Kore — the word, at least — reinterpreted by / (CC) Ol.v!er [H2vPk], via Flickr.

From the Editor:

As a kid, part of the reason I was always hanging around the piano was to see what sounds I could get it to make. With that same desire in mind, we’ve created this site to get a little closer to a set of tools that matters in our music making.

Native Instruments Kore 2 is designed to be at a “super-instrument.” But what does that mean, exactly, in your workflow, whether you’re new to music software or ready to push the envelope with these tools? We’re pleased to have the opportunity to partner with Native Instruments to bring you regular stories on how to make the most of Kore and the Komplete family of instruments and effects (Reaktor, Kontakt, Massive, and more).

Over the coming weeks, we’ll offer tutorials, interviews, tips, resources, and free downloadable projects and presets. We’ll have resources for beginners, but we’ll also have some bleeding-edge “things you’re not supposed to do” ideas, as well, because that’s half the fun of this. And we encourage you to send in your tips and questions, as well.

To keep up with the latest, check in daily here at kore.noisepages.com, or subscribe via RSS or mailing list:

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Subscribe to NI Kore Minisite @ CDM by Email

Kore rig, (CC) submarini, via Flickr.

Kore is:

• A way of cataloging and finding sounds — not only presets, but your own creations
• An integrated software host/plug-in and hardware control surface for finding and manipulating sounds
• A set of sounds and effects, internal MIDI and audio tools
• A new means of controlling your other software instruments and effects

That means we’re interested in this not just in terms of finding and tweaking sounds, but designing new sounds, finding new ways of routing, controlling, and manipulating all your software instruments and effects (not just those from NI), and setting up a rig that will work in live performance.

You can read more about Kore on Native Instruments’ site, but of course, the best way to understand it is to see it in action, as we’ll be doing here.

Kore, Reaktor, Komplete: Kore, the software/hardware product, is at the center of all this, but we’ll be talking about the whole family of production tools from Native Instruments. We’re be working with Reaktor, NI’s modular patching environment, Kontakt, its scriptable sampler, the synth Massive, and other software. Kore as a concept is now designed into many of these packages, in their facility for storing and recalling presets and assigning controls. And even if you’re not working with Kore, we’ll have plenty of power tips for this whole set of sonic tools.

Also, like you, we combine these plug-ins with hosts like Ableton Live and FL Studio, along with free utilities and plug-ins, so we’ll share how to put those pieces together. And if you’re a regular reader of Create Digital Music, you know we frequently do strange stuff with musical tools, as well. Over the coming weeks, you can expect a combination of all these elements.

The NI Partnership: We’re trying something new, as well. Native Instruments has underwritten content on this site, and we’re working with them to ensure depth and accuracy. Because of their sponsorship, this isn’t a review — but it’s also not an ad, because we know that wouldn’t be useful to you. We have editorial control over everything you see here, and our main goal is to focus on how to work with these tools. We want your feedback along the way, your ideas, corrections, questions, and comments on what we can give you.

Meet the Contributors

I’m also pleased that we have a team of people from whom I’m already learning a lot. Eoin Rossney, based in Ireland, is a DJ and a keyboardist with a background in classical and jazz piano. Peter Dines from Montreal is a programmer, writer, and musician. Eoin’s been incredibly deep with KORE, and Peter is already a well-known Reaktor guru (see his blog Reaktor Tips, some of which we’ll be updating here.)

And for those of you who don’t know me, I’m also a keyboardist and composer, a programmer, a writer and teacher, and a live visualist. And if you don’t know Create Digital Music yet, we’ve been posting daily coverage of music technology for nearly four years, and the community there and their interests are what helped inspire doing this.

I couldn’t be more excited about this, especially having seen the stuff Eoin and Peter have lined up for you in the coming weeks. I’ll see you around the site.

- Peter Kirn; Editor, Create Digital Music