Hi

Id just like to take this opportunity to bring my latest (and most probably last!) Reaktor ensemble to your attention - Amphitryon.

Because it has taken so long to develop, i've decided to charge a small fee for it. But if you are interested, check out:

www.lost-online.com/amphitryon/

Thanks

James

Ooh I was looking forward to this - you have a customer James

but why do you say "last"

don't stop now

James,you amaze me!Your Reaktor creations are a huge inspiration
I'll definitely be buying this
Thanks for the work,
ew

Got it. This synth is so flexible - a thing of beauty - some of the patches are really lovely to hear. Thanks a million.

how many patches? the mp3s sounds pretty good, I'll likely buy this shortly.

and since this is your 'last' synth, will you update it if bugs are found?

Around 45+. Not as many as with 3X perhaps but very playable and like 3X all very different from each other, some with lots of movement too.

I do hope this isn't really the last though. JWHall's ensembles are among my favourites.

btw - just noticed a link to a user guide but it doesn't seem to work - yet.

And I just got it myself
aMUSEd,there's a short users guide you can download on the Amphitryon page-I downloaded it this morning after someone in the NI forum said it was up...
If the link's dead,I can send it to you.
ew

How do you do this?
It would be get if you could do a few tutorials for
Reaktor beginners like me - I've looked at Len Sasso's book but I think the only way is analysis of the structures.....

Or even write a better book yourself ?? !!!

Thanks ew - the link is working again now - must have just been a glitch.

I've had a really shit day at work (been sacked!!)

so a few beers

and a nice new Reaktor ensemble to play with

This is amazing...without a doubt,the best implementation of wavetable synthesis that I've seen in Reaktor.And,being able to draw your own waves and throw them into wavetables -the possibilities are endless with this sucker
If you own Reaktor,I'd HIGHLY,HIGHLY recommend you stop whatever you're doing and drag out your credit card.This is as much of a must as daVector was to former Wavestation owners.
And I thought I could build Reaktor ensembles
ew

An endorsement like that from the Mighty Ew!?! I might just have to buy this.

Will there be more presets and updates later on?

On a side note other than this and Dash's stuff are there any other reaktor ensembles worth buying?...maybe EW would know?

Do it,Cheeso-you'll thank me I'm amazed with the sounds I'm getting out of this thing.
It IS a tweaker's synth,though-the presets are only scratching the surface of what it's capable of.
vtd-I'm sure he's planning some updates somewhere along the line.He's got a to do list buried in the instrument's structure with some interesting ideas.
As for more presets,I'm pretty sure there will be some at some time.Just playing around tonight,I've made a bunch-and I HATE making preset banks.This thing's that inspiring(or at least it is to me),and I'm sure someone who isn't as lazy as I am will go nuts with making banks.
Other commercial Reaktor sites-both liqih and Au Reality(both were involved with the Dash Reaktor business,and both are Reaktor masters)are supposed to be putting up ensembles for sale in the near future.WilliamK's CD is a must if you don't have daVector(worth the price alone).
ew

Thank you for the info ew.

Guys! Great to see a thread going its great to see a bit of a buzz about it after all the work I put into it!

So to answer your questions...

Firstly, there will be future updates of Amphitryon. The first one will be out next week with some extra presets (total now 52), a few misc. tweaks, and a new feature in the wavetable editor. And well spotted Eric! I do have some concrete plans for new features within Amphitryon.

I hope the user guide link is working - if you still have problems please email me.

Amphitryon will probably be my last Reaktor project (or at least major project) because i've pretty much built everything I want to build and use for my own music. Thats essentially why I started this, although it quickly took over my life and the amount of hours ive put into it really has been insane. So from now on I plan to focus mainly back on my music.

However, I will absolutely definitely fix any bugs that arise, and I'm always up for making tweaks and improvents to my instruments as I use them myself. (Rememember thats why I build them!). In fact, I have updates for 3X and Sampler Pack out very soon which fix a small bug I found.

My last major release will probably be FXPack V3 which I have already finished, hopefully it will bring the quality of the FXpack up to par with my other stuff.

