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  • MIDI Templates

MIDI Templates

You can use your Kontrol S-series Mk3 keyboard as the main controller keyboard for your MIDI hardware rig by connecting your external equipment to the 5-pin DIN connectors on the rear of your Kontrol keyboard and creating a MIDI template to define what the controls on your keyboard will change on your attached hardware. You can also use MIDI templates to configure how your Kontrol keyboard controls plug-ins on your computer.

MIDI templates let you define the behaviour of the Buttons, Knobs, the Touch Strip, the Pitch Wheel, the Mod Wheel and any pedals connected to the rear of the keyboard. Finally, you can define keyboard zones for creating splits and layers.

All of these options can be saved onto the Kontrol keyboard and exported to files on your computer - you can even share your templates with other users, or import templates that other users have created for hardware or plug-ins that you own.

Creating a New MIDI Template

You will need to refer to the documentation for your equipment or plug-ins in order to find the MIDI messages that are used for their various functions, but once you have that information available to you, please use the following generalized steps to create a MIDI template:

  1. Hold down the Shift button on your Kontrol keyboard then press the Browser button to enter MIDI Template mode.

  2. Press Button 1 to create a new MIDI template. The first page of settings that will appear allows you to define what the Buttons and Knobs will do.

Defining Buttons and Knobs

  1. Use the 4-D encoder to select the Button or Knob that you want to configure. Pressing the 4-D encoder up will let you configure Buttons, whilst pressing it down lets you configure Knobs. Pressing the 4-D encoder left or right moves you through the available Buttons or Knobs until you find the control you want to work with.

  2. Press the 4-D encoder to turn the desired control on. You can press the 4-D encoder again to turn the control off if you decide that you do not want to modify the control after all.

  3. You can now turn Knob 1 to choose the type of MIDI message that you want your selected control to transmit to your external equipment.

  4. Knob 2 allows you to set the MIDI channel that the message will be sent on.

  5. The remaining Knobs will offer different choices, depending on whether you are configuring a Button or a Knob and what kind of message you chose when you were turning Knob 1. Use these knobs to obtain the settings that you would like.

  6. Repeat steps 3 through 7 until you have configured all of the controls that you need. If you need to configure more than eight controls, you can use Button 4 to add control definitions to additional pages. Once you have multiple pages of Button and Knob definitions, you can move between them by pressing Button 3 or Button 4.

Defining Pedals

Press Button 2 to move from the Buttons and Knobs page to the Pedals page. This page allows you to configure any of the four pedals that can be attached to the rear of a Kontrol keyboard.

  • Pressing the 4-D encoder left or right allows you to select the pedal that you want to configure.

Once you have selected a pedal:

  • Knob 1 selects the type of pedal. The available options are “Off”, “Continuous” (like an expression pedal) or “Switch” (like a sustain pedal).

If you set Knob 1 to “Off” or “Switch”, then the other Knobs do not do anything. However, if Knob 1 is set to “Continuous”, some of the other Knobs provide the following settings:

Knob 3 (Invert) can be set to “On” or “Off”. You would normally set this to “Off”, but turning Invert “On” can be useful if you want a change to become greater as you decrease the amount of pedal.

Knob 5 (Swap) allows you to choose if your pedal transmits its signal on its “Ring” or its “Tip”. The manual for your pedal may call this parameter “Polarity”.

The Touch Strip and Wheel Page

Pressing Button 2 from the Pedals Page takes you to a page where you can customize the behaviour of the Touch Strip and the performance wheels.

Pressing the 4-D encoder left or right allows you to select the performance control that you want to configure.

  • Knob 1 sets the Type of message that the control will transmit and the rest of the Knobs then allow you to define the MIDI channel, etc. for that message, just like when you defined messages for Knobs in the first page.

The Key Zones Page

Pressing Button 2 from the Touch Strip and Wheels Page takes you to the Key Zones Page.

