Len Sasso

Reaktor 3

w
Imprint

Publisher Peter Gorges

Author Len Sasso

All rights reserved. No part of this book and the cd-rom enclosed may be
used, reproduced, transmitted or stored in any form or by any means
without prior written permission of wizoo. Making copies of any part of
this book for any purpose other than your own personal use is a violation
of copyright laws.
This book is sold as is, without warranty of any kind, either express or
implied. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this
book, the publisher and authors assume no responsibility for errors or
omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from
the use of the information or instructions contained herein. It is further
stated that the publisher and authors are not responsible for any damage
or loss to your data or your equipment that results directly or indirectly
from your use of this book.

Copyright 2002 by wizoo GmbH, Bremen, Germany

Printed in Germany
isbn 3-934903-40-1

Proofreading Peter Gorges

Layout and typesetting Uwe Senkler, Hamburg
Cover design design-box, Ravensburg
Printed by Quensen + Ourdas, Lamspringe

Trademark Acknowledgements All products mentioned in this book are

either trademarks of the companies referenced in this book, registered
trademarks of the companies in this book, or neither. We strongly advise
that you investigate a particular products name thoroughly before you
use the name as your own.
Welcome!
Welcome to the world of Reaktor. You have just stepped into
a vast panorama of synthesis, sampling, sequencing and
sound effects. This book will take you on an extensive,
guided tour of Reaktors multifarious landscape and inciden-
tally help you avoid any quicksand that may be lurking
about.
Reaktor can be approached in three, equally-legitimate
ways:
as an enormous collection of preset instruments (called
Ensembles),
as a synth programmers paradise,
as a construction kit for building arbitrarily complex
sound design tools.

Whichever approach you take, youll find plenty here to keep

you supplied with new and exciting sounds for a lifetime
(and thats no exageration).
After dispatching the preliminaries of getting Reaktor up
and running on your choice of platforms, well devote a good
deal of time to an in-depth look at some of the Ensembles
that come with Reaktor. These have been selected, polished
and filled with presets by the folks at Native Instruments to
illustrate the very best that Reaktor has to offer.
The factory Ensembles are just the tip of the iceberg, by
the way. Reaktor comes with hundreds of building blocks for
creating your own Ensembles. In addition, Native Instru-
ments maintains a vast and ever-expanding online library of
user-created Ensembles and tools. An occasional visit there
will keep you well stocked with new toys.
Our tour of the factory Ensembles will give you all you
need, if your inclination is to use Reaktor rather than build
stuff with it. (And lets face it, the music has to begin some-
where.) But, if youre an inveterate tinkerer and never satis-
fied with anything off-the-shelf, its time to get out your plas-
tic, shirt-pocket protector and continue on to the next sec-
tions.
The do-it-yourself sections guide you through the con-
struction of Reaktor Ensembles in the four basic categories:
synthesizers, samplers, sequencers and effects processors.
The aim here is to introduce you to the building blocks and
give you a comfortable start. Where you go from there is up
to you, but youll definitely have the fundamentals necessary
for a journey free of meltdowns.
Happy Reakting,

Len Sasso
 Table of Contents

Table of Contents

1 First Light Installation 9

Overview 11
Ensemble? Control Panel?
Structure? 11
Instruments and their Controls 13
Properties 15
Snapshots 15
Reaktors Toolbars 16
Voices, Channels and Outputs 21
Audio File Recorder and Player 23
Menus and Key Commands 25

2 The Factory Synthesis 28

Library Sampling 60
Sequencing 65
Effects Processing 75

3 Building a Structure Overview 77

Synthesizer Building a Basic Synth 80
Basic Synth Enhancements 91
Odds and Ends 99
Variations on a Theme 109
Other Synthesis Methods 116

4 Building a Building a Very Simple Sampler 141

Sampler Looping Based Samplers 150
Granular Synthesis 158

7
 Table of Contents

5 Building a Clocks: Pulse-Clocks and midi Sync 165

Sequencer Sqx-1: Basic Step Sequencer 168
Sqx-2: Event Table Sequencer 171

6 Filters and Other ftc: The UnFilters 178

Effects The Shape of Things 180
Phase Cancellation with Short
Delays 183
Multi-tap Delay Lines 187
Reverberation 191
Megafx 194

7 Handy Gadgets Radio Buttons 197

& Tricks Control Randomizer 200
Modulation Matrix 203
Output Switch 204
Automated Knob 205
BiPolar Knob 206
Comparitor 207
Units and Conversions 208
Math Gadgets 212
Closest Harmonic 213

Appendix Frequently Asked Questions 215

cd-rom Contents 219
Glossary 221

Index 225

8
 Installation

1 First Light

In this chapter, well explore Reaktors landscape and dis-

cover that the terrain is not as rough as it might, at first, ap-
pear. The off-road part of our journeywhere things can get
a bit bumpydoesnt begin until Chapter 3 Building a Syn-
thesizer on page 77, so for now, just sit back, let us do the
driving and enjoy the ride.

9
 Chapter 1 First Light

Reaktors Toolbars
Reaktors Toolbar is control central; taking a few minutes
now to learn your way around can save you hours of frustra-
tion.
The Toolbar is divided into two sections: Ensemble (on the
top) and Instrument (on the bottom). The Ensemble Toolbar
is used to monitor and control overall Reaktor settings such
as the audio sample rate, audio levels and the cpu load on
your computer. It also handles file management, midi File
playback and midi remote control. Each of its sections is la-
beled in the illustration, following which youll find descrip-
tions of its various controls.

Stop Audio/cpu Load % midi In/Learn

Go to ni Web site Sample Rate Menu Hints

New, Open, Save Ensemble midi File: Stop, Play, bpm

Master clock Start/Stop
Audio Level Meters Lock

The NI button on the left launches your web browser and

takes you to Native Instruments web site.

16
 Reaktors Toolbars

The Save Ensemble button (floppy disk icon) overwrites

the Ensemble file on your hard disk. When you want to
save the Ensemble in a separate file, use the Save-As but-
ton on the Instrument Toolbar.
The Stop Audio button is useful for an overall audio Pressing = toggles
panic. It is also handy for drastically reducing cpu load audio processing on
when youre building Ensembles. I highly recommend and off.
turning audio processing off when you load new Ensem-
blesit can save you from cpu lockups and audio sur-
prises.
The Audio Level Meters indicate the audio input and out-
put levels for the Ensemble.
The Sample Rate menu indicates Reaktors audio sample You can often get sat-
rate. Everything operates at the same sample rate and isfactory audio results
you can change it using this menu. (Reaktor has an inde- at a greatly reduced
cpu load by lowering
pendent Control Sample Rate that can be set from the Set- Reaktors audio sam-
tings menu. ple rate.
The Master Clock buttons start and stop Reaktors inter-
nal Master clock. The Master Clock is used for both syn-
chronization (e. g. of lfos) and timing of Reaktor sequenc-
ers. It also functions as a transport for Reaktors built-in
midi File player.
The midi File player plays standard midi Files, which you
can import using Reaktors File menu. Clicking the Stop
button (square icon) twice returns you to the beginning of
the midi File. Reaktors Settings menu allows you to toggle
midi File playback on and off, select whether playback
loops and choose whether to ignore tempo changes em-
bedded in the midi File.