Strav - I would love to write a tutorial and I have thought about it before, but really the problem is time. I might do it at some point in the future however. (and sorry to hear about your job!)

many thanks!

One thing occured to me yesterday. This is the first Reaktor ensemble I've bought and it raises some interesting issues.

What I was wondering though is what the implications are of buying an ensemble? I'm not yet (after 18 months of dabbling) at the stage where I can make my own ensembles from scratch but I do like to tweak or modify ensembles to my liking and I'm beginning to feel confident enough to break them down into components I can rebuild into something I want (much as James made Amphitryon to satisfy his own musical needs).

So what happens if someone makes a rebuild of Amphitryon, or someone takes out a component - say the sequencer bit or a macro, and incorporates it into their own creation? This is something people do in the Reaktor community and user library - mixing and matching existing ens as well as building new ones goes on all the time and there seems to be a healthy flow of creativity as a result. So if someone does this - can they then post it in the user library for the community to share and in turn add their own customisations.

Much as I agree with the need to support creators like James and compensate them for all those hours of creation, I also don't want to see that community spirit and flow of creativity and exchange stifled. It seems - like much of the internet itself (at its best at least)- something rather precious that speaks volumes about the nature of human creativity and the tension that often exists with commercial pressures. I would hope at least in this case, that the two can co-exist in some equitable way. How this can be achieved in practice though I don't know - this may be something about negotiating agreements and permission on a case by case basis perhaps - I don't know....James (and other ensemble creators) what are your thoughts on this?.

Just some thoughts and questions.....

I am so glad I own Reaktor!! This is the first ens I've purchased for Reaktor; with all of the amazing free high quality material out there I didn't think I'd ever want to...But I was wrong. Now that I've made this first step, maybe I'll have to start thinking about the WilliamK CD.

Oluf

aMUSEd wrote:

One thing occured to me yesterday. This is the first Reaktor ensemble I've bought and it raises some interesting issues. What I was wondering though is what the implications are of buying an ensemble? I'm not yet (after 18 months of dabbling) at the stage where I can make my own ensembles from scratch but I do like to tweak or modify ensembles to my liking and I'm beginning to feel confident enough to break them down into components I can rebuild into something I want (much as James made Amphitryon to satisfy his own musical needs). So what happens if someone makes a rebuild of Amphitryon, or someone takes out a component - say the sequencer bit or a macro, and incorporates it into their own creation? This is something people do in the Reaktor community and user library - mixing and matching existing ens as well as building new ones goes on all the time and there seems to be a healthy flow of creativity as a result. So if someone does this - can they then post it in the user library for the community to share and in turn add their own customisations. Much as I agree with the need to support creators like James and compensate them for all those hours of creation, I also don't want to see that community spirit and flow of creativity and exchange stifled. It seems - like much of the internet itself (at its best at least)- something rather precious that speaks volumes about the nature of human creativity and the tension that often exists with commercial pressures. I would hope at least in this case, that the two can co-exist in some equitable way. How this can be achieved in practice though I don't know - this may be something about negotiating agreements and permission on a case by case basis perhaps - I don't know....James (and other ensemble creators) what are your thoughts on this?. Just some thoughts and questions.....

Some very good points you raise there...I've taken things from commercial ensembles and used them in my own;Vectrix being a prime example-the R4 library can be considered commercial as we R3 owners had to pay for it.The mono/poly switching I use in my master section in most of my instruments was adapted from Liqih's Virux Dreams-I sent him a copy of the macro that I'd made asking if it were permissible.I'm still working on something with the Virux filters-once again,I wrote and asked Liqih's permission.My mod matrixes are a direct James Walker-Hall lift(at least at the beginning they were);he wrote and answered some questions I had about using them.
As far as making minor mods and making a commercial ensemble available to the general public-no,I couldn't do that and feel right about it.
ew

ew wrote:

As far as making minor mods and making a commercial ensemble available to the general public-no,I couldn't do that and feel right about it. ew

