Challenge for moderators and other wizzs'

this thread has now become this thread:-

http://www.nativeinstruments.de:80/forum_us/showthread.php?t=49416

Here's an what I thought to be an interesting idea for you moderator guys. There are tons of people out there in a similar situation - already some Reakting skills and even the odd creation under their belts, but still in Reaktor nappies. Mostly what seems to be the problem is lack of systematic learning as opposed to 'today I found a tutorial on FM, tomorrow I'll have a go at designing skins...'
So here's the challenge: Why not open a new section called something like 'what you should be able to build' where each of you Reaktor wizards post a list with a few ensembles you consider would help people on their way in the Reaktor world - from easy to intermediate. You could say something like 'build a delay unit with controls over this and that and add a such and such to do this or that'. Then you add a few hints as what the main pitfalls are, and off we go building the thing. I'm sure people will encounter very similar difficulties along the way and they could post them there for someone to answer. People in years to come can have a go at it too, as most of the issues will have been addressed there at some point. I know I'd love that - anyone else interested? pls shout.
What do you say, does it sound interesting?
THX!

Walter

 

it would be interesting to try...

would be good if NI team would be this pro-active but then again you buy the software knowing what you're going into, supposedly, and they owe us nothing, i guess...(apart from sorting the mac recorder box problem, heh!)

i found this to be a great help when starting out...http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=r4firststeps2_us

but obviously thats just one thing, but i've built upon it, so i guess the same could apply here...just a case of mods/wizards would have to be willing me thinks. but it gets my vote.

 

hi Walrwe, there are already 2 stickies in the main Reaktor section that your suggestion should (for me) belong to.

however!!

you could ask more specific questions here and we can reply and point you in the direction of a few things. we can them included them in the tips for beginners thread.

remember, CList, kid_sputnik and myself are unpaid moderators so don't expect full-blown tutorials.

happily there are a few people doing blogs and tutorials, so it is very much upto ALL Reaktor users, not just us Moderators.

anyway, please ask a specific build question

sowari

 

yes! also, we ant open new sections of the forum or subforums, just new threads.

i try to do tutorials, but i just dont have the time, so i try to answer as many questions as i do have time.

make sure you check out theologaiea's event table tutorial. also, my sine_rave 3.2 has a .pdf tutorial included, although that is WAY old (R4), and i knew about 1/10 what i know now.

 

.....but along with the rest of the Reaktor community, we are here to help.

so, i always advise people to look at Martin Brinkmann's uploads in the User Library. his uploads cover sequencers samplers, synths and all types of effects (including delays and echoes). i learnt loads of stuff from looking at his structures and copying and pasting macros into my instruments.

sowari

 

Thanks guys! I have downloaded the most interesting looking ensembles by M Brinkmann so I''l do the inverse onion there. Also will check out your stuff kid_sputnik and I will definitely fire away with some specific questions, sowari. It's good to know you guys are around, thanks!
W

 

great looking forward to the questions.

enjoy the Brinkann ensembles, i learnt so much from him.

Dieter Zobel is another of my Reaktor Gurus. he is still an active uploader.

sowari

 

As I see it, there are two things seriously lacking in the training/leraning of Reaktor:
1) one, addressed beautifully by Dave Pape in his Reaktor Diary; that being an explaination of what is going on at each step of a build. Dave shows wht is going through a connecting line when a key is pressed and he explains what each module does and why he added it as well as each knob or connection port. I feel this is ESSENTIAL to truly understanding and learning to build with Reaktor. I'd rather have a very, very simple synth shown to me, but with everything explained.

2) Most tutorials take a synth tutorial only to a certain point and then what? I for one get lost in what goes next,; toward building something more complex. Take, for example , the tutorials available to the new user that are on the NI site. After putting together a simple 2-osc synth with a filter and a couplt of ADSRs, then what? What if you want to have some RM, AM or some other Mods added in? How to get things to sync with clock or sequencers? How to make your own macros from parts of a structure, etc. etc.

