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

"I listened through the drum sounds and heard this Abbey Road Vintage Drummer kit – the sound of it inspired me to play this 90’s funky rhythm on my little DTX e-drum setup. It’s really a great way to sketch something up quickly without having to mic an entire drumset. This kit in particular has a nice, soft sound and the bassdrum sounds great. I only had to set a slight compression and tape saturation inside the vintage drummer mixer.

The FM8 is a synth I’ve been using for many years – it’s my go-to FM VST. Especially as you can upload microtonal scales really easily with sysex and play them polyphonically. Another really nice feature is that you can use the waveforms from the TX81z, one of my favorite synths." - Olof Dreijer

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: ABBEY ROAD VINTAGE DRUMMER, FM8

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

Sketches 020 - Olof Dreijer

"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

"I sketched this track out using the instruments and presets in a mostly unaltered form since most of them sound highly inspiring and great as they are. My goal here was to show how you can get good sounding results very quickly, and to show what the synths and plug-ins can offer right away (as opposed to the very abstract and experimental approach that I like to take sometimes as well). In this example here, I used Evolve Mutations (Strange Harmonics preset), Balinese Gamelan (Synth Core Instruments preset) and Rounds (Lost preset)." - Ben Lukas Boysen

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: EVOLVE MUTATIONS, BALINESE GAMELAN, ROUNDS

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

Sketches 019 - Ben Lukas Boysen

"The first thing I did was to load up four versions of FM8 to synthesise a kick, a rim click, and two different hat sounds – one standard and one squelchy FX-like. I ran them all through Driver and a Solid EQ on a group channel to get the weight, texture and distortion I like. The loop needed melody and atmosphere, so I used Reaktor Blocks, and found a melodic patch that only needed a small bit of tweaking to get it to sound the way I wanted: High and wistful. Again, I used the Driver FX for texture and the RC 24 Reverb for extra space. The final element was the mid-range repetitive synth which was also done using the same Reaktor Blocks patch, but tweaking the Driver and using more Oscillators to be grittier and more textured, but maintaining a similar resonance. The last thing was to use a bit of Transient Master on the output to give it an extra bump." - EOMAC

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: FM8, DRIVER, SOLID EQ, REAKTOR 6, RC 24, TRANSIENT MASTER

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

Sketches 007 - EOMAC

"To start, I loaded some of my drum samples in Battery, created the main drum pattern, and layered them with more percussion from West Africa to create the cross rhythm. Then I added Driver for more distorted drums and used Enhanced EQ to tune the eq. To get the vibe right, I played a few sustained keys from a dark pad I found in Kontakt Library and added RC 48 and EQ. When looking for something extra to add, I found some nice sounds in Kinetic Metal, which I passed through RC 48 hall reverbs – now they sound like a vocal high note. I also created a simple lead melody using Absynth." - NKISI

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: BATTERY 4, WEST AFRICA, DRIVER, ENHANCED EQ, KONTAKT 5, RC 48, KINETIC METAL, ABSYNTH 5

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

Sketches 016 - NKISI

"First, I started to create the main beat with Polyplex. I used the Lunch Tables preset and adjusted some sounds. After that, I layered my drum sounds and did some fills with the help of the Urban Beats Kontakt library. I also used a bunch of great drum sounds from Damage to spice things up and bring some industrial flavor into the beat. All the drums run through the VC 76 Compressor on a drum bus.

Some of the drum elements are shaped with the great Transient Master. The main, crunk-style synth was made with Absynth. I added some RC 48 reverb and some delay with Replika to get a nice, big roomy sound. After that, I added some bubbly FX-synth sounds with the help of FM8. At the end, I put the VC 76 compressor and Transient Master on the master channel to glue together the whole sound of my sketch." - Phon.o

OMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: POLYPLEX, KONTAKT 5, DAMAGE, VC 76, TRANSIENT MASTER, FM8

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

Sketches 015 - Phon.o

"I started off playing with Form by loading it up with samples of acoustic instruments that I’ve recorded over the years. I automated the speed parameter which turned these acoustic looping sounds into drone-like pads. Triggering a few notes at once produced really interesting, complex, acoustic-hybrid type sounds, and the “speed” parameter allowed me to morph in-between two different states. Every sound in my sketch was transformed from some acoustic source using Form, like clarinet, harps, a music box… Even the thick bass sound came from the recording of a dulcimer harmonic. Crazy!" - Deru

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: FORM

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

Sketches 014 - Deru

"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

"First off I made some pads with Absynth, and messed around until I found a chord I liked which worked as a drone. Then I layered it up 3 times at different octaves with a bit of panning to thicken it up. I then used an 808 kick sample in Battery which I put at intervals to give an anchor for timing. I ran a crash that I sampled years ago through the RC 48 reverb to give it a big long tail so it would sit with the pads. I then recorded my voice and put it in a Reaktor ensemble called Floop Gloop, played around with the settings and sampled it off and then put it back into the ensemble again. I repeated this process a few times. I was also using an ensemble called Pitchomat. After I felt that I had suitably mangled my voice so it was unrecognisable, I took a few of my favourite takes & layered them over the pad." - Mumdance

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: ABSYNTH 5, BATTERY 4, RC 48, REAKTOR 6

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

Sketches 012 - Mumdance

"I just started pretty randomly by recording my two-year-old old son on the nice condenser microphone I have in my living room. There was no clear tonality to what he was singing/saying and it wasn’t on a click so it was generally just tempoless blah blah. The kicks and pitched bongo-esque percussion come from the Polyplex library. I then recorded reverb and EQ effects with automation on the drum parts that I had edited.

