Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Free Dronebox ensemble for Native Instruments Reaktor

I promised to share some Reaktor stuff for quite some time now, and as today is my birthday, I thought it would be a good time to do so.



The main inspiration for this ensemble were those awesome demos of modular synths you often find on the internet. When watching those videos I'm often thinking "Don't ever turn a knob again! That's the best sound ever!" *Guy in the video turns a knob* "Wait! That's even better! Now definitely never turn a knob again!".
I tried to capture this feeling with this ensemble.

It comes with a bunch of presets, but it's really meant to be tweeked and explored.
The whole thing can be a bit unpredictable, as there is a lot of feedback going on, but that's part of the fun!
Many of the controls are somewhat cryptic, but you'll eventually get a feeling for each of them.

I tried to include as few controls as possible, each control really does something. I also didn't add a whole bunch of effects, to keep the ensemble focused.

The "Chaos" control is something special, as it feeds back signals from certain points back into other points. When turned up, it uses a part of the output from the third shifter to calculate the sub oscillator for example. I suggest to keep this control down while exploring, and turning it up once you found a cool sound to get all kinds of cool effects.

Here is a small video demo:


I hope some of you will have some fun with this ensemble!
This ensemble was made using Reaktor 5.8 by the way, so you don't need the latest update for it.

Update!
I just uploaded version 1.1 of this ensemble. This version adds optional MIDI gate and pitch to the ensemble. The controls are accessible on page B of the ensemble.
I also made finer control over the pitch of the operators possible. To fine tune them, simply hold down shift while adjusting the fader.
The state of the MIDI gate and pitch buttons won't be saved with the preset.

Another Update
I uploaded version 1.2! This version fixes a tiny bug and adds a few new presets.

You can download the ensemble here.

!!!Warning! Whining ahead!!!

As my financial situation continues to get worse, I decided to put a donation button here.
I initially wanted to only leave this button here on my birthday, but people convinced me to leave it here. If you have some spare money and appreciate some of the free stuff and advice I've shared over the last few years, or just like some of my music, consider a small donation: