Just heard some Native Instruments demos...

MrHope · Post by **MrHope** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 7:15 am

...oh my goodness! NI synths and samplers seem to be really high quality. It's still pretty new to me even though I've heard of them before. I feel like I got a glimpse of the future. But of course it's been here all along!

I've been hearing some examples of what I wanted my synth to be able to do right out of the box but couldn't. What a great feeling. My sound is about to go through some drastic changes when I upgrade.

8)

Hugo76 · Post by **Hugo76** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 3:23 am

MrHope;
Believe me, you won't be disappointed

What are you getting?

MrHope · Post by **MrHope** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 8:45 am

I was not disappointed.

Here's my ramble...

I can't afford much, but I downloaded the KOREplayer and then bought one of the Massive sound volumes. The price was right since it's only 60 bucks! Activating the registration was a bit of a hassle since my DAW computer is not connected to the internet, but I was relieved that I didn't have to hook it up to the net since I don't have firewall or antivirus antispyware software on it.

I used to have some minor-league analog hardware gear and also some minor-league digital hardware gear and it was nice to get some sounds that reminded me of what I like about synths.

Overall, I appreciate the very simple interface. I know it is quite limited compared to the full versions of Massive or Reaktor or Absynth. But I'm not as interested in sound design these days as I used to be. I learned how to tweak synths on my old hardware a bit, but it's nice to just load up a sound, tweak it just a tiny bit and go instead of spending hours tweaking up one sound.

I'm already pretty much a preset user for synth sounds

I admit. But I don't use pre-made loops at least. It's embarrassing that I don't do 100% of my own sound creation like I used to, but it's a calculated trade off that I chose to make so I could focus more on music composition and engineering than sound design.

Because of this, the KOREplayer interface is really great for me with the one-screen, catalogue of sounds approach. As far as the sound quality goes, I can tell that a lot of work went into the synthesis engine and most of the sample-based instruments are nicely multisampled with velocity stages.

I guess the challenge now will be to have fun with the new sounds without sounding like somebody else entirely. I have to find my own style. I'm really not used to these kinds of sounds. There's bound to be some clash mixing my old sounds with these new sounds. Currently, my drum sounds are a bit weak so I think I'll need to invest in some more professional sounding drums to match the better sounding synths.

Anyways, I'm sure a lot of you guys have been through this kind of thing long ago and in more intense ways. Thanks for reading this.

Back to the music making!!!

Hugo76 · Post by **Hugo76** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 2:55 am

Hope you find the software inspirational, MrHope

A friend of mine has Kore2 and Komplete 5, and he raves on about it.
Personally I have Reaktor 5, which in my opinion is simply fantastic. With regard to the only user library, Reaktor must be the best bang-for-the-buck software ever.

Have fun!

MrHope · Post by **MrHope** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 10:06 am

thanks!

Yeah I'm impressed with what I hear about Reaktor. I heard that Bluetech programmed almost 99% of his material using it.

This is the Bluetech material that I'm familiar with: http://www.aleph-zero.info/btrelease.html

sentientprogram · Post by **sentientprogram** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 4:15 pm

Yeah, Massive is a beast. I love the built in macro controls.

Post by **meatballfulton** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 6:35 pm

MrHope wrote:I'm already pretty much a preset user for synth sounds I admit.

Stand tall and hold your head up! There's no reason not to use presets if you like the sound. Plenty of hit records have been made with presets.

stephen · Post by **stephen** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 11:00 pm

I've been watching the Kore 2 videos on youtube, and I must say it looks like a nice bit of kit. I tried the kore player (from the Computer Music mag DVD) and it's been a lot of fun. Since I'm rearranging my work area to incorporate my laptop (I was getting very lazy/unproductive without it being permanently set up) this is looking like a very interesting bit of kit, and I just about have enough room for the kore controller, laptop and my an1x.

Kore's step sequencer and VST hosting appeals to me, as well as the sound browser. Might have to put my nova into retirement....

thestreets · Post by **thestreets** » Wed Jun 11, 2008 6:49 pm

Absynth is absolutely beastly. Soundscapes are incredible. Definitely one of the most powerful programs I've ever used.

TheBeezus · Post by **TheBeezus** » Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:01 pm

I wouldn't touch the sample based stuff, I find there to be much better material out there personally.

But the synths, my god the synths.

