The Sax Brothers

Version 1.51 for Kontakt 3.5

Users Guide
Mr. Sax A. (alto)
Mr. Sax T. (tenor)
Mr. Sax B. (baritone)

Before you start

Created by Stefano Lucato

in collaboration with Giorgio Tommasini & Peter Siedlaczek.

About this manual:

Although based on different sample material, all the instruments of the Sax Brothers series are
functionally identical. The present users guide applies therefore to either Mr. Sax A, B & T,
version 1.5x for Kontakt 3.5 or Kontakt Player 3.5.

Online activation:
After installation of the software, you will need to
activate it via Internet, using the enclosed Service
Center utility. Just click on the activate button as
shown here beside
Without activation the instrument(s) will appear on a black background and will not work,
not even in demo mode.
To run the instruments you will also need to install the Kontakt Player 3.5, using the separate
installer provided with this product. The Player is not needed if you already have the full
Kontakt, version 3.5 or higher, already installed on your system.
Please note that, while our instruments can be loaded and played in the full Kontakt 3.5, they
cannot be opened or modified, and no access to the samples or instrument programming is
provided.

Note: after activation, please close and reopen Kontakt to get the instrument(s) fully
functional.

Note: In case your computer has no internet connection and you need an offline activation,
please contact the Native Instruments support (see below).

System requirements
Mr. Sax series instruments provide unprecedented realism and expressiveness. However, they
are fairly demanding in terms of CPU load. The instruments have been developed and
thoroughly tested on a PC with IntelCore2 6600 & 2.40 GHz, 2GB RAM, Windows XP, 2
SATA drives, and a 24 bit audio card with ASIO drivers. Under these conditions the CPU load
was approximately between 6-10%. On the Mac, similar excellent results have been obtained
with Mac Pro Quad Core 3 GHz, 8GB RAM, Mac OS 10.5.2, and Power Mac G5, 2 x 1 GHz,
3,5 GB RAM, OS 10.4.9.
Older, less powerful systems may also prove sufficient, but may require larger buffer sizes and
higher latencies, and the number of active instruments may be limited to one.

Note: this may not represent a real problem though. Using the freeze feature or, what is
more recommended, bouncing the single MIDI tracks to audio is a useful remedy.
Do it before struggling against 3, 5 or 7 simultaneous sax MIDI tracks and work on the
audio level instead. After all, even when working with a real musician, you need to
preserve his performance on unalterable audio tracks anyway.
Conversely, the instrument memory load is less of a problem, remaining below 230 MB per
instrument.

Soundcard. A good quality audio hardware with suitable low latency drivers (ASIO for the
PC, for example) is required. The recommended buffer size are 256 (44.1 kHz) and 512 (88.2
kHz).

Note: Due to their unique sound engine, Mr. Sax instruments provide optimal sonic
quality at the sample rate of 88,2 kHz. Although a sample rate of 44.1 kHz may be used,
this involves some loss of quality.

Midi interface. A MIDI interface will be required if using a MIDI keyboard, another MIDI
controller or an external sequencer, unless the connection is made via USB.

Keyboard.

A five-octave midi keyboard, mappable from C1 to C6, with pitchwheel,

modwheel, and an expression pedal (or breath controller), or a windcontroller, constitute the
absolute minimum requirements for real time playing. Keyboards with several physical midi
controllers are recommended for full exploitation of the expressiveness of the instrument.

Note: either CC11, or CC7, or CC2 is absolutely necessary for proper functioning of the
instrument. If none of the above controllers is connected, a warning message will be
displayed and the instrument will not work. It will disappear upon receiving CC11, or
CC7, or CC2 data, showing that the instrument is now properly working.

Sequencer. If real time playing is not contemplated (you will miss a great fun though), using a
sequencer may obviate the need for several physical midi controllers, while maintaining full
control of the instruments expressiveness. The Sax Brothers have been thoroughly tested on
most common sequencers, like Cubase, Logic and Sonar.
Tip: Logic users, by deactivating the sax track on playback, may dramatically reduce the
CPU load, and greatly improve the overall performance.

Tip: Sonar users might experience hanging notes upon stopping the playback. This is due
to the fact that Sonar sends an All-Notes-Off command when the Stop button is pressed.
The problem can be easily solved by checking the box Accept all notes off/ all sounds
off under Instrument Options -> Controller, as shown below.

Kontakt 3.5 Player. The Sax Brothers are supplied with the 3.5 NI Kontakt Player, the readonly version of Native Instruments latest flagship sampler. It involves many new features and
bugfixes, including 64 bit, extended memory and multicore support, DFD optimisation, better
compliance with some OS and hosts, aftertouch support etc. The Player is included as a separate
installer, and no additional software is required to play the instrument. Stand-alone mode, as
well as plugin formats VST, DXi, RTAS and AU are supported. For further details, please refer
to the Player Manual.