If you load an Ensemble with a built-in sequencer and nothing hap-

pens, that is probably because the sequencer is synchronized to Reak-
tors Master Clock. In such cases, you will need to start Reaktors Mas-
ter Clock to use the Ensemble. If there is a midi file loaded, you can
prevent it from playing by turning Play midi File off in the Settings
menu.

17
 Chapter 1 First Light

MIDI Learn is one of Reaktors coolest features. It allows

you to set up midi remote control of any Reaktor Control
Panel object on the fly. Simply select the Control Panel ob-
ject, click the midi connector icon and wiggle the desired
midi Controller. (You can also make these settings in the
Properties dialog for the Control Panel object.) The midi
indicator light next to the midi Learn button indicates the
presence of incoming midi data.
The Lock button locks all Control Panel objects in place.
The Lock status is saved with the Ensemble and its a
good idea to save them with Lock turned on. That pre-
vents accidentally (and maddeningly) changing a controls
position on the panel when you mean to change its value.
Turning Lock off is, of course, necessary when setting up
a Control Panel.
The Show Hints button activates Reaktors on-screen
hints. When turned on, a hint dialog pops up for each
control and Reaktor object as the mouse passes over it.
Some hints are generic and some are provided by the En-
sembles author. The hints can be very useful when learn-
ing a new Ensemble, but they can also get in the way and
slow things down when working the Control Panel con-
trols. You can toggle them on and off from your computer
keyboard with h (Ch on the Mac).

The Instrument Toolbar is used to monitor and control Reak-

tor settings for the Ensemble or the Instrument indicated in
the display at the far left.

18
 Reaktors Toolbars

Display Controls Save Instrument As # of Voices

Select Instrument Solo Manage Snapshots midi Channel

Display Structure Display Properties Compare Settings midi Output

Mute Select Snapshot # of Voices for Unison

The Select Instrument menu displays the name object

which the Instrument Toolbar currently affects. You can
also use it to select the affected objectit lists the Ensem-
ble (always the top entry) and all the Instruments con-
tained in the Ensemble. Another way to select the Ensem-
ble or any Instrument is to make its Control Panel or
Structure window active by clicking on it with the mouse.
The Display Structure and Display Controls buttons open
the Structure and Control Panel windows for the selected
object.
The Solo and Mute buttons solo and mute audio from the
selected object. They are especially handy when building
or auditioning Ensembles with multiple Instruments, in
order to hear what each Instrument is doing.
The Display Properties button opens the Properties win-
dow for the selected Instrument. That is where you set
various midi and appearance aspects of the Instrument or
Ensemble as well as name it and edit the information
shown by the hints. Individual Control Panel elements
(such as knobs and sliders) also have Properties windows,
but the Instrument Toolbar button always opens the Prop-
erties window for the Instrument or Ensemble.
The Save Instrument As button brings up your com-
puters Save dialog to save the selected Instrument or En-

19
 Chapter 1 First Light

semble with a new name. It never automatically over-

writes a previously saved file.
The Snapshot menu lists all the Snapshots for the active
Instrument or Ensemble. Generally, recalling and saving
Snapshots for the Ensemble will automatically do the
same for all Instruments in the Ensemble, but this is an
option that can be turned on and off in the Ensemble and
Instrument Properties.
The Manage Snapshots button (with the camera icon)
opens a dialog that allows you to rename, delete and re-
place Snapshots.
The first time you The Compare button is another very handy Reaktor fea-
click the Compare ture, but it takes a little getting used to. Clicking the Com-
button after selecting pare button swaps the current settings for all controls,
an Instrument, the
buffer is empty and
with settings saved in a buffer. The first time you change
all controls will be set any controls setting after clicking the Compare button,
to zero. the pre-change settings get placed in the buffer.
You can click the The # of Voices and # of Voices for Unison buttons set the
Compare button as maximum number of voices the active Instrument or En-
often as you like to semble can use and when in unison mode, the maximum
toggle between two
sets of settings. When
number of voices that will be used to play a single note.
you decide which you The Processor Usage Limit setting (see Preferences on the
prefer, start making System menu) may limit you to fewer voices than the
more changes and maximum.
the preferred settings
become the basis for The MIDI Indicator light flashes to indicate outgoing midi
the next comparison. messages.
The MIDI Channel selector selects the midi Channel for
the active Instrument or Ensemble. Different Instruments
within the same Ensemble can have different midi Chan-
nels.

20
 Voices, Channels and Outputs

Voices, Channels and Outputs

These three conceptsthe number of voices, the number of
midi Channels and the number of audio outputsare often
cause for confusion. A lot of the confusion is caused by the
use of the term mono in all three contexts. Being clear
about how Reaktor deals with these issues is critical, espe-
cially when you start building your own Ensembles. Lets
deal with voices first.
Each Reaktor Instrument has its own number-of-voices
setting, which can be made either in its Properties window
or in the Instrument Toolbar. Instrument assigned more than
one voice are usually called polyphonic, whereas those re-
stricted to one voice are called monophonic (mono for
short).
Not to belabor the obvious, but Reaktor carries out sepa-
rate calculations within an Instrument for each of the Instru-
ments voices. (If you mouse over a wire when Hints are
turned on, Reaktor will show you the value in the wire for
each voice.) However, all voices must be combined at the out-
put of the Instrument. In other words, the separate voice cal-
culations are not passed through the Instruments output.
There is a Module called a Voice Combiner for combining
the voices into a single data-stream and it must be used be-
fore every output of a polyphonic Instrument. (You can get
away without Voice Combiners in a monophonic Instrument,
but thats not a good idea because if you later change the In-
strument to polyphonic, it will stop working.)

The important thing to remember is that combining the voices at an

Instruments output does not make the Instrument monophonic. It
simply combines all the voices into a single audio signal.

Most Reaktor elements have a mono checkbox in their Properties,

which when checked, restricts them to monophonic processing.
Monophonic Modules, Macros and Instruments have an orange sta-
tus lamp, whereas polyphonic ones have a yellow status lamp.

21
 Chapter 1 First Light

Each Reaktor Instrument has its own midi Channel assign-

ment and this too can be set in the Instruments Properties or
in the Instrument Toolbar. Assigning Instruments to different
midi Channels is the way to make an Ensemble multi-tim-
brali. e. each midi Channel plays a different Instrument
with, typically, a different sound.

