The performance section gives you control over the scale, chord and arpeggiator. Bottom line, the light guide is not a gimmick and really lets you focus on the hardware. If you’re using the chord mode, the light guide will highlight all the notes in that particular chord and with the arpeggiator you’ll see the lights cycle through all the notes. This can be used as a tool for helping you learn and memorize scales. When you have toggled the scale mode, the light guide will indicate the root note/key and highlight all the notes that are in the chosen scale.

The second main use of the light guide is tied in with the keyboards performance features which include the scale, chord, and arpeggiator mode. This may not seem like a big deal but for plug-ins like Battery and Kontakt, it helps keep track of your key zones and sounds. For example if you’re using Battery 4, the light guide will change to match the color of the cell in Battery. When using certain Native Instruments plug-ins, the lights are used to indicate key switches, key zones, and specific sounds. One of the main features of the hardware is the Light Guide, which serves several purposes. This keyboard continues to prove the power of hardware/software integration. With the release of this keyboard, Native Instruments now has dedicated controllers for their 3 main software. You can see the original teaser video here, DJTT was also fortunate to have Native Instruments in house for an exclusive first look of the new keyboards. Native Instruments teased the release of the new keyboards a couple months ago. The Bottom Line:Native Instruments Komplete keyboard is a welcome addition to their lineup of integrated hardware.The Bad:Must own Komplete to take advantage of all features, no software included.

The Good: Solid build quality, scale and chord mode, unique light guide.

Native Instruments have released a lineup of dedicated keyboard controllers, the “Komplete Kontrol S-series”. While Maschine does have Komplete integration, people have been waiting for a keyboard from Native Instruments that integrates with Komplete. First with Maschine, followed by integrated DJ controllers like the Kontrol X1, Kontrol S4, and most recently the Kontrol S8. Over the last few years Native Instruments has released several controllers that integrate seamlessly with their software.

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