Roots Machine

'Roots Machine' is 12-Bit Crunch's brand new instrument for Native Instruments Kontakt. Like it's predecessors, it's part sample-player and part chord-generator with MIDI export functionality:

It has four chord types, played on four vintage instruments that define the sound of 70s Roots Reggae and Dub music:

• A Challen Upright Piano
• A Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar
• A Farfisa Transistor Organ
• A 3-piece Brass Section.

The chords used in Reggae and Dub are essentially derived from basic diatonic harmony (from the notes of the major scale), with a heavy emphasis on basic major and minor chords. Roots Machine contains these basic chord types with a couple of variations you hear from time to time:

• Major
• Minor
• Dominant 7th
• Half-diminished

There are three different articulations, a combination of stabs and pads, switchable by how you manipulate the keyboard controller:

• Stab (mod-wheel down, velocity hard or soft).
• Lo-Sus (mod-wheel up, low velocity).
• Hi-Sus (mod-wheel up, high-velocity).

The exciting new feature of Roots Machine is that every single sample has been run through a tube spring reverb, namely the Fisher Space Xpander. As is the 12-Bit Crunch way, each reverb sample is unique to the sample it pairs with. You trigger the sample again, you trigger the same reverb sample again. Just like if you sampled off a vinyl: everything is ingrained in the sample, for better or worse.

As per usual, you can choose between a crackly Vinyl sound (with over 300 individual crackle samples tailor-made for each chord, just like sampling for real), a CD sound or a crappy-sounding MP3 sound.

You can have total control of the samples by engaging the Choke feature, which truncates the end of all Roots Machine's output (as in, when you release a key, the chord or note stops).

There's also the cool Warble effect, which adds wow and flutter, which you can dial in to taste (as well as the crackle volume when 'vinyl' is selected as the source) on the Settings page.

In case it wasn't already clear, our instruments play back chords recorded on real instruments. You needn't be restricted to those sounds though, as you can drag the chord-voicings direct into your DAW for re-arranging and playing back on whatever sound you like.

Download Roots Machine today to sound like a true Jamaican reggae don.

IMPORTANT: please note the system requirements, there are no refunds:

Native Instruments Kontakt >5.6.5 or 6 (full-version only*)

Mac: OS X 10.11, macOS 10.12 or 10.13 (latest update), i5.

Windows: Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10 (latest Service Pack, 32/64-bit) Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon 64 X2.

It's highly recommended you use a MIDI controller with at least 61-keys for our instruments. You'll want to be able to access as many of the octaves as possible for ultimate creative freedom.

*Kontakt Player, or demo versions of Kontakt, are NOT supported. Only an authorised FULL version of Kontakt will run our instruments.