Every time I see Komplete updating, I don't see any changes in Reaktor. To be honest, I feel heartbroken, but I can see Guitar Rig. A software that has been up and down for so many years has been reupdated. So why can't Reaktor.
I feel like Reaktor is in a good place since the 6.5 update (new bugs notwithstanding). What however needs serious love is everything else related to Reaktor besides the actual application.
Documentation has not been updated since 6.2.2 I think? That was already several years ago.. Also, most learning resources for Reaktor stuff is wildly inconsistent, out of date / deprecated, or both. And don't even get me started on the RUL.. what an asbsolute mess!
If the RUL was updated to modern standards, we'de be able to find stuff easier than now.. the search function of the RUL feels very archaic
A bunch of core stuff was added to Reaktor 6 since it's launch.. we got Envelope, Filter, delay etc toolkits but no simple examples how to use them in our ensembles.. all in all the whole Core side of Reaktor is dying for more educational resources.. While the Primary side is overexposed to death. If I try to search for tutorials about Reaktor Core on the Youtubes, I am flooded with "metoo" videos of tubers explaining the simplest Reaktor Primary stuff over and over again.. It's maddening!!
We can only speculate of course but it does feel things are a bit different since the change in the company and the direction it seems to take now.They want the most money possible and the way to it is mainly Kontakt and selling massive sample packs based on popular generic music and trends.
I don't think Reaktor will dissapear tomorrow but i am not so optimistic about the future.They seem to allocate even less ressources to it now,except the apple update of course but maybe it is to extend it's life a little bit more since they know it has a certain interest and community.
The display resolution will only become more and more of a problem for people though,it already is.Putting off a lot of people.If they change that well i guess the future will last a bit longer.
I have been going through R6 "Building In Core" and while it's OK, its not comprehensive by any means.
Thanks for the R5 core pdf link, I'll give that one a read through, maybe it explains things the R6 docs "take for granted"
While it could be nice to get new features in Reaktor – and I am curious what they might have had planned before it was put on hold – even if there are none coming any time soon, I don't see it as dead. Like Kontakt, it is the basis of multiple instruments, and a platform for building. That they took the time to update it for new hardware standards and VST3 indicates an intention to keep it around. Far from looking to replace it in my workflow, I am incorporating it even more, having acquired Monark, Prism, Razor, and Rounds in the past year and the Toybox Audio Tangle Synth not long before. At some point I hope to make instruments and effects of my own with Toybox Audio blocks.
One thing I would not want to see is trying to make it like Max and adding video or other visual features. Max is its own thing, and it is very cool, but Reaktor is music software and should remain music software. I am sure any available developer time is better suited to making it better at what it already does.
And for the stuff only Max does, you have Max. I use both Reaktor and Max for Live (which is mainly different from standalone in that it is intended for building and running devices to use inside Live). One is not a replacement for the other.
I agree that the documentation and learning resources for Max are way ahead of Reaktor. Max/MSP has been taught in many academic institutions for decades now, Reaktor doesnt have nearly as much going for it in this dept. Which is a shame, because I always had the feeling that Reaktor stuff is more CPU efficient than Max, ie has better real-world performance
TL/DR: Reaktor is relatively easy, and the manuals tell you all you need to know to get started. Developing original bespoke high quality digital musical instruments and effects is very difficult, so is original compelling sound design. It's important not to get these things mixed up, and to have realistic expectations!
…and don't believe the hype :-D
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One reason is precisely because everyone wants to learn by using 'paint by numbers' tutorials, but those are not going to get you there, you can build as many cookie cutter projects as you like, but they won't teach you what you actually need to know to really design your own stuff. You need to dive in and explore for yourself, and at some point you need to bite the bullet and learn the math, software engineering and sound engineering stuff required. That stuff is 95% or more of what you really need to learn.
A 'how to make your own filter Block' vid can't ever give you enough information to actually develop a unique filter, either is ends up with everyone making the same generic filter that is a wrapper for a factory filter module, or it has significant and prohibitive expectations about existing levels of knowledge.
Another example might be something like an ILO anti-aliased clipper. I could put out a 'wire together these modules in Reaktor and use these value for the constants' type vid, and you could build it in a few minutes and it would work, yay, but you would never be able to then go and make a different clipper with the same technique based only on that tutorial, because the important parts are done in wolfram alpha (or your math app of choice), and some math knowledge is required to work through that part. The Reaktor part is EASY! the math part, not so much, so the important thing to focus on to learn this stuff is the math part. The Reaktor manual really does teach everything you need to know to do the Reaktor part.
I could go and write a tutorial on the Math part, that would actually help you learn how to do it for yourself, but that would be redundant, it already exists! (and is way better than I could do)… but it's not a 'paint by numbers' Reaktor tutorial vid, so that's no good right?
When Blocks came out there were LOADS of new blocks being uploaded to the UL, but many were just wrappers, and that just isn't the same level as bespoke DSP.
If you do have the math/DSP and put in the work to build commercial quality DSP, Reaktor is not as attractive as e.g. VCVRack, because NI chose to make licencing for 3rd parties a hefty up-front payment which makes it quite a risk from a new side-business POV, and unless you do pay big up front, there is no protection for your Reaktor code, you can't lock it, and it can be easily shared and copied.
