode. If you never set values as the
defaults in this dialog, then you will always see the same values
as shown on page 58. But let’s say you always use your keyboard
to play the melodies, and always transmit on MIDI channel 9.
Then you can preset those choices (and others) here and not have
to reset them every time you start the program.
The screen shot at the left
shows these values entered
into the Default Voice dia-
log box. And this dialog,
filled in the same way, is
exactly what then appears
each time you start Word-
Builder. Note that you must
save the current choir file
before these choices be-
come the working defaults.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 74
 ENGLISH
Default Voice Advanced Midi In
Clicking on the button with this
name opens a dialog where you
can set values for the current
voice. Changes made here will
become the default values for
this voice (Soprano, Tenor, etc.)
once you save the choir file.
The two Limit Notes controls specify the bottom and top notes
that can be accepted for this voice type. Change these values if
you expect to generate notes in the normal vocal range that you
want to exclude from EWQLSC. Making the range wider has no ef-
fect on the generated track.
The original defaults for the choral voices are:
• Sopranos A3 [69] to E5 [88]
• Altos F2 [53] to E4 [76]
• Tenors E2 [52] to D4 [74]
• Basses B0 [35] to A2 [57]
• Women F2 [53] to E5 [88]*
• Men B0 [35] to D4 [74]*
• Boys C3 [60] to B4 [[83]
3OPRANOSçççççç!LTOSçççççççç4ENORSççççççç"ASSESççççççççç7OMENçççççççç-ENççççççççççççççç"OYS
N £N¤ N £N¤ N
N  N N 
 N  
N N N
N N
* The Women’s and Men’s voices have been added for Kontakt us-
ers. If you own Kontakt, it is possible to set up a multi with both
men’s choruses in one multi. Use one of the multis for Basses
with limited range (“R” in the name) on MIDI channels 1–5, and
a similar multi for Tenors on MIDI channels 6–10. Likewise, it is
possible to set up a multi with both women’s choruses in one
multi: use Altos with limited range (“R” in the name) on MIDI
channels 1–5, and Sopranos on MIDI channels 6–10. Once you
have created and saved such multis, the Women’s and Men’s
voices in Wordbuilder will be available. You also need to select
Men or Women as the voice type in WordBuilder. These multis are
very useful because they provide access to a 3-octave range in a
single patch.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 75
 The Transpose dropdown list allows the user to shift all notes that
arrive from the MIDI In Channel by a specified amount when sent
via MIDI Out to Kompakt. Possible values are:
• Up 2 octaves
• Up 1 octave
• No transpose
• Down 1 octave
• Down 2 octaves
Once the choir file has been saved, these defaults remain in ef-
fect unless changed in the Voice Properties dialog box opened
from the button near the upper left corner of the WordBuilder win-
dow.

Default Voice Advanced Midi Out

To understand what this
dialog box does you have
to know that each voice
in WordBuilder connects
to the Kompakt instru-
ment over 5 separate
MIDI channels—and 10
channels in the case of
the Men’s and Women’s
Choirs. Here you can set
the default values for
both the port and the
channel over which the MIDI data is sent. Under normal circum-
stances, you do not need to set these values, but advanced users
can control the parameters to accommodate special circum-
stances.
In the sixth drop-down list, you can select the port over which to
send any other MIDI data. The seventh control lets you specify a
different channel to accept the data stream when the Bypass but-
ton in WordBuilder is turned on.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 76
 ENGLISH
The Events Tab
The fourth tab in the Options dialog box lets you set event trig-
gers—MIDI messages—that control the position of the perfor-
mance cursor while the vocal lines are being played.
At the top of the
page, you can spec-
ify the MIDI Control
Change code (and
its value) that will
tell WordBuilder to
reset the syllable
cursor to the begin-
ning. This MIDI
event is the way for
a sequencer to tell
WordBuilder that it
has stopped and gone back to the beginning. For example, with-
out this setting, if you played the first 4 measures, stopped the
sequencer, then started again from the beginning, WordBuilder
would pick up at the words from measure 5.
The original default setting is CC20 with a value of 127. It is rec-
ommended that you insert this message—or whatever you change
it to—before the first note in your sequencer (in all channels con-
nected to WordBuilder voices). That way WordBuilder always
knows when the sequencer starts over.
In this dialog, you can reset the default to any CC code, but if you
do change it, it is recommended that you use one of the unused
codes. The drop-down shows you not only the numbers of the
codes, but their usual meaning as well. Those with names that in-
clude “General Purpose” or “Control” are unassigned and good
choices.
The lower half of the tab allows you to specify CC codes and val-
ues whose meaning to WordBuilder is to start holding the syllable
and stop holding the syllable. If you want the “ee” sound of the

Kompakt Instrument
English – 77
 word “sweet” to hold over five notes, send the Hold On event from
the sequencer before the “ee” has started on its first note, and
send the Hold Off event before the start of its fifth note.

 A A AAA A N
4HE SWEET SOUND

Kompakt Instrument
English – 78
 ENGLISH
The Phonetic Alphabets
This section of the guide compares the various phonetic alpha-
bets. It also provides examples of English words that use them to
assist the reader in understanding the sound each symbol repre-
sents.

Lists of The Phonetic Symbols

The tables on the next two page list the symbols from the Phonet-
ics alphabet and compare each one to the corresponding Votox
symbol. Two English words are provided to give examples of the
symbol’s sound.
There are two table because WordBuilder provides two sets of Vo-
tox symbols that differ only in their vowels. In the Options dialog
box, the user has a choice between “English Mode” and “Latin
Mode.” The choice does not affect the sounds, only the symbols
used to represent those sounds in Votox. Speakers of Romance
languages may feel more comfortable using Votox in Latin Mode.
Here’s a table that compares the two sets of Votox vowels:

English Mode Latin Mode

a a
A a!
O u
E i
o o
e e
i E
u A
U U

Because of the close relationship between the symbols of the

Phonetics and Votox “alphabets,” you should only need to learn
one. The EWQLSC team recommends always using Votox, sound-

Kompakt Instrument
English – 79
 ing out the words to achieve the desired sound. Use the other two
modes to help you learn Votox, but once mastered Votox gives you
more control.

Comparison Table: English Vowels

Phntcs Votox Phntcs Votox
a u money, rough m m money, hammer
a! a copper, wander n n green, snug
Ai aE white, sigh o o orange, naughty
Au uO brown, mouse Oi oE oil, boy
b b blue, slab Ou oO yellow, ocean
c! C! chair, catch p P pink, upper
d d red, candor r r red, car
d! t! the, nether r! ur purple, lower
e e red, steady s S silver, lace
e! A black, after t T white, true
Ei iE grey, slate t! T! theme, sloth
f F file, enough u U put, could
g g green, leg u! O blue, pool
g! ng ping, hangar v v olive, avert
h H hat, ahead w w wait, awash
i E index, finger x X fix, excess
i! EE green, ski x! S! flesh, nation
j j orange, fidget y y yellow, yonder
k K black, coal z z zero, poison
l l blue, less z! zj vision, azure

Kompakt Instrument
English – 80
 ENGLISH
Comparison Table: Latin Vowels
Phntcs Votox Phntcs Votox
a A money, rough m m money, hammer
a! a copper, wander n n green, snug
Ai ai white, sigh o o orange, naughty
Au Au brown, mouse Oi oi oil, boy
b b blue, slab Ou ou yellow, ocean
c! C! chair, catch p P pink, upper
d d red, candor r r red, car
d! t! the, nether r! Ar purple, lower
e e red, steady s S silver, lace
e! a! black, after t T white, true
Ei Ei grey, slate t! T! theme, sloth
f F file, enough u U put, could
g g green, leg u! u blue, pool
g! ng ping, hangar v v olive, avert
h H hat, ahead w w wait, awash
i i index, finger x X fix, excess
i! ii green, ski x! S! flesh, nation
j j orange, fidget y y yellow, yonder
k K black, coal z z zero, poison
l l blue, less z! zj vision, azure

Kompakt Instrument
English – 81
Playing Music with Symphonic Choirs
This section of the manual describes how to take advantage of
the musical and technical features of this sound library to cre-
ate choral music that is expressive, varied, and realistic. With-
out this control of the available parameters, music created on a
computer can sound static, lifeless, and dimensionless. Using
the features described below is akin to a singer controlling dy-
namics, phrasing and technique to interpret the music. In other
words, there’s more to music making than perfecting the pitch,
loudness, and duration of each note.

Programs and Multis

If you look through the tables of EWQLSC sample files, starting on
page 32, you notice there are two types of files:
• multis
• programs, also called “instruments”
A “multi,” short for “multi-instrument,” is a collection of up to 8
program files collected together and given a name. When using
WordBuilder, you are always using multis. The solo voices can
also he loaded as multis. For individual phonetic elements and for
the vocal effects, you must use one or more program files.
You can also collect together up to 8 programs into your own
multi, name it, and save it, with the goal of being able to reload
the same multi (the same collection) at a later time.

The Choir Multis

The core samples in the EWQLSC collection are the choir sections
for sopranos, altos, tenors, basses, and boy sopranos. Each of
these five sections has a number of articulations—files that differ
in the way the sounds are sung. Example of different articulation
parameters include amount of vibrato, dynamics, and style of at-
tack. A listing of these 39 articulation files starts on page 33.
For every item in those lists, there are 3 multis: one each for the
C, F, and S mic positions. Therefore, there are 117 total multis for
the choirs. The first letter of the multi’s name specifies which mic
position it captures.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 82
 ENGLISH
The Choir Programs
The choir samples are also provided in individual programs, usu-
ally one program for each phonetic sound captured during record-
ing. For example, every sung “ooh” note, as in the word “blue,” is
in a single program file. Also every sung “V” note, “R” note, and
so on. These are not individually available for use in WordBuilder.
Note that many choral sample libraries in the past, those provid-
ing sung “ooh” and “aah” sounds, are just a very small fraction of
this part of the EWQLSC library.
In addition, the programs provide access to several vocal effects,
such as shouts, calls, and clusters.
The programs are listed in this manual, starting on page 36.

Full SATB Choirs: 3 Approaches

There are 3 standard ways to create a full choral sound with
EWQLSC. They trade off the speed with which you can achieve
your results against the realism of the final recording. Another de-
ciding factor may be how demanding each approach is in its use
of computer resources.
One: For the most realistic results, use one of the complete multis
for each part: Sopranos, Altos, Tenors, Basses. As with live sing-
ers, the four ranges overlap. This gives you the flexibility to create
vocal lines in which, for example, Sopranos maintain their distinc-
tive timbre in every part of their range, even below the top of the
Altos’ range.
This approach can use so many computer resources that it’s un-
likely you can record all 4 lines at once on a single machine; you
may have to split your parts across two or more computers, or else
“freeze” some lines to audio while playing the samples for other
lines.
Two: For a more homogenous sound, EWQLSC provides “Full
Men’s” and Full Women’s” Choruses. How to load the multis is
described on page 35.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 83
 The voices in these multis are range-limited, meaning there is no
overlap between the Sopranos and Altos, and also none between
the Tenors and Basses. If a single vocal line passes the split
point, the samples change from, for example, Tenors to Basses. If
that’s not a problem in your project, then this approach is a good
choice.
You’re still using WordBuilder, so you have all of its power at your
disposal. In addition, the computer resource requirements are re-
duced enough (when using DFD) that you can likely load the en-
tire SATB Choir in 2 GB of RAM.
Three: The last approach is to use the “Full Chorus, Church” files.
These are not multis, but “instruments,” so they do not use Word-
Builder. Instead, you have 4 sounds to choose from:
• ah
• oh (with adult sopranos at the top)
• oh2 (with boy sopranos at the top)
• mm/nn
The range of each “instrument” is over 5 octaves.
They all use the Mod Wheel to cross-fade. The first three (the
vowel sounds) cross-fade between non-vibrato and light vibrato.
The fourth choice changes smoothly from an M-sound to an N-
sound as the Mod Wheel is turned.
This approach is designed for quick mock-ups and projects where
the chorus serves mostly as background to other instruments. As
such, the patches are available only with the S mics, because they
are designed as an easy solution to getting a big, full choir
quickly.
This approach uses the least memory and computer power of the
three.

