1. Shape the sound with Kontakt’s envelopes
Envelopes are essential tools for shaping the dynamics of a sound over time. The ADSR envelope – Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release – allows precise control over how a sound evolves from the moment a note is triggered until it fades out.
Using Kontakt, you can easily adjust the attack, decay, sustain and release of a sound to shape it. For example, automating the ADSR of a synth may be useful during the break of a track, so that the synth sound continually evolves to build anticipation in the track before the drop.
The Attack determines how quickly the sound reaches full volume. Decay and Sustain work together; Decay determines how long it takes the sound to drop from the decay level to the Sustain level, which is the volume of the sound that’s maintained while the note is held.Release controls how long the sound lingers after the key is released, and the volume returns to zero. The release determines the fade-out of the sound. Kontakt also features an additional control called Hold that controls how long the sound is held at a constant value before passing to the decay stage.
To access the ADSR in Kontakt, click on the wrench icon in the top left of the software.
