Getting Started Guide Disclaimer The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not repre­ sent a commitment on the part of Native Instruments GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or record­ ed, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Native Instruments GmbH, herein­ after referred to as Native Instruments. All product and company names are ™ or ® trade­ marks of their respective owners. Document authored by: Aleksander Rebane Product Version: 5.5 (06/2010) Document version: 1.0 (06/2010) Special thanks to the Beta Test Team, who were invaluable not just in tracking down bugs, but in making this a better product. Contact Germany Native Instruments GmbH Schlesische Str. 28 D-10997 Berlin Germany [email protected] www.native-instruments.de USA Native Instruments North America, Inc. 5631 Hollywood Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90028 USA [email protected] www.native-instruments.com © Native Instruments GmbH, 2010. All rights reserved. Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Welcome to REAKTOR 10 1.1 System Requirements 10 1.2 REAKTOR Modes: Full, Player and Demo 11 1.3 How to Get Started 11 1.4 The REAKTOR Documentation 12 1.5 Special Formatting used in this Document 13 2 Basic Settings in REAKTOR 14 2.1 Configuring the Audio Hardware 14 2.1.1 Accessing the Audio and MIDI Settings… dialog 14 2.1.2 Selecting an Audio Hardware Device 15 2.1.3 Selecting a Sample Rate 17 2.1.4 Adjusting Output Latency 18 2.1.5 Routing: Assigning REAKTOR's Inputs 21 2.1.6 Routing: Assigning REAKTOR's Outputs 22 2.2 Configuring the MIDI Hardware 23 3 Loading and Playing 25 3.1 A Few Important Buttons 25 3.2 Ensembles, Instruments and KOMPLETE Instruments 27 3.3 Loading Carbon 2 27 3.3.1 Opening the Sidepane 27 3.3.2 Opening the Browser 27 3.3.3 Loading a File 30 3.4 Playing Carbon 2 and its Snapshots 30 3.4.1 Loading a Snapshot 31 3.5 Adjusting the Sound 33 3.5.1 Switching Effects 33 REAKTOR 5.5 - Getting Started Guide - 4 Table of Contents 3.5.2 Changing the Filter Movement 33 3.5.3 Changing the Filter Settings 34 3.6 Saving Your Settings 35 4 Modifying a REAKTOR Ensemble 37 4.1 Recap 37 4.2 Using the Browser to Load the Ensemble 38 4.3 Instruments inside Ensembles 39 4.3.1 Junatik Panel Overview 40 4.3.2 The Difference Between an Ensemble and an Instrument 41 4.4 Snapshot Master for Plug-In and Snapshot Hierarchies 43 4.4.1 Snapshot Hierarchy as seen in Properties 43 4.4.2 Recall by MIDI and Snapshot Master for Plug-In 45 4.4.3 Snapshot Properties for the Junatik Instrument 45 4.4.4 Snapshot with a REAKTOR Switch Turned Off 45 4.4.5 Snapshot Flexibility 46 4.5 Swapping the Delay Instrument for a Reverb Instrument 46 4.5.1 Opening a REAKTOR Structure 46 4.5.2 Removing an Instrument from the Structure 47 4.6 Using the Bowser to Search for Instruments 48 4.7 Connecting the Instrument to the Audio Out 51 4.7.1 Making the Connections 51 4.7.2 Resetting the Positions of Instruments in the Ensemble Panel 52 4.8 Restoring the Correct Snapshot Hierarchy 54 4.8.1 Opening the Instrument Properties 54 5 Creating a Sequenced Synthesizer 56 5.1 Recap and Overview 56 5.2 Creating the Synth Sequencer Ensemble 57 5.2.1 Create a New Ensemble 57 REAKTOR 5.5 - Getting Started Guide - 5 Table of Contents 5.2.2 Using the Browser to Load the Instruments 58 5.3 Making the Synth Sequencer Work 61 5.3.1 Overview of the Structure 62 5.3.2 Removing the Unwanted Instrument 62 5.3.3 Connecting ANALOG Outputs to the Audio Out 63 5.3.4 Overview of Monoliner and ANALOG 64 5.4 Making the MIDI Connections between Instruments 65 5.4.1 Using Internal MIDI Connections 66 5.5 REAKTOR Run and Stop Buttons 67 5.6 Looking More Closely at Monoliner 68 5.6.1 Changing the Direction and Speed 68 5.6.2 Number of Steps, Step Offset and Shuffle/Swing 70 5.6.3 GATE, VELOCITY and PITCH Knobs and On/Off Buttons 70 5.7 Exploring the Snapshots/Show Hints 70 5.7.1 Exploring Snapshots in Monoliner and ANALOG 71 5.7.2 Show/Hide Hints 71 6 Exploring a REAKTOR