The Soloist Multis

Three soloist voices are provided: soprano, alto, and boy soprano.
The sounds are collected in a multi that includes the 3 mic posi-
tions together. The soloists are not available from WordBuilder.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 84
 ENGLISH
The multis for the soloist samples collect together the 3 mic posi-
tions for each voice type. For example, the Soprano Soloist multi
consists of the same Soprano programs recorded with the C, F,
and S mics. Such a collection is especially convenient when cre-
ating full-dimension recordings, whether in stereo or surround
sound.

Cross-Fades and the Modulation Wheel

A cross-fade uses two or more different samples on the same
MIDI channel and provides a means to lower the volume of one
sample while simultaneously raising the volume on another sam-
ple. This fading between the two sample creates a smooth transi-
tion from the sound of one to that of the other.
In EWQLSC, the Mod Wheel controls cross-fades that affect the
sound of the virtual singers. The parameters controlled include
the amount of vibrato and the dynamics.
Three types of cross fades are provided in the choir multis:
• DYN MOD (3-way dynamic modulation): an all-in-one collec-
tion of dynamic range.
• SFT MOD (2-way soft modulation): the lower end of the
dynamic range in DYN MOD. From soft volume without
vibrato to medium volume with vibrato.
• HRD MOD (2-way hard modulation): the upper end of the
dynamic range. From medium volume with medium vibrato
to loud volume with heavy vibrato.
The first of these gives you the most flexibility to adjust volume
with the Mod Wheel through the entire gamut of recorded dynam-
ics, so it requires the most computer power and resources. The
other two options use less memory and, therefore, may be better
choices on hardware-constrained systems.
There are, of course, other ways to control dynamics, including
MIDI velocity and expression parameters. (These controls are dis-
cussed later in this chapter.) There are two main advantages of
dynamic cross-fades (DXFs) over other means.
First, a DXF controls not only the volume, but also the timbre of
the sound. The sound of a soprano section singing loud is differ-
ent from them singing softly, even if the volume knob on the ste-

Kompakt Instrument
English – 85
 reo is adjusted to normalize their output level. Because a DXF is
shifting between samples and not only changing the volume, that
change in timbre is preserved. As mentioned above, the vibrato
also increases as the volume goes up.
Second, unlike velocity, which is fixed for the entire duration of
any MIDI note, the position of the Mod Wheel can be adjusted
continuously to achieve swells and other expressive details mid-
note.

Segment Transitions and Keyswitches

The samples of the sung vowels are available in 4 versions (except
for the boy sopranos, which use only two). The difference among
them refers to how segments transition from one to the next.
• normal attack
• legato
• staccato (not with boy sopranos)
• slurred, sliding (not with boy sopranos)
When using WordBuilder to drive the choir multis, the transitions
can be specified either with one of the 4 symbols “=(><” inside
the typed text or by selecting properties from a dialog box. See
page 61 for more details.
When loading individual vowels, the segment transitions are man-
aged with keyswitches. The file names for the adult-sung vowels
end in “C0-D#0” to indicate there are 4 keyswitches: C, C#, D,
D# in the C0 octave. For the boy soprano files, the “C0-C#0”
shows that only the first two keyswitches are available.
A keyswitch is a note out of the range of the singer that can be
added to the MIDI output to specify which version of the sample
to play. Kompakt interprets the keyswitch and plays the correct
sample.
WordBuilder generates keyswitch notes automatically; therefore,
WordBuilder users will likely never use the manual keyswitches
there. (They are, however, used extensively in the soloist files.)
Advanced: When playing the individual vowel programs, if you
want to use this feature it must be done manually. You can in-
clude the keyswitch note a little before the Note-On event of the

Kompakt Instrument
English – 86
 ENGLISH
first note to play the associated version. That version will continue
to be used until another keyswitch changes the setting. If you
want to accept the default setting, “normal attack,” for all notes,
then no keyswitch notes are necessary.

Volume, Velocity, and Expression

There are at least four ways to make sampled voices sound louder,
or at least make the real notes seem to have been sung louder.
One of these, the dynamic cross fade, was discussed on page 85.
Volume is just the loudness of the generated sound. Changing vol-
ume is basically the same as turning the volume knob on your au-
dio system. A soprano singing softly can be cranked up; a soprano
belting a note can be turned way down.
Volume can be adjusted mid-note; that is, the listener can experi-
ence a crescendo or diminuendo for a held note. And as with a
live choir, the various parts are changing their loudness indepen-
dently, something you cannot do with the stereo’s loudness knob.
Velocity, a term based on how fast a keyboard player hits the keys,
controls how forcefully the note is sung. Adding force changes not
only the loudness of the notes, but usually also changes the notes’
timbre. With a piano’s action, the velocity cannot affect what hap-
pens to the sound after the hammers hit and leave the strings,
and velocity works the same way here. In the current implementa-
tion of MIDI, velocity is usually designated by a number between
1 and 127. And most software sequencers display velocity as ver-
tical bars, something like the diagram below.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 87
 Modern sample players, Kompakt included, play different sam-
ples for different ranges of velocity. For example, the team creat-
ing the samples recorded the alto section’s Middle C at pp, p, mp,
mf, etc. The team then assigns the pp samples to, say, velocities
1–25, the p samples to velocities 26–45, and so on. Because
each dynamic level of a voice has its own timbre, a note’s velocity
affects not only its loudness but also its timbre.
Velocity changes are, therefore, a much better way than volume
changes to achieve natural-sounding dynamics. The disadvantage
of velocity is that it cannot be changed mid-note. Using the two
together gives the orchestrator control over more aspects of the
dynamics.
In MIDI, velocity is an attribute of the Note-On message; it can
only be transmitted at the onset of a note. Volume, in contrast, is
a control change (CC7); it can be transmitted at any time.
EWQLSC actually uses the Mod Wheel (CC1) to control volume in-
side dynamic cross fades (DXFs). The various layers within a DXF
articulation vary not only in loudness, but also in timbre; there-
fore, using the Mod Wheel results in natural-sounding dynamics
in which the voices not only get louder but also have the sound of
singing louder.
The parameter called “Expression” is represented by another
MIDI control change (CC11). In EWQLSC, CC11 is used to control
dynamics. It is possible to shape the dynamics of a line either by
“playing” a CC11 controller in real time, or by drawing an enve-
lope in a sequencer. Most MIDI keyboards and control surfaces
have programmable knobs and/or sliders that can be set to send
CC11 messages to a specific MIDI channel. (Sliders are generally
more sensitive for real-time control.) If your sequencer supports
automation, it can record your movements of the knob or slider
and save them as part of the project. Such manual control over
the shape of a vocal line is usually more efficient than drawing in
an envelope, and often achieves more convincing results.
EWQLSC’s choice to use CC11 allows CC7 (volume) to be used in
other ways. For example, you can use the volume slider in your se-
quencer to adjust the overall volume level of each track in the
mix. The ability to do this is especially helpful when using more
than one mic position. If you want to experiment with how much

Kompakt Instrument
English – 88
 ENGLISH
C, F, and S of a given choral section or soloist to include, use CC7
to do that. CC11 is somewhat independent of CC7 and can adjust
dynamics to shape phrases within the tracks.
Although the volume and expression controls can be adjusted sep-
arately, the volume setting does change how expression affects
perceived volume. Think of CC7 as setting an upper limit on the
dynamics at any moment. Expression, like most continuously
changeable values in MIDI, takes values between 0 and 127. CC7
specifies how loud a sound to generate for the maximum expres-
sion, 127.

MIDI Envelopes and Control Data

Most modern sequencers let you draw an envelope for the most
common MIDI control codes. The diagram with the light-colored
curve at the end of this paragraph is an example of an envelope
for CC11. Notice how the values are constantly changing, the
same way a singer modulates his or her breath and tone to shape
the musical line. (The horizontal lines near the top are the notes.)

When saved as MIDI data, this same envelope appears as a finite

set of commands. In a sequencer track, these often appear as ver-
tical lines, each line being a command to change the value—in
this case to change CC11.

The other way—and many say the better way—to send CC11
events to the sample player is with a MIDI controller, either a key-
board or a control surface. As long as you have an extra hand—or
foot, if you use a pedal—you can enter these control codes while

Kompakt Instrument
English – 89
 playing the notes into the sequencer. This allows you to hear the
interchange among the notes, their velocities (how hard you’re
hitting the keys), and the expression being added with CC11.
This process can also be done in two passes—notes first, then
control data—if your setup allows you to record automation data
to a track that already contains other MIDI data.
Everything written about CC11 in this section also applies to CC1
(Mod Wheel) and all other MIDI control codes. Learning to shape
musical lines the same way an singer does will give your work a
more natural musicality. By combining velocity control, expres-
sion, Mod Wheel, and volume, you change digital samples into
real, living music.

Release Trails
The EASTWEST / QUANTUM LEAP SYMPHONIC CHOIRS is an
ambient library complete with release trails for the full F and sur-
round S samples. (Note that the close C samples do not include
release trails, partly as a measure to conserve computer re-
sources. A small amount of artificial reverb can be added to make
them mix appropriately with the other samples. And because the
close samples are the one with the least natural reverb relative to
the loudness of the sung notes, the lack of release trails on this
component should not significantly degrade the mix.)
Release trails capture the sound of the hall from the moment the
singer stops singing: the natural sound of each note’s decay
within the space. The complex and subtle nature of the reflected
sounds off the walls, ceiling, and other surfaces is nearly impossi-
ble to generate accurately after-the-fact with an artificial reverb.
The release trail samples are triggered by the MIDI Note-Off
event. Their parameters can be adjusted in Kompakt, or even
turned off, if you want.
The release trails are amplitude-matched to the wave form of the
playing note, no matter where the playback is in the AHSDR enve-
lope. The software analyzes the amplitude of the waveform at the
time of the Note-Off event, then activates the release trail, auto-
matically adjusting the release trail amplitude so the two samples
blend seamlessly. The result is very natural.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 90
 ENGLISH
The release trails have been preset to a length that enables the li-
brary to work in most situations. The user can also adjust the re-
lease trails so that they play out all the way to the end with no
fade at all, or very little fade, if desired. The default setting
doesn’t do this because it was felt that a slightly shorter setting
was more pleasing, especially for medium to faster paced pieces.
If you want a longer ambience, use the group editor in Kompakt.
Make sure that the “Edit All” button is not red (is off). Select one
of the release trail groups and add 2 seconds to the decay time.
Then go to the next release trail group and do the same. Most pro-
grams have several release trail groups.

Panning
Panning is not usually necessary. Every section in the library has
been recorded in its proper place on stage using custom equip-
ment built by recording engineer Prof. Keith O. Johnson. The full
and surround ambiences reflect the positioning perfectly: sopra-
nos on the left down to basses on the right, as on a typical concert
hall stage.
The close mics do not reflect the positioning on stage, because
they are close to each section or soloist. These have been pre-
panned in programming to match their true place on stage. You
will notice that the close mics have panning values and the full
and surround mics do not. You can of course, easily change any
panning setting, but to do so may make less realistic the apparent
natural positioning of the singers within the concert hall.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 91
Understanding DFD
Direct From Disk (or “DFD”) technology allows the data within
samples to be read directly from the hard drive without all the
data being first loaded into memory—or at least most of it doesn’t
have to be preloaded.