Kontakt 3.5 Sampler. The instruments can be also loaded and played in the full version of
Kontakt 3.5. Please note, however, that it cannot be opened or modified, and no access to the
samples or instrument programming is provided.

Installation. Please read carefully and follow the instructions in the Readme file.
Technical Support will be directly provided by Native Instruments:
http://www.native-instruments.com/support.info

Users Guide
MOST IMPORTANT:
- Expression controller: as the real instrument, and differently from conventional sample
libraries, Mr. Sax allows continuous transition across the dynamics (from ppp to fff), free
from phasing artifacts.
To accomplish this, a suitable continuous physical MIDI controller, such as an expression
(CC11) or volume (CC7) pedal, a breath or a windcontroller (CC2) is absolutely necessary.
Other physical MIDI controllers, like sliders, knobs or modwheel, though not recommended,
can be used for this purpose. They should be mapped to EXPRS in the remapping panel (see
below).
- Buffer Size:

the recommended settings are 256 (44.1 kHz) and 512 (88.2 kHz).

- Audio Interface Sample Rate: due to the unconventional sound engine of the Saxes, the
best sound quality is obtained by setting your audio interface to 88.2 kHz.

Tip: if running a session at 44.1 kHz, Mr. Sax will also run at 44.1 kHz. However, to
preserve optimal sound quality (which is at 88.2 kHz), set the session sample rate
temporarily to 88.2 kHz (dont forget to store and re-load the instrument(s)), and
export/bounce the Sax track(s) choosing 44.1 kHz as the destination SR. The final audio
file(s) will be at 44.1 kHz, still maintaining the best sound quality of Mr. Sax. Import it in
an audio track in your original 44.1 kHz session substituting the previous MIDI track.

Note: each time you change the sample rate, Kontakt needs to be closed and reopened.
Note: transposing the instrument can only be set in the MIDI CC Remapping panel.
Note: fine tuning can only be set in the Mast.Tune window on the
instrument GUI. The Master Tune value is displayed in relative
units (+/- 32 = +/- 1 semitone; 1 unit = 3 cents)
Conversely, Kontakt standard tune knobs should always be left untouched:

- Using several Mr. Sax instances:

never open more than one Sax in a single instance of
the Kontakt Player/Sampler (stand-alone or plug-in). Due to the unconventional sound engine
of the Saxes, two instruments in one player will interfere, leading to a compromised sound
quality. Instead, open each instrument in a separate instance of the Kontakt plug-in.
The blue keys on the lower part of the Kontakt Player virtual keyboard (C1 & D1) are not
keyswitches. They reflect some script-related functions which are not user accessible.

Instrument GUI and Midi Controller assignment & functions

There are two views of the instrument GUI:
-

Main Panel
MIDI CC Remapping

Main Panel View

- PitchBend (PB, not shown on the GUI): as a default, the PB yields a natural, asymmetrical
response (as in the real instrument), with a downward range of 2 semitones, and an upward
range of 0.1 semitones.
The sensitivity, and the overall range (up to 3 semitones), may be modified by acting on the
PB Sens. window (range 1-6, default 2) .
A symmetrical response (+/- 2 semitones) can be obtained by clicking on the button
PB Asymmetrical and choosing PB Symmetrical in the drop down menu (see below).

Note: in Windcontroller modes the response of the PB is always symmetrical.

Column Bars (The current value is displayed, but it can be also set, by dragging the bar):

- Vel. :

Note-on Velocity. Controls Attack Dynamics and Legato/Portamento Time

(P.T.) on overlapped notes (
mode only)

Note: P.T. (portamento time) can be instead assigned to CC5 (see P.T. Source, below)
- Exprs:
- Vib:C1 :

Expression; it will be automatically assigned to the first incoming CC among

CC11, CC2, CC7. Controls the dynamics.
Vibrato Intensity (controlled by CC1)

Note: in BreathController and Windcontroller modes, CC1 is not used to control the builtin vibrato. Rather, it affects the DynPitch, by approximately doubling its effect at the
maximum setting. This may be useful to customize the ratio pitch/dynamics when
performing manual vibrato.

- VR:C19 :
- Dynam :

Vibrato Rate (controlled by CC19)

Current Dynamics (from pp to ff, display only)

Other controls:
- Master Tune: default 0 = 440 Hz, range -32 +32 (+/- 1 semitone)
- RandExprs:
Amount of Expression Randomness
- PB Asymmetrical selects asymmetrical or symmetrical response to PB:

- Help & Info menu

Help & Info:

All_Notes_Off:

closes the above menu

accepts MIDI CC123 (All Notes Off command).

Note: some keyboards output CC123 along with each Note-Off. This may prevent proper
functioning of the instrument. All_Notes_Off should be disabled (dark) in this case.

