Electronic Music 411 - Getting started with Reaktor?

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Getting started with Reaktor?

StoreTags: Reaktor 5

Author: admin on March 11 2008

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People who enjoyed reading this: mlbot, jdg, Roshi, atum, mixedtape, skab, SenorFrio, celibacyclub, bodo, cbit, Moriarty, DrexonField, ejectorset, tylth

--> Hi everyone.

I've been meaning to give Reaktor a proper look these last few years but I'm not much of a tech head (I don't know my VCA from my VCF), which is only to say that I've found it a bit hard to get started. Once I get into something I have no trouble getting my nose dirty and learning what needs to be learnt.

That said, I was wondering if any of you are aware of any recent Reaktor books or particularly good tutorials? I know there was an old Reaktor book out but it was for 3.0, and it really wasn't that good. I'm looking for something more meaty that delves into basics all the way to advanced topics.

Anyone care to share actual examples / suggestions / links?

Thanks kindly

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Getting started with Reaktor? (Tags: Reaktor 5)

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03/11/08 + em978

read the documentation that comes with reaktor.. the examples and such.

Recent blogs: On the radio, New Release- Any Means To Many -EP1 <-lost15->, Hot Beatz and Dancing

03/11/08 + jdg

the thing that really stopped me from really getting into reactor was the modular synth/midi paradigm, vs straight numbers ala max/msp

so, u ever try max/msp? i think u'd find yourself more at home.

that said... i got into reaktor the best by tearing apart the .ens i liked, and adding stuff i needed, until i was more comfortable building from scratch.

Recent blogs: speedy j steals the mixit, cmj loves fredo, What is your favorite track that you've made?

03/11/08 + daswesen

Yes, tearing apart is definitely good. Also start by just plugin instruments and effects together, then maybe adding a knob here and there, etc... before getting into more complicated stuff. The docs are not really useful at all, but you'll learn most by identifying the big building block from other ensembles, and plugingg those together. You don' need to go all the way down for an enjoyable building session.

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03/11/08 + mixedtape

yeah when I tried reaktor I thought the modular stuff would make things easier. i really couldn't figure it out though. but I'm also 20% retarded and the other 80% is made up of mostly facial hair and bad jokes so maybe you'll have better luck!

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03/11/08 + skab

link
this helped me get started. it's a video blog on making stuff. i love reaktor, basically because i've always thought to get max to sound half as good as reaktor you have to be a genius. and i'm not

link
link

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03/11/08 + SenorFrio

Definitely goto the NI Reaktor forums as skab pointed out. Is fun!

Recent blogs: New tracks and a comp, Stanford offering Free CS and Electrical Engineering Courses, Radiohead and some ACID!!

03/11/08 + ricemutt

the forums are good. the manual is not very good, haha! I'm not too bad at reaktor, if you have any questions feel free to ask me. Or if you wanted to know some good stuff to get started on. I'll post more later... eating dinner.

Recent blogs: Good Riddance License, Qbasic Music, And let the fat goose swim,

03/11/08 + em978

ricemutt said: "the forums are good. the manual is not very good, haha! I'm not too bad at reaktor, if you have any questions feel free to ask me. Or if you wanted to know some good stuff to get started on. I'll post more later... eating dinner."

I would have to disagree the manual is quite helpful but, I guess I just used it to learn the core audio implementation.. which is reaktor's real saving grace for me.

Recent blogs: On the radio, New Release- Any Means To Many -EP1 <-lost15->, Hot Beatz and Dancing

03/11/08 + ricemutt

here's another good blog with some very simple ensemble files:

link

I especially liked the 'basic clock demo" that was on that blog. I actually used that tutorial as the base of this synth I made:
link

skab's links are good too.

I think the problem with tearing patches apart is that they are usually too complicated and doing all kinds of fancy tricks with the GUI or things that are hard to understand by looking.