The Basics
• A sample player—in this case Kompakt—always reads sam-
ple data from buffers in memory. This buffer is necessarily
smaller than the length of the whole sample, or else we’d all
need huge amounts of RAM. As long as there’s always digital
data in a buffer ready to be turned into sounds, the sample
player can reproduce the original sounds with no delay.
• There are actually two types of buffers: preload and voice.
• There is always a short delay between the time the computer
asks for data from the hard drive and the time the data can
be delivered to the computer’s central processing unit
(CPU). The average delay for any model of hard drive is
called the “access time.” In modern, high quality hard
drives, the access time ranges from 4 ms (0.004 second) to
50 ms (0.050 second); the average is about 10 ms. This is
not a long time, but definitely noticeable. Plus if the
sequencer asks for the samples of 10 notes at once (all on
the same down beat, for example), the delay could be sev-
eral times as long before all the data is read into all the
voice buffers and ready to go.
• Once the data starts to stream from the hard drive, it can be
delivered to a buffer much faster than the sample player
needs it; that is, unless the CPU needs to load many, many
samples at once. Drives with faster rotations can generally
deliver data faster, which is why hard drives with at least
7,200 RPM are recommended, and those with 10,000 RPM
are almost a necessity for highly polyphonic music.
• The sample player has to be ready for any note in any loaded
articulation file at any time. If, for example, there are 20
articulation files loaded, with an average of 2 octaves (25
notes) per file, that’s 400 notes with data ready in memory
to be used. Layering of samples means that each note can

Kompakt Instrument
English – 92
 ENGLISH
play more than one sample at a time. There could be over
1000 samples on the ready in preload buffers in memory.
And that’s before we add the possibility of release trails.
Anyway, lots and lots of samples need to have their own pre-
load buffers.
• In order to be ready to play a sample, a short amount of the
sample data is written into its preload buffer when the artic-
ulation file is first loaded. This buffer has to be long enough
that the sample player can start right away and won’t run out
of data before the following data has been loaded from the
hard drive. That is, there needs to be a seamless transition
from the preloaded data to the data arriving on demand from
the hard drive.
• As long as the CPU can keep up with playing the data
already in buffers plus loading new data, continuous music
is generated. But when the sample player runs out of data in
one or more voice buffers, then gaps, pops, or other undesir-
able sounds appear.
• When an articulation file is loaded, the sample player needs
to know facts about the buffers it’s going to create: how
many, and how large. The number of preload buffers is fixed
for each articulation file. How many voice buffers per articu-
lation file is answered by the Polyphony setting that is con-
figurable in the user interface of Kompakt. The length of the
buffers is also configurable.
• It should be clear that the total amount of RAM devoted to
buffers in memory can be very, very large. That’s one reason
sufficient RAM is so important in a DAW.

Sizing Considerations
There are four numbers used when configuring buffers:
• Polyphony defines the maximum number
of samples that can play at once from the
given articulation file. The default num-
ber is 32, but that can be changed in the
interface by double-clicking on the num-
ber 32 and typing in a new value. If voices are heard disap-
pearing too soon—especially release trails—then the

Kompakt Instrument
English – 93
 number has been set too low. But keep it as low as possible,
because unused buffers are a waste of RAM. During play-
back, you can watch how many voices are playing at any
moment. Set the polyphony to be right at, or a little above,
the maximum value observed for that articulation file in that
piece. And yet be aware that if you set the polyphony barely
large enough, then you may encounter problems if you add
more notes playing simultaneously, or faster phrases in
which more notes start before the release trails for earlier
notes are finished. As a general rule for projects still being
developed, set the polyphony a little higher than the
observed maximum, but not a lot higher.
The next three parameters are all configurable in Kompakt’s DFD
Menu dialog box. Select the Options dropdown and then DFD (Di-
rect From Disk) to see the dialog. All settings here are global; that
is, they apply to all samples. Changed values do not take effect
until the next time buffers are allocated, which means it’s best to
close and reopen all instances of Kompakt after making these
changes.

• Preload Buffer Size defines how many kilobytes of memory to

allocate for each sample’s preload buffer. Larger sizes allow
for slower responses from the hard drive, but also consume
more of the computer’s RAM. A size of 192 KB is a reason-
able starting point. Adjust it up or down to find the right bal-
ance for your computer’s hardware and your usage of
samples.
• Voice Buffer Size defines how many kilobytes of memory to
allocate for the buffers that store the data loaded from disk
on demand. Here a good starting point is 384 KB.
• Reserved Voices defines how many voice buffers to create in
advance. This value has a range from 8 to 256. In general, it

Kompakt Instrument
English – 94
 ENGLISH
should be set to higher values when working on projects that
will play a lot of samples simultaneously. It can be set lower,
if desired, on a small project using only a few instruments.
A fourth number on this page, Memory Total, cannot be set on its
own. This value is computed for you by multiplying Voice Buffer
Size times Reserved Voices. It calculates the total memory re-
quirements from the two other, so you can see how much RAM
your settings will use.
Note that you must click on Apply to have the settings saved;
clicking on Exit closes the dialog without saving the changes.
There is a dropdown list (shown with the selection Expert in the
figure). Selecting Expert allows you to make your own choices for
the three values. But there are also four presets with pre-config-
ured settings for Preload Buffer, Voice Buffer, and Reserved
Voices:

Pre-configured settings
Normal (Medium polyphony / Medium memory)
192KB 384KB 64 voices
High Performance (Medium polyphony / High memory)
384KB 750KB 64 voices
Large Instruments (Low polyphony / High memory)
96 KB 384KB 64 voices
Small Instruments (High polyphony / Medium memory)
192KB 384KB 128 voices

If you find that one or more of these are a close fit to your needs,
this dropdown is a quick way to adjust the configuration from one
project to the next. You may, though, find that 64, and even 128,
voices is too small for large projects.
Finally, note that DFD can be turned on and off from this same di-
alog box. The lighter blue DFD Active button is a visual indication
that DFD is currently enabled. Click on this button to toggle be-
tween Active and Inactive. When DFD is disabled, all samples in
all articulation files must be loaded into RAM in their entirety.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 95
The 3 Mic Positions
Much has been written about extra efforts of the EastWest / Quan-
tum Leap team to record all samples from three separate micro-
phone positions within the hall: both in Symphonic Orchestra and
Symphonic Choirs. To understand how the three mic positions
work, let’s perform a quick Gedankenexperiment (thought experi-
ment). Imagine yourself in Carnegie Hall with an entire a capella
chorus on the stage.
• First, you’re invited to sit directly in front of the tenor sec-
tion while they sing their part. What you hear approximates
the sound recorded in the “close” (C) mic position. The
sound coming directly from the singers is so much louder
than the reflections off the walls and other surfaces that
these reverberations make up a very small part of what you
hear.
• Next, you’re placed in a chair at the very front of the stage—
or maybe the front row of the house—and you listen to the
same tenor melody. Now you hear more of the natural rever-
beration of the hall because your ears are not so overpow-
ered by the sound coming directly from the chorus. This
sound is captured by the “stage” mics, also known as the
“full” (F) mics, a cluster of microphones near the front of
the stage.
• Finally, you’re asked to sit nearer the back of the house and
high up, maybe at the front of the Balcony. The same tenor
melody is played. From this perspective, the full acoustics of
the hall are most evident because you hear clearly the sound
bouncing off the ceiling, the walls, all the reflective sur-
faces, in front of you and even behind. It can be a very lush
sound, though perhaps lacking in the immediacy of a closer
position; however, adding in a little of this sound (either in a
stereo mix or in the rear speakers of a surround-sound
recording) can add dimension to the recording. This mic
position was used to create the “surround” (S) samples,
sometimes called the “hall” mics.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 96
 ENGLISH
This is the first choral sample library to include user control of
three simultaneous stereo microphone setups (close, stage and
surround) for all singers and sections. You can mix together any
combination of these microphone positions to control tone and
ambience. It’s like virtually repositioning the listener by incre-
mentally moving out from the close mics, to the stage mics, to the
hall mics (known as audio zoom), all in real-time!
For the choral sections, Symphonic Choirs contains each mic po-
sition in its own multi. They can be loaded:
• individually, if you plan to use only one mic position
• one at a time, if you want to mix down bounced tracks at a
later time
• two or three perspectives at once, to be mixed in real time
All three sets of samples were recorded simultaneously for each
note in the library. Therefore, there are predictable and natural
delays in the time it take the music to reach the further mics. This
latency is the natural reverb of the hall and produces a pleasing
fullness to the sound when the samples are mixed. If you want to
tighten up the reverb from the S samples, it is possible with mod-
ern sequencers and mixers to adjust the audio track from the S
samples a little forward in time. Either perform a calculation us-
ing the speed of sound at sea level (approximately 340 meters/
second; 1100 feet/second, if you prefer) or let your ears decide
what works best.
The close mics, of course, have virtually no latency: only a small
amount necessary to retain the sonic perspective of the choirs in
the concert hall. If you don’t use the close mics, and you play
something that requires very quick and punchy attacks, you may
notice some small delay, which can be cured by adding in some of
the close mics. In most cases you would want to use the close
mics to add definition to a section. The idea is to experiment until
you find a combination that works.
The picture on the next page shows the three mic positions drawn
in a diagram of a typical concert hall. The semicircular area at the
top is where the choir stands.
• All the C’s represent the various positions of the close C
mics as they were set up in front of each section. The mics

Kompakt Instrument
English – 97
 # #
# #

&

were near enough to capture the presence of the vocalists,

but far enough away to allow the sound of the singers to
breathe.
• The “F” represents the approximate position of the cluster of
full F mics. They provide a best-seat-in-the-house perspec-
tive.
• The “S” shows approximately where the hall S mics were
positioned.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 98
 ENGLISH
During sampling, the simultaneous recordings from all three posi-
tions were phase-locked. This attention to detail ensures that the
samples can be bounced down to a single audio track without in-
troducing phasing problems.
Many composers still work in stereo only. You can mix all three
ambiences together without any phasing issues. You will actually
hear a lot of dimension in your stereo mixes. Consider this: if you
render a close mix, a full mix, and a surround mix of every song
you write, you will have an archive that can be used to create sur-
round mixes in the future. And you know it will work—perfectly!
This technique also allows you to do quick wetter or drier remixes
in the future.

Reverb Control
Controlling the reverb can be as easy as adjusting the level of sur-
round S mics, and turning on or off the close C mics. If you re-
quire more control, the volume of the release trails can be altered.
Simply use the group editor in the Kompakt interface; choose the
release trail group, with Edit All unchecked, and change the vol-
ume. Be very careful what you do though; some programs may
have the release trails split into many groups. For these, you need
to change the volumes of all groups.

Some Sound Advice

Generally, in our opinion, the full F mix has the best overall sound
of the three mixes, but a combination of the three mic setups usu-
ally creates the most impressive sound. Although it may vary with
the type of choral music being recorded, the sections often sound
best with the close C mics turned down in volume (leaving only
enough of the close mics to add definition).
Try this: Boost the close C mics up to 6db (bell shape with a fairly
wide Q) between 5K and 10K. Then roll off the frequencies below
800Hz so you are down about 10db at 50Hz. Then mix the C
track into the F track at a low volume to add clarity and sheen to
the stage mics. (Be careful not to use too much of the close mics

Kompakt Instrument
English – 99
 with this EQ curve.) Other styles may sound just right using an
equal blend of all ambiences. The idea is to experiment until you
find a combination that works.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 100
 ENGLISH
Various Ways to Combine the Samples

Using C and S Mics Sparingly

One possible approach when using EWQLSC to create a stereo
mix is to use primarily the F samples and then blend in just
enough of the C samples to provide more immediacy, plus enough
of the S samples to create a more natural reverb to the overall
sound. There’s no reason to keep the mix constant for the dura-
tion of the piece. Maybe you’ll want to add in a little extra C to a
section that has the most important lyrics at the moment. Or give
the altos the extra punch to stand out when they carry the melody,
or push up the S perspective to make the chorus of townspeople
sound more distant when they first arrive on the scene. Use your
ear and your imagination to find the best mix for both you and the
piece you’re working on.

Blending All Three Mics

Another approach is to create three mixes of a piece that are iden-
tical except that they were “played” with the three separate sets
of samples. Each of the three “takes” (C, F, and S) is bounced
down to a stereo track. In a final bounce-down, the volume levels
of the three perspectives are adjusted to achieve a single track
with the desired sound. This approach can generate either stereo
tracks or any of the surround sound formats (4.0, 5.1, LCR+LFE,
Matrix UHJ, and many others). More on surround sound can be
found on page 103.