If NI had gone with a free to access shop type of thing, and just taken a cut of profits, there would be way way more 3rd party commercial stuff on there. But then I guess most of it would be fancy looking wrappers around vanilla factory modules, built based on cookie cutter tutorials… so :)
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I totally get that not everyone wants to design their own unique filters or waveshapers, most folk are more focussed on music and sound design, so for them it might be more important to learn how to wire up existing library oscillators, shapers, filters etc. But IMO the same issues exist.
If you really want to understand enough to truly design your own sounds from scratch, then cookie cutter structures wont be enough. You need to learn about the physics of sound and the related DSP and math. Sure, you can build an ensemble from a tutorial and hack away making a few changes here and there to give you a feeling of ownership. But the real thing is coming up with an idea, then developing that with no compromise, from scratch. Most of the knowledge you need for that is platform agnostic, and you can't learn it from a few half hour videos. The best sources by far are academia, and technical forums where DSP folk discuss math and programming.
The modern mentality of 'just give me a half hour youtube tutorial already' might be what has weakened Reaktors position in the market. The philosophy behind Reaktor is just not compatible with that modern approach to 'learning'. Too many folk just have unrealistic expectations and feel entitled to results right now. They don't want to explore and discover, they want to be shown what to do, do it, and tick it off as done.
I think this mentality is maybe part of why Reaktor is not being supported or developed as actively these days by NI, folk really want quick easy results, and for that, stuff like Kontakt packs are way better, and more lucrative. Reaktor's USP is the fact that you can build completely original devices with it, but if folk are just copying the same old things from the same old tutorials, they will never get there, and will eventually give up and go back to Kontakt anyway.
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"They must make it really easy for interested parties to get started in developing their own modules."
They do, the manuals have everything you need to 'get started' well presented and easy to follow.
I think the problem here is that getting started is easy, but after that, the learning curve is steep and difficult, because this stuff is deep and extremely challenging. There are no shortcuts. It's definitely worth all the effort, but it's also really important for beginners to understand that it requires a significant commitment, and it will be very difficult. Anyone who tells you that they will 'make it really easy' is a liar!
(just to be clear, Reaktor is easy, developing original bespoke digital musical instruments and effects is very difficult)
You sir, are the king of "missing the point.". I was exaggerating when I said "Reaktor has nothing", obviously. But compared to Max/MSP and Max4Live offerings, it is a pittance. Far more people use Max/MSP as their freaky synth coding program than Reaktor because of the educational resources available for the application. It makes delving into several complicated/interrelated subjects palatable for artists and non-maths/engineering types. That's the point I'm making.
I have already spent days/weeks reading up on Reaktor, from the free tutorials online. I am very happy with the stuff that's out there as far as Reaktor Primary is concerned.. but thats where the "breadcrumbs" pretty much end. If we had the same amount of tutorials that exist for Primary but for Reaktor Core, I would be a lot further with my dabblings. I don't want to spend ages on concentrating on Reaktor Primary, I want to learn Core better because that's what will unlock the stuff past "beginner level" for me. Someone like Salamander Anagram making videos about Reaktor Core stuff, that's something that would be immensely valuable to someone like me
"Aren't those real poly? or just attempts to somehow imitate poly?"
They aren't real Blocks! (at least the ones that really are polyphonic)
I developed a polyphonic Block extension myself (Toybox use a version of it in their polyphonic Blocks), but it is exactly that, an extension.
Blocks is a specification framework, part of the specification defines Blocks as monophonic.
You can extend that, or design your own complete different framework, whatever you like really, that's the beauty of Reaktor.
The problem here is that non experts can easily confuse modules with Blocks with macros with instruments… it can be confusing if you don't read the manuals. So erroneous ideas like "Reaktor can't do polyphony properly" can start to spread... and unhappy noobs who didn't get exactly what they expected… they really don't care if the negative stories they spread are true. Yay internet :)
As NI has ported Reaktor to Apple Silicon, which had to be very hard nut.... And cost fortune.... I see future for Reaktor in NI plans.
I wish I had more confidence in NI’s commitment to Reaktor. I think they do need to be more explicit about maintaining that commitment and while I appreciate it may not need lots of updates some evidence of recent forward momentum, even if less frequent, would inspire more confidence
Max msp can do some amazing things with html, video, and literally any digital artistic medium. They have protocols and libraries for hardware implementation... theres literally a million things NI could do with Reaktor but they choose not a single thing. I'm switching over to it before my next project. I hope it's as good as it seems.
There are literally millions of things _you_ could do with Reaktor without needing any updates.
Good luck with Max.
@KoaN
Porting REAKTOR to AS was not update. It was hell of the work, it had to cost fortune and require heap of human resources. Significant parts had to be rewritten, I estimate.
If NI did it, they want get it used. See at Absynth or Super8... They are gone. In case Super8 it was Reaktor ensemble->plugin->Reaktor ensemble again.
I still think NI could revitalize a lot of the Reaktor community by spending some more resources on up to date documentation and tutorials. These are the things Reaktor needs the most IMHO, not new features or more bloat. The largest untapped potential in Reaktor is its considerable userbase, most of whom just download and use existing content because the idea of doing it yourself in Reaktor is "too steep a learning curve" for them. A single "rockstar" tier Youtube influecer who gets a following building fun stuff and making tutorials for Reaktor could revitalize the scene immensely