Keep in mind that whether an Ensemble is multi-timbral has nothing

to do with whether it is polyphonic. You could have several mono-
phonic Instruments, several polyphonic Instruments or a combina-
tion of both. (For an example, see page 31.)

Another important point is that when using Reaktor as a vst plug-in,

whether you can use its multi-timbral capabilities depends on
whether your vst host software supports it.

Finally, each Reaktor Instrument can have as many audio

outputs as you care to give it. (There can also be as many
event outputs as you like, but they dont concern us here.) An
Instrument with a single audio output is called monaural
(again mono for short). If there are two outputs, it might be
called binaural or stereo, the latter indicating that the
outputs are related as with, for example, a synth for which
the midi Note number controls the panorama position across
the stereo field.
If youre using Reak- As mentioned above, the audio outputs for the Ensemble
tor as a vst plug-in, are managed by the Audio Out Module in the Ensemble
the number of audio Structure. The Audio Out Module can handle up to sixteen
output channels
available to you
audio output channels (not to be confused with midi Chan-
depends on your vst nels), but the actual number of audio channels available to
host software. Most you will depend on your audio card and drivers.
hosts allow at least In summary:
one stereo output.
Each Reaktor Instrument has its own polyphony setting
and its own audio output configuration.
Polyphonic voices are always combined at an Instru-
ments output, meaning all individual-voice processing
must be done within the Instrument.

22
 Audio File Recorder and Player

You can achieve multi-timbral operation by using differ-

ent Instruments assigned to different midi Channels.
You can have up to sixteen independent audio output
channels. The actual number depends on your audio card
and drivers or in the case of vst plug-in operation, on
your vst host.

23
 Menus and Key Commands

2 The Factory Library

In this chapter well take a look at some of the Ensembles

that come on the Reaktor cd. These fall into four broad cate-
gories: synthesis, sampling, sequencing and effects process-
ing. Of course, with something as flexible as Reaktor, theres
plenty of cross-over, so youll find some of each category
spilling over into the others. Youll find these Ensembles both
on the Reaktor cd and in the Factory folder inside the En-
sembles folder on the wizoo cd.
Weve chosen Ensembles to illustrate a broad range of
Reaktors features. Each is accompanied by a large assort-
ment of Snapshots and many also come with a midi file to il-
lustrate their range of sounds. The midi files are in the same
folders as the Ensembles and have the same names except
for the extension (.mid instead of .ens). If you have not changed
their name or location, the midi file will load automatically
with its Ensemble.
I strongly recommend that you read this chapter at your
computer with Reaktor running. Here are the steps I suggest:
1 Load the relevant Ensemble. Ensure the Ensemble Control Panel is
open and that all other Control Panel and Structure windows are
closed.
2 On the Settings menu, make sure that Play midi File is turned on
(checked), that Loop midi File is turned off and that Ignore Tempo
Changes is also turned off.
3 Start the midi file playing by clicking the Master Clocks Play button in
the Ensemble Toolbar (see Reaktors Toolbars on page 16). Remem-
ber you can completely rewind the midi file by clicking the Stop but-
ton twice. It remains indented to indicate that the file is at the begin-
ning.
4 As you listen to the midi file playback, notice the Snapshot changes in
the Instrument Toolbar and watch for real-time automation in the
Control Panel.

27
 Chapter 2 The Factory Library

5 Read the Ensemble description in this chapter, playing around with

the various controls and Snapshots as you go.

On the Mac, you can change Snapshots from your computer key-
board by typing and _. On the pc, you can do this by typing I
and M, but only if the Snapshot menu is selected.

On all platforms, you can use the computer keyboard to play notes in
Reaktor. The key assignments mimic a piano keyboard with C on z
and q, C# on s and 2, , B on m and u. S raises all keys two oc-
taves and S lowers all keys two octaves.

Finally, if you have a midi control surface, I suggest you make

use of Reaktors midi Learn function on the Ensemble Tool-
bar (see Reaktors Toolbars on page 16) to midi remote
some of the controls. If your control surface features incre-
mental controls (i. e. continuously rotating knobs) as does
Native Instruments 4Control, you will find midi remote con-
trol even more useful. Theres nothing like a little tactile feed-
back when tweaking a synths parameters.

You can also use the computer keyboard to change the value of the
selected Control Panel control. IM increment and decrement the
value by the controls step size. On the pc, the Page Up/Down keys in-
crement and decrement by ten times the step size.

Synthesis
In this section, well start off with several classic subtractive
synthesizers, then move on to fm and hybrid models that
employ other synthesis methods. Several of the Ensembles in
this section are modeled after classic hardware synthesizers.
We wont attempt to judge how close a match they are soni-
cally, but guarantee they will give you that vintage experi-
ence.
Subtractive synthesizers start with oscillators and perhaps
a noise generator, then use filters to alter the harmonic con-
tent of the sound. (That is called subtractive synthesis be-

28
 Synthesis

cause in the simplest case, filters reduce harmonic levels

i. e. subtract from the harmonic content. However, resonant
filters can also boost harmonics and may even create them
by self-oscillation and distortion.)
The two other common elements of a subtractive synthe-
sizer are envelope generators (envelopes, for short) and low
frequency oscillators (lfos). Envelopes are typically applied
to filters to contour the filters effect. They are also applied to
the overall output level of the synthesizer. lfos are typically
applied to pitch and output level to produce vibrato and
tremolo.
Ok, thats the simplest case. In reality, all of these classic
synth elements can be used, abused, modified and expanded
in numerous ways, as youll discover with the synthesizers
covered in this section.

29
 Chapter 2 The Factory Library

Me2SalEm
r 05 Me2SalEm Instrument Josue Arias, ni, John Bowen
Sounds John Bowen
Demo ni

The Ensemble Control

Panel for Me2Salem
an emulation of the
classic Oberheim
two-voice.

