Sketches

NI challenged 24 contemporary producers to create a quick sketch using only instruments and effects from KOMPLETE 11. Here’s an exclusive playlist of the results, including each artist’s explanation of how they produced their sketch.
The 25th artist in the series is filmmaker Rainer Kohlberger, who brought each sketch to life with generative visuals. His algorithmic works use vivid color fields and free-flowing patterns to challenge human perception.
For more information and the videos go to: www.native-instruments.com/kompletesketches

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Komplete Sketches

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"This track is all about Reaktor Blocks. I’ve done about ten tracks now with an ensemble I made with Blocks. It’s very basic, to be honest, but I use it to the fullest. The patch contains a few 8-step sequencers, some drum stuff and the West Coast modules. I had an incredible amount of fun doing the tracks, and the first chunk of them came out on the Late-Night Patching 1 E.P in August through Entr’acte." - Yves De Mey

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: REAKTOR 6

For more visit www.native-instruments.com/kompletesketches

Sketches 023 - Yves De Mey

"A big part of my productions are drum-based and very rhythmical, so I started out using Drumlab for a bongo loop. I mostly ran Battery’s VST library for the kick, stabs, snare and hi hat. I processed the dynamic, length, partial effects and tuning of the samples within Battery and added some reverb, slight distortion and EQ for some more grit and ‘personality’. The synth comes from Rounds, and the bass part from Monark, processed with EQ, distortion and automation on the filter, tremolo and pitch. Usually when I’m working on a new idea, I start out writing a few loops that include way too much information, and then drag the whole thing out to work on song structure, sonic details and general imagery until I’m satisfied with the results." - Ziúr

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: DRUMLAB BATTERY 4 ROUNDS MONARK

For more visit www.native-instruments.com/kompletesketches

Sketches 009 - Ziúr

"There are only three main elements here: drums, synth and brass. I used Polyplex for the drums and Rounds for the main synth. There is some symphonic brass layered with the synth to make it more epic, washed out with reverb on Space Master from Reaktor. I like the fact that it sounds pretty big and deep although there are only 3 tracks involved.

The whole song was pretty much done in 2 single takes, one for the drums, all played on the keyboard, and one for the synth. There were only minor touch ups on the drums (where I played a little loosely) and a few arrangement corrections – mainly shortening parts." - Robot Koch

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: POLYPLEX, ROUNDS, SYMPHONY ESSENTIALS - BRASS, REAKTOR 6

For more visit www.native-instruments.com/kompletesketches

Sketches 013 - Robot Koch

"With my sketch I started off with a classic drum kit, Standard 909. I then added a Reaktor synth from the Carbon 2 library called 3step908 and began layering melodies on top of it like a collage. From Reaktor, I then added from the 2-Osc library ARPBRI~1. Proceeding to FM8, I made a few customisations to the Subbaba bass synth to make it smoother and accompany the thin strings. The classic 909 drum kit needed a sister, so I added a the Studio Gong preset kit from Battery. Lastly, I added a brass melody from the old Reaktor library." - Angel-Ho

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: REAKTOR 6, KONTAKT 5, FM8, BATTERY 4

For more visit www.native-instruments.com/kompletesketches

Sketches 005 - Angel-Ho

"First I laid down the kick drums using Polyplex. When I'm trying to get a sketch down quickly I'll go straight a preset that I like and then modify it a little and replace some samples with my own. Next, I added the Session Strings layers and used the pitch control on the keyboard to create that ebbing effect and automated the reverb so that it would open up gradually throughout the 30 seconds. The track begins with just violin, but cello and double bass are introduced as the loop gets more intense. I used Razor to create the pulsing bass throughout and automated the bandpass cutoff to give it some movement. Lastly, I put the Driver on the strings group and gradually brought the effect in." - WIFE

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: POLYPLEX, SESSION STRINGS, RAZOR, DRIVER

For more visit www.native-instruments.com/kompletesketches

Sketches 004 - WIFE

"I wanted to keep a pure signal from each part to allow for space. A kind of serene, altered state of consciousness. To effect the vox I used the Solid Dynamics EQ, Replika and the convolution reverb Reflektor. Both Replika and Reflektor are awesome on vocals - airy and never aggressive or metallic. The synth comes from Reaktor Prism. It has a huge identity and can define a track on its own. I effected it with Solid Dynamics EQ.

I used three bass sounds. The first from Kinetic Metal - I love the whole kit. It's deep, industrial, texturized and spacey. The second was Massive - I've been using it for a while now. The third bass comes from Reaktor 6's Lazerbass which is really rewarding with very few tweaks – it's sharp and always evolving. I combined it with the Enhanced EQ. The drums are from Battery and Action Strikes with effects from Replika and Driver." - Aïsha Devi

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: SOLID DYNAMICS, REPLIKA, REFLEKTOR, REAKTOR PRISM, KINETIC METAL, MASSIVE, REAKTOR 6, ENHANCED EQ, BATTERY 4, ACTION STRIKES, DAMAGE, DRIVER

For more visit www.native-instruments.com/kompletesketches

Sketches 003 - Aïsha Devi

"I made this sketch using a selection of presets in Massive: 1991, Astral Saw, and Slightly 5th. Some are quite bassy whilst others are more focused in the top end, with a kind of ethereal pad-like sound. The idea was to create a piece with lots of space in it by utilizing a wide frequency range, emphasized further by track panning. For each synth sound I adjusted the filters in Massive. By adjusting the cutoff and resonance, you can create nuanced changes in the sound and feel which helps to give a fluid, ever-shifting character to the music.

To make the whole piece sound together and even 'bigger', I added the built-in reverb to each Massive synth, then I worked on the track panning. The low bassline synth is panned to centre, and each layer of sound above that is panned wider as it gets higher, with the highest sounds panned hard to the right and left." - Throwing Shade

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: MASSIVE

For more visit www.native-instruments.com/kompletesketches

Sketches 002 - Throwing Shade

"In this track I focused on percussion. I used several percussion sections of Komplete Ultimate, which consisted of West Africa, Cuba, and India. I decided to use timbales from the Cuba pack because the sound slaps so hard. Impact is everything to me but knowing what to do with that impact means so much more. The different versions of the djembe in the West Africa pack are amazing. I decided to use djembe 1 and 3, as they were the two that gave me chills. I enjoy making up my own sequences and what better way to do than to do that using India. The entire India pack gives you so much room to be flexible." - Jlin

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: WEST AFRICA, CUBA, INDIA

For more visit www.native-instruments.com/kompletesketches

Sketches 001 - Jlin

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