Sampler 72 6.1 Recap and Overview 72 6.2 Using the Browser to Launch Memory Drum 2 73 6.3 Replacing and Editing Samples in the Sample Map Editor 75 6.3.1 Opening the Map and Playing the Samples 75 6.3.2 Using Replace in the Edit Sample List 76 6.3.3 Sample Key-Split and Root Note 77 6.3.4 Using Add from the Edit Sample List 78 6.3.5 Editing the Key-Split 79 6.4 The Memory Drum Interface 79 6.4.1 Changing Pitch for Just one Sample Slot 79 6.4.2 Exploring the Memory Drum Snapshots 81 REAKTOR 5.5 - Getting Started Guide - 6 Table of Contents 7 Building a Synth Using Macros 83 7.1 What is a Macro 83 7.2 Preparation 85 7.2.1 Loading a New Ensemble 85 7.2.2 Removing the Default Instrument 87 7.2.3 Inserting a New Instrument 88 7.2.4 Connecting the Instrument to the Audio Out 90 7.3 Adding an Oscillator and an ADSR Env to the Instrument 91 7.3.1 Inserting an Oscillator 91 7.3.2 Inserting the ADSR Env 93 7.3.3 Inserting Pitch and Gate Modules 93 7.3.4 Connecting the Pitch and Gate Modules 94 7.3.5 Safe Output Level 95 7.4 Inserting the Filter 95 7.4.1 Inserting the Filter Macro and Doing Some Rewiring 96 7.4.2 Unlocking the Panel to Move the Macros 97 7.5 Adding a Second Oscillator and a Mixer 98 7.5.1 Adding a Second Oscillator Using Duplicate 98 7.5.2 Using Properties to Rename the Oscillator Macros 99 7.5.3 Adding a Mixer 101 7.5.4 Increasing the Number of Mixer Inputs 103 7.5.5 Adding Faders and Connecting them to the Mixer 104 7.5.6 Using Duplicate to Add a Second ADSR-Env 105 7.5.7 Connecting the NotePitch Module to the ADSR Envelopes and Filter 105 7.5.8 Tidying Up in the Instrument Panel 106 7.5.9 Changing the Appearance of the Faders 108 7.6 Playing Your Synth and Making Changes to the Sound 110 7.6.1 Changing the Oscillators Waveform, Resetting the Filter and Output Level 110 REAKTOR 5.5 - Getting Started Guide - 7 Table of Contents 7.6.2 Creating some Snapshots 112 7.6.3 Saving Your Work Using Save As 112 8 Make a Sampler Using REAKTOR Modules 113 8.1 Recap and Overview 113 8.2 What Kind of Sampler? 113 8.3 Building the Basic Structure 114 8.3.1 Load up a New Ensemble 114 8.3.2 Inserting the First Modules 115 8.3.3 Inserting the Envelope 117 8.3.4 Adding the Controls for the Envelope 118 8.4 Making the Connections 119 8.4.1 Connecting the Sampler to the 2 Audio Voice Combiners 120 8.4.2 Connecting the NotePitch and Gate Modules 120 8.5 Loading a Sample into the Sampler 121 8.5.1 Opening the Sample Map Editor from the View Menu 121 8.5.2 Adding a Sample to the Sample Map Editor 122 8.6 Tidying Up the Appearance and Moving the Modules 124 8.6.1 Moving Modules in the Structure 124 8.6.2 Deleting unwanted Modules 125 8.6.3 Using the Panel Lock Button to Move the Knobs 126 8.7 Adding More Samples and Changing their Settings 127 8.7.1 Double-clicking on the Waveform to Open the Sample Map 128 8.7.2 Changing the Settings of the Existing Sample 128 8.7.3 Making Changes to the Key-Split and Root Key 128 8.7.4 Adding More Samples 130 8.8 Sample Reverse and Other Playback Possibilities 130 8.8.1 Looping, and Direction Buttons 131 8.8.2 Transposing a Sample 132 REAKTOR 5.5 - Getting Started Guide - 8 Table of Contents 8.9 Adding a Filter 133 8.9.1 Inserting the Filter Into the Structure 133 8.9.2 Creating the Filter Controls and Making the Connections 134 8.9.3 Tidying Up the Appearance in the Instrument Panel 135 8.9.4 Trying the Band-Pass and Hi-Pass Filter Outputs/Saving Your Work 135 8.9.5 Using Save Ensemble to Update Your Already Saved Sampler 137 8.10 Modifying the Existing Sampler 137 8.10.1 Overview of Selector Used to Cross-fade 138 8.10.2 Inserting the Selector 138 8.10.3 Connecting the Filter Outputs 139 8.10.4 Increasing the Number of Selector Inputs 140 8.10.5 Adding the Position Fader and Changing its Range 141 8.10.6 Final connections and Panel Appearance 142 8.10.7 Explore Your Sampler and Make Some Snapshots 144 9 What’s Next? 147 REAKTOR 5.5 - Getting Started Guide - 9 Welcome to REAKTOR 1 Welcome to REAKTOR REAKTOR is a musical instrument.