Musicrow has released Ebola as a separate ensemble for Native Instruments Reaktor. Ebola is a semi-modular synthesizer with a flexible architecture that enables you to create a wide variety of modern… [Read More]
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Musicrow releases Ebola for Reaktor
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
Lovely, Ethereal Music, Made from New and Updated Reaktor Patches You Can Download
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011The wonderful, sometimes-inspiring, sometimes-daunting capability of the computer is to make any sound you like. Give someone an open toolbox, and they really limited only by skill and imagination. Graphical modular environment Reaktor by Native Instruments has a reputation for crunchy granular sounds and elaborate, multi-layered glitches, and those are to some of us certainly a good thing. But here’s some music made in Reaktor that tends in another direction. The creatoors give us some nice tools, to be sure, but they also give us some actual music and sounds to explore.
At top, our friend Peter Dines has been continuing to iterate with his granular tools, Loupe. Here, OpenSoundControl control signals from an iPad running (recently-updated) TouchOSC translate to new sounds. Multi-touch control seems to me perfect for this sort of continuous parameter control. The download updates his $ 15 patch set, and there’s an extensive tutorial on using OSC and Reaktor on his Noisepages blog:
Loupe 1.5 for Reaktor – now with bidirectional OSC mappings for TouchOS [Modulations @ Noisepages]
Even if for some bizarre reason you’re not interested in this patch, the article above is a must-read for any Reaktor user hoping to experiment with OSC.
Via the ever-prodigious Synthtopia comes three other free Reaktor ensembles. For free ensembles, they’re really polished – there’s a 4-oscillator atmospheric pad synth, a 3-oscillator bass synth, and 2-oscillator “pluck” synth. If you don’t own Reaktor, there’s even a free 3-oscillator bass synth instrument for Windows VST. The results produce dreamy, dense layers of sound:
The trio, entitled “The Colorspace,” is the work of Italian-based musician Dario. He makes music under a number of identities, but I’m partial to his ambient projects Kiis and “need a name.” A Kiis release is available as a name-your-price EP on Bandcamp:
There’s also some seriously chilled-own, pleasantly-ambient (even when beats make appearances) music as “Need a Name.”
Sizzling Plucks by Need a Name
Whether this music is specifically your cup of tea or not, it’s great to actually hear some music from the person making the tool. You can take it as further inspiration, a chance to be closer to the person who makes the Reaktor patches you use, or even a challenge to make your own work with the same sonic arsenal distinctly your own.
The Reaktor patches, for their part, are available free:
http://www.thecolorspace.net/software.html
Bonus – back in glitchland… As I write this, I see that there’s an updated TouchOSC control layout for Richard Devine’s GrainCube, a free Reaktor patch built by DevSnd, Rachmiel, TwistedTools, and Antonio Blanca. See previous coverage here on CDM from last year; a different video below, and a picture of the new layout (which looks nice). Of course, no reason you can’t use this same tool to make something that sounds very different…
Courtesy DevSnd. Click for larger version.
More downloads: http://devinesound.net/
Update info / TouchOSC update [devsnd Blog]
Twisted Tools releases “Glitchmachines: Elements” for Reaktor, Kontakt, Maschine, EXS and more (incl. MP16b Reaktor Ensemble)
Friday, May 6th, 2011Twisted Tools has released a new sample library, entitled Glitchmachines: Elements, which is a collection of massive analogue one-shots, heavily processed foley and designed sounds by legendary circui… [Read More]
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DIY Ribbon Controller, Creative Commons-Licensed, with Arduino, Reaktor, Crackling-Good Case
Tuesday, April 19th, 2011Ribbons are so in this year. Thanks to Trent Reznor picking up the Dewanatron Swarmatron, they’re even winning Oscar Awards (after a fashion).
Coagula aka Giuseppe Di Cillo has been in touch with me for some time about his evolving DIY ribbon controller. Now he’s pulling out all the stops: his full version includes a professional-looking case, extensive touch sensors, and even a display and menu system. It’s not quite the gorgeous, analog-savvy Eowave Persephone, but it’s a beautiful DIY project and a terrific learning opportunity, as well. He’s shared a complete tutorial, specifications, and tips, all under a Creative Commons license. (It’s not quite open source hardware – I’d like to see the “non-commercial” restriction dropped – but it is tremendously generous and complete.)
The Grobian ensemble from Reaktor is behind the sound. (I’ve lost track of how you acquire Grobian, if a more sophisticated Reaktor user can remind me.)
I was curious about the accuracy and responsiveness of this particular sensing system, especially since I’ve had some issues with similar touch sensors. Giuseppe responds: “I find the sensors very good, but when you touch the position sensor the sensor need few milliseconds to settle. To fix this I put a 5 milliseconds delay on the code. The video is a little out of sync but I assure you that in reality is much more responding.”
