Native instruments reaktor 73/3/2024 “I invited the press to come to the booth,” recalls Stephan. It was the world’s first modular, polyphonic, real-time soft-synth, after all. Stephan and Volker built a working version of GENERATOR in time for 1996’s Musikmesse trade show in Frankfurt and people took notice. “So GENERATOR was not only an instrument – it was more of a construction tool that helped you build an instrument.” “I decided to give users full access to every detail of the signal processing and every detail of the user interface,” he says. As an engineer who wanted minute control of every aspect of an instrument’s sound, Stephan opted for a “radically modular” philosophy that remains at the core of the platform to this day. Stephan and Volker set to work on mapping out their vision for GENERATOR, a software synthesizer that would become REAKTOR’s predecessor. You could already use it for recording or sequencing but why not use it as an instrument?” ![]() I was fascinated by the idea that everybody had a computer around. “In the mid-’90s, it became obvious that the CPU of a normal computer, like a PC or a Mac, was becoming fast enough to create audio in real time,” he remembers. Nonetheless, things were about to change. While Stephan admired certain digital synthesizers of the day (the Yamaha DX7 was a particular favorite), he was frustrated with the industry as a whole: both the lack of interesting ideas from established manufacturers and the prohibitively high development costs that prevented new companies from developing alternatives. “It’s nice to deal with acoustic instruments, and I had a big respect for that world, but it’s really fascinating to create the sound from the very first cycle – when the oscillator is creating a waveform.” The pair originally set their sights on creating mixing consoles of their own, but with a background as a keyboard player, Stephan’s real interest was in creating sounds, rather than capturing them. I needed a partner to join in and this was Volker.” I thought, ‘I want to do software in the future myself,’ but I didn’t have the experience or education. “I was managing the development and I had to discuss a lot with these software people. ![]() “, we had a team of software engineers developing the user interface and the software behind it,” Schmitt explains. The story of REAKTOR – and of Native Instruments – begins in 1993 with Stephan Schmitt, who had just been laid off from his job at a digital mixing console manufacturer, along with his friend, self-taught programmer Volker Hinz. To mark the 25th anniversary of Native Instruments and, in a sense, REAKTOR, we spoke to some of those who have had a hand in its creation, evolution, and exploitation over the years. It’s also the beating heart of a thriving community who together have built thousands of unique instruments, effects, and tools, many of them shared for free. It’s also the platform on which synths like RAZOR and MONARK are built and used, and the place where instruments from MASSIVE to TRAKTOR are prototyped. ![]() REAKTOR is the direct descendent of our very first product. To us at Native Instruments, it’s all of the above and more. Depending on who you ask, it’s a modular synthesizer, a programming environment, an entire studio, or just a convenient wrapper for a few favored synths and effects. Pinning down exactly what REAKTOR is, however, is not so straightforward. Expand your compositions with a soundpack full of idiosyncratic vocals, synth presets, samples, and loops.From Radiohead and the Flaming Lips to Merzbow and Haxan Cloak, boundary-pushing creators of all genres have been building tools, tracks, and even careers on REAKTOR for more than two decades. Native Instruments is committed to supporting Girls Make Beats in their quest to increase the female presence in the music space with our donation-based charity soundpack. Girls Make Beats is a nonprofit organization, empowering girls to make their mark as music producers, DJs, and audio engineers. This pack of VST plugins includes unique synth presets, samples, and loops and is free to download. With the help of 14 of today’s top artists, Native Instruments has curated a donation-based charity sound pack to support the many artists, independent venues, and members of our community affected by COVID-19. Native Instruments has released two Community Drive soundpacks to encourage and develop more opportunities for artists to collaborate on projects and work together. And during challenging times the music community often bands together to support one another.
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