Go for the Intimate—or the Expansive—Sound

Note that some musical styles can benefit from using the C or S
sound as the starting point. A recording of a Renaissance motet—
or other chamber ensemble—might benefit from the sound of us-
ing mostly the C samples. And a dreamy or mysterious film score
might be more effective when based on the S samples. Such deci-
sions may also apply with religious music, or if you are looking for
a “Lord of the Rings” type of sound. Let your ears decide.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 101
Beyond the Panning Controls
All EWQLSC voices take their traditional position on the concert
hall stage. And the panning position is reinforced by tiny differ-
ences in the arrival of sounds to the left and right mics. Not only
do the sounds directly from the different sections have different
arrival times, but so also do the reverberations from the left and
right walls. This is true, though, only for the F and S mics on the
center line of the concert hall; for the C mics, any difference in
timing is imperceptible.
To fit properly in the soundscape, the C samples are programmat-
ically panned left or right to simulate their respective positions on
the stage (you can see that in the Kompakt interface). But pan-
ning only affects relative volume of the two channels.
If you want to pin down perceived location even more strongly
when using the C mics, it’s possible to time-adjust the left and
right channels separately to move the singers where you want
them. To reinforce panning the listener’s left, first remember that
the direct sound in the C mics is stronger than the natural reverb.
Therefore, take its EQ’ed left channel audio and move it earlier a
few milliseconds; this will simulate the instrument’s sound arriv-
ing at the left mic first. Also, move its EQ’ed right channel later,
as if it took longer for the sound to get to the right microphone.
Reverse those directions to pan the sound to the right.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 102
 ENGLISH
Surround Sound Samples

Stereo Mixing
When using the S samples for two-channel mixes, adding in a lit-
tle of the lush sound of the S mics can convincingly convey the
feeling of a live recording in a concert hall: well, at least as much
as any stereo recording can do that. If you want a realistic concert
hall sound, do not over-add the S samples; a little in the mix may
be all you need. Those looking for other types of recordings (film
scores, audio tracks for games, etc.) should feel free to experi-
ment.

Surround Sound Mixing

This discussion focuses on the most popular format, 5.1, but the
guiding principles apply to other standards as well.
Here’s a starting point for creating the 6 channels you need to
create a 5.1 recording. Feel free to experiment with variations.
• Front Center: Take either the left or right signal from the ste-
reo C mics—but not both left and right. Use this to create
the immediacy needed for the front center.
• Front Left & Right: The F mics (left and right) are assigned to
the front speakers (left and right). Add in a little of the S
mics here for a lusher overall sound.
• Rear Left & Right: The two rear channels accept input from
the two stereo S mics exclusively. Use your judgment about
how much signal to send here, based on the type of record-
ing you’re creating.
• LFE: Unless you’re creating a mix for a hardware environment
with a discreet LFE channel, the system that plays your
music can best determine its own crossover frequency
between the sub-woofer and the other channels based on the
characteristics of the hardware. Therefore, none of the
music from the EWQL libraries should be added to the LFE
channel. Only non-musical effects, such as explosions and
dinosaur footsteps, should be added to this track directly.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 103
 Note that this is a change from earlier advice about surround
sound mixing.
If you are writing for specific hardware that does not provide its
own crossover, then use the older advice, as follows. The low fre-
quency and effects channel should be pulled from a mix of all the
other channels; that is, the relative volume of the various mics
(including any time delays and EQ applied separately to discreet
channels) should be proportionally applied to the LFE channel.
Be sure you use a crossover filter that removes from the other 5
channels the exact same range of frequencies added to the LFE.
Not excluding the low-frequency sounds from the other channels
results in inappropriate doubling of those frequencies.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 104
 ENGLISH
Notes from the Producers
This software was an enormous undertaking, but it is not some-
thing we plan to release and then forget about. Please check the
EWQL forums at http://www.soundsonline-forums.com for a new
section called “WordBuilder Central.” Here you can find hints and
discussions about WordBuilder and it’s where to get the most
from this software. We also allow users to post and share Word-
Builder files there. For example, you might find a few sentences
of random Latin for a video game project when you’re on a tight
schedule. Starting soon after the release of this software, you can
find pre-edited WordBuilder files that you can download in sec-
onds. We only ask that you also contribute some files of your own
once in a while if you’re benefitting from the downloads.

Hints
We want to mention a few things about the choir samples that
may not be obvious. These hints will, we hope, be the sort of thing
you will be able to find being posted on our forum on a daily basis:
Hint 1: Normal Attack and Legato Attack vowels in the 4 adult
choirs all have a hard, staccato accent that kicks in at velocity
102 and above. This means that independent of everything else,
if you hit the keys hard, you will get a strong attack. This can be
very useful for fast, accented passages. When writing smooth
lines, avoid these hard velocities.
Hint 2: Unusual and non-English vowel or consonant sounds can
be created by layering vowels or consonants in WordBuilder. For
example: the French word “Louvre” can be created in Votox with
this text:
lOU vrgU
In the first syllable overlap “O” and “U” so that they play together
until note off. (To accomplish this overlap, drag the ends of the
horizontal bars in WordBuilder’s Time Editor.) In the second sylla-
ble, overlap “r” and “g” for a French R.
Experiment to find your own combinations and post what you find
on the WordBuilder forum.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 105
 Hint 3: The Latin word “maximus” can be written either like this in
Votox:
maX E mOS
or like this:
maX SE mOS
In the second example, the S-sound at the end of the “maX” syl-
lable gets connected to the next syllable because the S-sound is
triggered again at the beginning of the next syllable.
Hint 4: Many words work better if you repeat the first vowel twice.
The word “drum” is usually written like so in Votox:
drum
But it can also be written like so:
druum
Now, when you let go of the note, “u” is triggered again for a short
period of time before the “m.” You can overlap and cross-fade the
“u” and the “m” for a smooth realistic effect.
Hint 5: Consider a word like “rain,” which can be written like so in
Votox:
reEn
The realism of the vowel sound can be enhanced by adjusting the
curve on the “eE” cross-fade. Have the “e” decrease from 127
down to y=50, instead of near 0. This detail makes for a more
convincing diphthong.
Hint 6: Generally, the slurred legato is best for a rolling legato line.
The regular legato is good for fast, clean connected notes. The le-
gato attack is the least natural and most perfect sounding of all
the attacks. In the Boys choir, the normal attack has a lot of the
character of the boys and the legato attack is more perfect and
synthetic. Nice lines can be created by mixing the two styles: Nor-
mal, Legato, Legato, Legato, Normal, Legato, etc.
Hint 7: When consonants are even slightly too loud, it can sound
unnatural. Real choirs in a hall are hard to understand. Conso-
nants that are too soft are preferable to consonants that are too
loud.
Hint 8: Use the Mod Wheel and CC11 for expression. It really
helps. See the sections starting on page 85 for more details.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 106
 ENGLISH
Hint 9: The preset, default relationship in volume between the
vowels and consonants in all the multis is supposed to be consis-
tent. That means that if you load the soft multi and create some
text, then decide to switch to the hard multi, the vowel consonant
relationship should be the same. In reality, though, there may be
slight differences. For this reason, we recommend that you don’t
do any final tweaking in WordBuilder until you have loaded the
multi you plan to use.

Hint 10: If your choir is sounding fake:

• Maybe you need to leave more space between consonants, or
perhaps make each consonant longer.
• Try overlapping certain consonants and possibly cross-fading
them.
• Sometimes legato attacks can make things sound better or
worse. Sometimes you need to use slurred legato on the
vowel to improve a consonant-vowel transition.
• Sometimes an accent on a certain syllable is crucial to real-
ism. Hit the keys hard for an accent.
• Sometimes it’s a good idea to fix MIDI velocity in your
sequencer at a single value. This can improve smoothness
and make editing in WordBuilder easier. Use CC11 and the
Mod Wheel to inject dynamics.
Hint 11. We really recommend using Votox exclusively. Once you
get good at sounding things out and you learn the letter symbols,
it’s powerful stuff.
Look for more hints like these—and contribute some of your
own—at “WordBuilder Central,” online at:
http://www.soundsonline-forums.com
Enjoy, Nick Phoenix and Doug Rogers

Kompakt Instrument
English – 107
Credits
Produced by
Doug Rogers and Nick Phoenix

Recorded by
Prof. Keith O. Johnson

Custom recording equipment built and designed by

Prof. Keith O. Johnson

Assistant Recording Engineer

Rhys Moody

Director of Sample Editing

Arne Schulze

Sample Editing
Arne Schulze, Nick Phoenix, Jonathan Marmor, Pierre Martin,
Pacemaker, Nick Pavey, and Jared Selter

Programming
Nick Phoenix, Ashif Hakik, Pierre Martin, Pacemaker,
Nick Pavey, and Jared Selter

Art Direction
Steven Gilmore and Doug Rogers

WordBuilder concept by
Nick Phoenix and Nuno Fonseca

WordBuilder software by
Nuno Fonseca

Special thanks
All of the singers (we salute you!), all at East West,
and all at Native Instruments

Kompakt Instrument
English – 108
 ENGLISH
1 Product Authorization
Part of the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT installation is a Product Au-
thorization which has to be fulfilled in order to make permanent
use of the software. We recommend that you take notice of this
chapter first, then proceed with the software installation as de-
scribed in the following chapters and finally return to this chap-
ter.

1.1. What is the Product Authorization?

The Product Authorization includes a full registration. After having
completed the authorization, you can make use of all online ser-
vices related to the registered product. On the Native Instruments
web site you can read online tutorials, get technical support, par-
ticipate in the NI forums and download updates.
KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT requires the Product Authorization in or-
der to use the software permanently. You can run KOMPAKT IN-
STRUMENT for 30 days without any limitations. As long as the
software runs unauthorized, a message at every program start re-
minds you that the authorization has not been completed yet and
indicates how many more days the software will run without an
authorization.
The Product Authorization is performed by a small application
called Registration Tool. The Registration Tool generates a System
ID which serves as request code for receiving an Authorization
Key. The System ID is based on some hardware components of
your computer system, the operating system version and the serial
number you have entered at the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT instal-
lation.

Note: Exchanging your audio card, MIDI interface or external

equipment will not start the request for a new Authorization Key.
Only exchanging a basic hardware component in your computer or
installing a new operating system might produce a new Product
Authorization request. In this case the Registration Tool will reflect
the change by displaying a new System ID and you have to repeat
the Product Authorization.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 109
 The System ID has to be sent to Native Instruments in order to re-
ceive the Authorization Key, which allows the permanent use of the
KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT. Since the Product Authorization is part
of the license agreement, the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT will stop
launching after 14 days if it was not authorized before then. Of
course, it is also possible to complete the Product Authorization af-
ter 14 days. In this case the software will launch again as soon as
the Product Authorization has been completed.

Note: The data transfer at the online Product Authorization is

done via a secure connection using 128-bit encryption. Native In-
struments keeps your personal data such as email and postal ad-
dress in confidence. No data will be shared with a third party.

1.2. Conducting the Product Authorization

Native Instruments has set a high value on making the authoriza-
tion procedure as easy and comfortable as possible. In the follow-
ing sections we describe three methods of conducting the Product
Authorization. We recommend Method A and Method B since these
result in the easiest and fastest way of receiving the Authorization
Key.

Method A: KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT computer has direct access to the

Internet

Important: This method requires a valid email address to com-

plete the Product Authorization, since the registration code will
be sent to you by email.

• Windows: Start the Registration Tool from the start menu (Pro-
gram Ö East West Ö [Product Title] Ö Registration Tool) or from
the KOMPAKT installation folder (default path: C:\Program-
Files\East West\[Product Title]\Registration Tool.exe).
• MacOS: Start the Registration Tool from the KOMPAKT IN-
STRUMENT installation folder (default path: Applications\East
West\[Product Title]\Registration Tool).

