BLUR for REAKTOR 6
BLUR is a set of four stereo samplers that playback simultaneously via a midi keyboard. Each sampler is loaded with thirty two un-duplicated samples that can be arranged in over a million possible combinations to produce interesting textural sounds suited to atmospheric work. A million? Multiply 32 x 32 x 32 x 32 and you get 1048576… If you are a mathematician and want to tell us this is nonsense please do so.
Each sampler is capable of playing forwards or reverse, has movable start and end points for playback, loop start and end points, loop fade parameters and loop in release.
The samples are visually rendered as mono waveforms, the colour of which can be changed by the user utilising the hue, brightness and saturation dials to the lower right of each sample display. If you insist on vivid green and lurid purple it is achievable with minimal effort!
Amongst other obvious controls, the samplers each have a dedicated 3 band-eq, pan and mute.
BLUR has two main FX (Reverb and a Graincloud delay) plus an LFO. The LFO is routable to six different parameters.
BLUR also has a (Time)Stretch, a Tape(noise) effect and a (Stereo)Width dial.
BLUR’s main modulation feature is an XY pad arranged along the top of the samplers that can be used to:1.Shift focus between the different samples during live playback. 2. Change reverb level or pitch during playback. This is achieved by the dropdown menu just below the BLUR logo.
This is also routed to CC 1 or the mod slider on a midi keyboard (other CC mappings are CC14-17 to the Sample Select dials).
The orange numerical readouts on the pad indicate X and Y positions.
BLUR is good at producing stabs, pads, sound fx and intriguing ambience. BLUR is not designed to be a faithful reproduction of a meticulously recorded piano, for example, nor is it much use as a synth. Treat it as a one-hit wonder (remember Trevor Horn’s Fairlight Stab?) or a provider of slow-moving atmosphere tracks and quirky rhythms and you will be rewarded with some surprisingly creative combinations.
BLUR is monophonic and requires the full version of Native Instruments Reaktor 6.
FAQ
Q. When BLUR starts up one or other of the sample banks seems empty as there is no waveform.A. This is an occasional Reaktor glitch that can be worked around by selecting a different sample in the affected bank and triggering a midi note to activate the display. The preset can then be re-selected to return it to normal. By the way the zero setting for each bank is empty to allow an INIT state.
Q. When I select a new sample the previous choice seems to get stuck.A. Press a key on your midi keyboard to trigger the new selection.
Q. I can’t seem to “grab” the loop pane to move it or to reset the start and end point “handles”.A. The start and end points for sample playback (these are another set of “handles”) are probably set to the same positions. You have to move them out of the way first.
Q. Why are the LOOP FADE numbers so tiny?A. Because we ran out of room on the GUI. Specsavers may be able to help.
Q. When I select The LFO Destination 1 to CUT nothing happens.A. Ensure the COMB filter is ON.
Q. When I select The LFO Destination 1 to CLOUD PITCH nothing happens.A. Ensure the CLOUD effect has the mix dial set to at least 0.50
Q. The LFO is having no effect.A. Check that… 1. Rate is set above zero, ditto Fade-In and Track (keyboard tracking).2. Ensure Dest 1 and/or Dest 2 are not in the OFF position.
Q. When I use the Y-Axis to increase reverb level it distorts.A. Set reverb and time to zero beforehand.
Q. Why are the samples in no apparent order?A. Because an alphabetically arranged record collection is dull and produces no surprises. Ditto a sample bank. Ditto a presets bank for that matter. To get a flavour of the onboard samples please refer to the “Complete Samples List” below.Q. There’s no sound.A. Ensure the Master and the Level of each sample bank is above zero. Or is the INIT preset selected?
Q. I get the occasional click at the front of certain samples during playback.A. Another Reaktor glitch; Reaktor doesn’t process the envelope as efficiently as Kontakt, which is why this instrument doesn’t cost £190. We’ve done our best within the limitations.
Q. When I drop my own sample in it shows on the waveform display but disappears when I try to play it.A. BLUR doesn’t support drag & drop user sample input. In edit mode, you need to go to the sample map and add samples there. Click the relevant icon at the top of the Reaktor GUI. Be sure to add samples “in single note mode”. See this picture below.
For help on the sample Map go to the Reaktor 6 Diving Deeper Manual and open Chapter 8, Page 69.
Q. When I add my own samples to the sample map they play but the old sample names are still there.A. Go to the “Sample List” texts in the original DL zip and change the names there to your own. It’s simpler to do it one sample at at time.
Then, in EDIT MODE, click on, for example, the name under the sample showing in the left sampler (samplerA) and replace it with the new text.
See next picture. Click on steps 1 to 4 to get to a load page. Then locate your new list text and load it. It will show up the next time you scroll the sample select dial. Make sure the first slot is listed as 0 Empty Slot to preserve the INIT preset if you wish.