Me2SalEm is a loose emulation of the Oberheim 2-Voice syn-

thesizer. The Oberheim synthesizers of the mid 1970s were
all based around the two oscillator Synthesizer Expander
Module (sem for short). The sem oscillators offered sawtooth
and variable-width pulse waveforms. The filter was a reso-
nant, 2-pole, multi-mode (lowpass, highpass, bandpass and
notch). There were two ads envelope generators and an lfo.
Most 2-Voices also had an eight step analog sequencer with a
noise source and sample-and-hold circuit built in.
One unique feature of the sem was the availability of patch
points (via Molex connectors on the modules circuit board)
for most of the control voltage sources and destinations. With

36
 Synthesis

a drill, a soldering iron and a high risk-tolerance, you could

turn an sem into a patchable modular synth.
Me2SalEm expands on this theme by adding a few switch
matrices to the sem front panel and providing a flexible audio
mixer/router. Youll also find the StereoTDelay familiar from
the Junatik Ensemble. Sadly, the little analog sequencer is Me2SalEm Mini
missing, however weve remedied that in the Ensemble, Sequencer
Me2SalEm+, which youll find in the wizoo Ensembles folder.
Youll also find a mini-sequencer Instrument in the Instru-
ments folder on the wizoo cd under the name Obie Step-
per.
Me2SalEms signal path is potentially quite complex and
deserves a little explaining. Each sem has three potential au-
dio sources: vco 1, vco 2 and ext. These are mixed with the
knobs at the bottom of the Filt section. The two Saw/Puls
knobs control the vco inputs to the Filterthey are bi-polar:
left of center for sawtooth, center for no input and right of
center for pulse-wave input. (See BiPolar Knob on page
206.) The External knob is a standard level control for the
external input.
The output from each sem is sent to the Output Mixer
whose Control Panel is at the right end of the Ensemble sec-
tion of the Control Panel. The Output Mixer also contains a
multiplier for the two sem outputs which works similarly to
the Cross Modulation section of ManyMood. The Output
Mixer contains switches, level and pan controls for each sem
and the cross mix.
The Input Mixer (also in the Ensemble section of the Con-
trol Panel) controls the audio signal appearing at the Ext in-
put of each sem. Sources include noise from the little noise
generator at the left, Reaktors left and right external audio
inputs and the output of each sem (i. e. each sem can be an
external input to itself or the other sem). There are switches
and level controls for each of these possible sources. The In-
put Mixer also contains a 1-pole highpass filter whose cutoff

37
 Chapter 2 The Factory Library

frequency is set by the hp control and a clipping circuit

whose clipping levels are set by the Max control.
The sems themselves are fairly straightforward. Either vco
can have its frequency and pulse width modulated by the
lfo, either envelope generator, the saw or pulse output of the
other vco or the ext input. The Filter has the same modula-
tion sources as the vcosthe modulation amount and polar-
ity are controlled by the +/ knob. The Filter is 2-pole reso-
nant with highpass, bandpass and lowpass outputs. The
highpass and lowpass outputs can be mixed using the LP/HP
knob or the bandpass output can be used.

38
 Chapter 2 The Factory Library

Sampling
Reaktor sampling runs the gamut from bread-and-butter
multi-sample playing to advanced granular techniques. Well
have a look at several factory samplers here and examine
each technique in detail in Chapter 4 Building a Sampler
on page 141.

60
 Sampling

GrainStates
Instrument Martin Brinkman r 19 GrainStates
Sounds Martin Brinkman

63
 Chapter 2 The Factory Library

GrainStates is a granular sample player with built-in se-

quencer. It uses Reaktors very powerful Grain Cloud Module
that provides granular playback of Reaktor sample maps
(a. k. a. multi-samples). With Grain Cloud you get indepen-
dent control of grain size and position, grain playback pitch
and pitch slide, grain envelope attack and decay, time be-
tween grains and output pan and amplitude. For a detailed
look at Grain Cloud basics see gs-2: Grain Cloud on page
161.
Once youve got a feel for what Grain Cloud can do to a
sample, the workings of the GrainStates Ensemble become
fairly transparent. At the left of the Ensemble Control Panel
are two eight-stage sequencersthe top one selects Scenes,
which you can think of as Grain Cloud presets and the bottom
one transposes Grain Clouds pitch or pitch-shift or both.
(Grain Clouds pitch and pitch-shift parameters are not part
of the Scene.)
Both sequencers step in 116-notes, synchronized to Reak-
tors clock, but instead of changing Scenes and transposi-
tions at each step, they change when specific 116-note counts
are reached. The Len slider at the top of each sequencer sets
the sequence length (i. e. the maximum count) while the eight
Pos sliders below it set the counts at which the Scenes and
transposes change. (Notice that higher positions dont neces-
sarily have to have higher count settings.) The Glide knobs to
the right of the Pos sliders are a very clever use of Reaktors
new Scanner Module to morph between adjacent Scene and
transposition settings.
For good measure, GrainStates author has thrown in one
more sequencer. This is a standard 116-note step sequencer
for controlling the cutoff frequencies of two multi-mode fil-
tersone for each stereo channel. GrainStates final stage is
a stereo feedback delay.
To get an idea of the power of this accessible yet extremely
elegant Ensemble, first listen to the three Snapshots in the
Grain CloudTest Ensemble. These play the three samples

64
 Sequencing

used in GrainStates without any processingi. e. the raw

goods. Next listen to the GrainStates Snapshots and be
amazed by what GrainStates does to those basic samples.
Now its your turn

Sequencing
Many Reaktor Ensembles have built-in sequencers that are
driven by Reaktors Master Clock. You must start the Master
Clock using the Transport in the Ensemble Toolbar in order
for the sequencers in these Ensembles to play. (See Reak-
tors Toolbars on page 16.)
There are two ways to approach sequencing in Reaktor:
using one of Reaktors step-sequencer Modules and using
event-tables. Well look at each method in detail in Chapter 5
Building a Sequencer on page 165. Here well look at some
ready-built sequencers using each method.

Cyclane
Instrument Siegmar Kreie r 20 Cyclane
Sounds Rob Acid, ni
Demo ni
Cyclane illustrates the traditional approach to step-sequenc-
ing, whereas Obvious101 (see Obvious101 on page 68) il-
lustrates the more flexible, Event Table approach. Cyclane
contains two 16-step sequencers. The one at the top-left is
driving a sine wave based drum-synth whose controls are
reminiscent of NewsCool (see NewsCool on page 71), but
without NewsCools randomization features. The one at the
bottom drives a built-in fm synth with two parabolic carriers
and a single triangle-wave operator.
Cyclanes output section (top-right) includes a multi-mode
filter, dual resonators and a delay line. The little mixer has
separate levels and effect sends for the top percussion row,
the lower three percussion rows, the fm synth, an external

65
 Chapter 2 The Factory Library

input and all the effects outputs. The effects section is an ex-
cellent candidate for copying to your own Ensembles.

Cyclanes two step-sequencers are similar, but not identical.

They do share the same clock controls, so lets look at that
first. The clocking is controlled by the Control section to the
right of the top sequencer. The sequencers run on Reaktors
Master Clock (so start the transport to hear anything). The
Control section allows you
to divide or multiply Reaktors tempo by powers of two
(i. e. 1, 2, 4, 8, );
to determine the starting position and length of the step-
sequence;
to set the direction (up, down, up-down) of the step-se-
quence;

66
 Sequencing

to apply a groove to the sequence. Groove is a very flex-

ible delay control for selected sequence steps. Each step
can have its own groove amountcontrolled by the knobs
in the Groove section and subject to the overall setting of
the Groov knob in the Control section.