Kompakt Instrument
English – 110
 ENGLISH
• A click on the Register Now button opens the Native Instru-
ments registration web page. Therefore your standard Internet
Browser will be opened and an internet connection will be es-
tablished according to your system settings. Your System ID
will be automatically transmitted to the registration form.
• The first registration page asks for a valid email address. If the
email address you enter is already known by the registration
system, the next page will ask you for the password which you
got from an earlier product registration. If the email address is
new to the system, a new registration process will begin.
Please follow the instructions on the registration web site to
complete the registration. On the last page, you get the mes-
sage “Product is successfully registered,” and the Authoriza-
tion Code is displayed. Copy this number into the clipboard
and go back to the registration tool where you can paste the
code from the clipboard. Click on the Complete key.
• Within one hour you will receive an email from the Native In-
struments registration system containing the Authorization Key.
The Authorization Key is available in the email body and addi-
tionally as text attachment. This email also contains the pass-
word which is required for using the online services.
• Start the Registration Tool again and either (a) copy the Author-
ization Key from the email and click on the Paste from Clipb.
button in the Registration Tool or (b) use the Open File button
in the Registration Tool to open the email attachment which
you previously saved to the hard disk.
• Click on the Complete button.
Now the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT Product Authorization has
been completed. The authorization message at every KOMPAKT
INSTRUMENT start has disappeared and you can use the soft-
ware permanently:

Method B: Internet Connection on another computer

Important: This method requires a valid email address to com-

plete the Product Authorization, since the Authorization Key will be
sent to you by email.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 111
 • Windows: Start the Registration Tool from the start menu (Pro-
gram Ö East West Ö [Product Title] Ö Registration Tool) or from
the KOMPAKT installation folder (default path: C:\Program-
Files\East West\[Product Title]\Registration Tool.exe).
• MacOS: Start the Registration Tool from the KOMPAKT IN-
STRUMENT installation folder (default path: Applications\East
West\[Product Title]\Registration Tool).
• A click on the Save Registration File button opens a Save dialog
for saving a HTML file. Save the HTML file to any storage me-
dium.
• Transfer the HTML file to another computer where you have in-
ternet access (via floppy disk, CDR etc.).
• Open the HTML file in your internet browser.
• The HTML page contains a link for the registration page on the
Native Instruments web site. When you click on this link an in-
ternet connection will be established according to your system
settings.
• The first registration page asks for a valid email address. If the
email address you enter is already known by the registration
system, the next page asks you for the password which you re-
ceived from an earlier product registration. If the email ad-
dress is new to the system, a new registration process begins.
Follow the instructions on the registration page to complete
the registration. On the last page, you get the message “Prod-
uct is successfully registered,” and the Authorization Code is
displayed. Copy this number into the clipboard and go back to
the registration tool where you can paste the code from the
clipboard. Click on the Complete key.
• Within one hour you will receive an email from the Native In-
struments registration system containing the Authorization Key.
The Authorization Key is available in the email body and addi-
tionally as a text attachment. This email also contains the
password which is required for using the online services.
• Transfer the text attachment to the computer where you have
installed KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 112
 ENGLISH
• Start the Registration Tool again and either (a) copy the Au-
thorization Key from the email and click on the Paste from Clipb.
button in the Registration Tool or (b) use the Open File button in
the Registration Tool to open the email attachment which you
previously saved to the hard disk.
• Click on the Complete button.
Now the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT Product Authorization is com-
plete. The authorization message for each KOMPAKT INSTRU-
MENT start has disappeared, and you can use the software
permanently.

Method C: No Internet Connection available

Important: Following this method you will have to fill in a form

which you send to Native Instruments. You will receive the Author-
ization Key either by email (recommended), by postal mail, or by
fax. If you do not provide Native Instruments with a valid email
address in the form, be prepared to type in the Authorization Key
manually (about 60 digits).

If you do not have access to the internet or if you do not have a

working email address, the Product Authorization can also be
done via postal mail or fax. Although Native Instruments goes af-
ter a fast handling of your authorization requests, it is generally
recommended that you prefer Method A or Method B for shortest
return times and most comfortable operation. Please note the
following instructions to fulfill the Product Authorization:
• Windows: Start the Registration Tool from the start menu (Pro-
gram Ö East West Ö [Product Title] Ö Registration Tool) or from
the KOMPAKT installation folder (default path: C:\Program-
Files\East West\[Product Title]\Registration Tool.exe).
• MacOS: Start the Registration Tool from the KOMPAKT IN-
STRUMENT installation folder (default path: Applications\East
West\[Product Title]\Registration Tool).

Kompakt Instrument
English – 113
 • A click on the Fill Out Form button opens a local HTML file in
the operating system’s standard browser or another program
which you have defined as standard application for opening
HTML files.
• The HTML file contains all information Native Instruments re-
quires for completing the Product Authorization and registra-
tion. Please fill in the required data and print it out, or write a
letter containing the data.

If you write a letter please attend to a legible handwriting to avoid

mistakes at the Native Instruments registration team. Not legible
email or postal addresses can cause problems with the Authoriza-
tion Key delivery.

• Send the form to Native Instruments using one of the following

contact addresses:

Native Instruments GmbH

Registration
Schlesische Straße 28
10997 Berlin
Germany
Fax: +49 30 61103535

Native Instruments USA

5631A Hollywood Boulevard
Los Angeles
CA 90028
USA
Fax: +1-323-372-3676

Kompakt Instrument
English – 114
 ENGLISH
• You will receive the Authorization Key via email (recom-
mended), fax or mail.
• Start the Registration Tool again and either (a) copy the Au-
thorization Key from the email and click on the Paste from Clipb.
button in the Registration Tool or (b) use the Open File button
in the Registration Tool to open the email attachment which
you previously have saved to hard disk. If you received the Au-
thorization Key by mail or fax, type it in manually.
• Click on the Complete button.
Now the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT Product Authorization has
been completed. The authorization message at every KOMPAKT
INSTRUMENT start has disappeared and you can use the soft-
ware permanently.

1.3. Registration support

If you run into problems during the Product Authorization the Na-
tive Instruments registration support team will be happy to help
you. In this case write an email to:
register@native-instruments.com
Please describe the occurred problem as accurate as possible and
provide the registration support team with the necessary details to
solve the problem.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 115
2 Installation under Windows

2.1. System Requirements and Recommendations

To use the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT software, you need a com-
puter with the following minimum specifications:

Hardware
• Pentium III/Athlon processor with 1 GHz. Processors with low
floating-point processing performance are expressly not recom-
mended.
• 512 MB RAM
• 50 MB free space on your hard disk for the installation, 38 GB
for the Choirs library.
• A sound card compatible with Windows XP.
• A MIDI interface for connecting a MIDI keyboard, another
MIDI controller or an external sequencer. The MIDI interface
integrated in many sound cards can also be used.
• DVD-ROM drive

The audio engine in KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT has been designed

to make optimum use of the available computing power in the
CPU. The powerful FPUs integrated in modern CPUs are best
suited to carrying out the complex computations of real-time syn-
thesis. We recommend the following high-performance processors
for using KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT: Pentium III or IV, Athlon or
Athlon XP: with 3.0 GHz or faster. We also recommend that you
use a large amount of RAM (2.0 GB or more) that is optimally
matched to the architecture of your processor.

Software
• Windows XP

Kompakt Instrument
English – 116
 ENGLISH
2.2. Software Installation
• Insert the Installation CD into the CD-ROM drive.
• Use the Windows Explorer to view the contents of the CD.
• Start the installation by double-clicking [Product Title]
Setup.exe. installation. For example: if the Kompakt Instru-
ment title (i.e., the Product Title) is “Symphonic Choirs,” dou-
ble click on SymphonicChoirs Setup.exe
• The setup program will suggest C:\Program Files\East
West\[Product Title] as the path for the destination folder. You
may also choose another folder if you wish.

Installed Folders, Files, and Links

The setup program creates a new folder called [Product Title]\ in
the installation directory (Program Files\East West). This folder
contains the files required to operate the software.
If you do not choose a different program group during the instal-
lation, links to this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT and a ReadMe file
are added to the á Start menu under Programs Ö East West.

VST Plug-in Installation

• Insert the Installation CD into the CD drive.
• Use the Windows Explorer to view the contents of the CD. To
start, double-click the [Product Title] Setup.exe file. For exam-
ple: if the Kompakt Instrument title (i.e., the Product Title) is
“Symphonic Choirs,” double click on SymphonicChoirs
Setup.exe
• When the choice is given by the installer, select VST Plug-in
from the list of components to install.
• You can now choose to automatically search for the VST plug-in
folder or manually select the VST plug-in folder of your choice.
Please select the option that best suits your installation re-
quirements.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 117
 Note: If more than one host program for VST 2.0 plug-ins is in-
stalled on your computer, simply copy the “[Product Title] VST.dll”
file into the VST plug-ins folders of these programs (Note: “[Prod-
uct Title]” means the title of the Kompakt Instrument: for exam-
ple if you are installing the product “Symphonic Choirs,” the file
you need to copy is SymphonicChoirsVST.dll). Windows: If the
VST plug-in files are not visible in the Windows Explorer, select
the Show All Files option. This option is located in the Explorer
menu View Ö Folder Options... on the View tab below Hidden Files.
Optionally, you can set up your programs so that they all use the
same VST plug-ins folder.

2.3. DXi 2 Plug-in Setup

DXi 2 is a plug-in interface for software synthesizers and
instruments based on Microsoft DXi technology. Sonar from Cake-
walk and Fruity Loops are the most well known host sequencers
that support DXi.

Installation
• Insert the Installation CD into the CD drive of your computer.
• Use the Windows Explorer to view the contents of the CD and
double-click the [Product Title] Setup.exe file to start the instal-
lation. For example: if the Kompakt Instrument title (i.e. the
Product Title) is “Symphonic Choirs,” double click on Sym-
phonicChoirs Setup.exe
• Continue the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT installation until you
come to the Choose Plug-ins page. Tick the checkbox Install DXi
Plug-in.
The installation program copies the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT
plug-in to your hard disk and registers it as a DXi 2 plug-in for
use in DXi 2-compatible host programs. After the installation,
the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT appears as a plug-in in the host
program.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 118
 ENGLISH
3 Installation under Mac OS X

3.1. System Requirements and Recommendations

To use this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT software, you need a com-
puter with the following minimum specifications:

Hardware
• Apple PowerMac G4 800 MHz or faster
• 512 MB RAM
• Audio interface compatible with Sound Manager/ Core Audio
• OMS-compatible MIDI interface for connecting a MIDI key-
board or an external sequencer (only for the stand-alone ver-
sion)
• 50 MB free space for the installation, 38 GB for the Choirs li-
brary.
• DRD-ROM drive

The audio engine in this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT has been de-

signed to make optimum use of the available computing power in
the CPU. The parallel data processing expansions and powerful
FPUs integrated in modern CPUs are best suited to carrying out
the complex computations of real-time synthesis. This KOMPAKT
INSTRUMENT makes extensive use of these expansions in order
to achieve optimum performance. As a minimum requirement, we
recommend using a G5 1.8 GHz with 2.0 GB RAM.

Software
Mac OS X 10.2.6 or higher (10.3 or higher recommended)

Installing the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT Software

• Insert the Installation CD into the CD drive of your computer.
• Double-click the CD icon.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 119
 • Double-click the installation program [Product Title] Installer to
start it. For example: if the Kompakt Instrument title (i.e. the
Product Title) is “Symphonic Choirs,” double click on Sym-
phonicChoirs Installer.
• The start screen appears first. After clicking Continue and con-
firming the license agreement, a dialog opens where you can
select the installation location and the destination folder.
The installation program suggests a path for the KOMPAKT IN-
STRUMENT folder; if you do not select a different destination,
the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT folder is created on the first hard
disk. You can choose between Easy Install, where both the stand-
alone and plug-in versions are installed, or Custom Install, where
you can select which versions you want to install. (You must in-
clude basic installation on your first-time install, otherwise the
registration tool will not be installed.)

MacOS VST Plug-in Installation

• Insert the Installation CD into the CD drive and double-click
the CD icon.
• Click the [Product Title] Installer application in the CD folder
(for example: if the Kompakt Instrument title is “Symphonic
Choirs,” double click on SymphonicChoirs Installer) and select
the Custom installation type.
• Select only VST Plug-in from the list of components to install.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 120
 ENGLISH
4 Audio Interfaces
Audio interfaces allow KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT to communi-
cate with the audio hardware of your computer and other pro-
grams that you may have installed. This chapter contains
detailed information on the various audio interfaces and how to
use them. The features of the various interfaces are described to-
gether with their suitable applications.
Basically, there are two ways of using KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT:
as a “stand-alone” or as a “plug-in”. In following, the two versions
are described together with their corresponding interfaces.

