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Sonica Instruments KOTO 13 User Manual

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Sonica Instruments
KOTO 13
Virtuoso Japanese Series
User Manual
Version 2.5 — July 2022
Thank you for purchasing KOTO 13, part of Sonica Instruments' Virtuoso Japanese
Series. We hope you fully enjoy KOTO 13, which has been designed to achieve the
ultimate in authentic Japanese sound.
The Sonica Instruments Team

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Summary of Contents for Sonica Instruments KOTO 13

  • Page 1 Virtuoso Japanese Series User Manual Version 2.5 — July 2022 Thank you for purchasing KOTO 13, part of Sonica Instruments’ Virtuoso Japanese Series. We hope you fully enjoy KOTO 13, which has been designed to achieve the ultimate in authentic Japanese sound.

  • Page 2: Version History

    Version History Release notes for Update 2.5 • Groove Browser function added • Half / Whole switching behavior changed to a latching behavior • Updated Product Requirements (KONTAKT 6.6 or later)

  • Page 3: Product Highlights

    Introduction What is the 13-string koto? As its name suggests, the 13-string koto is a traditional Japanese instrument with 13 strings that are plucked with fingerpicks. The 13-string koto is widely used in Japanese music and is considered to be one of three essential instruments —...
  • Page 4 Plucking control function for full mastery over subtle, natural sounding picked notes In addition to volume adjustments and fine-tuning for each string, this function lets you select the pick type and string thickness to craft the perfect sound to match your musical compositions. String editor for independent tuning adjustments for all 13 strings along with a scale selection / customization function KOTO 13 is packaged with 28 classic koto scales —...

  • Page 5: Product Specifications

    Product Specifications KONTAKT 6.6 or later required KONTAKT PLAYER compatible NKS ready System Requirements Mac: Intel Macs (i5 or better) — Mac OS 10.14, 10.15, 11 or 12 (latest update) Apple Silicon Macs (via Rosetta 2 and natively on ARM in standalone mode or in hosts that support ARM) —...

  • Page 6: Before Using This Product

    Before Using This Product You need to register your serial code and download the library data with the NATIVE ACCESS 2 tool in order to use this product. Check the Sonica Instruments website for a step-by-step installation guide and other information about updates.
  • Page 7 3. Register Your Serial Code After NATIVE ACCESS 2 launches, click Add Serial. Enter the 25-digit serial code you received when you purchased the product and click Enter. (The serial code is sent you by email after purchase.) Product registration is complete when Success is displayed. The product you registered will appear under the New tab.
  • Page 8 Overview of KOTO 13 KOTO 13 works with KONTAKT, KONTAKT PLAYER, and KOMPLETE KONTROL. Using the library with KONTAKT and KONTAKT PLAYER Once the library is activated, the KOTO 13 library panel will be added to your KONTAKT Library Browser. Please load and use the tone model you want from the Library Browser.
  • Page 9 The articulation and phrase bank fields are displayed on all five panes — mix, instrument, strings, groove, and memory. This lets you monitor the key switch selections for the articulation and phrase bank at all times. articulation This field shows the current articulation selected by key switch. You can also confirm the current key switch setting on your KONTAKT keyboard.
  • Page 10 phrase bank This field shows the current phrase bank (of six) selected by key switch. Key Switch Phrase Bank Name Number of Phrases Sahrarin Glissando Up Glissando Down Glissando Performance Various Performance Effects MIDI keyboard layout G#-1– A#-1: Alternate Picking B-1: Sustain pedal mode switch C0 –...