The drum sequencer has velocity (knobs) and gate (buttons)

controls for each of the sixteen stepsjust what youd expect
from a drum sequencer. The fm synths sequencer has some
unique features, though:
The Range control to the right of the numbered pitch-
knobs limits the pitch range of all knobs. Setting it to 12,
for example, will limit each pitch knob to an octave. (The
circuitry to accomplish that is not trivialhave a look.)
The Shift knob offsets the fm sequence from the drum se-
quence.
The Glide buttons apply glide (a. k. a. portamento) to the
individual sequence steps. The amount of glide is con-
trolled by the Glide knob in the tuning section of the fm
synth.
The Scale sectionthe sequencers most uniqueallows
you to apply individual offsets (in semitones) to each of
the twelve tones in the scale. That allows you to restrict
the sequence to any scale you choose. And, the Trans
knob allows you to shift the scale to any key.

Dont overlook the controls in Cyclanes fm synth. Theres a

lot to play around with there including ring modulation, os-
cillator hard-sync, a resonant multi-mode filter, a couple of
lfos and an adsr envelope generator.

67
 Structure Overview

3 Building a Synthesizer

Now that weve had a good look at what others have done
with Reaktor, its time to do it ourselves. First, well build a
basic subtractive synthesizer in the simplest way. Well use
that as a starting point for adding refinements and enhance-
ments. Finally well move into other synthesis techniques.
The following chapters will take a similar approach to
building samplers, sequencers and effects processors. In all
cases, our aim is not to build the most sophisticated, feature-
laden Ensemble possiblewell leave that to you. What we
will endeavor to do is lead you step-by-step to the edge of the
cliff.

Structure Overview
In Ensemble? Control Panel? Structure? on page 11 we
took a brief look at Reaktors structural organization. The
highest level is the Ensemble and there is one and only one
Ensemble open in Reaktor at a time. Ensembles are made up
of Instruments, Macros and Modules connected by wires.
Modules are Reaktors basic building blocks. They are part
of the Reaktor application (they are not files on your hard
drive) and are created using Reaktors Insert menu or the
context menu that opens when you right-click (-click on
the Mac) in the empty space in any Structure window (see il-
lustration).

77
 Chapter 3 Building a Synthesizer

The Modules context

menu for creating
new Modules in any
Structure. To create a
new Module, right-
click in the empty
space in a Structure
window, then select
the desired module
from one of the sub-
menus.

Instruments and Macros are organizational Structures con-

taining Modules, other Instruments and Macros and the
wires connecting them. How you organize Instruments and
Macros (and whether you use them at all, for that matter) is
completely up to you. Well illustrate the most common tech-
niques here. As youll see from these and the factory Ensem-
bles, there are many approaches, but one thing is for sure:

If you try to do everything on the Module level without ever dealing

with Instruments and Macros, youll quickly wind up with an un-
wieldy tangle of objects and wires with no hope of understanding or
modifying what youve done at a later date.

Every Reaktor Ensemble must have two Modules: Audio In

and Audio Out. You can not delete these and you can not
have more than one of each. It is also advisable to keep the
optional Master and Tune controls that are present in the
factory New Ensemble (see illustration).

78
 Structure Overview

Reaktors New
Ensemble contains
the required Audio In
and Audio Out Mod-
ule as well as optional
Master and Tune con-
trols. Its Control Panel
is shown in the inset
on the right.

Most Instruments, Macros and Modules have terminals (in-

puts and outputs) for wiring them together. These come in
two varieties: audio (black) and event (red). The technical dif-
ference is the rate at which Reaktor scans them during
processing. Audio terminals are processed at the audio sam-
pling rate (which is displayed in the Ensemble Tool Barsee
Reaktors Toolbars on page 16) and event terminals are
processed at the control rate, which is set in the Settings
menu. The control rate is much lower than the audio sam-
pling rate and therefore, event inputs require much less cpu
processing.

You can wire an event output into an audio input, but not vice versa.
When you need to do that, you can use the A to E Module (in the
Auxiliary section) to convert the audio signal to an event signal.

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 Chapter 3 Building a Synthesizer

Building a Basic Synth

Youll find the synthesizers in this sectionbs-1 through bs-6in the
Synthesizers folder inside the Ensembles folder on the wizoo cd.

In this section well build a one-oscillator synthesizer with a

lowpass filter and two adsr (Attack, Decay, Sustain and Re-
lease) envelope generators. Along the way youll learn most
of the basic tricks to building Reaktor Ensembles.

Ensemble Control
Panel window for the
basic synth, bs-3, fea-
turing a single oscilla-
tor, lowpass filter and
two adsr envelopes.

bs-1: Oscillator and adsr

The Ensemble Structure for bs-1 is shown in the illustration.
Notice that it is just like Reaktors New Ensemble except that
there is one more object, the Instrument named Basic
Synth.
The first job in building this Ensemble is to open the New
Ensemble and add an empty Instrument to it. You add a new
Instrument to an Ensemble in its Structure window using
either Reaktors Insert menu or using the context menu that
pops up when you right-click in any empty space in the
Structure window. When you select Instrument from the
menu, an open dialog appears allowing you to search your

80
 Building a Basic Synth

hard drive for the desired object. Youll find Instruments

named New in both the Reaktor factory library and in the
Instruments folder on the wizoo cd.

bs-1 Ensemble Struc-

ture. The Instrument
named Basic Synth
has been added to
the Reaktor New
Ensemble.

The process is the same for adding any new structural element (In-
strument, Macro or Module) in any Structure window. Instruments
and Macros are stored on your hard drive. Modules are part of the
Reaktor program and are created using sub-menus of the context
menu.

The next step is to select the Instrument just created and

open its Structure window. You can do this from the Instru-
ment Toolbar or from the context menu that opens when you
right-click on the Instrument.

The Structure window

of the Basic Synth
Instrument in the bs-1
Ensemble.

81
 Chapter 3 Building a Synthesizer

The illustration above shows the Structure of the completed

Basic Synth Instrument in the bs-1 Ensemble. Of course, the
new Instrument Structure window you just opened is empty.
All the objects shown here are Modules, making this a very
simple Structure with no embedded Macros or Instruments.
(As mentioned above, you cant get away with this in more
sophisticated Ensembles.)
Here are step-by-step instructions for building the Basic
Synth Instrument. In future sections, we will give much more
abbreviated instructions which will draw on the details given
here. If youve never built anything in Reaktor, I suggest you
follow the step-by-step instructions. If you have some Reak-
tor experience, then just scan this section to see if there is
anything new to you. The finished Ensemble is named bs-1
in the Synthesizers folder inside the Ensembles folder on the
wizoo cd.

Caveat Emptor: Save the Ensemble to your hard drive at regular inter-
vals during the construction process.