4.1. Stand-alone Application

This method allows you to use KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT as a
stand-alone program with any of the following the interfaces (driv-
ers): MME, DirectSound, SoundManager, Core Audio or ASIO. In
this case, your computer acts as a stand-alone instrument, similar
to a hardware synthesizer with a MIDI port and analog inputs and
outputs. The table contains an overview of which interfaces are
suitable for stand-alone operation on the various computer plat-
forms:

Interface/driver Windows Mac OSX

ASIO 2.0™ z
DirectSound™ z
Core Audio™ z
Core MIDI™ z

Kompakt Instrument
English – 121
4.2. Plug-In
Used as a plug-in, this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT is not a stand-
alone program but rather a program “module” that can be inte-
grated into a “host” program such as a sequencer. Plug-in mode
allows you to integrate it seamlessly with the sequencer. Further-
more, it has many other uses as a plug-in:
• MIDI sequencing of KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT and audio mix-
down of the MIDI tracks within a single program
• Comfortable automation of KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT parame-
ters in the sequencer
• Further processing of KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT signals using
additional plug-ins
• Sample-accurate timing with MIDI controllers (when used as
VST 2.0 plug-in)
• Restoring of all plug-in settings when the host document (such
as a song file of the sequencer) is loaded
• Integration with other instruments into a “virtual studio”
This table provides you with an overview of which interfaces are
supported by which host programs:

Interface/Driver Host Programs Windows Mac

VSTi 2.0 Cubase, Nuendo z z
Cakewalk DXi Sonar z
RTAS ProTools 5 and up, LE, Free z z
Audio Units Logic 6 and up, Digital Performer z

Overview of Operating Systems and Plug-ins

The interfaces described below are effectively different ways in
which this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT can communicate with your
sound card. The interfaces that are available on your computer
depend on the sound card you are using as well as your computer
platform (Windows or MacOS).

Kompakt Instrument
English – 122
 ENGLISH
ASIO (“Audio Streaming Input Output”) is an sound card driver ar-
chitecture developed by Steinberg. ASIO is available for MacOS
and Windows computers. It offers low latency and supports multi-
channel audio cards. With its high performance and low latency,
the ASIO driver interface is highly recommendable.
DirectSound is an interface developed by Microsoft and is a com-
ponent of DirectX 5.0 or higher for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP.
Whether or not DirectX works well depends on the sound card you
are using. If the audio buffer size that you set is too small with Di-
rectSound, glitches and clicks may occur in the audio.
MME is the standard “Wave” driver in Windows. Most sound cards
support this interface and work with it quite well. However, MME
is even less suitable than DirectSound for real-time applications.
This is noticeable by a comparatively high latency.
DXI 2 is a standard plug-in interface for software synthesizers and
instruments based on Microsoft DXi technology. Sonar from Cake-
walk and Fruity Loops are the most well known host sequencers
that support DXi.
SoundManager is the standard audio interface for the integrated
audio hardware on Apple computers. The SoundManager audio in-
terface has proven to be easy to use and reliable in real-time ap-
plications with an average latency of approximately 5 ms. With
only the SoundManager interface, you can already play KOMPAKT
INSTRUMENT well without need for an expensive sound card.
Should you require even lower latencies or higher sound quality,
then we recommend using an additional high-quality sound card.
These sound cards also offer support for the SoundManager inter-
face.
Core Audio is a new audio interface available with MacOS X that
allows you to use external audio hardware as well as the inte-
grated audio output of the Mac.
RTAS is based on an interface protocol from DigiDesign that al-
lows you to use plug-ins with ProTools (or other software that is
compatible with DigiDesign). RTAS plug-ins function indepen-
dently from additional TDM hardware and are nonetheless able to
offer the widest range of features. In this case, the host processor
alone performs all of the computations for the plug-in.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 123
 Audio Units is a system-level Apple protocol for plug-ins. It was de-
veloped for the Macintosh’s own suite of audio software (Logic,
Garage Band, Sound Track). It is widely adopted as a plug-in in-
terface (Digital Performer, Live).

Kompakt Instrument
English – 124
 ENGLISH
5 KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT as Plug-in

5.1. VST 2.0 Plug-in

In addition to the stand-alone version, this KOMPAKT INSTRU-
MENT can also be used as a VST plug-in. The advantages of the
VST 2.0 format allow us to provide you with a powerful plug-in.
For more information on the VST 2.0 format, refer to the user
guide provided with your VST host program.

Using the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT Plug-in in Cubase SX

• Launch Cubase, go to the Devices menu option and select the
VST Instruments menu option.
• A window showing the instrument rack appears. Click where it
says No VST Instrument and choose KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT
from the available list of instrument plug-ins. For example,
“Symphonic ChoirsVST”

• The plug-in will now appear in your list and automatically be

turned on. It will also create a set of audio channels in your
VST mixer that will be used for mixdown within your project.
This will allow you to mix, pan, and process this KOMPAKT IN-
STRUMENT's output just like any other existing audio track in
your Cubase song.
• Click on the Edit button to call up the KOMPAKT INSTRU-
MENT interface. Here you can control and edit all the features
and functions that this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT has to offer.
• Now go to the “Project” page and add a MIDI track (if you do
not have one already created).

Kompakt Instrument
English – 125
 • Go to the Output parameter section for this MIDI Track and
click on the field. This will create a list of available MIDI out
ports to assign to this MIDI track. Choose [Product Title] VST
from the list. For example: if the Kompakt Instrument title (i.e.
the Product Title) is “Symphonic Choirs,” choose Symphonic
ChoirsVST.

Note: If the title of this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT product does

not appear in the list of available VST instruments inside your VST
2 host application, then it is not installed correctly. Please refer
to the previous section on installing the plug-in for both Windows
and Mac platforms for more assistance on setting this up.

After having loaded an Instrument from the library you should be

able to trigger it via MIDI using a keyboard controller. The KOM-
PAKT INSTRUMENT's sound will generate through the VST
mixer and directly to your sound card. If the plug-in does not re-
ceive MIDI or generate audio, then make sure to check the fol-
lowing areas:
• Make sure “MIDI thru” is enabled in Cubase.
• The MIDI channel of your MIDI track must correspond to the
receive channel of the loaded instrument.
• Make sure that you have properly configured your sound card
for use with Cubase.
(Please refer to your Cubase manual for more information)

Using the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT Plug-in in Nuendo 2 and 3

• Launch an empty or current project in Nuendo.
• Click on the Devices menu and choose VST instruments from
the menu options (or press F11 on your keyboard).

Kompakt Instrument
English – 126
 ENGLISH
• A window showing the instrument rack appears. Click where it
says No VST Instrument and choose this product’s title (for ex-
ample, Symphonic ChoirsVST) from the available list of in-
stalled plug-ins.

• The plug-in will now appear in your list and automatically be

turned on. It will also create a set of audio channels in your
VST mixer that will be used for mixdown within your project.
This will allow you to mix, pan, and process KOMPAKT IN-
STRUMENT's output just like any other existing audio track in
your Nuendo project.
• Click on the Edit button to call up the KOMPAKT INSTRU-
MENT interface. Here you can control and edit all the features
and functions that this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT has to offer.
• Now go to the “Project Editor” page and create a MIDI track (if
you do not have one already created).
• Go to the Output parameter section for this MIDI Track and
click on the field. This will create a list of available MIDI out
ports to assign to this MIDI track. Choose [Product Title] (v1)
from the list (where “[Product Title]” is the title of the product
you installed]. Also make sure you assign the MIDI input port
to correspond to whatever MIDI controller your are using.

• Record enable the MIDI track.

Note: If the title of this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT product does

not appear in the list of available VST instruments inside your VST
2 host application, then it is not installed correctly. Please refer
to the previous section on installing the plug-in for both Windows
and Mac platforms for more assistance on setting this up.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 127
 After having loaded an Instrument from the library you should be
able to trigger it via MIDI using a keyboard controller. The KO-
MPAKT INSTRUMENT's sound will generate through the VST
mixer and directly to your sound card. If the plug-in does not re-
ceive MIDI or generate audio, then make sure to check the follow-
ing two areas:
• Make sure “MIDI thru” is enabled in Nuendo.
• The MIDI channel of your MIDI track must correspond to the
receive channel of the loaded instrument.
• Make sure that you have properly configured your sound card
for use with Nuendo
(Please refer to your Nuendo manual for more information).

Using the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT Plug-in in Logic

• Launch Logic and create an audio instrument track or set an
existing audio or MIDI track to an audio instrument track by
clicking on it, holding down the mouse button and choose Au-
dio Ö Audio Instrument Ö AudioInst 1.

• Double click the audio instrument track to open the environ-

ment window. Logic scrolls automatically to the first instru-
ment bus in the Logic mixer.
• Choose this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT’s AU plug-in in
the appropriate insert slot of the instrument mixer
bus. Therefore click onto the insert slot, hold down
the mouse button and choose Stereo Ö AU Ö [Prod-
uct Title].
• The plug-in now appears in the instrument slot and is
ready to use. The instrument mixer channel will allow
you to mix, pan, and process the KOMPAKT INSTRU-
MENT's output just like any other existing audio track
in Logic.
• Double click on the mixer’s KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT
slot to call up this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT’s interface. Here
you can control and edit all the features and functions that
this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT has to offer.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 128
 ENGLISH
Note: If the title of this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT product does
not appear in the list of available AU instruments inside your AU
host application, then it is not installed correctly. Please refer to
the previous section on installing the plug-in for both Windows
and Mac platforms for more assistance on setting this up.

After having loaded an Instrument from the library you should be

able to trigger it via MIDI using a keyboard controller. The KO-
MPAKT INSTRUMENT's sound will generate through the AU
mixer and directly to your sound card. If the plug-in does not re-
ceive MIDI or generate audio, then make sure to check the follow-
ing two areas:
• Make sure “MIDI thru” is enabled in Logic.
• The MIDI channel of your MIDI track must correspond to the
receive channel of the loaded instrument.
• Make sure that you have properly configured your sound card
for use with Logic.
(Please refer to your Logic manual for more information).

5.2. DXi 2 Plug-in

DXi 2 is a plug-in interface for software synthesizers and instru-
ments based on Microsoft's DirectX technology.

Using the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT DXi 2 plug-in in Sonar

• Launch Sonar
• In the synth rack choose [Product Title] DXi 2.

Loading the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT DXi 2 plug-in in the synth rack

Kompakt Instrument
English – 129
 • Route a MIDI track to the DXi 2-Plug-in by selecting [Product
Title] in the Out drop down list.

Assign a MIDI track to the KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT-DXi-Plug-in

After having loaded an Instrument from the library you should be
able to trigger it via MIDI using a keyboard controller. The KO-
MPAKT INSTRUMENT's sound will generate through the Sonar
mixer and directly to your sound card. If the plug-in does not re-
ceive MIDI or generate audio, then make sure to check the follow-
ing two areas:
• Make sure “MIDI thru” is enabled in Sonar.
• The MIDI channel of your MIDI track must correspond to the
receive channel of the loaded instrument.
• Make sure that you have properly configured your sound card
for use with Sonar.
(Please refer to your Sonar manual for more information).

5.3. RTAS
The RTAS format is an interface protocol for Mac OS that allows
you to use plug-ins with ProTools independently from additional
TDM hardware, while nonetheless offering the widest range of fea-
tures. In this case, the host processor alone performs all of the
computations for the plug-in.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 130
 ENGLISH
6 KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT Stand-alone Version
The stand-alone version of this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT allows
you to use the application independently from other programs. In
order to use the Stand-alone version you have to do the audio and
MIDI settings first. You can call up the Audio + MIDI Settings setup
dialog from the System menu of this KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT.
For setting the stand-alone interfaces please choose Audio + MIDI
Settings... from the System menu.

Audio + MIDI Setting dialog

Soundcard tab
Interface
All of the supported (and installed) audio interfaces are available
in this drop-down list. Select the desired audio driver (MME, Di-
rectSound, ASIO, SoundManager, Core Audio) from this list.
Sample Rate
Depending on the sound card and driver you are using, various
sample rates are available. Set the desired sample rate here.
Output Device
Here you can define which of the installed audio interfaces should
be used for the audio outputs based on the driver selected under
Interface.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 131
 Input Device
Here you can define which of the installed audio interfaces should
be used for the audio inputs based on the driver selected under
Interface.