COMPLETE SAMPLES LIST
SAMPLER A
0 Empty Slot1 Altitude Crank. Rattling glitchy FX pad 2 American Mod. Like American Modernist serial music3 Ant Play. Warm evolving glitchy pad 4 Atmos Four. Vibrating atmospheric FX pad 5 Bass Rezo. Resonant moving bass pad6 Cinema Boom. Big subby shaking boom7 Clown Play. Whining clanky FX pad8 Damaged Cab. Crackling bass drone9 Gomsela. Two tone synth blip from hi plink to lo drone10 Iron Razors. Bleeping, crackling metallic drone pad11 Sad Swell. Swelling pad with slight wobble12 Gongstick. A gong, hit with a stick
13 Blurred. Evolving, driving pad with false fade14 Zigzag. Machine-like clank-drone that shifts slowly across the stereo15 Rho. 50s SciFi stab, electric piano-ish16 Golden. Short uplifting pad with complex finish17 Across. Long spacey drone that crosses the speakers as it travels18 Big Dingus. Complex marimba-like tone19 Clean. Nice clean synth guitar-pluck20 Complex. Shifting, sparkling pad21 Elek Bump. Short fat and gritty synth bump22 End. Swirling upward, hissy yet soft23 Crackle Tail. Vibrating, humming, warm, slightly clicking pad tail-off24 Dampguitar. Twin Peaks springs to mind25 Dawn. Warm wah-wah sort of sting with a hint of marimba. Sounds positive26 Afican Dust. Light, percussive, evolving sound with some sandiness in the texture27 Arpy. Percussive synth with some repeat in the decay28 Bass Dunk. Useful fat synth that travels well29 Crazing. Complicated factory-like texture30 Certainly. Metallic synth pad that fades as quick as it swells31 Club Night. One of those warm yet cold clubby sounds32 Decentre. A chugging metallic hummer and whiner
SAMPLER B
0 Empty Slot1 Bass Drum. A real bass drum in a room
2 Chime Drone. Sort of a Little Ben3 Gong. Chinese gong with a nice twist at the front end4 Taped Drone. Like a ship in the distance5 Big Room Taiko. A rolling taiko hit with room presence6 808 Kick Sub. Phat old kick7 Impact. Unpleasant crash-landing of spaceship?8 Ship. An actual ship9 Bass Texture. A very fat gnarly bass pad.10 Thing. A hard to describe noise11 Hoverpillow. A tingling FM synth12 Haunted. A long and horrid orchestral tune-up13 Aggro. Distorted heavy metal guitar thrum14 Meandering. Another of those cold, long and wobbling pads that crosses the speakers15 Rolling. A nice fat and friendly pad with a nice tail16 Matrix Tail. A swelling, cold lead/pad17 Faro. Fading radio signal-like FX18 Frostily. It’s the North Sea19 Gamer. Silly FX stab20 Krill. Vibrating pad21 Marble. More coldness22 Mysterioso. Clicking into delay FX pad23 Dripple. Similar to Mysterioso but on a scraped string24 Fluted. Oriental flavoured flute pad25 Formula. Three swooshes to fade26 Downhill. Something’s rolling27 Ein. Random counting in German off SW radio28 Fail. Falling hi-pitched whine and other stuff29 Going. Busy rambling sort of pad30 Duo. Controlled distortion hit31 Glock. Indescribable FX32 Landing. The spaceship touches down. Or lets out its
air.
SAMPLER C
0 Empty Slot1 Bass Under. Short for underground2 Bubble Pulse. Unpleasant machine drowning in its own water3 Clicking. Random series of wooden creaks in a room4 Stutter. Interesting series of insect-like granular streams5 Ting Flute. Long nasal flutey drone6 Vulcan's Nose. Very long blaring Bulgarian tune-like thing7 Bamboo Drop. A bunch of sticks dropped in a tunnel. What else?8 Clunk. Something wooden hitting the wall of the same tunnel9 Rust. The rust cascading in a pipe in, guess where, that tunnel again10 Clumble. Probably me hitting a wheelbarrow. Yes, in the tunnel11 Ambience. Long evolving sparkly pad12 Horizon. Long variable drone13 Fat Pluck. More of a pad really14 Organvox. Choirboy in church15 Secret Drone. Powerful swelling pad with interesting tail16 Shreddage. Like a hornet through a bass amp17 Quatermass. Sci Fi wobble-wobble18 Raver. Punch the air19 Returns. Complex droner
20 Rippler. Warm rippled synth21 Sadly Heroic. The king has returned22 Sheptone. Loop this right and it’s almost scary23 Glimmer. Electronic keyboard24 Ice Hack. Cold25 Insect Talk. Not nice at all26 Grungular. Cabaret Voltaire anyone?27 Modular. Variable electronic pulser28 Pulcinella. Accordion-like riff29 Scape. The spaceship door opens to reveal the plains of Mars30 Mute Gong. Nice softly hit gong32 Ship Hull. Foley style recording of somewhere large and hollow32 Swooping. Sort of swooping pluck
SAMPLER D
0 Empty Slot1 Bells. Bell tree rhythmic2 Creak. Long tuneless creaking sounds3 More Texture. Fat buzzy warm synth pad4 Beep. Radio interference FX5 Bass Bump. Turn up the LO dial to full6 Twangwash. Pad with a stringlike attack7 Distant. Mix of gong and other things8 Granules. Grains of sound, kind of busy9 Tink. Marimba like attack with tinkling decay10 Long Mallet. Lo marimba through reverb11 Softness. Delicate and inviting, this pad will make you a cup of tea12 Long Sad. Whereas this pad is struggling with grief
13 Heavy Metal. Yes, it’s a grinding guitar pad14 Hornswell. Probably orchestral, definitely self-important15 Synth Fizz. Richer than a casiotone, but not much16 Tierra. Firm but sad17 Summerfog. A duet of hi pitched whines18 Sundays. Glissandos into a very gentle, relaxed feeling19 Tape Op. Complex mix of distorting guitar and something cold20 Vibrating. Horn-like vibrato to fade21 Wizened. About four things happening at once in this complex pad22 Zuka. FM synth bell-like pad23 Shrunk. Crackly percussive24 Softdrop. Optimistic pad25 Surface. Rising up droner26 Soap. A cheesy finale sort of sting/pad27 Syndrum Brush. A tuned synth snare28 Tuned Bump. Curious sounding combo of bump and beep29 Warmcold. If subway trains had sound effects30 Tinkles. A random sequence of tinkling percussives31 Water Lights. Wet but warm pad32 Wind Chimes. Blowing in the wind, like the answer, my friend.
By Flintpope
