To really work with music software as an instrument, you have to focus on a set of tools and get deep into what they can do. Today, we’re launching the first of a limited series of minisites that lets us do that. It’s called Kore @CDM, devoted to NI’s Kore and Komplete lines. We’ve built a special blog which will feature regular tips on how to work with this set of tools, basic and advanced tutorials, and downloadable content, all free and open. (The contents of the site will be Creative Commons-licensed, so you’re free to share and modify what we do, with credit to the authors.)

Kore Minisite @CDM, http://kore.noisepages.com

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Why choose this product now?  I’ve felt really strongly, even having been critical of Kore’s first release, that Kore 2 has the potential to live up to its promise of creating a "meta-instrument" for working with sound and effects. Combined with the rest of the Komplete family, including Reaktor’s open-ended patching environment and the scriptable sampler Kontakt, NI has some deep tools — not perfect, not for everyone, but tools that matter to us. We want to really get into how to use them, and to develop a set of techniques and tools for others, both for sound design and live performance, in combination with hosts like Ableton Live. And this means not just doing stuff "by the book," but really seeing how far we can push these tools, sonically and in playability.

Kicking things off is Eoin Rossney, who talks about how to create feedback loops intentionally in Kore for special effects. It’s something mentioned in the manual, but there haven’t been instructions on how to accomplish it until now. Eoin takes that challenge on, and produces some really oddball sounds just by routing effects into themselves. Have a listen to the samples — just be sure to turn your speakers’ volume down first.

How to Route Feedback Loops in Kore - On Purpose [Kore @CDM]

Peter Dines, a Reaktor whiz and author of the Reaktor Tips blog, will also be writing and screencasting for us soon. Both Eoin and Peter have been CDM regulars, so it’s great to have them onboard.

Why we’re partnering with NI: So that we can provide as much content as we can for free, we’ve gotten sponsorship from Native Instruments to produce the site. But that doesn’t mean we want to make an "advertorial." NI has been generous enough to give us full control over the contents, and the goal isn’t a review, or an ad — it’s as much actual knowledge of these tools as we can provide. And, hey, it’s basically our job to demonstrate that by doing as good a job as we can and listening to your feedback. I’m happy to answer questions about why we’re doing things this way and what it means; we can talk in comments or contact the site.

Most of all, though, I hope you’ll check out the site. If you don’t own Kore or the other tools, we’ll still have sound and video samples and will include instructions for trying out projects in the demo, if you just want to kick the tires a bit. And definitely let us know what you think as we roll out more stories, because we want this to be as useful to you as possible.

Oh, yeah, and if you’re wondering about what the "noisepages.com" thing is about, you’ll be hearing more soon. Suffice to say the Kore site isn’t all we’re working on.

Bonus points to anyone else who had the "opportunity" to see the movie Deep Kore Core.

Native Instruments has released their free KORE player software and the first packs of sounds for the KORE platform today. It’s part of their play to get soundware addicts onto KORE, their all-encompassing instruments and effects package. First, here’s a review of what KORE actually is, as it’s expanded from even what it was when first announced at the beginning of 2007. KORE is…

• KORE software, a tool that can act either as a plug-in or a host for plug-ins, which provides sound browsing, internal effects, and performance controls for combining sounds and effects in semi-modular fashion - ships as KORE 2
• A hardware controller, integrated with the software for high, resolution hands-on control and the ability to audition and switch sounds and performance presets without looking at your computer - also ships with KORE 2
• A sound platform, in which NI presets for existing instruments and effects are categorized and controlled in standardized ways — which doesn’t require KORE 2
• A set of functionalities built into NI’s instrument and effects line that make it easier to browse presets (theirs or your own) in a standard way — again, doesn’t require KORE 2 (though integrates with the hardware if you’ve got it)

So, what’s it all mean? Well, in short, you can get a handful of sounds for free, some good sounds for cheap — but, as often happens, the exciting stuff is at the deep end of the pool when you pay up for the full KORE and get a semi-modular performance environment for instruments and effects, integrated with control hardware. And since we like diving in the deep end around here, you know upfront where our bias is. That said, here’s a quick look at some of the bargain buys to be had, which could complement another tool nicely.

Computers are endlessly flexible for music — but how do they function as actual, playable instruments? As computer software matures, finding a way to make these tools more fun to play is increasingly the aim. Native Instruments’ first crack at a “super instrument” with KORE 1 had some fans, but was a disappointment to many others (myself included, even as a fan of NI’s terrific instruments and effects and Reaktor platform). But a lot of us still believed in the potential of what it was doing. That’s why it’s really exciting for me to have caught a first glimpse of what the new KORE 2 looks like. In just about a year and a half, NI has radically changed the application. We expect to get the full version for review soon, but here’s a sneak peak.

Way back in January of last year, when Native Instruments introduced its Kore sound product, they promised the software/hardware tool would become a new “sound platform.” The idea makes sense: part of the point of Kore is the ability to easily catalog presets for NI and third-party instruments and effects, which would be a logical pairing with big sample libraries and plug-ins that otherwise have lots of presets. (And this is potentially useful if you’re managing settings you’ve created yourself.) About a year after the launch of KORE, though, third-party support hasn’t really materialized. I had speculated sample makers might embrace the format, but that never happened — and one of my likely candidates, East West, abandoned NI’s own Kontakt sample engine for their new “PLAY” engine.