Note: With some interface types (e.g. ASIO or Core Audio), the In-
put Device setting is not available. Instead of that you can set the
inputs for the chosen driver on the Routing tab.

Output Latency
This box displays the output latency. With some drivers you also
get a latency slider for setting an individual latency for this KO-
MPAKT INSTRUMENT.

Routing tab

If you are using a multi-channel sound card, KOMPAKT INSTRU-

MENT also allows you to freely select which channels to use for
the output signals.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 132
 ENGLISH
MIDI tab

These two boxes (MIDI inputs and MIDI outputs) display all of
the MIDI inputs and outputs that are correctly installed on your
system. Click in the right column to “off” or “on” to activate or
deactivate the corresponding MIDI input or output. From this
point on, KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT sends and receives MIDI on
the activated inputs and outputs.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 133
KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT Architecture
The most basic element used by a sampler is, of course, the sam-
ple itself. This is a chunk of digitized audio that is loaded into
RAM or streamed directly from a hard drive. KOMPAKT INSTRU-
MENT allows you to define a variety of parameters for a sample in
order to turn it into a musical instrument.
A sample loaded into KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT can be defined as
an Instrument. Up to eight Instruments can be grouped together
into a Multi (short for Multi-Instrument). Each Instrument can be
assigned a key range, or zone, which represents the position and
stretching of a sample across the keyboard.
KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT's hierarchical structure allows you to
create complex sounds, or to gather together associated samples
for live performance. One or more Instruments associated to-
gether into a Multi can be edited and effected as a whole using
the Group Edit capabilities. Since each Instrument in a Multi can
have its own MIDI channel, you can easily group together a series
of sounds to use in a live set. You can also create a layered perfor-
mance from a group of Instruments with overlapping key ranges
and global modulation.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 134
 ENGLISH
Kompakt Instrument Interface
Each Instrument has its own filter, amp, envelopes, LFOs, effects,
and finally, a master filter.

KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT's interface is divided into five areas:

the Multi, Instrument, Modulation, and Effects sections, and the
Keyboard. The Modulation and Effects areas as well as the Key-
board can be folded up when not in use.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 135
The Multi Instrument Section
The Multi-Instrument section (or Multi for short) is where you
perform most global Instrument management functions, like
opening and saving Instruments and Multi Instruments, setting
preferences, etc.

Multi Instrument Section

The top field, to the right of the Save button, is where you can
load the Instruments and Multis that come with KOMPAKT IN-
STRUMENT. You can enter a name by double-clicking in this
field and typing in the new name. To edit a name, drag over the
text to be edited and type in your changes.
To load a Multi Instrument, click the upside-down triangle in the
top field and select a Multi from the drop-down menu. The Instru-
ments that make up the Multi will load into a virtual rack, which
can hold up to eight Instruments. To load an Instrument, click
and hold on the upside-down triangle in one of the Instrument
fields below the Multi text field and select an Instrument from the
drop-down menu. It will be added to the Instrument rack.
To save a Multi Instrument, type your chosen name for it into the
Multi text field and click the Save button.
To edit the settings of an Instrument in a Multi, click on that In-
strument's name in the list. KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT's settings
will change to reflect that particular Instrument.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 136
 ENGLISH
• M: Clicking Mute mutes the Instrument, but allows other In-
struments to play.
• S: Clicking Solo mutes all other Instruments so that only the
soloed Instrument or Instruments play.
To the left of the Instrument list, you will find the information
area. This arrangement of text fields gives you information about
each Instrument and lets you make changes to some Instrument
settings.

• Sample size: On the top, left of the information area the size of
the current sample is displayed... This is easily identified by
the RAM chip icon.
• Polyphony: The top right corner displays the instruments po-
lyphony. The left digit displays the number of notes being
played at any given time, while the right digit shows the maxi-
mum number of notes available. Click and drag the right field
the increase or decrease the maximum number of notes.
• CPU usage: Shows current processor activity in percent.
• Keyrange: Set the key range of the currently selected Instru-
ment by clicking and dragging up or down in the Keyrange
field. Each sample's key range is represented by an area of
green shading on the on-screen keyboard. Use this with multi-
ple instruments to create keyboard splits. For example, a bass
Instrument could cover the lower two octaves of your keyboard
and a synth the rest.
• Transpose: Shift the key of the current Instrument by dragging
up or down.
• MIDI channel: Lets you change the MIDI channel that each in-
strument responds to. To change the MIDI channel, click and
hold on this field to access the drop-down menu.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 137
 • Output: Makes it possible to route each Instrument to its own
output if your sound card supports multiple outs. Click and
hold on this field to access the Output drop-down menu.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 138
 ENGLISH
Options Menu
The Multi area also allows you to set preferences for KOMPAKT
INSTRUMENT. Click on the Options button to select General or
DFD (Direct From Disk) preferences. The DFD extension is only
available on the Native Instruments web site. Follow the Update
link in the About window in order to download the DFD extension
from the Native Instruments homepage.

0.1. General Options

General Options window

In the General Options window, you can set the overall KOM-
PAKT INSTRUMENT preferences.
• Master Tune: Adjust the overall tuning of KOMPAKT INSTRU-
MENT in cents.
• Sustain/Sustenuto Pedal mode: Use this to set the behavior of
any foot-pedals that you wish to route into KOMPAKT IN-
STRUMENT via MIDI.
• Auto-Convert Loaded Samples to 32-bit: Enable this to convert
all loaded samples to high-resolution 32-bit format.
• Display Mapping on Keyboard: Enable this to show the keymap-
ping of each Instrument via colored keys.
• Use Std. CC#7/CC#10 Volume & Pan: Sets KOMPAKT INSTRU-
MENT to recognize the standard MIDI assignments for volume
and pan controllers.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 139
 • Solo in Place: When chosen, solo in place enables single in-
strument soloing only. For example, while having instrument 1
soloed, you click to solo instrument 2. With solo in place you
would un-solo instrument 1 in favor of soloing instrument 2.
• Solo latch: Opposite function of solo in place. This function al-
lows you to solo multiple instruments at the same time, simply
by clicking on those you wish to solo.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 140
 ENGLISH
Group Edit

Group Edit options

When the Group Edit button is selected, a number of options for
global editing of group settings are activated. The Group Amp win-
dow in the Instrument area opens, as well.
• Edit All: When activated, applies any edits you make to all
groups within the instrument.
• Group drop-down menu: Allows you to select individual instru-
ment groups for editing.

0.2. Group Amp

Group Amp window

The overall volume, pan, and tuning for each group can be ad-
justed with the Group Amp controls. Each of the three settings
has an LFO amount knob for the associated LFOs. There is also a
Vel knob to route velocity value to a groups volume.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 141
The Instrument Section

The Instrument window

The Instrument section is where you can make changes to the in-
dividual Instruments of a Multi. You can name an Instrument by
double-clicking in this field and typing in the new name. To edit
a name, drag over the text to be edited and type in your changes.
To save an Instrument, simply click on the Save button to the
left of the Instrument name field. The new instrument will be
saved in your instrument directory.

0.3. Sampler
• Microtuning: You can alter the tuning structure of KOMPAKT
INSTRUMENT by selecting from the Microtuning drop-down
menu. Click and hold the Microtuning button to access the
menu.
• Velocity Curve: You can customize the way each Instrument re-
sponds to keyboard velocity by using the Velocity Curve con-
trol.
• Glide: Determines the amount of polyphonic pitch slide from
note to note.

0.4. Filter
A filter shapes the frequency content of signals that pass through
it. KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT includes a multi-mode filter. En-
gage it by clicking the header bar labelled Filter. There are six
different filter types to help you shape your Instrument.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 142
 ENGLISH
• Cutoff: Controls the cutoff frequency, or the frequency above
which signals are attenuated, of the selected filter type.
• Reso: Sets the amount of filter resonance, or emphasis of fre-
quencies at or just below the cutoff frequency.
• Env: Determines the amount of cutoff modulation by the Filter
Envelope.
• Key: Adjusts key tracking for the filter cutoff frequency. High
Key values cause the filter to sound brighter (to open more,
basically) higher up the keyboard, while sounding duller (clos-
ing more) towards the bottom. This can mimic the effects of
string tension on a piano (higher at the top of the keyboard,
lower at the bottom), for example. When Key is set to zero, the
filter frequency is unchanged by keyboard position.
• Vel: Controls how much effect velocity has on filter cutoff.
• LFO: Controls the amount of cutoff modulation by the Filter
LFO.
Select the type of filter by clicking one of the buttons listed be-
low.

• : Activates a 1-pole, or 6 dB per octave, low pass filter.

Low pass filters reduce high frequencies while allowing low
frequency signals to pass through.
• : Activates a 2-pole, or 12 dB per octave, low pass filter.
• : Activates a 4-pole, or 24 dB per octave, low pass filter.
• : Activates a high pass filter. A high pass filter leaves high
frequencies in places, but attenuates below the cutoff point.
• : Activates a band-reject, or notch filter. A notch filter cuts
a narrow range of the frequency spectrum without affecting
frequencies above or below the notch.
• : Activates a band pass filter. A band pass filter boosts a
specific frequency band, and cuts frequencies above and be-
low the band pass range.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 143
0.5. Instrument Amp
The Instrument Amp controls the mixing parameters for each In-
strument. This can come in handy when putting together a Multi
with overlapping layers. You can position each Instrument layer
precisely where you want it in the mix.
• Volume: Sets the Instrument's output level. Since KOMPAKT
INSTRUMENT sums together all voices at the output, playing
many loud voices at once could result in clipping. Be careful
when you set each Instrument's Volume in order to avoid dis-
tortion (unless that's the kind of thing you are into).
• Pan: Allows you to position the Instrument's location within the
stereo sound field. For fine adjustments, hold down the Shift
key while dragging with the mouse.
• Tun: This control changes the Instrument's master tuning in
semitones, up to +/- 12 semitones, or one octave. To enable
fine-tuning in cents (1/100th of a semitone), holding down the
Shift key while dragging with the mouse.
• Meters: These show the Instrument's signal output level. If the
red clipping indicators light up, reduce the overall level to
avoid distortion.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 144
 ENGLISH
The Modulation Section

The Modulation section

KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT includes three envelopes and three
LFOs to help you shape and add movement to your sounds. The
Envelope and LFO headers act as both on/off switches and
switch the view to the selected modulator.

0.6. Envelopes
Envelopes create a modulation curve over time for parameter
control. KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT's envelopes are of the ADSR
(attack, decay, sustain, release) variety, which is the most com-
monly found synthesizer envelope. The KOMPAKT INSTRU-
MENT envelopes include a Hold stage, creating an AHDSR
envelope. A slight amount of hold time coupled with a fast at-
tack is the secret of punchy synthesizer sounds, like basses and
percussion sounds. Two of KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT's enve-
lopes are hard-wired to their parameters, though the Free Enve-
lope can be assigned to one of a variety of parameters. When an
envelope is activated, the header will light up a bright green
color. The currently selected envelope is a brighter green than
those envelopes that are active but not selected.

0.7. Volume Envelope

To engage and access the Volume envelope, click on the Volume
Envelope header in the Modulation section. When properly se-
lected it will turn bright green, you can then edit the parameters.
• Attack: Sets the time required for the envelope to go from 0 dB
to its maximum level.
• Hold: Sets the amount of time that the envelope stays at its
maximum level.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 145
 • Decay: Sets the time required for the envelope to drop from the
maximum level, set by the attack and Hold controls, to the
Sustain level.
• Sustain: Sets the level that will be maintained as long as the
MIDI note triggering the envelope is held.
• Release: When the MIDI note is released, the Sustain parame-
ter sets the time that the envelope decays back down to 0 from
the sustain level.
• Retrigger: Allows you to re-trigger the envelope every time you
play a key or send a MIDI note (i.e., the envelope starts from
the same point each time it's triggered). If disabled, any key
you play while another is down will not retrigger the envelope.
• CRV: Sets the amount and polarity of the curve of the enve-
lope's Attack stage. You can use this to create sounds where
the attack stage swoops in gradually (low CRV value), or where
starts more immediately with a steeper curve (high CRV value).