Here's a few random "tips" from the top of my head...

make sure to do things with events and not audio processing if you can, to save CPU. Also, in a polyphonic patch (with multiple voices), do as many things as you can monophonically. For instance, LFOs can usually be mono, and sequencers and sequencer related stuff can be mono (unless you're doing some fany polyphonic sequencer stuff).

figure out the event tables--they're key to doing anything interesting with data stuff.

figure out polyphony--that is also a key to doing lots of interesting stuff. FOr instance, the "space drone" patch is based on an interesting randomized polyphonic structure.

the "routers" which are in the event processing modules, and the "signal path" routers are for different purposes. Routers are better for dealing with polyphonic event data, and events in general.

once you figure those things out, the GUI objects like the multi display and and all that are really great to use. you can actually bypass using event tables if you use these creatively.

snap value array modules are your friend. this is how you can save event tables along with your ensemble, and even morph them with presets.

play with the snapshot module... you can do cool stuff.

and there we go... random list of ricemutt tips.

Recent blogs: Good Riddance License, Qbasic Music, And let the fat goose swim,

03/12/08 + cbit

jdg said: "the thing that really stopped me from really getting into reactor was the modular synth/midi paradigm, vs straight numbers ala max/msp

so, u ever try max/msp? i think u'd find yourself more at home."

+1

I've tinkered with reaktor a for a few years built some simple things and modified existing ensembles, in the last week i've started to use maxmsp seriously.

My advice to a younger me would have been:

1. You'll find your way around max/msp much faster than reaktor, because the documentaion is 1000* better (imo the reaktor docs suck badly, you can tell by how often 'dissect other people's ensembles' is offered as a way of learning reaktor instead of good old 'RTFM'). With max/msp not only do you have a big reference manual, and a big step-by-step tutorials compendium, but also sizable 'topics' and 'funcamentals' documents (oh, and on top of that a handy 'help' patch for each component that you can quickly open while patching, the help patch demonstrates all the stuff you can do with that object).

2. The maxmps metaphor more closely matches the approach you're used to with scripting in php and ruby (its not much like scripting in these languages, but feels somewhat similar while reaktor feels alien).

3. If you want to download lots of nice sounding devices, reaktor is great because of its user library.

Recent blogs: Song for Two Mega Sites, Probably no God: buses in london, My Arduinome (monome clone)

03/12/08 + cbit

I guess i didn't answer the question: I didn't find any thorough reference document (book or otherwise) for reaktor so far

Recent blogs: Song for Two Mega Sites, Probably no God: buses in london, My Arduinome (monome clone)

03/12/08 + TheNullSet

I got to know reaktor by messing with the 'basic' modular building blocks they include. Its nice because the blocks/modules are familiar enough to get a quick grasp on, while they offer the potential for quick expantion, ie. adding knobs and such. Being familiar with the general theory behind synthesis helps though. Once you know yur vco's from yur vfc' and vca's and evelopes its all pretty straightforward. just be wary of what kind of data yur patching from outputs to inputs.

03/12/08 + admin

Wow, what an outpouring of sincerely useful advice. There are loads of good little tips and nuggets here. Thanks everyone!

I'll definitely have a look at max. And I suppose learning Reaktor by tinkering with other patches will be a familiar method of learning for me as that's precisely how I learned PHP. That said I still keep running into issues because I haven't learned all the basics, perhaps a healthy application of both tinkering and doc reading will do the trick.

I think I'm well on my way having to a good plan. This has to be the most practical help I've gotten on the net ever. Thanks!

Recent blogs: Getting started with Reaktor?

03/13/08 + zach

It's meant for people using Nord Modular stuff, not Reaktor... but the Advanced Programming Techniques for Modular Synthesizers might help. (And it's free to view online or download as a PDF.)

03/13/08 + flies

that e-book/whatever is definitely awesome for learning synthesis techniques for any virtual modular system. I've found it very helpful in msp.

Recent blogs: vector granulator, no thanks, grade school

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