I chopped the recording up to work with the beat, then pitched them to fit the tonality of the drums and harmonised everything. I then used an organ from the Vintage Organs library and used the pitch modulation strip on a long note and filtering to start introducing a kinda trippy drone pad. I programmed tighter bass notes from a Monark bass and played with the overdrive parameters. I also played and recorded an additional detuned synth bassline using Monark. It’s all unquantized and wobbly and arabesque sounding – I like it!

I think the whole sketch transports you somewhere in a very short time. That’s what I like about it. I’m very situational in terms of making tunes: I like sound leakage and using things/objects/people that I find around me as well as using plug-ins and technology. I’m into those kind of hybrids, paradoxes and elements of chance or error." - Perera Elsewhere

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: POLYPLEX, VINTAGE ORGANS, MONARK

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

Sketches 011 - Perera Elsewhere

"For the drums, I used Battery 4’s Techno Wikinger kit processed through Guitar Rig 5. Another layer came from Polyplex processed with Supercharger GT then a final layer of a simple tambourine from Drumlab. The bass came from the Kontakt Factory Bank’s Resoid Moog. The main synth is a simple preset from FM8 with no extra processing. Finally, a little bit of FX from Damage and a little bit of extra limiter on the master bus just to push it all harder!" - Om Unit

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: BATTERY 4, GUITAR RIG 5 PRO, POLYPLEX, SUPERCHARGER GT, DRUMLAB, KONTAKT 5, FM8, DAMAGE

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

Sketches 010 - Om Unit

"I began the sketch by playing around and creating three tracks with Una Corda using the Cotton preset transposed down an octave. I was looking to create a more processed sound, which I achieved with the Transient Master, Supercharger GT, Solid EQ and VC 2A in my Logic channel strip. I heavily shaped the transients, compressed and eq’d the sound to bring out the lovely noise and character. This effect chain became the basis for processing most of the channels.

Next up, I added some spiccato/staccato orchestral ostinati using the String and Woodwind ensembles from the Symphony Essentials. Now I was ready to add a simple, but characterful kick and went to Drumlab for this one, editing and using the Kick Vinyl preset. Wanting the kick to push through my existing tracks and the others yet to be created, I made a duplicate track of it to sidechain into instances of the VC 2A compressor on the other channel strips.

Then I dived into Reaktor 6, first for a repeating note using an edited version of the Kontour House Organ preset. I went on to Skanner XT and played around with the Arctic Drone preset. I sidechained it to the kick and bounced it down to an audio track. I used The Mouth for some rhythmic grit, bringing it to life by sidechaining both the Reaktor instance and the VC 2A on the channel strip to the base kick. For reverb most of the tracks were sent to one of two instances of Replika XT, sometimes automating the send level." - Schwarzmodul

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: UNA CORDA, TRANSIENT MASTER, SUPERCHARGER GT, SOLID EQ, VC 2A, SYMPHONY ESSENTIALS – STRINGS, SYMPHONY ESSENTIALS – WOODWIND, DRUMLAB, KONTOUR, SKANNER XT, REPLIKA XT, THE MOUTH

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

Sketches 008 - Schwarzmodul

"I found a loop I liked in Damage and used that for the basis of the track. Once that was running, I layered it with another beat from Action Strikes to liven things up a bit. That ominous melody that comes in after the beat is an Evolve patch. The finishing touch was one more Damage kit that I added in for a bit of extra percussion throughout." - DJ NA

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: DAMAGE, ACTION STRIKES, EVOLVE

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

Sketches 017 - DJ NA

"I used a slightly modified preset of the FM8 Synth for the lead melody and the chords, and built my own bass sound with Massive. The percussion and the drums are made with Battery while using some of the factory samples and some I created myself, which I edited with Battery’s internal effects. Had good fun making this." - Mechatok

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: FM8, MASSIVE, BATTERY 4

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

Sketches 006 - Mechatok

"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

"I wanted to create an atmosphere first, so I chose a Heavyocity Evolve Mutations 2 pad and a choir pad in the Absynth library. They were paired with two melodies – airy Absynth and Massive synths to create a very light almost ethereal vibe. Then I used Battery with some factory samples to create the drum patterns, blended things together with the Solid Bus compressor, and finally added Heavyocity hits to give it more impact." - Mobilegirl

KOMPLETE 11 Instruments and Effects used: EVOLVE MUTATIONS 2, ABSYNTH 5, MASSIVE, BATTERY 4, SOLID BUS COMP

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

Sketches 018 - Mobilegirl

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