Pressing the 4-D encoder left or right moves you between any defined zones so that you can modify them. No zones are defined when you first create a MIDI template, so moving the 4-D encoder in this way will not do anything.

Press Button 3 to Add a new zone. You can then define the zone, as follows:

  • Knob 1 configures a zone to be defined by a “Note”, or be turned “Off”.

  • Knob 2 selects the MIDI channel that the zone will transmit on and this needs to match the MIDI receive channel for your attached equipment.

  • Knob 3 sets Transpose for the zone in semitones.

  • Knob 4 allows you to select a velocity curve for the zone, to suit your playing style.

  • Knob 5 sets the “Low Key” for the zone.

  • Knob 6 sets the “High Key” for the zone. Please note that zones can overlap to create layers, if you wish.

  • Knob 7 sets the Light Guide LED colour for the zone, which you may find useful if you have some vision.

  • Knob 8 sets the Priority for the zone. The options are “Key Zone” or “Plug-In”.

If you want to Remove a zone, select it by pressing the 4-D encoder left/right then press Button 4.

The General Page

Pressing Button 2 from the Key Zones Page takes you to the General Page.

Knob 1 sets the MIDI output port. The available options are:

  • Global, Dual. This setting sends all MIDI template messages to both the USB port and the 5-pin DIN out port.

  • USB. This setting sends all MIDI template messages to the USB port only.

  • MIDI. This setting sends all MIDI template messages to the 5-pin DIN out port only.

Knob 3 sets the global colour to be used for the Light Guide LEDs when this template is active. This may be helpful if you have vision, as you could, for example, set all templates that control hardware to use blue Light Guide LEDs and all templates that control plug-ins to use red Light Guide LEDs. Just turn the knob to pick the colour that you want.

Name the Template

When you have configured all of the controls that you need, Press Button 5 to name your template.

Save the Template

Press Button 8 to save your work and the Kontrol keyboard will leave MIDI Template mode.

MIDI Template Examples

It is a lot easier to understand MIDI templates once you have created one, so here are examples of how to configure two Buttons and one Knob to perform useful tasks. These examples should work with most MIDI hardware and the only thing you will need to know in advance is which MIDI channel your attached device uses to receive MIDI messages. We will configure Button 1 to select the prior preset on your attached device, Button 2 to select its next preset and Knob 1 to control its volume.

  1. Hold down the Shift button on your Kontrol keyboard then press the Browser button to enter MIDI Template mode, if you are in any other mode.

  2. Press Button 1 to create a new MIDI template.

  3. Press the 4-D encoder up so that you can select a button to configure.

Example 1: Configure a Button to Select the Prior Preset

  1. Press the 4-D encoder left until you find Button 1. You should hear that it is currently turned off.

  2. Press the 4-D encoder to turn Button 1 on.

  3. Turn Knob 1 until you hear “Program change”.

  4. Turn Knob 2 until you hear the MIDI channel number that matches the MIDI channel that your attached equipment is set to receive on.

  5. Turn Knob 3 to set the minimum program number that your attached device supports. It is safe to leave this at 0 if you do not know the real value.

  6. Turn Knob 4 to set the maximum program number that your attached device supports. It is safe to leave this at 127 if you do not know the real value.

  7. Turn Knob 5 until you hear “Increment”. This configures the selected button to send a message that contains a value that is at least 1 different than the previous value that was sent.

  8. Turn Knob 6 anti-clockwise until you hear minus 1. This sets the step size for every press of the button – remember that we are configuring this button to select the previous preset on your attached device.

  9. Turn Knob 8 to decide if you want the button to Wrap once it reaches the minimum value that you set earlier. This means that if you select preset 0 then press the button again, it will select preset 127.

  10. Do not worry if you think you have made a mess of a button or knob configuration – just press Button 6 and the selected control will be reset to default values.

Example 2: Configure a Button to Select the Next Preset.