The first thing to do is create an output for the Instrument so

that it can be wired into the Ensembles Audio Output Mod-
ule:
1 Use the Terminal sub-menu of the Modules menu to create an Audio
Out terminal. This is the Module you see at the far right of the Struc-
ture and is how the Instruments output is connected to the Ensem-
bles Audio Out Module in the Ensemble Structure.
2 Use the Auxiliary sub-menu of the Modules menu to create an Audio
Voice Combiner Module. This is the Module with the } icon in the
illustration. Draw a wire from the Audio Voice Combiners output into
the Out terminals input.

An Audio Voice Combiner Module is necessary before any audio out-

put for any polyphonic Instrument. This tells Reaktor, which carries
out separate calculations for each of an Instruments voices, to com-
bine these calculations into a single output signal. Note that you can
set up an Instruments number of voices in its Properties or on the In-
strument Toolbar (see Reaktors Toolbars on page 16). Its a good
idea to also use an Audio Voice Combiner with monophonic Instru-

82
 Building a Basic Synth

ments because you may want to make the Instrument polyphonic at a

later date.)

The next step is to create an oscillator for the synth:

3 Use the Oscillator sub-menu of the Modules menu to create a Saw-
tooth Module. This is one of Reaktors simplest oscillators, with a sin-
gle output for the sawtooth wave and two inputs: one for the oscilla-
tors pitch and the other for the oscillators amplitude. Draw a wire
from the Sawtooth Modules output into the Audio Voice Combiner
Modules input.
These steps are for controlling the oscillators pitch via midi
along with semi-tone transpose and fine tuning controls:
4 Use the +,,X,/ sub-menu of the Modules menu to create an Event
Add 4 Module. This Module will add four Event signals (see Struc-
ture Overview on page 77 for a description of Audio and Event sig-
nals). We will use three of its inputs to provide midi keyboard control
as well as coarse and fine tuning for the oscillator. The fourth input
will be used later to add lfo-vibrato (see bs-5: lfo and Sample-and-
Hold on page 94). Draw a wire from the Event Add 4 Modules out-
put into the Sawtooth Modules P input.

Many Modules have pitch inputs labeled P. These exponentially con-

vert midi Note numbers to frequency with midi Note number 69 cor-
responding to A440 (i. e. 440Hz). Many Modules also have frequency
inputs labeled F which interpret their inputs linearly as frequency in
Hertz.

5 Use the midi sub-menu of the Modules menu to create a Note Pitch
Module. This Modules output carries all incoming midi Note num-
bers. Draw a wire from the Note Pitch Modules output into the top
input of the Event Add 4 Module.
6 Place the cursor over the second input of the Event Add 4 Module and
right-click. Select Create Control from the context menu that appears
(see illustration). This will create a Control Panel control named Add 2
already wired into the second input of the Event Add 4 Module.
Change the settings to those shown in the illustration. (Function tab:
Label to Transpose, Range Max to 36, Range Min to 36, Step to 1.
Appearance tab: Size to Medium, Visible in Ensemble is checked.)
The range of 36 to 36 allows a three octave transposition up or down
and the step size of 1 results in semitone steps.

83
 Chapter 3 Building a Synthesizer

Use an inputs con-

text menu (left) to
automatically create
controls wired to the
input. Use a controls
context menu to set
up its function (mid-
dle) and appearance
(right).

When you create controls automatically this way, Reaktor will take a
guess at the proper name and range for the control. Often you will
want to change these as well as the controls appearance. You do so
using the controls context menu (right-click).

7 Repeat step 6 for the third input of the Event Add 4 Module to create
a fine tuning control. The range for this knob should be 0.5 to 0.5 in
steps of 0.01. This covers the full range between the semitone steps of
the Transpose knob.

Applying an envelope The final steps add an adsr envelope to control the oscilla-
to an oscillators am- tors amplitude:
plitude is one of sev-
eral ways to control 8 Use the +,,X,/ sub-menu of the Modules menu to create an Audio
amplitude. Alterna- Mult 2 Module. This Module will multiply two audio signals and well
tives include multi- use it to multiply the output of the adsr envelope generator by the
plying the output sig- value of an amount control. Wire the Audio Mult 2 Modules output
nal by the envelope to the oscillators A input.
value, using the enve-
lope to control an All of the +,,X,/ Modules come in both audio and event varieties. Re-
amplifier and using call that the only difference between audio and event signals is the
the envelope to con- sampling rate with which Reaktor processes themevent signals re-
trol mixer levels. quire much less processing. Weve used an Audio Mult 2 Module
here to match the adsr Envelopes output and the oscillators ampli-
tude input (A). In the case of the adsr Envelope Module, this results
in smoother enveloping and in the case of the oscillator, it also allows
for amplitude (am) and ring (rm) modulation.

9 As in step 6, place the cursor over the first input of the Audio Mult 2
Module and right-click. Select Create Control from the context menu

84
 Building a Basic Synth

that appears. That will create a Control Panel control named Mult 1
wired into the first input of the Audio Mult 2 Module. Open the con-
trols Properties and in the Functions section, change the Label to
Amount, the range minimum to 0 and the step size to 0.01. In the
Appearance section change the knobs size to medium.
10 Select adsr from the lfo/Envelope sub-menu of the Modules menu to
create an adsr Envelope Module. Open its Properties window and in
the Appearance section check Visible in Instrument and Visible in
Ensemble. This will cause a graphic of the adsr shape to appear on
the Instrument and Ensemble Control Panels. Also change its Pixel in
X Size parameter to 200 and change its name to Amplifier-Env. Wire
the adsr Envelope Modules output into the second input of the
Audio Mult 2 Module.
11 As in steps 6, 7 and 9, create controls for the bottom four inputs
(labeled A, D, S and R) of the adsr Envelope Module. In this case, all
the default control properties will be ok, but change each of the knob
sizes to medium.
12 Select Gate from the midi sub-menu of the Modules menu to create a
midi Gate Module. Wire the Gate Modules output into the G input of
the adsr Envelope Module. Double-click the Gate Module to open its
Properties and change its name to Gate +V to indicate that Mod-
ules output will reflect the midi Note-On velocity. Note that its Range
and midi parameters match the illustration.

The Range and midi parameters of the Gate Module allow you to
scale the Gate Modules velocity range. Setting the Range Min and
Max both to one results in no velocity sensitivity. Creating velocity
sensitivity this way only works if the receiving Modules gate (G) in-
put automatically scales its output by the incoming gate value, as
does the adsr Envelope Module.