Go, wonder, absorb knowledge:
Coagula MIDI Ribbon Controller 2.0
Native Instruments releases Razor for Reaktor and Reaktor Player
Friday, March 25th, 201125th March 2011: Native Instruments has released Razor, an innovative and highly distinctive software synthesizer designed together with forward-thinking electronic artist Errorsmith. For use in Reaktor 5 and in the f…
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How well does Reaktor integrate with Ableton Live?
Saturday, March 19th, 2011Question by rpeg: How well does Reaktor integrate with Ableton Live?
In your opinion. I’m debating getting it instead of Max4Live.
Best answer:
Answer by Eeluon
yes
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Reaktor Sampler Pack Gives you Granular Power Over Sound; Tips for Maschine, Ableton
Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011
Producer/composer and Reaktor super-guru Peter Dines is back with a new concoction for Native Instruments’ graphical development environment for sound. Entitled the Reaktor Sample Pack, it’s a collection of three granular sampling instruments.
Frame is a looping sampler with smooth/crossfading, envelope controls, and built-in saturation, plus graphical loop point selection. Free | download
Loupe is a “polyphonic looping slicer,” which is to say you can slice up a sample and assign it to different MIDI keys. Press a note, then graphically set loop playback parameters from reverse to envelope to filter. US$ 15 via link below, or get Loupe + Mirage for US$ 22.50
Mirage is a granular sampler that focuses on ambient textures, by creating snapshots of various parameters. There’s some deep sonic functionality in there, including an LFO with a “whirl” effect (and accompanying whirly graphic widget), per-voice filtering, global envelope and EQ, and tons of grain-level controls. US$ 15 via link below, or get Loupe + Mirage for US$ 22.50
They also all look lovely with Reaktor’s recently-overhauled UI. Pete isn’t just a good programmer, though; he’s a talented producer, so I’ll let the sound samples speak for themselves:
Peter Dines Sampler Pack – Frame 2 by peterdines
Peter Dines Sampler Pack – Loupe drums by peterdines
Peter Dines Sampler Pack – Mirage demo by peterdines
And here’s a look at Mirage’s UI; click through for a bigger version:
If you have Reaktor, I can’t imagine any argument for not picking these up. Through the end of February, you can pick up all three for US$ 22.50, and Frame alone would keep you busy for free.
Full details on Pete’s terrific Modulations blog at Noisepages:
Introducing the Reaktor Sampler Pack
If you’re interested in using this in Ableton Live, read on for Reaktor+Live tips. If you’re a fan of Maschine, Pete has also been putting Reaktor and Maschine together while testing the upcoming Maschine 1.6, and he’s got some fantastic tips:
Ableton users…
More on routing Reaktor in Live: multi out audio UPDATE: VST works too, not just AU [PS - little tip, VST is usually a safer bet than AU on the Mac because so many AU plug-ins actually use compatibility layers]
Maschine + Reaktor (and Loupe!) Maschine 1.6 beta just dropped!
And if you love running patterns at different lengths, routing patterns into one another, good stuff:
Sound to Sound MIDI routing in Maschine 1.6
Thanks for the great ideas, Pete. Well worth checking the rest of his site:
http://modulations.noisepages.com/
Twisted Tools releases Scapes for Reaktor
Tuesday, February 15th, 201115th February 2011: Twisted Tools has released a new Reaktor ensemble effects processor and sound generator based on feedback, called Scapes. It’s available now for $ 49. Scapes uses six independent granular delays, exte…
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Musicrow updates Golden Ensembles for Reaktor to v2.39 (incl. new ensemble: Red Snapper) and announces 30% Discount
Tuesday, February 1st, 20111st February 2011: Musicrow has updated Golden Ensembles for Reaktor to version 2.39. This update includes a new Reaktor ensemble: Red Snapper, so Golden Ensembles now contains a collection of 41 ensembles for Reaktor. …
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NI Gives Away Version of One of the Best Reaktor Instruments, Free: Mikro Prism
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010
Here’s an early Christmas present for Mac and Windows synth lovers: Native Instruments is giving away a simplified version of its Prism instrument for Reaktor as a free (as in beer), self-contained synth. You’ll get access to Prism’s lovely “modal bank” synthesis method, which creates some unusual, shimmering timbres. (In fact, having a simpler version may be the best way to get a taste of what Prism’s deep sound engine can do.) You also get 70 sound, including what NI describes as “seasonal” bells and chimes – perfect for any last-minute holiday music projects – plus bass, more bells, keys, mallets, leads, pads, plucked sounds, and abstract, ambient “soundscapes.”
There’s also access to enough sound parameters that you can create some unique variations of the sounds, including built-in cabinet simulation, filter, flanger, echo and reverb effects, and modal bank and exciter parameters. So this is hardly a “rompler” or simple preset player; you can actually get a lot of different sounds out of it.
Mikro Prism, Free Reaktor Synthesizer [Native Instruments]
If you’re not a Reaktor owner, this instrument runs in Reaktor Player, which lacks its own preset storage but runs inside supported Mac and Windows plug-in hosts.
Thanks to Dave Ryan for the tip!