Re: Reaktor 4 as a guitar processor

["Jimmy George Band" <jg@jimmygeorgeband.com>]

very cool. good review. thanks david c!

peace
jg

ps - thanks again for the eps sounds!

jg


----- Original Message -----
From: <dcoffin@taunton.com>
To: <Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com>
Sent: Saturday, June 21, 2003 5:17 PM
Subject: Reaktor 4 as a guitar processor


>
> Here's the text of a review I just posted at Harmony Central; I'd
mentioned
> I was impressed and some folks wanted to hear more...so here it is:
>
> Ease of use 5
> I'm currently using Reaktor as real-time guitar processor, and it's
totally
> blowing my mind. So this is a head's-up to anyone else who might consider
> using a computer as a guitar toy...
> Reaktor is software for building your own soft-synthesizers, samplers, 
>and
> effects, and it's very deep...plus it's software, so there's all the
> computer crap to deal with; Reaktor certainly isn't bug-free. There's a
> brand-new version out and the forums are filled with screaming folks who
> can't get it going...but it's working well for me.
> The art of building from scratch with Reaktor is a vast topic, but there
> are many levels, and the just-barely-snorkling level I'm at is still
> extremely powerful. I'm just working with devices already available,
either
> within the package, or from the huge and very active user library, where
> there are currently over a 1000 devices available to download, including
> several hundred effects processors. Linking these together, adding simple
> stuff like input-level controls, creating MIDI controller assignments, 
>and
> swiping the effects from synths that have cool things inside them is all
> pretty elementary, but you'll need to read the manual and maybe do a few
> simple tutorials. There's an excellent Wizoo Guide by Len Sasso, who's
also
> written several articles...as have the folks at creativesynth.com...so
> there are quite a few resources. But compared to a stomp-box, this really
> is rocket science...so I'm giving it a 5.
>
> Sounds 10
> I use Reaktor in stand-alone mode (not inside a separate sequencer) in my
> home studio, on a dual 1gig G4 with an M-Audio Audiophile card with 2
i/o's
> that are patched into a Mackie 1604 vzl Mixer, so i can easily send
> anything into Reaktor, and process it when it comes out with hardware
> effects; there's a bunch of reverbs and other basics in Reaktor, but 
>seems
> best to use hardware for that kind of thing. Once you get the levels set,
> it sounds wonderful...altho lots of Reaktor toys are about degrading 
>audio
> and creating ugly noises. But you can do that at sampling rates well
beyond
> (or below) 44k.
> The thing that's coolest about Reaktor isn't that it does any particular
> thing very well, but that it gives you the tools to do stuff that's not
> like anything you've ever seen before...along with all the ordinary 
>stuff,
> too. And while you're figuring out how to do that, you can explore the
> hundreds of amazing things that other folks have built. I'm a bit of a
gear
> slut, and until I got the current version of Reaktor, I was a sucker for
> all kinds of rack processors and was getting a pretty serious jones for 
>fx
> plugins. (Until ver. 4, I was never able to process live audio; it was
> partly a Mac thing, partly my system, but I wasn't really aware of how
cool
> it would be so I didn't push getting that going...what a waste!) Well, 
>now
> I can't see the point in any new effects plugins, altho I read about
> everything, and I've seen the light as far as hardware goes. Not that I'm
> dumping the best of my excellent collection anytime soon....but the 
>future
> is here, and it's SOFT!
>
> OK, what's so cool? I'm into delay effects, so most of these examples are
> delay based:
>
> A 12-band filter, with a 2-sec. delay on each band, each with dedicated
> level, time and feedback controls...all of which can be randomized with a
> single button press.  For my default setting, I created a 12-tap sound
that
> grabs sequential bands at 50ms intervals for an amazing
> sweeping-up-the-frequency-spectrum effect, but the rhythmic possiblities
> are astounding.
>
> An audio chopper with a graphic grid-table sequencer on which you draw in
> the timing with bars--the bar height determines how loud--expandable to 
>64
> divisions and the speed is controllable as a factor of BPM. There's an
ADSR