No of course that goes without saying. But I did wonder how James would feel is someone took Amphitryon and made a newer version with lots of different presets and a new design (I'm thinking of Rick Scotts recent brilliant revision of Kev Hopper's "Wool" for example) and then posted it in the user library (but not for sale of course). I suppose I'm wondering if "commercial" ensembles should still be considered part of the knowledge and user base of the Reaktor community or something out of bounds - and maybe where do those lines exist?

aMUSEd wrote:

But I did wonder how James would feel is someone took Amphitryon and made a newer version with lots of different presets and a new design (I'm thinking of Rick Scotts recent brilliant revision of Kev Hopper's "Wool" for example) and then posted it in the user library (but not for sale of course).

I don't know how James would react,but I'D be pissed if it were me I've got a Virux mod with an arpeggiator,a mod matrix,etc.that'll never be posted because it just wouldn't be fair to Liqih.
I think the only way it would work in that situation is a "send me the original and I'll send the modified back"type of routine...
ew

i don't own Reaktor, so maybe I'm not really qualified to be in this thread. But those mp3's are very nice. And I really appreciate the simplicity of providing a small phrase or single note so I can put my attention purely on the sound.

very nice work. Future Music had the Carbon Reaktor synth on its cover CD a while ago. In the November (?) issue they're supposed to make available all the presets their readers sent in. I hope just a few of them approach what you've managed.

wrench45us wrote:

In the November (?) issue they're supposed to make available all the presets their readers sent in.

I wish them luck-in the newest version of Reaktor at least,there's a confirmed bug loading preset banks...Reaktor WILL crash
ew

struck by the beauty of these mp3s I went back and explored the other banks that came on the FM CD with Carbon.
the version I got doesn't crash. It has a lot of other foibles -- sometimes it saves the preset sometimes it doesn't. That's well-known.
What I learned this evening when
loading a new bank, I don't seem to be able to run a second instance with the same new bank. With the default bank I have no such problem.

just another unfortunate behavior -- but since it's free I can extend the same latitude I do with other feee synths, but it does make me hesitate to spend the bucks to pick up Reaktor despite the wonder of this offering and the Wm K. CD et al.

The FM Carbon may very well not crash-or at least with the banks that came with it.The bug's a weird one;if the instrument's originally from R3,banks will load fine.I don't remember it happening with 4.01 or 4.02.With something made in 4.03(or 4.04 Mac)-it'll create a new bank,clone the old bank but will crash if you load a .ssf.
Of course,since you can have 16 banks resident at any one time,it doesn't hinder making patches at all-you just can't import other people's banks.
ew

Hi

Difficult question. I guess I wouldnt be happy. Certainly if somebody uploaded it simply with different presets and a different name id contact NI and have it removed straight away. In fact, if someone just ripped out the wavetable routine for example and put it in another synth in the library I would have it removed too. Even with my free stuff, I prefer people to acknowledge my name when they use bits.

I dont know, I suppose it depends on the size or significance of the section. I guess it just up to individual disgression, on a case by case basis. Im reluctant to say X is ok, but Y is not... I havent thought about it enough! There, I cant be more vague than that can I

aMUSEd wrote:

this may be something about negotiating agreements and permission on a case by case basis perhaps - I don't know....

I agree and think this is the best (and probably only) way to deal with the issue.

Of course if anyone buys it they can modify as much as they like for their own purposes. And like EW I have modified other peoples stuff from the library, but I haven't posted them. If I wanted to I would definitely consult the author first.

Regarding snapshots import, there is definitely a firm bug somewhere in Reaktor. I dont think it has anything to do with version numbers though, it has happened on all versions to me. Some instruments work ok, some don't. I think it might be something to do with the complexity of the instrument.

James - just wanted to say I've bought the ensemble, and had a lot of fun playing around with it last night - great job! Really is a great addition to the Reaktor library -

thanks for posting here

Michael

Michael

Glad you like it! A big thanks to you, and everyone else, who has bought it!

James

And for all you Amphitryon users,Jeremiah Savage has put up an alternate skin pack on the Amphitryon page
Thanks to James and Jeremiah,
ew