What do I need to run your Kontakt instruments?
You need the full version of Kontakt 4.2.3 or later. Kontakt 5 is fully supported, but Kontakt Player will only work with our products for the demo time of 15 minutes; after that it times out. For that reason, we recommend you have the full version of Kontakt installed before you buy one of our instruments. We can’t give refunds for software bought in error!
How exactly do I buy something from you?
Add the products you want to your basket; view your basket; checkout and pay. You don’t have to have a PayPal account to buy from us. PayPal will handle credit and debit card orders for you as well. Once you’ve filled in your details (see below) and checked out with PayPal – which is secure, and safe – you’ll received an email with a link to a download page, or you can access this in your My Account page. Click that link, and on the download page your download will start automatically (or you can click to start it manually). Once the file is downloaded, check your downloads folder (or wherever your web browser stores its downloads) and you should find a .zip file with the name of the product you bought. See below for what to do with that.
Okay, I’ve got the zip file downloaded. How do I install this thing?
Unzip the zip file (usually by double-clicking on it). It will unpack into a folder with the name of the product you bought (if you bought Sheltone, it’ll be called Sheltone… it’s pretty simple). For Kontakt instruments, this folder contains the samples, the instruments, and a resource file with an .nkr suffix. Keep all of these files and bits and pieces together in the folder they came in.
You can put this folder anywhere you like on your hard drive, or on an external drive; wherever you like to keep your Kontakt instruments. It doesn’t have to go in any particular special place. Once you’ve put it where you want it, fire up Kontakt and use the Browse pane to navigate to where you just put the folder. Open it. Inside, you’ll find one or more .nki instruments that you can load up. (Some of our products come with several .nki’s so you have a range of patches to get you started until you get to rolling your own.) There you go: you’re all set.
Note that you don’t install our instruments as Libraries within Kontakt; you have to use the method above. It’s also all detailed, step by step, in the README file included in the download folder.
Why do you need all that billing information in the Checkout page? Seems like a lot of stuff to fill in. Why do you need to know my address? I want my product! NOW!!!
Yeah, we know, the first time you check out it’s a bit of a hassle. But we have to do it for legal reasons: businesses like us who sell software now have to comply with EU regulation that requires us to get your address and details from you at checkout. It all gets remembered so you only have to do it the once. (And please don’t worry about us selling them on to spam merchants: we’re good guys and we would absolutely never do that.)
To make up for the dull form-filling bit, we’ve tried to make sure there are some cool benefits. Once you’re registered with us, you can check past orders, manage your downloads, change your password and all that kind of stuff in the My Account page. Sometimes we have little competitions, freebie giveaways or other fun for our registered customers. All for filling out a few boxes. We’ll also send you the occasional product announcement, maybe once a month, but if you don’t want to hear from us you can unsubscribe from those emails any time you like.
Dude, I paid for my product like, an hour ago, and still no download. What gives?
It’s almost certainly been flagged as spam by your email program and dumped in your spam folder or junk mail folder. Check in there and unflag it as spam so any future products you buy come through safely. This cures 99% of “where’s my download?”-type problems.
Man, your products are gnarly. Can I give a copy to my bud? He’s got this band. It would just be for, like, his personal use.
Get a haircut, you hippie. And of course you can’t do that. Tell your bud to check down the back of his sofa and see if he can’t find his own €5 for a legit download. How are we going to buy more weird shit from car boot sales if you pirate our products? “It’s just for, like, personal use” might cut it for weed, but not for software.
Your audio demos are sick. Who does them? Can’t they get some kind of a record deal?
Mongo does the demos. He can’t get a record deal because he has what they call in the industry “a good face for radio”.
Your audio demos suck ass. Who does them? Can’t they get some kind of medication?
Mongo does the demos. He can’t get any more medication because since the incident in SuperDrug he’s barred from all our local pharmacies.
Can I use your sounds in my soon-to-be-chart-topping club anthem? Or are they restricted by some kind of arcane licensing agreement?
Of course you can. You can use our instruments in any of your projects, whether they’re aimed at commercial superstardom or simply backing tracks for your YouTube movies. What you can’t do is sample our samples and sell them on; or rip the samples out of our lovingly-created instruments and distribute them; or give away the instrument you bought to your bud who’s in this band. All of those things are bad karma, dude. This is all kind of common sense. Just use the instruments to make music and you’re fine. If you do have a hit, though, don’t be a stranger – give us a plug!
Sometimes when I move a knob or a control in your instruments, nothing happens for a while.
Not our fault, honest. This is an issue with Kontakt itself. Sometimes when you tweak a control, you won’t hear any change until you play a new note. So with some controls, you turn the knob expecting it to affect the chord you’re holding down… and nothing happens. If you play a new chord, though, the new settings will kick in and you’ll hear what you were hoping for.
This is simply the way Kontakt is built, and there’s unfortunately nothing we – or anyone else – can do about it.
Snaps ‘n’ Claps sounds like it’s out of time in my track.
The hippie in your tin needs changing for a fresh one.
No, seriously, you need to nudge the recorded Snaps ‘n’ Claps tracks ahead of the beat slightly. See the tip at the bottom of the Snaps ‘n’ Claps page for more info on why this is and what to do about it.
Some of the Jennings patches sound really, really quiet. REALLY quiet. What’s that all about?
Jennings can use your controller keyboard mod wheel to control volume, which emulates how the original Univox used a knee-lever to control volume. If your patch is quiet, it’s likely this feature is switched on and your mod wheel is down. Either turn your mod wheel up, or, if you’d rather not be bothered with mod wheel control, go to the rear panel of Jennings and switch off ‘Mod Wheel Controls Volume’. There – nice and loud now!
I have bought every single Rhythmic Robot instrument and still I want more.
Well, it sounds kind of dumbass to suggest our competitors, but… well, you’ve seen Mongo, right? Dumbass is where we live. If you’d like to know which other cool Kontakt developers we dig, take a look at the bottom of the page here.
I would like to try making my own sock-puppets with coloured yarn. Is there a particular technique I should use when crocheting the body of the puppet?
You’re in the wrong FAQ.