I’ve been using the Winamp-VST Bridge plug-in on PC to browse and preview large collections of sample source material. (Ed.: Winamp is the fantastic music player software for Windows, predating — and arguably, better than — iTunes. -PK) It’s great for testing out how things will sound when run through an effect without having to laboriously convert, slice and import files into a sample map.

Here it is running some audio, which I recorded on a Zoom H4 handheld recorder, into the granular delay we’ve been constructing here at Noisepages. If you’re like me and you have folder after folder of field recordings and vinyl samples, this is a super fast way to sift through them to find those golden moments where a combination of a sample and an effect become something new and exciting. Throw things against the wall and see what sticks, quickly and easily - primarily because of things like right clicking on a folder and choosing “enqueue/play in Winamp”, being able to skip around in a file quickly, navigate a playlist, save a playlist of favorites - all without having to worry about file formats. A “real” host is for later, once you have a goal or direction in mind. You can even browse shoutcast mp3 radio streams through your VST effects.

Last time around, we had a look at creating a basic grain delay from scratch. It’s usable, but why stop there? Here are some improvements.

I’ve really been enjoying playing with patches based on Peter Dines’ Grain Delay tutorial. If you haven’t yet checked out that tutorial, it’s a terrific way to get started with a built-in Reaktor module that’s essential to all kinds of effects. The ensemble itself doesn’t get too fancy, meaning it’s friendlier to beginners than some of the polished-but-complex ensembles you find in the Reaktor examples and User Library. And that’s part of the point — the way most people are likely to use Reaktor in their own ensembles is to start small and basic, not necessarily with elaborate custom skins and complex features.

Peter’s example works really nicely for navigating an ambient sound. But I started thinking about using this for rhythmic ideas, so I could build a custom grain delay effect set up for easy live performance in Kore. To get beat-synced, sequenced effects, you need to work with clock information. The clock will act as a kind of metronome for your beat-based effects. That means turning to a previous Peter Dines tutorial:

Revving up Reaktor: A Refresher on Clocks and Events

We had a refreshingly frank comment from reader armachian:

“after reading I now realise that Reaktor is not for me!! Compared to something like the Clavia G2 this seems like a lot of steps (and hidden tricks) for a simple sequencer/clock demo. Life is too short!”

Actually, that’s right – life is too short! But I think armachian misunderstood. The whole point of having a modular system is you don’t have to repeat the same steps over and over again. You can simply re-use basic macros, like the SeqDriver macro Peter created, shown top right. You don’t have to even know how it works (though it couldn’t hurt); you can instead focus on what you want to do. In fact, even if you’re using macros you’ve created yourself, this can keep you focused on your musical aims rather than getting hung up on the mechanics underneath.

Kontakt 3 has fantastic MIDI transform scripting abilities, and they’re not limited to triggering internal samples. If you take a look at the MIDI dropdown menu on the engine tab of Kontakt 3’s main options, you’ll see settings for what MIDI events will be sent out when triggered or generated.

Reaktor and Kore 2 complement each other nicely, and one of the ways that is most apparent when using Reaktor effects in Kore. The high resolution control knobs and buttons are a snap to map to Reaktor’s faders, knobs and switches. Creating Kore sounds out of your Reaktor patches is also a good way to keep track of your creations and search for sounds by keywords.

Building and Using a Reaktor Grain Delay in Kore 2 from Create Digital Media on Vimeo.

In this video tutorial I’ll walk you through building a granular delay effect - in essence, it’s more like a granular live-sampler, which you can use with canned loops or audio from live musicians. I’ll also show you how to map its controls to the Kore 2 controller. This is just the beginning! In upcoming tutorials we’ll look at adding modulation, automation and other refinements.

The following download contains a Kore performance and the Reaktor ensembles you’ll need to follow along with the tutorial. Have fun!

Grain Delay in Kore

Note: Because Kore uses absolute paths for presets, you’ll need to manually point it at the included preset using whatever directory you’ve chosen for installation.

Big things are in the works Reaktor-wise here at Noisepages, and here’s something to whet your appetite:

This is a tutorial I posted on my Reaktor blog last year… it’s an effects unit that gates incoming audio semi-randomly and resynchronizes itself every few steps. That’s right, unlike the simple clock tutorial, this one is a noisemaker. It’s a good demonstration of how you’d use clock macros in something other than a sequencer. Noisepages readers who take the time to dig into this one will have a headstart on what’s coming up next.

Download the LFO Gator

To make this something of a grab bag of previous tutorials, here’s a basic granular synth and the first installment of a tutorial series I might continue here, depending on demand (feedback please! Let us know what you want!).

Very Simple Grainer

Of course, don’t miss the tutorial on clocks and events previously posted here on noisepages.

The the two soundpacks I’ve been most excited about became available today. FM8 Transient Attacks is a new set of 200 synth sounds for FM8 and Kore’s morphing powers, and Deep Transformations is a multi-effects sound shaper. I’ve been looking forward to Deep Transformations in particular, as it takes the soundpack series in a new direction – not only to instrument presets, but with an eye toward making Kore an effects workstation.

For anyone interested, here are some of my musical creations for choreographer Kathy Westwater, the sound design I described in our “sound design for imaginary instruments” series. Kathy’s work is Macho, named for the astrological body, as seen at right. (This qualifies as experimental music, so download only if you’re into that sort of thing.) This is a seven-minute version of the score, free for you to download.

Macho MP3

The work was designed and performed almost entirely in Kore, using Ableton Live as my host. As a result, I was able to play most of it live, then do some smaller tweaks and arrangements in Live in real-time. The very end includes some samples generated from an earlier section of the piece. Everything else is some extreme sound design, liberally using the Grain Shifter and guitar effects engine from Guitar Rig.

Photo from the Hubble telescope, by ESA/NASA.

I always loved fiddling with the insides of piano, back to when I was a kid. I’ve had the opportunity to play the occasional John Cage piece, and have done other prepared piano music. Prepared techniques include adding obstructions to strings and other modifications. There’s nothing like a real instrument, so I won’t even try to propose digital work as a substitute. But, on the other hand, mimicking real-world sounds with digital techniques gives you an entirely new perspective on sound.

In the last installment of “sound design for imaginary instruments,” we saw some experiments with guitar sounds. This time, I’ll talk about how nice it is to be able to throw together sampled sounds and effects quickly in Kore.

It’s hard for me to describe, but there’s something really inspiring about pulling up Kore and using it to design some different instrumental sounds.

I do a lot of music for modern dance. What’s nice about it is that dancers tend to be up for anything. I finished a new score for a long-time collaborator here in New York named Kathy Westwater. Kathy wanted some evocative soundscapes for a new piece. And then, "oh, yeah, I’m suddenly thinking electric guitar."

Fortunately, this leads to a couple of tricks I like to use. And I really like the ability to design for an instrument and not just do some sound effect. That way, I can actually just play live, like composing with sound in real-time. These techniques could certainly be applied to other projects, so here’s a look. This isn’t really a tutorial so much as some hands-on experience that happened to work for me.