Noob question about using Virtual Instruments

[TmanRocksTheBoat]

Hey Everyone,

I have been working with Ableton Live 8 for some months now and wanted to expand my sample library a bit so I picked up Komplete 9 Ultimate. I got it all loaded on my computer and am having a hard time figuring out how to

1.) Use my MIDI controller (Akai MPK49) to control Kontact 5 (I seem to be able to get it to work with Massive, Reaktor 5, etc,), and
2.) More importantly, use these instruments as a plug-in within Ableton. I've tried a couple different basic methods, but Ableton doesn't appear to recognize these other instruments.

I'd love to be able to utilize these new toys, but feel stuck. If anyone could help me out or point me in the right direction as to setting all of this up, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

[ttilberg]

I don't have Komplete, but if I recall, doesn't everything get loaded in Reaktor? So you would load an instance of Reaktor and load the patch for the instrument you desire... or something along those lines, I believe. If you are having trouble getting Reaktor to be recognized, then there is indeed an issue.

You should check Ableton's Preferences in the VST area, make sure it's pointing to the correct folder where the NI VSTs ended up getting installed.

[ark]

The first thing you need to do is tell Live the location of your VST folder, which you do in the Preferences panel (control-comma). The Plugins location will then show all your VSTs, which you can drag into your tracks like any other instrument.

[yur2die4]

Yeah. Figure out where your vst plug ins were installed. And whatever you do, do not Move them. NI stuff is finnicky about moving vst files around.

By default, NI tries to install vsts into 32 and 64 but directories in a NI folder in Program Files.

Dig in there to confirm that the vsts are in there. Then, in Live's preferences, set the vst folder path to that directory. It should find them (make sure you choose the right directory for your bit version of Live).

In the future, you might want other vsts from other sources.

It is good practice to have a folder dedicated to vsts. I actually have a folder specifically for vsts I will use in Live. Instead of putting the actual vsts in there, I'll put shortcuts in there that go to where they were installed.

[TmanRocksTheBoat]

Ahhh, yes. Changing the VST folder did just the trick. So simple! Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it.