All thats left to do now is clean up the Control Panel, connect

the audio output and give our basic synth a test drive.
13 Go to the Ensemble Structure window and wire the Instrument out-
put (labeled Out) to both the 1 and 2 inputs of the Audio Output
Module. (Even though our basic synth is mono, we want output in
both channels.)
14 Select the Instrument and open its Properties window using the con-
text menu or the Properties button in the Instrument Toolbar. Change
the Instruments name to Basic Synth and at the bottom of the
Properties window check Controls Visible in Ensemble. (That ensures
that each of the controls weve created will appear in the Ensemble

85
 Chapter 3 Building a Synthesizer

Control Panel even if we forgot to check Visible in Ensemble in the

individual controls Properties.

Ensemble Control
Panel for bs-1.

15 Open the Ensemble Control Panel. (Make sure the menu at the left
end of the Instrument Toolbar displays Ensemble, then click the
Control Panel icon in the Toolbar.) Unlock the Control Panel (to allow
you to move the controls around) by clicking the Unlock button (pad-
lock icon) in the Ensemble Toolbar until it is not indented. Now
rearrange the individual controls to match the Basic Synth Control
Panel in the illustration. Finally, move the Ensemble Control Panel
with the Master and Tune controls next to the Basic Synth Control
Panel as shown.
16 Double-click the Basic Synth Control Panel. The bad news is that you
have to arrange the controls separately in the Ensemble and Instru-
ment Control Panels. The good news is that you can have different
visual arrangements in these panels (including different sets of visible
controls).
17 Lock the Control Panels again in the Toolbar. (When the Control Pan-
els are unlocked, using the mouse moves the controls around rather
than changing their settings.)

r 25 bs-1 Congratulations! You have built a working synthesizer in

Reaktor. Play your midi keyboard, tweak the knobs and enjoy
your new powers as a master of the universe. (Oh and dont
forget to save your work.)

86
 Chapter 3 Building a Synthesizer

Other Synthesis Methods

Now that weve run classical, subtractive synthesis into the
ground, lets take a look at a couple of other common ap-
proaches.

Youll find the synthesizers in this sectionAdd-1, fm-1, fm-2, wt-1

and wt-2in the Synthesizers folder inside the Ensembles folder on
the wizoo cd.

Add-1: Additive Synthesis

Ensemble Control
Panel for the 12 oscil-
lator additive synthe-
sizer, Add-1. The sine
wave oscillators are
organized in three
groups of four. Each
group shares a single
adsr envelope and is
based on Reaktors
Multi-Sine Module,
which provides four
sine waves with inde-
pendent tuning, level
and output.

r 34 Add-1 Harmonic Additive synthesis has been around since before there was
synthesisthink organ. From a synthesis standpoint, it
amounts to combining a number of sine wave oscillators at
different frequencies and levels to construct complex wave-
forms.
r 35 Add-1 You probably knoweven if youre not sure exactly why
Inharmonic that any periodic waveform (which roughly speaking means

116
 Other Synthesis Methods

any pitched sound) can be reconstructed from sine waves at

harmonically related frequencies. (Harmonically related just
means whole number multiples of the lowest frequency.) Of
course, very interesting and clangorous things happen when
you mix sine waves that are not harmonically related as well
as when you change the mix during the course of the sound.
In theory, you can reconstruct any sound this way, however,
in practice, you can quickly run out of money and oscillators.
Our additive synth, Add-1, incorporates a couple of com-
promises aimed at reducing cpu load as well as the complex-
ity of programming its sounds. For one thing, weve limited
ourselves to 12 oscillators. This is barely enough for real ad-
ditive synthesis, but the modular design makes it easy for
you to add more if your cpu can handle it. (Even this modest
system can max out a mid-level cpu at four to six voices.)
Our second compromise is in the dynamic mixing depart-
ment. Dynamic mixing means changing the mix of the oscil-
lators over timeobviously a job for an envelope generator.
Weve provided one adsr envelope generator for each group
of four oscillators. By carefully choosing the frequency rela-
tions of the oscillators within each group of four, you can
produce a surprisingly complex dynamic mix. Also, youll
quickly come to appreciate only having to adjust adsr pa-
rameters for three envelopes rather than 12.

The Structure of the

Add-1 Instrument.
Each of the adsr-Env
and Additive oscilla-
tor Macros are identi-
cal. You can copy and
paste to add more if
your cpu can handle
it.

You can see from the Instrument Structure that the adsr en-
velope generators are providing control signals for the oscil-

117
 Chapter 3 Building a Synthesizer

lator group levels. The midi Gate Module triggers the enve-
lopes and the midi Note Pitch Module provides the oscillator
pitches and also affects the adsr-Env Macros time settings.
Heres how the time settings track the pitch (sometimes
called keyboard tracking):

Macro Structure for

providing pitch track-
ing of the envelope
Attack, Decay and
Release times.

60 is subtracted from the incoming midi Note number,

which means that the effect will be symmetric around
Middle C. (I. e. there will be no effect at note number 60,
which is Middle C.)
The value of the Kbd knob is multiplied by the adjusted
note number. The knob range is 1 to +1 so the effect can
be positive or negative. (I. e. the times can get longer or
shorter as the pitch rises.)
The adjustment is added to the Attack, Decay and Release
times.

Macro Structure for

providing velocity-
sensitive envelope
amount.

The process for providing velocity-sensitivity for the enve-

lope amount is a bit more subtle. It works because the output

118
 Other Synthesis Methods

of the adsr-Env Module is scaled by the value of the gating

signal. As we saw earlier, the Note Gate Module converts the
note-on velocity to a value within its range, which we have
set from zero to one. The rest of the circuitry scales the note-
on velocity value by the setting of the Vel knob, whose range
is also zero to one:
The Separator Module splits the gate-on and gate-off sig- The Event Merge
nals. The gate-on goes through some processing starting Module only passes
with the Order Module, whereas the gate-off goes directly signals when the
value changes. Here it
to the output via Event Merge Module (with the >> prevents multiple
icon). triggering of the
The first output of the Order Module is used to scale the envelope.
velocity and send it to the Val input of the Value Module.
The second output of the Order Module is used to trigger
the output from the Value Module. When any event ar-
rives at its In input, whatever value is at its Val input is
sent to the output.

The Order Module is the only way to control the order in which
events are propagated through the system.

The rest of the Modules are there to restrict the velocity

to between 0.80 to 1.00.

Add-1s oscillator
Macros use Reaktors
Multi-Sine Module to
mix four sine waves of
different frequencies
and amplitudes.

The only thing left is the oscillator groups, and their struc-
ture is very straightforward. They use a Multi-Sine Module,
which provides four sine waves with their own frequency

119
 Chapter 3 Building a Synthesizer

and amplitude settings. Separate outputs are also provided,

but in this case weve used the combined output.

If you want to envelope each sine wave individually, use the separate
outputs.

The mixed output is multiplied by the Lvl input, which, youll

recall, is wired from the adsr envelope output. The Switch
Module at the end allows you to turn the oscillator group off
to save cpu.