You will notice that these steps are very similar to what you did to configure Button 1:

  1. Press the 4-D encoder right until you find Button 2. You should hear that it is currently turned off.

  2. Press the 4-D encoder to turn Button 2 on.

  3. Turn Knob 1 until you hear “Program change”.

  4. Turn Knob 2 until you hear the MIDI channel number that matches the MIDI channel that your attached equipment is set to receive on.

  5. Turn Knob 3 to set the minimum program number that your attached device supports. It is safe to leave this at 0 if you do not know the real value.

  6. Turn Knob 4 to set the maximum program number that your attached device supports. It is safe to leave this at 127 if you do not know the real value.

  7. Turn Knob 5 until you hear “Increment”. This configures the selected button to send a message that contains a value that is at least 1 different than the previous value that was sent.

  8. Turn Knob 6 clockwise until you hear "1". This sets the step size for every press of the button – remember that we are configuring this button to select the next preset on your attached device, so this is where the configuration is different to what you did for Button 1.

  9. Turn Knob 8 to decide if you want the button to Wrap once it reaches the maximum value that you set earlier. This means that if you select preset 127 then press the button again, it will select preset 0. It would be a good idea to set this value to the same as for Button 1.

Example 3: Configure a Knob to Control Volume.

  1. Press the 4-D encoder down so that you are ready to configure Knobs.

  2. Press the 4-D encoder left until you find Knob 1. You should hear that it is currently turned off.

  3. Press the 4-D encoder to turn Knob 1 on.

  4. Turn Knob 1 until you hear “Continuous controller”.

  5. Turn Knob 2 until you hear the MIDI channel number that matches the MIDI channel that your attached equipment is set to receive on.

  6. Turn Knob 3 until you hear “7” (this is the standard controller number to control volume, as defined by the MIDI specification).

  7. Turn Knob 4 until you hear “Absolute”, which means that the knob will send the actual value that its position represents.

  8. Turn Knob 5 to set the minimum volume value that you want to use. It is safe to leave this at zero.

  9. Knob 6 does nothing when configuring a continuous controller message.

  10. Turn Knob 7 to set the maximum volume value that you want. It is safe to leave this at 127 if you do not know the real value.

  11. Turn Knob 8 until you hear “Integer”. This configures what units are used when the knob changes value and the screen display and Accessibility Helper are updated.

Naming Your Controls

Now that you have configured some controls, you can name them so that the Accessibility Helper will show their names in its window and announce them when you use them or when you are in Training Mode. Follow these steps to name Button 1 as “Prior Preset”, Button 2 as “Next Preset” and Knob 1 as “Volume”:

  1. Press the 4-D encoder up, down, left or right to select the control you want to name.

  2. Press Button 7 to begin renaming the selected control.

  3. Press Button 3 to clear any existing name.

  4. Enter the name you want by using the 4-D encoder:

    • Pressing the 4-D encoder up or down moves between different kinds of characters, such as alphabet letters or numbers/symbols.

    • Pressing the 4-D encoder left or right selects a character (turning the 4-D encoder does the same thing, but is often quicker).

    • Press the 4-D encoder to add the selected character to the end of the name.

    • Pressing Button 1 adds a space character to the end of the name.

    • Pressing Button 2 performs a backspace over the last character in the name.

    • Pressing Button 7 cancels the naming function at any time.

  5. When you have entered the name that you want, press Button 8 to return to Edit mode.

Naming Your Template

When you are in Edit Mode, just press Button 5 to name your template – it is usually a good idea to name your template after the equipment it is designed to control. Use the 4-D encoder with Buttons 1, 2, 3 and 7 in exactly the same way as described in the previous section of this guide (Naming Controls).

Saving a MIDI Template

When you are in Edit Mode, you can press Button 8 to save your template and leave MIDI Template Mode.

