Context
I’ve recently bought a Komplete Kontrol S61 MK3 keyboard to replace my prior MK2. And to my delight, it doesn’t only introduce new features like polyphonic aftertouch, but it also has the touch strip in a much better place than the prior model.
It’s the nicest synth touch keyboard I’ve ever had and there are plenty of online reviews that go into more depth.
The configuration editing can be mostly done on the hardware, which I also prefer over using an external software editor. And configurations can be saved as “templates”, so the MK3 series can be easily switched between use cases with or without having a computer nearby.
But what gives us the best of all worlds is that we can that we can export and import these templates as files to/from a Mac or Windows computer, which opens up lots of additional possibilities. Like modifying the templates in ways that aren’t possible on the keyboard itself.
Some of that is explained at the Native Instruments forum.
Editing .kmt template files
The configuration template files are in JSON format, so nerdy enthusiasts like me can examine and modify those files. Examining and editing JSON files really benefits from using a programming editor. I’ve been using the free Visual Studio Code editor and configured it to use it’s builtin JSON file editing facilities for any files with the .kmt extension.
The colouring of the code helps with readability, but the biggest workflow improvement with a JSON capable code editor is the ability to collapse and expand blocks of code in an extremely sensible way. Without that, it’s way too painful for my taste to look at JSON files. But with collapsing/expanding, a JSON file becomes a lot more obvious in what it represents. A number of sections, mostly with a name, except for repeating sections of the same kind but with different data. And each section can have subsections. And they can have subsections etc.
So it’s possible to understand what’s going on, but JSON files can be very long and therefore intimidating.
So I ended up creating a little web app for myself, where I could do a couple of things a bit easier and quicker than using Visual Studio Code.
A simple Helper App for .kmt template files.
This little helper app can do just a few things
- Add, delete or swap a template image.
- Pick an LED colour for the wheels, touchstrip, and 4D knob.
- Use characters in the template name, that aren’t available on the keyboard’s editor.
And it can also copy one or more sections from another template file:
- Keyzones
- Buttons & Knobs (pages)
- Pedals
- TouchStrip
- Wheels
Copying such sections makes it a bit easier to merge a template that another user shared, and maybe I like their knob and button configuration, but
- I have a different Pedal configuration, or
- I prefer different Keyzones, or
- I simply prefer different colors
Maybe one or the other person finds this of some use, so click on the link to see my little