Re: Gigspam: Imogen Heap, Tim Exile & Cello For Airports

[Mech <mech@m3ch.net>]

At 11:16 AM -0800 12/2/09, Zoe Keating wrote:
>On Dec 1, 2009, at 2:35 PM, cpr@musetrap.com wrote:
>>
>>Tim does all his looping/processing/etc using Reaktor.. :)
>
>yup, I was checking out his setup in SF. He makes it all seem so 
>simple, I was very impressed. I know nothing about Reaktor, but now 
>I'm all curious about it.

Gleep!  Talk about lousy timing, Zoe.  NI *just* ran a four-day 
special this past holiday weekend.  The price of Reaktor was cut to a 
mere $99 (currently ~$200 savings, if I'm not mistaken).

Although you can get a good taste of Tim's Reaktor setup by 
purchasing his "The Finger" package, for the free-of-charge Kore 
Player:

http://www.native-instruments.com/#/en/products/producer/powered-by-kore/the-finger/

The Finger is only about $79, IIRC.  The package also includes his 
Reaktor ensemble should you ever want to upgrade to the full deal.

Including the Reaktor version makes it far more useful, in my 
opinion.  The Kore version of The Finger is really cool, make no 
mistake about that.  However, it's also a bit random, since you don't 
really know ahead of time which effects are on which MIDI notes 
(without a LOT of experimentation).  You can often get some nice 
combinations merely by pressing 3 or 4 keys by total chance. 
However, just as often it'll sound like you're merely f*ing around 
with the presets on a new effects unit.  This is especially obvious 
if you're playing more structured pieces.

The Reaktor ensemble lets you actually define which effect is on 
which key (as well as its parameters) so that you know which is where 
and you're totally in control of what happens to the sound.

And, in general, Reaktor can be as easy or as tough as you want it to 
be.  If you don't feel like learning how to wire things together at 
the lowest level, don't sweat it.  I know lots of people who merely 
use the thousands of already-constructed ensembles from the Reaktor 
User Library, and spend most of their time playing rather than 
editing code.

If you really like the kind of thing that Tim Exile's doing, you 
might consider starting with a copy of The Finger (aka "Tim In A 
Box"), then moving up to full-blown Reaktor if you like the results. 
Your initial purchase wouldn't be a waste if you decided to upgrade 
later.

FWIW, Tim's product is really cool, regardless.  ;)

        --m.
-- 
_____
"beyond this window, night is shuddering and the earth grinds to a halt
    beyond this window, something unknown is watching you and me...."