<3 Massive & Fm7 <3

2 of the 4 softs I couldn't live without.

Hades · Post by **Hades** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:29 pm

I used to work with Kompakt a lot a few years back.
Now I bought complete synths 2 months ago, and started first with diving into Massive completely.
stuff I really love about it :
*wavetable oscillators, but you can use them as normal oscillators too.
some wavetables are dead simple (for example square on one side, saw on the other, and any position inbetween a slow merging from one waveform to the other), others are more complex.
*modulation oscillator, you can use it for ring mod, phase mod, position mod and even filter FM
*feedback oscillator : instant fun if you wanna get a bigger sound
*you can randomize every parameter, or just the oscillator or filter or FX parameters, or just selected parts of these. and even define the percentage for randomization.
I've discovered some great sounds by using this.
*modulation options !!! you've got 4 envelopes, and 4 LFO's, which can be used as normal LFO's, or as a stepper (step sequencer) or performer (double step sequencer with selectable waveforms instead of just normal "step values", and you can crossfade between the two, plus define amp and glide for each f**k step !)
plus every "normal" LFO is in reality two LFO's together (you've got a nice variety of waveforms to chose from too), with again the option to crossfade between them, and the possibility to use another LFO or envelope to modulate the crossfade. and every LFO has a small internal envelope as well (which you hardly use, but still)
the "normal envelopes" have a sustain phase which you can loop (in both directions), and many different selections for the shape of the loop, plus (of course) the option to modulate the loop part (as any other parameter in the envelope) by another LFO or envelope or whatever.
*sidechain modulation. haven't seen this on too many synths (and I suspect it's usually a thing that's too expensive to sove into most hardwarde synths) I haven't used this much, but it sure is fun.

basically this synth gives you TONS of options.
It reminded me a bit of my old Kurzweil, but then with lots easier overview. I also love the way you can really see your modulations in the different colours around the knobs. they're not moving around like with Kontakt (not even sure if Kontakt still has that today ?), but then again, if they had to add that too, with the possibility to sometimes see 3 different coloured lights move around some of the knobs, it would eat CPU like mad.
and that brings me to the only big downside I've discovered : its CPU usage.
as my friend always says it "massive ? massive CPU yeah"
I run mine on a 4 month old macbook pro, 2,6GHz, and with some sounds you can see my CPU meter go uptill 30% easily.
but you can work around that a bit (freeze your tracks when ready), plus it's always typically if you play a lot of notes and use complex sounds.
and I hope it'll get better if I add another 2gig of RAM

can't wait to find the time to dive into Absynth and FM8.
I've used them before, but it's only when you really start digging into them that your jaw really drops to the floor.

westforwishing9 · Post by **westforwishing9** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 11:12 am

I recently got komplete 5 and kore 2. (no they are not pirated) Man they are awesome. Every thing in it is top notch. From kontakt as a sampler, the library with it has tons of useable stuff with it also. Battery imho is the best drum sampler out there. Massive, FM8, Absynth can create some amazing sounds. Akoustik piano didn't impress me to much, they are decent but not amazing. Electric Piano sounds cool if you put overdrive after it. B4II is very cool for any organ sounds. Pro-53 to me seems outdated but still cool to play with. Guitar rig can get you great guitar and bass tones that sound just like you recorded with high end amps. Reaktor isn't really my thing so I can't comment on that.

Kore is what makes it all amazing though. It takes it all and you can make your computer into an amazing workstation. You can do splits and combination patches and all kinds of cool stuff. the controller has knobs and buttons that can control almost any setting imagineable. You can create a bunch of patches put them in order of your bands setlist. Get to the gig set everything up start kore, make sure sounds running and that will be the last time the whole night you have to look at your computer because everything else with kore can be done with the controller basically!
If you play live I recommend looking into Komplete and kore. If your computer can handle it of course.

Yoozer · Post by **Yoozer** » Fri Jul 18, 2008 5:01 pm

I have Komplete 5. Kontakt's main strength is mainly in the huge library that comes with it (VSL!), but for quick sampling duties I prefer Ableton's Simpler (I just wish it had a higher quality interpolation algorithm - but that's why I also have Vemberaudio ShortCircuit, which has the interesting filters and synthesis options).

Massive is by far my favorite VST.

Just heard some Native Instruments demos...

wooo