The Reaktor User Library is currently getting a much-needed overhaul from the folks over at Native Instruments. Several new features have been introduced alongside a slew of fixes and graphical improvements over the previous version. In this video, I show how to upload your Reaktor work to the User Library.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Even though you are giving your work away for free, it is still necessary to convince people that it is something that they want, and it won’t just clutter up their hard drive. Sound samples and a nice GUI can go a long way towards that goal, especially if you aren’t well known in the community.

The new User Library is still in beta, so make sure to provide feedback to NI at this thread in the forums.

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In this tutorial, I show how to create a physical model of a string instrument in Reaktor, using the Modal Bank module.

This video builds off a previous tutorial, which you can find here, about modeling a guitar sound.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Most of our work is done from the previous tutorial – we already have a decent model of a guitar to start out, and guitars are very similar to the instruments we are trying to model. The only thing we need to worry about is changing the method of modal excitation.

Previously, we had been modelling a plucked string, which required only a quick impulse using an AD envelope. Now, we are modelling a bow constantly exciting a string, which requires a little bit more work, but not much. We want a signal that can cause our bandpass filters to resonate across a wide range of frequencies.

Since the Modal (and Sine) Bank modules are so complex, they are still unused by most Reaktor builders. This means there is still a lot of untapped potential for new and unique creations.

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Want to win a Maschine? Thanks to Skin, we’ve got one to give away!

We’re giving away a Maschine – find out how to enter on our Maschine tutorial website on the link below!

http://www.maschineskills.com/maschine-tutorials/win-a-maschine/

Good luck!

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In this video, I show off Native Instruments most recent Reaktor Ensemble, Molekular, a multi-FX processor with flexible routing and an incredible amount of depth.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Molekular is probably the most impressive Reaktor ensemble I’ve ever seen, containing dozens of effects and a very detailed interface with a ton of options. Many of the effects are unique, and all are designed with an amazing attention to detail.

This video covers the very basics – how to load an effect into one of the 4 slots, how to use the modulation and morphing systems, and how to use pitch quantization to clean up the sounds you create.

Fortunately, Native Instruments has been kind enough to provide a demo for Molekular, which allows you to check out all of it’s features (it runs for half an hour at a time and you can’t save). You can download either the demo or the full version here.

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In this video, I show how to use NOD-E by Antonio Blanca. Antonio is a very talented builder who just joined the team over at Twisted Tools.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

DOWNLOAD NOD-E HERE.

NOD-E  is a fantastic little tool that began life as a Lemur template. Unfortunately, the documentation is a little slim, as Antonio is not a native English speaker, leaving us to figure out exactly what is going on. Fortunately, the design is well thought out and mostly very easy to understand with a little effort.

Using a variety of parameters, the user controls the movement of 8 boxes in an XY grid. The boxes trigger MIDI notes depending on the parameters you set. Since NOD-E does not make any sound itself, you must connect a synth to receive these MIDI notes (by default the NOD-E.ens file loads up a copy of Steampipe 2 to do the honors). At the end of the video,  I show how you can replace Steampipe with any Reaktor instrument. You could also use a DAW to route the MIDI to a synth outside of Reaktor.

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In this video, I show how to use Chet Singer’s wonderful Serenade ensemble, a physical modelling synth for string instruments capable of producing very organic and realistic sounds.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Serenade is fairly unique as far as I know, in that it has a fader  in the center that mimics the movement of a bow across a string instrument. This fader can be controlled with the mouse, via a MIDI controller, or using automation from a DAW such as Ableton. Using automation requires some simple editing of the ensemble, as detailed in the video.

Serenade makes use of Viva la Convolution, a convolution ensemble designed by Colin Brown. As convolution is mostly used to create reverb effects, Serenade uses it in a very interesting way, to model the sonic space of a string instrument.

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In this video, I show how to use Colorstrip, an ensemble that excels at chopping and rearranging loops by Igor Shilov, better  known as Sonictwist of Twisted Tools.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Colorstrip is a loop mangler that allows you to create several different modes of playback on a single loop. These modes include pitchshifting the loop, grain size, starting position and more. You can then sequence the playback modes to create a very glitchy effect.

Although not as advanced, in many ways the interface and design of Colorstrip is similar to the commercial ensembles released by Twisted Tools. Many of the controls exist in an updated form in ensembles such as Ultraloop. The interface is designed to allow for copy/pasting of elements, a rare feature in Reaktor ensembles, and one that is very useful here since there are many controls.