120
 Building a Very Simple Sampler

4 Building a Sampler

In this chapter well build some sample players using Reak-

tors eight different sample player Modules. Each of those
Modules has its own feature-set designed for a particular
kind of application. Two ModulesBeat Loop and Sampler
Loopfacilitate playback and management of loop samples.
Three othersSample Resynth, Sample Pitch Former and
Grain Cloudare based on granular resynthesis techniques
that allow independent pitch, time and formant manipula-
tion. Then there are a couple of bread-and-butter samplers
Sampler and Sampler fmand an odd duck named Sample
Lookup that allows you to jump around randomly within the
sample while it is playing. Weve seen some of these sample
player Modules in action the previous two chapters. Now
well get into the specifics.

141
 Chapter 4 Building a Sampler

Looping Based Samplers

Youll find the samplers in this sectionSLp-1, SLp-2 and SLp-3in the
Samplers folder inside the Ensembles folder on the wizoo cd.

Reaktor has three sampler Modules that are ideal for manip-
ulating long, looping sound files like beat-loops and speech
fragments. The simplest, Sampler Loop, allows you to control
the playback start-point (i. e. the position where the sample
begins to play when it is gated), the loop start-point and the
loop length. The Beat Loop Module adds automatic tempo
calculation to facilitate breaking the loop into logical seg-
ments. Finally, the Sample Lookup Module gives you sample-
accurate control of the sample pointeryou could think of it
as the sampler equivalent of the Audio Table Module that we
used in the wavetable synths in Chapter 3.

SLp-1: Loop Auditioner

SLp-1 offers manual

control of all sample
looping parameters.

r 43 SLp-1 SLp-1 is primarily for auditioning loops to find good start

and loop points, but it is also a fairly flexible loop player.
Playback can be gated by the Gate button or midi Gates. In
the latter case, the Reps knob determines how long playback
continues (i. e. the envelope hold time)it is calibrated in
fractions of the sample length. The Fade knob controls the
fade-out time (i. e. the envelope release time) also in fractions
of the sample length. Use the Select knob to select the de-

150
 Looping Based Samplers

sired loop from the sample Map, then use the St, LS and LL
sliders to adjust the loop to taste.
The Sampler Loop Module works slightly differently than
the samplers weve used so far. For one thing it is gated
rather than triggered; playback loops as long as the gate
(e. g. midi note) is held, but stops as soon as it is released.
There is an override for this in the Sampler Loop Modules
Properties called Loop in Release. When that is turned on,
the gate input works like a triggeri. e. the sample plays
continuously as with the Sampler and Sampler fm Modules.
The Sampler Loop Module has separate inputs for pitch (P)
and sample select (Sel), but you can still use pitch to select
samples by leaving the Sel input un-wired. There is also a
linear frequency input (F) that is handy for speed adjust-
ments independent of sample selection.
Finally, there are three inputs and one output tailored spe-
cifically to loop management. The inputs (St, LS and LL) set
the playback start-point when the Sampler Loop Module is
gated and set the loop start-point and length. The output
(Lng) tells the length of the selected sample in milliseconds.
As well see, that is handy when you want to set the other pa-
rameters as fractions of the full sample length.

Instrument Structure
of SLp-1. The start,
loop-start, loop-
length and hold time
are all set as fractions
of the sample length.
The inset shows the
hold-release envelope
structure.

151
 Chapter 4 Building a Sampler

The Sampler Loop Module in SLp-1 is set up to play back

longer sound files such as percussion loops or speech frag-
ments rather than waveforms or instrument samples. Its
sample Map assigns the samples consecutive Left Split keys
starting at zero and assigns the Root Key to be the same as
the Left Split. Therefore, a number at the P input both selects
the sample assigned to the corresponding Left Split and plays
it at its natural rate. The Speed Adj knob adjusts the loop
playback speed in a range of 5Hz.
The Start, Lp Strt and Lp Len sliders all run from zero to
one and have their value multiplied by the Lng output value
before being wired to the St, LS and LL inputs. That allows
those parameters to be set as the same fraction of the full
loop length, no matter which sample is selected.
SLp-1 playback is gated either by the Gate button or by
midi Gate via the Hold/Release Macro. If the Gate button is
used, the playback continues as long as the button is on so
that you can audition other parameter changes. If midi Gate
is used, the hr-Env Module controls the amplitude of the
Sampler Loop Module. Both its hold and release times are set
as a fraction of the sample length. (The purpose of the Log
Modules is to convert milliseconds into the dBms calibration of
the hr-Env Modules H and R inputs.)

dBmsis a logarithmic scale in which zero corresponds to one millisec-

ond and each increase of 20dBms multiplies the time by 10. (I. e.
20 = 10ms, 40 = 100ms, 60 = 1000ms, etc. For more on converting val-
ues scales in Reaktor see Units and Conversions on page 208.)

152
 Looping Based Samplers

SLp-2: Beat Loops

Instrument Control
Panel of SLp-2 beat
loop player.

As its Control Panel suggests, SLp-2 is almost identical to r 44 SLp-2

SLp-1. However, it uses Reaktors Beat Loop Module, which
allows it to be synchronized to midi clock and provides inde-
pendent control of playback pitch and speed. It accomplishes
this neat trick by assuming that the sample has an exact
power of 2 number of beats (e. g. 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc.), then
using the sample length in milliseconds to calculate its tempo
in the range of 87 to 174bpm.

For example, if the sample is exactly eight seconds long, the Beat
Loop Module will assume it is 16 beats long at 120bpm because thats
the solution that fits within the assumed ranges.

SLp-2 requires that Reaktors Master Clock be running in order to

play. If you hear nothing, try clicking the play button in the Ensemble
Tool Bar.

Having arrived at a number of beats, the Beat Loop Module

slices the sample into that number of pieces and sequences
them in sync with midi clock or Reaktors Master Clock, if no
midi clock signal is provided. That allows you to shift the
pitch (i. e. playback rate) of the individual slices without
changing the rhythm.

153
 Chapter 4 Building a Sampler

Instrument Structure
of SLp-2 with inset
showing the Macro
Structure for quantiz-
ing the start and loop
parameters to 116-
notes.

Like the Control Panel, the Structure of SLp-2 is almost iden-

tical to SLp-1. The differences are:
Pitch is now separate from sample selection. The Pitch
knob adjusts the pitches of the individual slices rather
than the loop speed.
The Smoothing knob smooths out the transition between
individual slices by providing crossfade envelopes be-
tween them.
The Start, Lp Start and Lp Len sliders are now calibrated
in slices using the quantizing Macro shown in the inset.
That uses the length of the sample in 116-notes as re-
ported at the Beat Loop Modules L16 output to set the
quantize step size.

154