This ability has been abandoned in favour of a single Ensemble Panel window in which you can easily display any combination of currently loaded instrument panels, while the main Reaktor toolbar is now considerably less cluttered, since many of its elements now appear on the updated Ensemble toolbar. Given these extra layers of complexity under the surface, I'm please to report that the outward appearance of Reaktor 5 is often less confusing than before, since NI no longer let you launch separate Panel windows for each instrument in an Ensemble. Here you can see the Structure of one of Reaktor 5's new Core cell Macros, complete with some of the more advanced Macros available to expert designers. This initally caused me a lot of confusion when reading the various manuals, but once you get stuck into using the program, things become a lot clearer. I personally think it's unfortunate that NI chose the term 'Cell' for the bridge between the two layers, since to my mind it suggests a lower-level function than the Core Macros and Core Modules. The new Core cells act as a bridge between the primary and core levels of Reaktor, and contain their own Core Macros and Core Modules just like the higher-level Primary Structures. The main change in Reaktor 5 is that since there's a new set of Core Structures that work at a much lower level, the previous Instruments, Macros, and Modules are now referred to as Primary Structures, to differentiate them from the new ones. Each Instrument has its own Panel to house the various knobs, buttons and other controls, while the various Modules used in its design are connected together in the Structure windows with virtual patchcords, and there's also a handy library of predefined assemblies of modules named Macros, so that you don't have to start from scratch every time you design a new synth. Ensembles comprise one or more Instruments that can each be driven from a different MIDI channel for multitimbral use. Terminology Updateįor anyone still not familiar with Reaktor 's terminology, here's a brief recap. And two years on, the technology that first appeared in Sync Modular has now resurfaced, in a rather more sophisticated form, as the new Core technology in Reaktor 5. So from June 2003, further Sync Modular development ceased, and existing users were offered the opportunity to crossgrade to Reaktor. Happily, this resulted in NI asking Dr Sync if he'd like to work with them. Unfortunately, the interface of Sync Modular looked outwardly very similar to Generator/Reaktor, which soon brought it to the attention of Native Instruments. It ran under Windows and BeOS, and rapidly gained an enthusiastic following for its versatility and low CPU overhead. The increased sophistication and sound quality is quite noticeable in some cases, while the various new and attractive user interfaces are, I suspect, just the beginning of what we will see in the future.īack in 1999, Dr Sync (aka Vadim Zavalishin) introduced his Sync Modular software synth to the world. However, for many people, it will be the new bundled library that makes them sit up and take notice - not only has a considerable amount of work been put into designing new instruments and effects, but many of these also incorporate new filters, envelopes, and effects that use some of the new Core cells. Of course there are plenty of new functions as well, and changes to existing ones, plus some new modules. Instead, those with sufficient experience can write their own low-level Core cells, so if you don't like the sound of any of the existing filters, for instance, you can create your own. The first of these changes finally lets programmers abandon graphical convention and create any user interface imagainable, while the second liberates the sound designer from having to use the included modules when creating new synths. The two biggest changes occur at the surface, where the graphics have been enhanced, and also down in the depths with a completely new set of 'Core'-level technology components. It's been two years since the last Reaktor upgrade, and Native Instruments have certainly not been idle during that time - version 5 incorporates some major new features. Native's sound-design software is back, and at v5, you have more control over your instruments than ever, with fully user-definable looks, the ability to construct your own modules from scratch, and an improved library.
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