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This tutorial is the third part in a series on Wave Digital Filters in Reaktor (part I, part II). Previously, we covered the basic one port elements, including resistors and capacitors, and serial connectors.

In this tutorial, I’ll provide an updated WDF library, including a parallel adaptor, updated components, and an example of an interesting oscillator made out of WDFs.

UPDATED COMPONENTS

There is not much change to these, simply an update from using the ‘Wave Up’ and ‘Wave Down’ names to the more commonly used ‘a’ and ‘b’ for the wave variables of a component. This simply makes it easier to relate the components to the various available literature on WDFs.

There is also a new component available, the ‘Res Voltage’ macro. As far as I understand it, this models a voltage source with a resistor built in. The previous macro named Voltage Source models an ideal voltage source, which seems to cause problems in WDF implementations, which probably accounts for the strange behavior of the Tube Diode macro provided in Part II when fed with any non-bandlimited signal.

PARALLEL ADAPTORS

Parallel adaptors are a big improvement to add to our library, because they allow for a whole new type of connection to be made. Only very basic WDF models can be made without them.

The parallel adaptors work just like the serial ones. They are split into two macros, Parallel Up and Parallel Down. The three bottom outputs of Parallel Up feed directly into the bottom three inputs of Parallel down. The ‘b’ and ‘r’ outputs of Parallel Up can be used to control another one-port element (such as a resistor) or a non-linearity.

If the one port element you need to use doesn’t accept an ‘r’ value (such as the capacitor), you can simply remove the code inside the element that converts from it’s input into port resistance (In the case of the capacitor, this translates from farads).

VIRTUAL ANALOG OSCILLATOR

Using the new elements available, I’d like to share a Reaktor implementation of the oscillator detailed in this article (on page 724, for those who are interested).

This oscillator is pretty cool! It has good spectral properties (seems to have very little aliasing). It outputs both a sawtooth and a pulse wave at the same time.

By changing the constants in the macro named ‘+/-’, you can change the shape of the sawtooth into a triangle. The same values control the pulse width of the pulse oscillator.

There are some big problems, unfortunately. The frequency of the oscillator is controlled by the capacitance of the sole capacitor. However, the oscillator is only stable within a pretty narrow range of values. I’ve been able to get stable waveforms ranging from around 44 Hz to around 300 Hz.

Relating an exact capacitance to a frequency is probably not simple, either, though I admit I haven’t really tried.

I’m not sure if these problems are in my code or if the oscillator design is simply in need of more work – I am able to match the published results for the values given on page 724.

Sawtooth, with +/- values equal to 10,000 and 1,000.

CONCLUSION

DOWNLOAD WDF PACKAGE HERE.

The download includes all of the macros described in this tutorial.

I hope in the future to be able to build a larger and more comprehensive WDF library. The field is still producing a lot of new research and innovation, much of it well beyond my comprehension.

The post Wave Digital Filters in Reaktor, Part III appeared first on NI Reaktor Tutorials.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

DOWNLOAD RUHR HERE.

The most powerful aspect of RUHR, and the Modular X framework in general is the ability to create ensembles with an arbitrary signal path – meaning you can wire together the available devices in any order you choose. In today’s tutorial, I focus on creating a simple subtractive synthesizer.

Using RUHR properly requires a decent understanding of signal flow in a synth, and a little bit of patience as you figure out exactly how everything works. Once you do, you aren’t constrained to designing simple synths like in this video – with a little bit of know-how, you can easily create bizarre and crazy soundmakers in a matter of minutes.

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The post Reaktor User Library – RUHR by Herwig Krass appeared first on NI Reaktor Tutorials.

In this video, I show how to use Drummachinewsky, an advanced drum machine with 12 sounds, a built in sequencer, and powerful modulation capabilities.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

While the controls and interface are a  little quirky, this is a very deep ensemble! Drummachinewsky has 12 programmable sounds, each one made from a combination of 4 drum engines. While the engines are quite good at creating realistic drum sounds, they can also easily be tweaked to create more digital and glitch oriented drum sounds as well.

There is also a sequencer section which can be used to program drum patterns, and can modulate several parameters within the drum engines as well. There are randomization features that allow you to create random loops or to generate new ones constantly.

You can set up a total of 16 sequences, and there is even a song mode that allows you to change sequences automatically, synced to the MIDI clock. The song mode is pretty straight forward, but it does have some randomization features that can change the number of times a given sequence is looped.