Here's an idea- what if we make a fairly elaborate modular synth and build it little by little as a group a la the Beat-Lookup project. And have different people add a section or a function at a time, each doing mini turotials, even doing a redesigned front panel (I can even help with that!).

But it should be a fairly straight-forward, "traditional" design, but EVERYTHING get explained in depth...

 

what about starting from your simple 2 Oscillator synth and adding RM, AM, a second filter, pulse width modulation ... adding a delay...that sort of thing.

so maybe someone could pick the 2 oscillator synth and how can i modulate the output volume to get a tremelo (AM) effect, or some other addition.

fwiw, i was brought up on the classic synth structure of Oscillator (VCO) going into a Filter (VCF) going into an amp (VCA) where the pitch, filter cut-off, and loudness/output curve (in the amp section) of the sound were modulated by Envelope shapers (ADSRs) and LFOs. the fact that Reaktor Oscillators had an A (Amplitude input) really puzzled me for a while. now i know it is there for greater flexibility.

sowari

 

... because it is an AUDIO input!!!

There are some possibilities which are purely used. Everytime i detect such a possibility i wonder about Stephan Schmitts forward looking.

ciao herw

 

What I was thinking, specifically, was to pick up the Jake mandell "First Steps" tutorial and continue to make a more sophistcated synth. Or pick up on any of the NI tutorials, which only just get you started.

Another is theologiae's wonderful Event Table tutorial. That shows how to build a drum beat-oriented synth. How to make alterations to make a note-based sequencer controlling pitch, gate filter or some other function.

 

ok let's choose the Jake Mandel tutorial synth. have you done it? maybe you could upload a zipped file and a screenshot of the structure.

sowari

 

Ok here's the scenerio: A brand new user gets Reaktor and after checking out the library of ensembles , decides tp have a crack at building. He/she goes to the tutorial section and finds the Jake Mandell tutorial on building a basic synth. It's great. but then what? The resulting synth isn't very useful and the user has no idea how to proceed. I am uploading the synth as build from the tutorial (without the doubling everything part). My hope is that, as a group of contributors, we can start from this point and build a much more useful and interesting synth. (It should be a fairly "traditional" modular design, based on what most of us expect to see in a synth, but still interesting and great sounding.) The thing I 'd like to see here, is that each new addition is thouroughly explained; why macros/module were chosen. what they do, what the properties setting are, and why, etc.
This is a "many hands make light work" project. When we have something good, we can work on beautifying the front panel. I really think this could help a LOT of users. Who's up for it?

If you help with this, please upload your latest ensemble, as a zip and a picture of the structure. Or even a mini pdf tutorial of your part would be really cool!

 

I'm wondering if this should be a new thread?

 

yes, go for it

sowari

 

Great! Now we’re talking. I hope I’m included here - am attaching my ensemble.
I re-constructed the different macros as best I could. The osc was straightforward. I scaled the tune to octaves and the finetune up to one fifth. The filter, however, was more a challenge and I ended copying the original because I didn’t quite grasp the principal behind it: what’s with all the selectors here? What are they being used for here and why? I checked out the manual but, you know :-(
I also fed the duplicated osc into a mixer to have ind level control.
The macro for the envelope was another challenge (and this is the really interesting and difficult bit to learn in reactor: the details!) I would love someone to explain the ADSR – Env in the macro library: scaling: why am I adding –60 to the pitch input? Sustain doesn’t need scaling? I did not understand the Vel Amt macro...? What does it ultimately do? As you probably figured, I just copied this one as well….!
I added a delay per channel – home made stuff and thus agonisingly elemental. I tried to re create one of the delay macros from the library – but - oh my…macros upon macros of questions…I’d love to understand some of the intricate turns of one of these delay units.
Last I also added two FM parabol osc that mix with the other 4 osc.
I snapshot some presets that sounded interesting and as it stands, this thing can make some interesting sounds
Lets compare and learn.
MANY THANKS!!!

 

sorry for the skin colour - just playing around.

 

adding to a basic synth

lets go now to this thread:-

http://www.nativeinstruments.de:80/forum_us/showthread.php?t=49416

sowari