Sketches

"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

MoMa Ready is one of the brightest stars in Brooklyn’s thriving club community, whose contemporary spin on house, techno and breaks is revitalising the city’s dance music legacy and uniting a new generation of BIPOC DJs and producers. Born Wyatt Stevens, his HAUS of ALTR platform has mutated into one of the most dynamic young labels on the US club scene since starting life as a platform for skateboarding apparel, with recent compilations spotlighting fresh talents like Kush Jones and BEARCAT.

In addition to his own catalogue of razor-sharp genre explorations, the former skater and breakdancer has released multiple collaborations with AceMo under their AceMoMa moniker. A debut album, released in January under the alias Gallery S, billed itself as a “hidden room” for his “innermost thoughts, fears, and desires”.

Opening with a sultry deep house bassline and pads, Wyatt’s NI sketch demonstrates how to take a handful of simple sounds and rapidly form them into a cohesive musical moment. Kicks and hi-hats make a subtle entrance, shifting the tempo towards the dancefloor zone, before a syncopated snare completes the scene, with every element given plenty of breathing room.

“For this beat I was trying to get a feel for the tools. I normally work with samples and build presets using Ableton stock plug-ins, combined with a few third party VSTs. Using Kontrol allowed me to maintain my usual workflow while having access to a bunch of new sounds. 

“The first sound I used was a sample in Komplete Kontrol. In the miscellaneous synth tag I clicked around and found a really nice basic pad and played out a melody in the MIDI. Looking for texture I ended up opening Kontakt where I found Kinetic Treats and added some delay. I used Kontrol for the vocal stab swell too. All the drum sounds are from my personal sample folders, and the bassline was made using a preset I built in Ableton. To save my computer I recorded all of the audio on separate tracks and used the audio to arrange the sketch.

Sketches 058 - MoMA Ready

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