Racks can now be shared in the Reaktor User Library

Hi everyone, David Alexander (bolabo) recently brought up sharing of Racks in the Patch & Play community thread. Thanks to a swift collaboration with our awesome Website Team, I am happy to announce that Racks can now be shared in the Reaktor User Library. You will find a new category "Racks" in the upload form, with the same tags available as for "Patches" (Blocks Ensembles).

As the first entry, I have uploaded my emulation of Buchla's Fluctuating Random Voltages from the Blocks Primes Rack "Altair IV". The emulation only uses Blocks from the free Blocks Base bundle, so everyone can download and use it: https://www.native-instruments.com/de/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/13377/

Few things I still need to sort out:

• File format .nksr is listed but not yet recognized when selecting the file to upload (this should work by Feb 17, until then you can upload as .zip)
• Missing tags for Racks and Patches that are only sequencers, modulators, CV tools, but not sound generators or effects.
• Missing field in the upload form that allows for selection of products required to open the Rack.

 

Greaat, Jan, this comes as a surprise at this time. It will make some people happy

 

I now have some questions :
- I guess it still only works with NI and Reaktor Partners Blocks ?
- The UL Racks only store these Factory Blocks paths ?
So it's more a UL change than a Reaktor change, right ?
If so, it's nonetheless a good news.

 

Yes, it’s just a minor change to the UL. However, it gives us a central place to share Racks. The small file size makes it very convenient, too. Let’s see how the category is used. Personally, I will create some educational content about modular synthesis later this year and use the UL to host the accompanying Racks.

 

Great.

Thanks for this Jan, much appreciated!

 

Yes, hopefully the Patch & Play community project will happen. It’s a good idea (thank you David) and could help the UL to be lively again, as it had been almost dead in the Blocks domain these last months.

 

Thanks Jan, this is great news!! I'll start working on some racks to upload..

Yes it's happening, the plan is to give it till March to give people time to put together submissions for it.. here's a sneak peak of something I'm working on for the community pack -->

 

Nice, hopefully everyone will get in the habit of listing paid dependencies in the description

 

Could be wrong, but if the idea is to share in the UL I imagine it will only include Blocks from freevpacks ...

 

Don't want to be the party pooper but what user blocks and fpp + saving in ensemble mode .?
Reason why the user library is dead is because of these issues

 

I am looking into the possibility of adding a field to the form that lets users select the products used in the Rack.

 

Fortunately, you don't speak for everyone!

 

I was thinking that we are talking about Rack files which only reference the needed Blocks and do not actually "include" them in the patch the way ensembles do, so it won't be an issue to also share patches which require commercial Blocks.

It would be nice to know what's required ahead of time so the user is not just greeted with an error when attempting to open the file.. the same way that VCV Rack informs you which modules you are missing in order to fully utilize a given patch, but does not prevent you from opening it entirely.

 

Yes only references.But I don’t know, including commercial Blocks could limit the number of people able to play it. Content in the UL has always been free and everybody could access it. If the commercial « missing » Blocks of a Rack could have a demo mode, it would be better than downloading a Rack which can’t play because a crucial Block is « missing ».

I think this new UL feature has its origin in the Patch and Play community project, which will include only free Blocks specially made/adapted.

 

Yeah I hear what you're saying but I would prefer if it's not restricted to free, only that the person sharing the patch will list the dependency the same way it is customary in VCV Rack to share patches with or without commercial blocks but to signify to the user.

There's no reason not to share a patch to the UL that requires Primes, Eurorack or Toybox.. only it would be nice to have a warning listed by the patchmaker because Reaktor will not tell you what you are missing unlike VCV.

Personally I think it will be great to see patches that include these paid packages and of course people can restrict themselves to free if they want. Nice to have the option though!

 

Rack uploads are not restricted to free products. As stated above, I am trying to get a field for selecting the required products in the form.

 

I just posted this, it's an example of using the Mux and Demux blocks to record 4 different signals into the looper block. I was just experimenting and thought it would be a useful one to share for users of the toybox packs.

(It uses the toybox Designers Pack, sorry, my next upload will be for the Free Pack)

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/13381/

 

A rack for the toybox Free Pack:

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/13383/

Modulate the PRESET knob with a tempo synced LFO to 'mash' together several patterns:

 

OK why not, but I'm wondering what happens after downloading a Rack containing a bunch of Blocks, and let's say you don't own three premium Blocks (like a filter, a clock, a VCA etc). I guess the Rack makes no sound ? .

 

In this case there is a message stating the missing products, and the Rack cannot be opened.