Editing a MIDI Template

Follow these steps to perform any additional editing on existing MIDI template:

  1. Hold down the Shift button on your Kontrol keyboard then press the Browser button to enter MIDI Template mode.

  2. Turn the 4-D encoder until you hear the name of the template that you want to modify.

  3. Press Button 2 to Edit the template.

  4. Modify your template in the same way as when you created it.

  5. Press Button 8 to save your changes and exit MIDI Template mode.

Duplicating a MIDI Template

You may have two items of equipment, or two plug-ins, that share a lot of their parameters and MIDI messages, so you can save yourself some effort by creating a template for the first item, duplicating it, then just changing those aspects of the second template that need to differ from the first.

  1. Hold down the Shift Button and press the Browser Button to go to MIDI Template Mode.

  2. Turn the 4-D encoder to select the template that you want to duplicate (do not load it by pressing Button 8 or the 4-D encoder).

  3. Press Button 3 to start duplicating the template.

  4. Give the new template a name using the same method as described in the previous section (Naming a Control). If you do not provide a new name and continue to duplicate the template, the new copy of the template will have the same name as the original with an additional number at the end of the template’s name (for example, duplicating “Model D” without providing a new name would create “Model D 2”).

  5. Press Button 7 at any time to cancel the duplication of the template.

  6. Press Button 8 to save the new copy of the template.

  7. The new template will become the selected template.

Deleting a MIDI Template

If you no longer need a particular template, you can remove it from your Kontrol keyboard, as follows:

  1. Hold down the Shift Button and press the Browser Button to go to MIDI Template Mode.

  2. Turn the 4-D encoder to select the template that you want to delete (do not load it by pressing Button 8 or the 4-D encoder).

  3. Press Button 4 to delete the template.

  4. You will hear a prompt to check that you are sure that you want to delete this template.

  5. Press Button 7 to cancel the deletion, or press Button 8 to delete the template.

Importing a Template

If somebody has sent a template file to you and you want to transfer it to your Kontrol keyboard, or you want to restore one of your own template files:

  1. Ensure that your Kontrol keyboard is connected to your computer and properly recognised.

  2. Hold down the Shift Button and press the Browser Button to go to MIDI Template Mode.

  3. Press Button 6 to import a template.

  4. A File->Open dialog box will appear on your computer.

  5. Using the displayed dialog box, browse to the template file that you want to import and open it in the same way as you would any other file on your computer. MIDI template files have .kmt extensions.

You can abandon an import at any time by pressing the Escape key on your computer, or Button 8 on your Kontrol keyboard.

Exporting Templates

If you want to backup your templates to your computer (always a good idea), perform the following steps:

  1. Ensure that your Kontrol keyboard is connected to your computer and properly recognised.

  2. Hold down the Shift Button and press the Browser Button to go to MIDI Template Mode.

  3. Turn the 4-D encoder to select a template that you want to export (do not load it by pressing Button 8 or the 4-D encoder).

  4. Press Button 7 to activate the export function.

  5. If you want to export more than one template, turn the 4-D encoder until you hear the name of the next template that you want to select, then press Button 5 to select it. You can repeat this step until you have selected all of the templates that you want to export.

  6. If you have accidentally selected a template, you can turn the 4-D encoder until you hear its name then press Button 5 to deselect it.

  7. When you are satisfied that you have the templates that you want to export selected correctly, press Button 8 and a standard Folder->Select dialog box will appear on your computer. Use this dialog to choose where you want your template file(s) to be saved.

You can abandon an export operation at any time by pressing the Escape key on your computer keyboard or by pressing Button 7 on your Kontrol keyboard.

Activating a MIDI Template

Anytime you want to use one of your MIDI templates:

  1. Activate MIDI Template mode by holding down the Shift button and pressing the Browser button.

  2. Turn the 4-D encoder to select the template that you want to use.

  3. Press the 4-D encoder or press Button 8 to load the template.

  4. You should now hear the Accessibility Helper announce the names of your custom buttons and knobs as you use them.