Overview Of Reaktor Prism Ensemble - Native Instruments Reaktor Prism Manual

5

Overview of REAKTOR PRISM Ensemble

REAKTOR PRISM is intended to be a very playable, responsive polyphonic instrument with
a dynamic, expressive and organic sound. In general the character of REAKTOR PRISM is
designed to be more acoustic and subtle. In comparison to other synthesizers, the most
obvious difference is that there are no real oscillators or samples. REAKTOR PRISM is
based on a Modal synthesis model, and sound is created by an Exciter, which creates im­
pulses or continuous noise. REAKTOR PRISM supplies the real twist when this 'noise' is
fed into its Modal Bank. This module has multiple resonating band-pass filters per voice,
similar to Additive synthesis, creating a unique character. Ultimately, this type of synthe­
sis allows the emulation of sounds by giving control over the frequency and amplitude of
each individual harmonic or partial.
The narrow band filters of the Modal Bank turn impulse signals into decaying sine oscilla­
tions, and with noise signals at the input they can create continuous tuned sounds. The
input determines the amplitude and phases of the resonance in a naturally physical way.
The filters can be compared to the oscillation modes of a physical object (e.g. a mem­
brane, a string, a mallet), where each mode has a characteristic frequency, decay time and
amplitude amount. As with Additive synthesis, these are known as partials. By adding up
multiple partials, the sound becomes complex. Depending on the chosen frequencies, the
sound can be a clear tone or a more disharmonic sound like percussion instruments.
In addition to the Exciter and Modal Bank, resonator REAKTOR PRISM has a few addition­
al components that can be used for creative purposes:
▪ A polyphonic delay and all-pass
▪ Saturation and clipping stages
▪ A Voice Processing mixer
▪ A chain of custom effects (Cabinet (amp emulation), 8-Pole HP/LP Filter, Flanger,
Echo and Reverb)
▪ Two feedback loops (a voice feedback and a feedback from the output of the effects
chain)
Velocity sensitivity plays a great role in the real-time variation of the sound. It can be used
to create a very wide dynamic range of loudness and timbre. Velocity can be applied to the
two envelopes: to a low-pass filter in the Exciter and to an emulated low-pass filter in the
Overview of REAKTOR PRISM Ensemble
REAKTOR PRISM - Manual - 14