> envelop for shaping how the the audio comes thru at each gate, plus the
> sequencer can also drive a ring modulator and/or an FM effect. All this
> goes into a filter, a delay, and an overdrive.
>
> A rack of 7 effects that you access with a 16x8 grid of buttons; one row
> for each effect plus the dry sound, and one column for each of 16
divisions
> of the current tempo: a clicked button sends signal to one effect for
> 1/16th of the beat. Click a whole row and the sound of its effect is
> continuous, otherwise, it's gated. The effects include a filter with 
>about
> 8 different types, including a vowel filter and a complex LFO, a separate
> autoWah, ring modulation, delay, several types of distortion and
> bit-degrading, and the kicker: a grain-delay that includes excellent 
>pitch
> shifting, with a pitch sequencer, so you can create (and randomize)
melodic
> shifts as well as straight-ahead intervals. Each effect plus the grid has
> its own bank of presets, plus you can store presets that recall the total
> configuration...and each effect has a graphic panel of controls: level
> meters, sliders, knobs, etc...not just a list of parameters.
>
> A bank of 4 parallel 10-sec delays with cross-feedback, feeding a stereo
> mod delay optomized for comb filtering and flanging, with various odd
> filters and two waveshapers for which you can draw the waveform, feeding 
>a
> filtered reverb.
>
> This last example comes from the CD with the Wizoo book, so you have to
buy
> it separately, but the others are from the user library. These are just
the
> ones I can easily describe; there are many others I've explored in the 2
> weeks or so I've had ver. 4 that defy my powers. There's nothing I've 
>seen
> so far that will track your pitch so you could drive a synth with your
> guitar (of course you could use a MIDI pickup...), but there are so many
> ways to turn a guitar signal into detailed vibrating, choppy, shifting,
> growling howls that it's nearly guitar synthesis.
>
> You can see the screen shots of these and many of the other effects
> possibilities at the Native Instruments sites, both within the feature
> brochure for Reaktor 4 and inside the user library...and new stuff gets
> posted every day. And that's the point: This isn't just a collection of
> stompboxes or effects modules; it a true tool kit that smart and crazy 
>DSP
> geeks spend years with, cranking out and GIVING AWAY whacked and 
>inspiring
> complete instruments and virtual devices, all with unique and often
amazing
> interfaces, often every bit the equals of individual commercial plugins,
or
> better. If you've ever wanted to stand near the fountainhead of
> signal-processing innovation, here's your chance.
>
> Reliability 7
> ...well, it's software; read the NI forums to hear how many folks are
> currently pissed off about it...but as I said, it's working for me. Best
to
> have a fairly new computer, and  to use it in a studio. But 
>lap-top-driven
> gigs are here; it's inevitable.
> Customer service 7
> Great, helpful forums...but NI is apparently slow to respond to tech
> questions, esp. when new software has been recently released. Not the
> worst, not the best...but it's worth it, imho.
>
> Overall 10
> I don't gig, so a computer-based processor is no problem for me. I'm a
> guitar-player into free-improv with looping devices (Echoplex Digital
pro),
> and I'm totally into effects. Ever since the Roland VG-8 changed
everything
> for me, I've been buying, exploring, reviewing, and programming effects,
> even occasionally doing patch sets for manufacturers, including the tc
> G-Force, and the Yamaha DG- and UD-Stomps. My current collection of 
>signal
> processors includes an Eventide Eclipse and a Kurzweil KSP8, both of 
>which
> are great, and can do great things to reaktor sounds...but Reaktor is
> making them look like doddering old-timers, in almost every way:
> accessibility, innovation, configurability, and raw power. I've also
> briefly owned what I thought would be the ultimate DSP play-ground: a 
>Kyma
> system from Symbolic Sound. It was great, too, very stable, cool sounds,
> with unmatched tech support. But, given my totally non-technical
> background, and Reaktor's exceptional user's community and
state-of-the-art
> GUI, it was no contest; I sold the Kyma and have found in R4 everything
I'd
> dreamed Kyma would do for me...at 1/10th the cost.
>
>
>