  • Page 11: Audio Mixer

    This pane is used for basic sound production. Audio mixer The audio mixer lets you mix the three stereo microphone positions — Direct, OH (overhead), and Room — and the Stereo (stereo mix) channel, which is a pre-balanced mix of the three microphone sources. Turning on any of the microphone channels disables the Stereo channel, and turning on the Stereo channel disables all the microphone channels.
  • Page 12 Provides a four-band equalizer for each channel. Clicking the left [E] button opens the Equalizer window. Clicking the right button enables or disables the equalizer settings for the corresponding channel. Reverb The library contains 30 convolution reverbs, including two impulse responses from a Noh theater, available from the pull-down list.
  • Page 13 instrument This pane is used to set the tonal nuances of the 13-string koto. Instrument Modeler This set of controls models the tonal variations caused by the pick and string, which are a major part of the koto sound. By adjusting the parameters, you can vary the character of the sound any way you like, from a lively and natural 13-string koto tone to more aggressive and inventive sounds that exceed the limits of the koto.

  • Page 14: Velocity Control

    String Controls sound variations due to the strings. tone: Selects the string thickness from thick, normal, and thin. noise: Adjusts the volume of various noise components. release: Adjusts the release time of the played string. p. bend: Adjusts the range of pitch bends. The pitch bend control is designed to bend the pitch of just the string (note) being played without affecting the trailing notes of other strings previously...
  • Page 15 Phrase Control Provides speed and pitch adjustments for phrases contained in the phrase banks. pitch: Adjusts the playback pitch by ±7 semitones. speed: Adjusts the playback speed between 50% and 200%. Sus. Pedal Control When this control is enabled, the sustain pedal can be held down to have Key Off events trigger alternate picking.
  • Page 16 strings This pane is used for the instrument’s scale settings. The pitch, volume, and panning can be set individually for each string. String Indicator Displays the pitch, volume, and panning of each string from the first string through to the thirteenth string. Each parameter can be edited by dragging the value up or down.
  • Page 17 Scale You can instantly call up frequently used 13-string koto scales with this control. You can also create custom user scales to suit any composition. Chromatic: Selects the chromatic scale. User Scale: Selects the user-created custom scale. Load User Scale: Loads a saved user scale. Save User Scale: Saves a customized user scale.
  • Page 18 groove This pane is used to browse and preview the MIDI grooves included in the library and export the grooves to a DAW. Velocity: Adjusts the playback velocity of the MIDI groove. Transpose: Changes the key in semitone increments. Swing: Adds a swing feel to the MIDI groove. Grid: Toggles the Swing quantization between eighth notes and sixteenth notes.
  • Page 19 Using a MIDI groove To load a MIDI groove into the Player, double-click on the MIDI groove you want to use from the Groove Browser [1]. Click the play button to start a preview playback. Double-clicking on a pattern while the MIDI groove is playing will switch patterns without pausing the playback.
  • Page 20 memory This pane is used to selectively load samples for all articulations and all phrase banks. Turning off a Load button in the list will disable the corresponding articulation or phrase bank and reduce the size of KOTO 13’s memory footprint.
  • Page 21 KONTROL Series Controller Parameters You can adjust controller parameters more intuitively on KOMPLETE KONTROL or KONTROL Series (MIDI keyboards). (See the previous pages for details about each parameter.) In KOMPLETE KONTROL, click the Control button to display parameters. Inst Inst provides control over Instrument Modeler parameters. String String provides scale and key adjustments.
  • Page 22 Mixer Mic / Mixer Vol Mixer Mic / Mixer Vol provides mic channel selection and volume adjustment for each channel. Mixer Pan / Mixer Width Mixer Pan / Mixer Width provides width and panning adjustments for each channel. Reverb Reverb provides adjustments for the reverb send volume from each channel as well as control over Reverb parameters.
  • Page 23 EQ Param EQ Param provides adjustments for the gain and center frequency of each EQ band. Groove Groove provides control over Groove Browser parameters.
  • Page 24 Credits Executive Producer: Tomohiro Harada Production, Recording, Editing and KONTAKT Development: Sonica Instruments Koto performed by Miki Maruta KONTAKT Programming: Ichigoichie AB GUI Designer: Yujin Ono Audio Editing: Yoshitaka Koyama Recording Engineer: Keigo Sonoda (Pastoral Sound) Photography: Kenji Kagawa Music Video: Takashi Matsuda, Keita Ikeda Marketing &...

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