One significant developer is announcing support for KORE, however: Camel Audio. The makers of the terrific CamelPhat distortion/EQ/fatten– erm, “phattening” effect and the deep Cameleon 5000 morphing/resynthesis additive synthesizer have built a number of new KORE-savvy products.

The first KORE may be hanging out in my closet at the moment. But the new KORE2 makes it look like someone got into my brain and imagined my wish list for the tool. I’ll know in June, when KORE: the sequel ships. Here’s a first look.

I’ll be honest: KORE was one of the bigger disappointments of 2006 for me and many of my colleagues. Being ambitious with a product means taking risks, and for my musical needs, at least, KORE didn’t initially pay off. Many features in the first release were missing or didn’t work right. While these functionality issues were largely addressed over the summer, they left a bad taste in the mouth of many users, and KORE still left many wondering what they would do with the thing. I know a few musicians who got really into KORE as the heart of their performance setup, as NI intended. I also know others who found it literally collecting dust, and many more who just skipped over it entirely. Of course, we’re spoilt for choice from NI alone: you could easily become a hermit and spend the rest of your life programming just Reaktor or Kontakt.

Some terrific ideas and design went into KORE. But KORE2 needs to be more. It may not be the “ultimate sound platform” for everyone — that’s a marketing concept; I’m not sure we’d ever actually want that. But the challenge for KORE2 is, for at least its “core” market of sound-sculpting software mavens, can it become a tool we want to use? Can it make us clear late evenings to play around with sound creation, not only for preset lovers, but sound designers and live performers, too?

A look at what NI is planning suggests KORE could well be reborn as a tool sound designers will love. In short:

Native Instruments today made a statement on compatibility and performance under Windows Vista for their full product line. They’ve been doing what sounds like some fairly extensive testing, so these answers should be interesting even in regards to products you use from other vendors.

Native Instruments: Windows Vista Compatibility statement

They have to weigh their words; I don’t. So here’s the executive summary:

You know how some NI lovers were complaining that they weren’t getting new synths? You can officially stop complaining. More details on each of these soon, but Native Instruments has dropped an enormous number of new synths, including one entirely-new instrument, in a single mega-announcement:

1. Battery 3: Battery is a huge favorite drum sampler around here, so word of a new Battery 3 could be the most welcome news in this announcement. There are lots of new features — arguably a bigger upgrade than Battery 2, with new sound shaping features and adjustable flam, humanize, and roll settings. There’s a new wave editor, beefing up the sampler side of the equation. But I think the best improvement could turn out to be the redesigned, customizable matrix view, which could resolve the one part of Battery that felt clunky. It looks like it’s much easier to see and adjust your drum matrix.
2. FM8: Whereas the previous FM7 was focused on emulating existing FM synths (namely the Yamaha DX series), FM8 promises to be a truly new take on FM. Sound morphing, a programmable arpeggiator, new effects, and new presets, are among the new features. What I like best: a new, friendlier interface to make controls accessible.
3. Absynth 4: The thought of Absynth getting deeper actually makes my head hurt, but new wave morphing and freely-assignable modulation will make this synth more powerful. Fortunately, this release promises to be a little easier to use (thank you!). Previous versions of Absynth had deep but confusing envelopes. This version mercifully adds a master ADSR envelope and an envelope “step mode”, which sounds like this could finally clear the hurdles that kept Absynth from a wider audience.
4. Massive: Massive is an entirely new instrument, with “wave-scanning oscillators”, multi-mode filters, flexible routing, drag-and-drop modulation, macro controls, and an envelope step sequencer that looks inspired by Absynth (though much easier to use than early Absynth releases). I really want to say more, but … well, stay tuned, and go listen to the samples on NI’s site and see what you think.
5. Komplete 4: Naturally, Komplete needs an update with all this new feature, and it’s getting one. It’s also terrific to see that NI is bundling in the instruments that were missing, like Akoustik Piano, and including all the new stuff. The only software missing is Massive, though it’s available for a limited time in a bundle with Kore and Komplete. (Too bad Massive isn’t just rolled into Komplete, as it looks very promising.) Also, Komplete will no longer include Intakt or Kompakt, though these stripped-down samplers were already a bit redundant and obsolete, made more so by Kontakt 2 and now Battery 3, so I expect few will miss them. (I actually left them out when I installed Komplete 3.)

Got all that?

New Products [Native Instruments]

Native Instruments’ hotly-anticipated solution for playing soft synths, cataloging sounds, and performing with software in the studio and onstage is here. KORE is now available in stores and shipping, with a street around US$500 (just under US$1500 buys you KORE plus Native’s insanely massive Komplete collection of instruments as part of a special intro).

Native is also launching a US tour with the product, a set of online video demos, and a range of limited-edition intro deals.

Pictured here: what happens if you use KORE in the middle of a global thermonuclear war. That or else what happens if you plug in the wrong kind of AC adapter. (KORE Meltdown? From the KORE Tour Intro video.)

If you are getting KORE, here’s what you’ll want to know about the update and getting started using the package . . .

Native Instruments’ bold claims that KORE is “the worldÃŒs first Universal Sound Platform” continue to earn skepticism from some parties online. But even with over a month to go before KORE’s release, there are some indications of how KORE might evolve. Here’s CDM’s current outlook on the situation:

Oh, boy! It’s my favorite topic: whether hardware or software instruments are “better.” Ugh. Anyway, another month, another trade show, another round of new products that attempt to blur the lines. Let’s see how they’re doing:

Shown: Mystery synthesist from Synthfool