- Input Device selection (drop down menu):

Keyboard
Keyboard + Breath Controller
Wind Controller 1 (suitable for the WX5, WX7)
Wind Controller 2 (suitable for EWI USB & EWI 4000)

- DynPitch:

Amount of Pitch Modulation on variations of Dynamics (controlled by CC8)

- Reset :

Resets the instrument to default values.

Tip: to reset Kontakt engine, click on the

exclamation mark (!) near the CPU load display.
This might be sometimes the simplest remedy if
problems should occur.
- Attack Preferences (drop down menu)
Enhanced Attack Hard
Smooth Attack Hard
Enhanced Attack Soft
Smooth Attack Soft
- P.T.Source :

Selects Between Velocity

or CC5-controlled Portamento Time (P.T.):
Velocity to P.T.:
CC5 to P.T.:
CC5 to P.T. inv:

The higher the overlapped note velocity, the shorter the P.T
The higher CC5, the longer the P.T.
The higher CC5, the shorter the P.T. (as in vers. 1.01)

- P.T. C5 :
- K.N. C9 :
- ModalRes :

Sets and displays the current CC5 value if P.T. is assigned to CC5
Key Noise intensity (controlled by CC9)
Instrument Modal Resonance Intensity

- CC64 P. :

Sustain Pedal assignment to :

Reduced Velocity
SubHarmonic
Growl

Note: control of subharmonic and growl is ideally carried out by the aftertouch. If this is
not available, one can use continuous controllers, like sliders or expression pedals. This is
not applicable in all cases, due to the lack of suitable extremities , or to the fact that most
keyboards do not accept more than one expression pedal. By linking, for example, growl
to the sustain pedal one can still obtain this effect by switching it on and off. Likewise,
softer attacks and legato can be obtained by linking the Sustain Pedal to Reduced
Velocity.
- SH. C20 :
- T.SH. :
- Growl C21 :
- Flutr C23 :
- PB Sens :

SubHarmonic intensity (controlled by CC20)

Amount of On-note Random SubHarmonic Burst
Growl intensity (controlled by CC21)
Flutter Tongue (controlled by CC23)
Pitchbend Sensitivity (see Pitchbend, above)

MIDI CC Remapping View

NEW ! CC remapping is an entirely new feature, allowing to control all functions of the
instrument with maximum flexibility.
NEW ! Channel aftertouch is now recognised and mappable.
-

Exprs: besides expression and volume pedals, breath and wind controllers, virtually any
physical MIDI controller may drive the dynamics of the instrument. Just insert the CC
number of your controller, and youre done. The same applies to all controllers below.
Vib: vibrato intensity (default CC1 (the modwheel)).
V R: vibrato rate (default CC19).
P T: portamento time (default CC5 if not assigned to overlapped note velocity, see above)
D P: pitch modulation on variations of dynamics (default CC8)
K N: key noise (default CC9)
SH: subharmonic intensity (default CC20)
Grw: growl intensity (default CC21)
Flt: flutter tongue intensity (default CC23)
AfterTouch: channel aftertouch (default off) may be assign to control any
of the following functions: vibrato intensity, vibrato rate, subharmonic
intensity, growl intensity, flutter tongue intensity.

Note: Aftertouch mapping overcomes any other CC assignment to the

same function.

Note: CC remapping is a useful function, but requires some attention. One cannot assign
different functions to the same CC, as in the example below, where both vibrato intensity
and rate are assigned to CC1. In this case, an error message will be displayed and the
instrument will not work until the multiple CC assignment is corrected.

From the Midi CC Remapping panel view one can also modify some parameters which are not
CC assigned:
- AT Smooth: aftertouch smoothing. This is useful to avoid sudden jumps in the controlled
function, since on some keyboards the response to the aftertouch can be quite rough.
- Transpose: key transposition; transposes the instrument up or down in semitone steps. Please
note that the default values may differ from 0 depending on the instruments (Alto, Tenor,
Baritone) to better cope with a five octave keyboard.
- Reset Remap: resets the whole remapping GUI to its default values.
- Note Retrigger: activates retriggering of the previous note upon release of the overlapped note.
Default is on(white), and in most cases it should remain active. The only exception is when a
windcontroller already provides automatic retriggering. In this case, it may be turned off ->
(dark).

Reverb folder
The Reverb folder contains the instruments with reverb (Multis). The Amount of the reverb
(reverb send) can be controlled by the Aux slider as shown below.

If you are asked Replace Multi (pressing no will merge to the new instruments)?, always
click on Yes to load the complete reverb configuration.
The convolution reverb belonging to this multi uses an impuls response provided with this
library. There are further audio files representing various impuls responses in the Kontakt player
folder. You can exchange them per drag & drop. Please refer to the Player manual for further
details.

The Sax Brothers

Created by Stefano Lucato
in collaboration with Giorgio Tommasini & Peter Siedlaczek
Sample Processing by G.Tommasini & S.Lucato
SyncroWaveTrig Technology (patent pending) & Script Programming: Stefano Lucato