If you’re visiting this blog for the first time, here are links to the posts with downloadable goodies – tutorial ensembles and PDFs.
This one doesn’t have a tutorial yet but it is a goodie:
Goodies for Newcomers
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Author Archives: peterdines
Scaling Values
Oh, I’m not going to let this place die off and go dormant. Hello again. š
Sometimes you’re going to want to create a control with a nonlinear taper. This can be handy for controlling the frequencies of an LFO, for adjusting the smoothness of a granular sampler, and lots of other applications where you want to taper off to very fine values without cursing at your mouse and getting wrist strain.
Here, I’ve created a macro that scales the output of a knob that goes from zero to one, and connected the output to a numeric display. I’ve duplicated the macro a few times so you see how it handles values:
And what is the magical mechanism that produces this effect? It’s a simple multiplier module:
So the output is merely the input multiplied by itself, or squared. Don’t go all math phobic on me now. This is easy stuff. You’re looking at Y = X² which is a formula that creates a parabolic curve:
That’s what it looks like in an XY scope. Here’s the guts of the XY scope displaying the pretty curve:
Fire up Reaktor and build the scope mechanism yourself. It’s pretty straightforward. Make sure the settings on the XY module are as follows:
Object type should be “scope”, you don’t want any cursor, and the fade time should be 80 or thereabouts. Set the XY control to “always active” on the gears tab. So what happens if you multiply the value by itself three times instead of twice – cubing it? Try it and see what happens to the curve.
Converting Pitch to Hz
A reader asks:
I was wondering if you knew of a way within Reaktor to display pitch, and other frequencies, in Hz instead of the arbitrary units that most macros use. I can’t for the life of me figure out why Native Instruments didn’t include the option to view these parameters in Hz.
Good question! Actually, they did, but it’s not an option in a checkbox somewhere – you use a P to F math module. Here’s how you’d use it:
The Numeric display module shows the frequency in Hz.
There’s a complementary module that does the opposite conversion, from Hz to the (generally speaking) 0 to 127 pitch range used by Reaktor’s primary level oscillators.
LFO Gator
This is a tutorial on using a few simple LFOs and a clock oscillator to gate an audio stream, creating semi-random and interesting percussive effects. Have fun with it – it won’t compose classical music for you but I hope it will liven up your music and teach you a few things about Reaktor. Remember, you have to noodle before you can fugue. Download Here.
The Freshmaker!
Here’s a fun new toy in the Reaktor library for you. It’s two recordable XY faders with IC send modules so you can send the controller info to another instrument in the ensemble. I’ve found it’s a great way to perk up a boring instrument without much effort and re-engineering. To demonstrate that, it’s wired up to control some of the knobs on an old FM synth from an earlier version of Reaktor. But of course, the whole point is to experiment and wire it up to whatever you please – maybe even something you’ve built yourself.
For my next tutorial, would you folks be interested in having this dissected and explained? There’s a lot going on under the hood in this one.