THE HISTORY OF NATIVE INSTRUMENTS
The story of Native Instruments begins in 1995, in a small home office in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Here is where the vision of a new kind of musical instrument was born and turned into reality. Enter Stephan Schmitt, a hardware engineer by trade who developed mixing desks at the time. An active live musician and synthesizer player, Stephan Schmitt had reached the point where he felt profoundly limited by the instruments that were available to him. Hardware synthesizers seemed not only overly bulky and expensive but also very much limited in terms of sonic potential and musical expressiveness.
In his search for a solution, Stephan Schmitt realized that standard personal computers could be used as powerful musical instruments. The ever-growing computational power brought real-time software synthesis into the realm of possibility, and Stephan Schmitt envisioned a computer-based sound-generation platform that could leave existing limitations far behind. Together with programmer Volker Hinz, he developed the concept of the first modular software synthesizer, which was eventually called GENERATOR. A radically innovative approach, GENERATOR allowed for the construction of virtually any kind of sound generation and sound-processing device from a set of basic building blocks, and offered a sonic flexibility that was literally unheard of.
In early 1996, GENERATOR had been developed from a concept into a fully working instrument that was capable of generating sound in real time on the first Pentium computers of that time. The software had its first public showing at Musikmesse Frankfurt in 1996 and instantly attracted huge international interest. At the same time, Stephan Schmitt and Volker Hinz registered their enterprise as the Native Instruments GbR. GENERATOR was released as a commercial product in the following summer, and quickly built up an enthusiastic user base of producers from the thriving techno and electronic music scenes.
The growing reputation of GENERATOR attracted a number of highly motivated individuals who recognized the vast potential of the technology and wanted to play a part in expanding this unique venture. In 1997, four people joined Native Instruments and together laid the foundation for the company to evolve from a technological pioneer into a full-scale economical enterprise. The Native Instruments GmbH was founded, consisting of six shareholders, and the first company offices were established in Berlin-Mitte.
In the meantime, the GENERATOR technology evolved further, expanding its creative aspects significantly by integrating advanced sampling functionality. The technology was transferred into a whole family of instruments, including DYNAMO, TRANSFORMATOR and REAKTOR.
With its expanded team, Native Instruments tackled a new technological challenge and digitally revived two popular vintage instruments, the Hammond B3 tone wheel organ and the Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 analog synthesizer. The results were the B4 and PRO-5 software instruments, both released in the spring of 2000. These critically acclaimed and commercially successful instruments did not only appeal to a much wider range of musicians and producers than the rather futuristic GENERATOR software, but also marked the breakthrough for software instruments themselves, which were finally recognized as professional tools both by artists and by the press.
In the following years, a large number of new instruments and studio tools were developed, including significant innovations like the high-end sampler KONTAKT, the DJ tool TRAKTOR DJ Studio and the percussion sampler BATTERY. All were met with enthusiastic feedback from a technologically open-minded crowd of users who saw their creative arsenal expand significantly with each new instrument. The huge importance of the US market was also recognized with the establishment of a US office in Los Angeles, and the founding of Native Instruments Inc. in 2002.
In 2004, Native Instruments entered a new musical field with GUITAR RIG, a tool that turned people's expectations about guitar recording on their heads. By the end of the year, Native Instruments employed more than 70 people, and the office space for both the Berlin and the LA offices was more than doubled to accommodate the steady influx of new talent.
Subsequently, additional new product lines were established, and the AES show 2005 in New York saw the biggest lineup of new Native Instruments products ever with eight announcements, including GUITAR RIG 2. With its sophisticated foot controller with integrated USB audio interface, the second generation of GUITAR RIG also marked Native Instruments’ entry into the hardware market.
In January 2006, Native Instruments took two crucial steps that redefined both its scope and its operations. The company structure was fundamentally expanded with the formation of three divisions designated Instruments, Guitar and DJ, each completely focused on its respective market. Winter NAMM 2006 also saw the announcement of KORE, Native Instruments’ first host system - its advanced controller unit further proof of the company’s rapidly growing competence in hardware development and integration.
In the summer of 2006, the 10th company anniversary was celebrated, also marking a decade of profound technological and sonic evolution in music production. It was concluded with a sweeping party at the iconic Watergate club in Berlin near the NI headquarters.
The year of the company‘s anniversary also marked a further significant extension of the product portfolio with the release of the AUDIO KONTROL 1, the first dedicated NI audio interface. At the same time, the next-generation synthesizer MASSIVE was released, an innovative take on wavetable synthesis and a forward-thinking software instrument with a high-resolution audio engine and an innovative user interface concept.
In the spring of 2007, Native Instruments made a further significant impact on the technologically evolving DJ market with the debut of TRAKTOR SCRATCH, its first own digital vinyl system. This integrated solution consisting of TRAKTOR software and the versatile AUDIO 8 DJ audio interface set a new standard for professional DVS systems, and further established the company both as a major DJ brand and as a hardware manufacturer.
Autumn 2007 saw the release of the second generation of the KORE platform, which had been extended significantly through the integration of the most powerful sound engines from the company's software instruments portfolio. This turned KORE 2 into a true next-generation workstation for musicians and producers of all styles and genres.
Based on this concept, the KORE INSTRUMENT range was launched, a comprehensive series of high-quality sound libraries with convenient download distribution, complemented by the free KORE PLAYER that turned these libraries into fully self-powered instruments.
2008 was a breakthrough year for digital DJ equipment, and Native Instruments contributed with a significant reinvention of its DJ software platform, resulting in the TRAKTOR PRO / TRAKTOR SCRATCH PRO generation. Designed for professional club use, the new generation puts a strong focus on performance workflow while further expanding the advanced feature set that has made TRAKTOR the leading DJ software. An adoption rate of over 40% in the following DJ Mag ”Top 100“ list of international club DJs confirmed the success and major market impact of the TRAKTOR PRO platform.
The beginning of 2009 saw central product design figure Mate Galic succeed founder Stephan Schmitt as new CTO and President of Native Instruments. His promotion reflected the company‘s paradigm shift from feature-centric software applications to integrated solutions with a focus on creative workflow and innovative interface design.
The first new product to strongly exemplify this design paradigm was MASCHINE, a computer-based groove production studio that was released to much acclaim in March 2009. By combining a fully integrated hardware controller with a sophisticated sequencer software, MASCHINE manages to transport an especially intuitive approach to music making into the computer-based audio production environment.
In the meantime, the employee count stands at 140, with each and every individual actively contributing to the further growth and success of Native Instruments.
