Going through reaktor, absynth, and kontakt on the fly

I'm trying to learn how to set up a system that i can toggle through both reaktor, absynth, and kontakt live to pull up my favorite sounds. Is there a way to do this? if i have them all open, the one keyboard plays them all at once. Is there a way around this? I'm new to the software syth and i'm finding all of this great stuff about each one and i want to go to either on the fly.

Originally, i just used live to trigger samples and played another keyboard that wasn't connected to it and relied only on it's sound and ran a di from my laptop for the samples. I'd like to get it all into one system so i don't have to go to the computer to change things when i want to bring them up.

any ideas?

If you are still hosting in Live, you can assign some buttons on your controller to arming each track, then flip the tracks on/off as you want to play them. Just an idea. I'm sure you can do stuff like this in most major sequencers.

Also, have you checked out Kore from NI? I think it's supposed to do something like you are after, but I'm not 100% sure.

I'll look into it. i'm not sure what it does either. I thougth it was a sequencer, but as far as toggling through i don't know.

Or use steinberg V-Stack (but Live is better, imho)

Yep, KORE will do that. In performance mode, you'd just call up the preset with the appropriate instrument(s) active, and the rest deactivated.

Used as a plugin it gets trickier, but it can be done. You'd have to set up all the instruments as a single KORE sound and assign the controller buttons to on/offs for the various instruments.

ew

yeah, i'm looking at that now. It looks like a good thing. What controller are you using for that?

For the switching? The buttons on the KORE controller itself...

ew

I mean for the actual playing of the devices. The reason that I'm asking is that i've been using a roland keyboard and an oxygen 8 which hasn't supported some of the knobs on various synths inside of reaktor. I have to get a more mobile set up now.

I haven't worked with using pads before, but i was looking at the axiom to be used with potentially triggering samples. I'm going to need to leave the roland at home and i'd love to dump the oxygen 8 for a 49 key controller. I'm wondering what keyboard controller that best supports native and still feels pretty good to play.

If you've read any other posts that i've been making today, i'm truly looking to consolidate as much as possible for ease of use and set up. I'd stomach the extra controller if it does what i want to. I really wish it would be built it a keyboard alone somehow.

The ultimate goal - 1 keyboard on a stand and no computer in sight.

For a keyboard I'm using my old Ensoniq VFX-SD, with a Kawai K5 standing by for when the VFX crashes (as it usually will once a night). Why the VFX? Because it has poly aftertouch and works great as a master keyboad when it's not crashing.

ew