On top of all of that, there is an FX section as well! This includes such features as a delay, reverb, and EQ.

For new Reaktor videos every week, please subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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Continuing our coverage of the Reaktor User Library, in this video, I cover GrainX, a granular synthesizer by Glynn Darby ideal for evocative soundscapes and effects, with a fantasic GUI to boot.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

DOWNLOAD GRAINX HERE.

Unfortunately, GrainX does not contain any documentation, and as such, it can be a little confusing at first. In addition, there are some unconventional programming choices (particularly around the pitch, which is notoriously difficult to control in this ensemble) that can compound this issue.

However, you shouldn’t let that stop you – a little bit of playing around (and looking at the structure!) and everything becomes much more clear. For example, the rng (Range) controls are a little strange to work with at first, but in fact add a substantial amount of depth to the controls once you understand how they work.

One thing I like in particular is that the sound engine is actually quite simple, based around a Grain Resynth module feeding into some factory supplied effects such as Microspace (reverb) and the Kleinstein phaser. This is one of my favorite things about Reaktor – that such compelling projects can be made out of a few simple components.

For more Reaktor videos, please subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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Want to win KOMPLETE 9?

KOMPLETE 9 contains 33 full-fledged instruments and effects from Native Instruments (including MONARK, BATTERY, KONTAKT 5, REAKTOR 5, GUITAR RIG 5 PRO, MASSIVE, FM8 ABSYNTH and a whole lot more!), 12,000 inspiring sounds and over 120 GB of premium samples. Take a look at everything included inside the Komplete 9 package

Want to win KOMPLETE 9?

Find out how to enter on our Maschine tutorial website on the link below!

http://www.massivesynth.com/tutorials/win-komplete-9/

ADSR

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In this video, I show the basics of using Rotkaer, a generative sequencer available in the Reaktor User Library.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

DOWNLOAD ROTKAER HERE.

Unfortunately, like many other ensemble in the User Library, Rotkaer suffers from a lack of proper documentation. Fortunately, it is a relatively simple ensemble, and experimenting will lend to usable results almost immediately once you understand the general basics.

While Rotkaer comes with a sample synth loaded up, you can replace it with any synth in your collection. This is a simple process that can be accomplished in less than a minute, even by absolute beginners in the world of Reaktor.

For new Reaktor tutorials every week, please subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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In this video, I show how to use Skywarp, an ensemble I designed a few years ago. Skywarp excels at creating soundscapes, and uses additive synthesis to morph between drastically different sounds.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

DOWNLOAD SKYWARP HERE.

Skywarp was designed with a heavy influence from two synths from Native Instruments – Skanner, and FM8. I really enjoy the morphing capabilities of both products, and wanted to make something similar. To that end, Skywarp allows you to create 4 sets of controls for the main sound engine and morph between them.

In addition, there is a modulation network built into each control that can be used to automate or randomize the morph position using a a plethora of options from LFOs and envelopes to gate velocity and other MIDI options. The modulation options can be attached to any knob on the interface.

Since the sound engine contains both a delay line and a reverb unit, morphing between two sounds can create some very drastic changes in the sound, such as pitchshifting, variable feedback, and extreme modulations in reverb room size. If you create any snapshots you like with Skywarp, please be in touch and I would be happy to add them to the official download (and give you credit, of course!).

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The post Reaktor User Library – Skywarp appeared first on NI Reaktor Tutorials.

In this video, I show how to use the Open Sound Control (OSC) protocol to send messages from one instance of Reaktor to another inside Maschine.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Open Sound Control has been hailed by many as the replacement for MIDI as a protocol to communicate between music devices. Unfortunately, it has failed to catch on over the years as quickly as many advocates predicted. I chalk this up to a lack of proper standardization – OSC is so powerful and open-ended, last I knew there was no accepted message to send to tell a synthesizer to play a certain note, for example.

However, OSC is an powerful method for communication – it can be used to connect multiple Reaktor instances, or even multiple computers, to each other. What’s more, we aren’t restricted to the frustrating limitations of MIDI – 7-bit (0-127) messages, a small set of available message types, etc.

In the video, I show how to set up OSC in Reaktor, both for receiving and for sending messages. Then I show how to send the value of a knob from one instance of Reaktor to the other. This technique allows us to share data between two ensembles.

