Alicia's Keys in FL Studio

Hi,

I've been trying to record some stuff in Alicia's Keys by importing it in FL Studio but for some reason, I'm not getting the expected results. When I play it in my Kontakt 4's standalone player, it sounds amazing but when imported in FL, it does not sound realistic anymore. It sounds very digital and 'fake'. I've checked all settings, made sure everything was alright, but it just doesn't sound realistic at all.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I've been trying to fix this for months now.

P.S: Out of curiosity, what's the best way to record Alicia's Keys since the Kontakt standalone player does not support recording....?

 

You should use Kontakt as a plug-in within FL Studio, as opposed to launching the standalone application of Kontakt. That will help you route MIDI as well as audio, and make a perfect capture of its output into your project.

 

I can't do anything besides speculate random possibilities without more info on your setup, but I'd venture to guess that the problem is likely due to:
-a random effect plugin that was mistakenly loaded in one of the channels [in FL Studio]
-Poorly configured audio driver/resampling settings
-High computer latency causing drop-outs or crackling

TBH though, this sounds more like an FL Studio problem than something to do with Kontakt or the Alicia's Keys Library. Again, I'd need more details on your setup to give you a more concrete answer...

 

That's exactly what I've been doing. But when I use Kontakt as a plug-in within FL, the sound changes. It doesn't sound realistic anymore whereas in the standalone application of Kontakt, the sound is pure and realistic.

Hmm, lets see. My laptop has Intel Core i3 @ 2.27GHz, 4 GB RAM, Windows 7 (64-Bit). I'm using Yamaha PSR E313 keyboard for MIDI with FastTrack Audio Interface.

Like I said, I've checked every possible setting. A random effect plug-in has not been mistakenly loaded. Audio driver is configured. There is no latency.

You're right, it's definitely more of an FL Studio problem which is why I was wondering if there is anyone else who has used Alicia's Keys as a plug-in in FL Studio.

 

Maybe if you adjust the velocity curve on the midi config. page...

 

Here's the exact solution to this issue in FL studio

Make sure you turn OFF 'Support hold and sostenuto' in MIDI options, as thats the piano roll note sustain method.
For existing projects go to 'Browse parameters' on the piano VST window[at the right hand top corner a little down arrow is there, click on it to open the menu], scroll down to the cc's, right click and link cc 64 to cc 64[right click on MIDI CC 64 (sustain pedal(damper))...click link to controller and then press sustain pedal, it will automatically pick up] and enable 'Omni'.

To Check if Kontakt is getting proper sustain signal do the following :-

Open an instrument that you're having this problem with. After it loads, click on the little wrench next to the name of the instrument near the top of the instrument's panel. This will open a light green box of controls. Click "Script Editor". to the right. This will open a grey control area. In the upper left, Click on Preset>Factory>Utilities>MIDI Monitor. The MIDI Monitor should open, which you can use to monitor MIDI data stream info. Press and release your sustain pedal, maybe a few times. You should see that it is send on control channel 64, and it should have a full reading depressed, and then go back to 0 when released. Now your sustain pedal should work with the instrument. Remember to save changes to instrument when you close, and it will hold the sustain control.

Fact :
A sampled grand piano responds to sustain pedal (cc64) messages not just by lengthening held notes but by adding the sound of the piano's undamped string resonance to the audio output. It can do this even in the middle of sustaining notes -- there is a definite timbre change when the pedal is depressed.

I am not an expert in this subject but I faced the same problem, I browsed through FL and NI forum and picked up the above solution posted by other people, so I decided to put in this thread also, hope this helps others with the same trouble.