0.8. Filter Envelope

The Filter Envelope offers the same controls as the Volume Enve-
lope described above, but when engaged, affects filter cutoff fre-
quency.

0.9. Free Envelope

The Free Envelope activated

The Free envelope operates just like the Volume and Filter enve-
lopes, but its modulation signal output can be sent to a choice of
destinations, rather than being hardwired. The drop-down menu
under the Retrigger switch lets you pick the modulation destina-

Kompakt Instrument
English – 146
 ENGLISH
tion. You can use the Free Envelope to modulate Pan, Tune, Fil-
ter Resonance, and LFO 1-4 amount and speed. The Amount slider
at the far right sets the amount of modulation by the envelope
sent to the destination.

0.10. LFOs

The LFO section (focused on the Filter LFO).

An LFO (or Low Frequency Oscillator) creates continuous modu-
lation signals at sub-audio speeds. Vibrato and tremolo are exam-
ples of LFO signals that effect pitch and volume, respectively.
There are four LFOs available in KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT, al-
lowing you to create complex modulation schemes. Each LFO is
hardwired to its modulation target. You can activate an LFO by
clicking on its header. The currently selected LFO will glow a
bright green, while engaged but not currently selected LFOs will
glow a dimmer green.
• Freq: Sets the LFO speed in Hertz. If the Sync switch (de-
scribed below) is engaged, the LFO frequency is displayed in
clock divisions (1/4, 1/8, 1/16, etc.).
• Key: Determines whether, and how much, the LFO tracks the
current note pitch. You can use this to force LFO frequency to
change to match playing position on the keyboard (i.e., faster
speeds with higher notes, slower speeds with low notes).
• : Engages the sine LFO waveshape.
• : Engages the saw LFO waveshape.
• : Engages the square LFO waveshape.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 147
 • Retrigger: Activates LFO retriggering every time a MIDI note is
received (i.e., the LFO starts over from the same point every
time you play a key). If disabled, any key you strike while an-
other key is down will not retrigger the LFO.
• Sync: Allows you to synchronize the LFO frequency to any in-
coming MDI clock signal. You can set the LFO speed to musi-
cally useful clock divisions (like 16th note triplets, for
example) by using the drop-down menu next to the Freq.
Knob.
When the Filter LFO is engaged, you will see a drop-down menu
below the Sync switch. This allows you to specify whether the Fil-
ter LFO signal modulates Cutoff or Resonance.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 148
 ENGLISH
The Effects Section

The Effects section

KOMPAKT INSTRUMENT includes three time-based effects
modules and a Master Filter for special effects. Any combina-
tion can be engaged simultaneously (as long as your computer
has enough processing power). You can activate each effect by
clicking on its header. The currently selected effect will glow a
bright green; while engaged, but not currently selected effects
will glow a dimmer green.

0.11. Reverb

Synthesizes the reflections that occur when sound bounces

around in an acoustic space, adding special dimension to a
sound.
• Preset: Allows you to select from a variety of pre-programmed
reverb settings.
• Size: Sets the room size, which affects how long the reverbera-
tion lasts. Higher values model larger rooms.
• Dam: The Damping control sets the amount of absorption of
high frequencies in the room. In real life, absorption is accom-
plished with draperies, acoustic panels, bodies, etc.
• The slider at the bottom determines the wet/dry balance. Mov-
ing the slider to the right mixes in more reverb than dry signal.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 149
0.12. Chorus

This effect thickens the audio signal by doubling the signal and
detuning the copy compared to the original signal. It uses a very
short delay to accomplish this. A pair of LFOs detunes each
channel of the stereo signal to give the impression of movement.
• Depth: The amount of LFO modulation. Higher values give a
more pronounced chorusing sound.
• Speed: Sets the LFO speed.
• The slider at the bottom sets wet/dry mix.

0.13. Delay

Produces echo effects. Very low delay times produce comb-filter

and resonator-like effects. Higher time settings produce a notice-
able echo compared to the dry signal.
• Time: The interval in milliseconds between hearing the dry sig-
nal and the first delay of the echo signal. If the Sync switch is
engaged, delay time can be set in musically-useful clock divi-
sions be selecting from the drop-down menu below the Time
knob.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 150
 ENGLISH
• FDB: Sets the Feedback amount. This sends a portion of the
delayed signal back into the input of the delay line, creating
multiple echoes. A value of zero produces only one repeat.
Higher Feedback values produce multiple (up to infinite) re-
peats.
• Sync: Allows you to synchronize delay time to any incoming
MIDI clock. You can then set delay times in clock divisions.

0.14. Master Filter

When activated, the Master Filter acts as a global filter or EQ, af-
fecting the entire signal up until this point. You can use it em-
phasize or attenuate frequencies in your sound
• Preset: This drop-down menu lets you access a list of EQ pre-
sets for altering your sound.
• : Engages a resonant 4-pole low pass filter. You can alter
the frequency and resonance by clicking and dragging on the
small green dot in the filter display.
• : Engages a resonant high pass filter. Alter the cutoff fre-
quency and resonance by clicking and dragging the dot in the
filter display.
• : Engages a resonant band pass filter.
• : Transforms the Master Filter into a three-band paramet-
ric equalizer. Each band can be adjusted for cutoff and gain by
clicking and dragging its control dot in the filter display. Con-
trol-clicking on a dot sets the gain for that band to zero. You
can adjust the bandwidth, or cutoff steepness, for each band
by clicking and dragging up or down in the Bandw. text field to
the right of the filter display.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 151
 • Cutoff: Lets you set the cutoff frequency for the selected EQ
band or filter in Hertz by clicking and dragging up or down in
the text field. You can also type in values by double clicking in
the field.
• Gain: Sets the boost or cut of each EQ band or filter. Adjusts
can be made by clicking and dragging or by double-clicking
and typing in values.
• Bandwidth: In EQ mode, you can adjust the range, or band-
width, of each selected EQ band by clicking and dragging in
this field. You can also type in values by double-clicking on
this field and entering numbers from the keyboard.

Kompakt Instrument
English – 152
 ENGLISH
Index C
CC11 (expression) 88, 106
CC7 (volume) 88
Symbols
Choir 53
=(>< (in articulations) 62 sections 17
=+-*/ (in velocity settings) 60 Chorus
men’s 17, 35
Numerics women’s 17, 35
3 Mic Positions 96 Chorus FX (in Kompakt) 150
5.1 103 Component program. See Instru-
ment
A Concert hall 98
Accent 107 Consonants 38, 106
AHSDR envelope 90 non-pitched 39
Altos Core Audio 123, 131
multis 33 CPU usage 137
Amount 147 Credits, production 108
Articulations 32, 37 Crossover frequency 103
ASIO 123, 131 CRV 146
Attack 145 Cubase 21, 27, 59, 125
Audio interfaces 121 Cutoff 143, 152
Audio Units 124
Authorization 26 D
Authorization Key 109, 111, 113, Dam 149
115 Decay 146
Auto-convert to 32-bit 139 Decay, natural 90
Delays 97, 150
B Depth 150
Bandwidth 152 DFD 26, 92, 139
Basses menu 94
multis 34 DFD Active button 95
Bounced tracks 97 Dictionary 19
Boy sopranos 32, 40 DirectSound 123, 131
multis 35 Display mapping on keyboard 139
Boys choir 106 Downloads 105
Buffers DXF. See Dynamic cross-fade.
preload 92, 94 DXi 129
voice 92, 94 DXi 2 123
Bypass 55 Dynamic cross-fade 33, 85

Kompakt Instrument
English – 153
E H
Edit All button 91, 141 Hardware
Effects 37 Mac 20, 119
Effects section, Kompakt 149 Windows 20, 116
English 45, 47, 55 Help 56
Env 143 Hints 105
Envelope Hold 145
volume 145
Envelope, volume 51 I
Envelopes 145 Import 44, 53
EWQLSO 13, 15 Input Device 132
Expert button 95 Installation 23
Export 44, 53 Windows 116
Expression 88, 90 Instrument 36, 134
Instrument amp 144
F Instrument section 142
Fade 91 Interface 131
FDB 151 Interfaces, supported 20
Filter 142
Filter envelope 146 J
Filter LFO 148 Johnson, Keith O., Prof. 12, 15, 91
Free envelope 146
French 105 K
Freq 147
Key 143, 147
Full chorus, church 40, 84
Keyrange 137
Keyswitch 32, 61
G Kompakt 19, 23, 32, 50, 59, 88
Gain 152 upgrading 25
Gaming 14
General options 139 L
Glide 142
Latency 97
Group amp 141
Latin, setting in WordBuilder 106
Group drop-down menu 141
Learning 55
Group edit 141
Legato 32, 61, 105, 106
Letters 59
LFE (Low Frequency Effects) 103
LFO 141, 143, 147
Logic 30, 128
Low Frequency Oscillator. See LFO

Kompakt Instrument
English – 154
 ENGLISH
M Output device 131
Master filter 151 Output latency 132
Master tune 139 Overview 17
Memory considerations 36
Meters 144 P
Microphone placement 13 Pan 144
Microtuning 142 Panning 91, 102
Mics Phoenix, Nick 11, 107
close 91, 96, 101 Phonetic alphabet 18
full 96 Phonetics 45, 47, 48, 55
position of 88 Plug-in 122, 125
surround 96, 101 Polyphony 93, 137
MIDI Post production 14
channel 58, 137 Preset 149, 151
channel numbers 45 Product authorization 109
Note-On message 88
panic 56 R
ports 58 RAM 92, 134
settings 131 ReadMe 24
MIDI loopback connectors 21 Recommendations
MIDI out 30 hardware and software 20
MIDI tab 133 Recording practice 14
MME 123, 131 Registration tool 109, 113
Mod Wheel 88, 90, 106 Release 146
Modulation section 145 Release trail 49
Multi instrument 136 Release trails 90
Multis 32, 33, 41, 134 Reserved voices 94
Mute 137 Reset position 55
Reso 143
N Retrigger 146, 148
New pronunciations, adding 62 Reverb 149
New words, adding 62 control 99
Normal attack 32, 105 hall’s natural 97
Nothing 60 Rogers, Doug 10, 107
Nuendo 21, 27, 59, 126 Routing tab 132
RTAS 123, 130
O
Options 139
Output 138

Kompakt Instrument
English – 155
S Surround sound 103
Sample 134 Surround sound mixing 103
Sample rate 131 Sustain 146
Sample size 137 Sustain/Sustenuto pedal mode 139
Sampler 142 Sync 148, 151
Samples System ID 109, 111
choir 32
in EWQLSC 17 T
soloist 41 Tenors
SATB 40, 83 multis 34
Save 142 Timbre 88
Segment transitions 61 Time 150
Sequencer 58 Toolbar 54
automation 88 mini 54
envelope 88, 89 Transpose 137
Setup.exe 24 Tun 144
Size 149
Slurred attack 32 U
Software Use std. CC#7/CC#10 139
upgrading 25
Solo 137 V
Solo in place 140
Vel 143
Solo latch 140
Vel knob 141
Soloing 63
Velocity 32, 55, 59, 87, 105, 107
Soloists
Velocity curve 142
sampled 18
Voice 53
Sonar 20, 27, 59, 129
Voice Properties dialog box 58
Sopranos
Volume 144
multis 33
Votox 18, 45, 48, 50, 55, 105, 107
Soundcard tab 131
Vowels 37
SoundManager 123, 131
doubling 106
Speed 150
VST 2.0 Plug-in 125
Staccato 32, 61
Stand-alone 121, 131
Stereo mixing 103
Sub-woofer 103

Kompakt Instrument
English – 156
 ENGLISH
W
Welcome 8
WordBuilder 18, 23, 105
colors in text editor 46
interface 44
MFX plug-in 27
plug-in 59
settings 45
stand-alone mode 27, 58
text editor 46, 61
text modes 45
tools 51
VST MA plug-in 27
WordBuilder Central 105

Z
Zoom 54

Kompakt Instrument
English – 157