For new Reaktor videos every week, please subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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In this video, I demonstrate the basic functionality of Digit 8, a fairly advanced ensemble available in the Reaktor User Library.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

DOWNLOAD DIGIT 8 HERE.

Digit 8 is inspired by concept of ByteBeats, a type of audio programming that has been making the rounds for a few years now. The idea is to create sound from extremely short computer programs, often condensed to a single line of code that produces the sound. Click here for a video sample, with example code included.

This method is fantastic at creating unique 8-bit sounds with a ton of character and grit.

In Digit 8, we enter a mathematical equation into the interface that acts as the code to produce sound. While it is possible to use an analytic approach to produce some predictable waveforms, the real fun is in experimentation – you can find some very strange sounds here, just check out the snapshots for samples.

Many of the most interesting effects can be found using the Bitwise Operators. Bit Operators are a subject all their own, you can check out a tutorial on them here.

I hope you all enjoy this ensemble as much as I do!

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In this video, I show how to go about automating the BPM in Reaktor using the Open Sound Control (OSC) protocol.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

This technique was shared recently by an employee of Native Instruments on the Reaktor Forums, and is not, to my knowledge, documented in any of the official manuals that come with Reaktor. As such, it’s a very unknown technique that I was pretty happy to stumble across. Unfortunately, it only works in standalone mode, and won’t function properly when Reaktor is loaded as a VST.

The first thing to do is set up OSC such that we can both send and receive messages. This is a fairly simple process. Once set up, we can use an OSC Send module to send messages from any event source in Reaktor to the BPM.

In order to demonstrate this effect, I show how to build a quick BPM envelope to slow the BPM all the way down to it’s lowest possible value. Combined with an ensemble like Ultraloop, which uses the BPM to control the speed of a sample being read, this can be used to great effect.

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Welcome to part I of our two-part Monark overview. In this video, I cover the functionality of all of the controls on the front panel.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Monark is an incredibly detailed analog-modeling synth from Native Instruments.

Even though Monark is in many ways a very standard subtractive synth, some of the controls can be a little confusing at first. Much of the interface is designed to match the Minimoog Model D, the synth that Monark is emulating.

This leads to some design decisions that are a little odd by today’s standards – such as the use of an ADSD envelope, as opposed to the more standard ADSR, and having two separate key-tracking buttons for the filter. Once you are used to the way things are set up though, Monark is extremely easy to use and has great sound!

This video covers all of the ‘standard’ functionalities of Monark – oscillators, filters, envelopes and the modulation settings. In part II, we will look at the back panel, and show how we can use the controls there to fine-tune control of Monark.

Check out part II here.

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The post Monark view A Overview (Part I) appeared first on NI Reaktor Tutorials.

Welcome to part II of our two-part Monark overview. In this video, I cover the functionality of all of the controls on the back panel.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Check out Part I of this video here.

The controls on Panel B are used to fine-tune various aspects of Monark. Since Monark was created to be as faithful a re-creation of the Minimoog Model D as possible, it has several features that may be undesirable in certain instances, such as oscillator drift, and imperfect key-tracking. Panel B allows us to reduce or remove these inherited quirks if we so choose.

Panel B has an interesting design, in that the controls are not recalled by snapshot or preset. Instead, there are three ‘Settings’ that can be loaded – these load values for each available control on the panel. Each preset can then recall one of these scenes – this means by editing one snapshot, you will be changing the values for every preset that uses the same ‘Setting’.

The three factory ‘Settings’ can be recalled at any time using the ‘RESET’ button. This allows you to fool around with Panel B without irrevocably editing all of your snapshots.

For more Reaktor videos every week, please subscribe to our YouTube channel!

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In this video, I show how to make a simple virtual analog oscillator with a built-in low pass filter, using only basic components in Reaktor Primary.

We’ll be working off a diagram from Digital Sound Generation, an extraordinarily helpful document on oscillator design.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

The first task, then, is to create a sine oscillator that supports phase modulation. Fortunately, this is a simple task – you can simply use a Ramp to control a Sine module. Keep in mind that the Sine module in Primary is kind of odd – a full cycle of a sine wave would normally have phase inputs from -pi to pi. In Primary, this is normalized to a range from 0-1, which makes the Sine module and the Ramp module perfect fits for each other.

Once we have a phase-modulated sine wave, we simply calculate the feedback (phase modulation) using a basic low-pass filter design. That’s it!

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