Native Instruments Monark Manual
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Native Instruments Monark Manual

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Summary of Contents for Native Instruments Monark

  • Page 1 Manual...
  • Page 2 The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Native Instruments GmbH. The software described by this docu- ment is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to other media. No part of this...
  • Page 3 Contact Germany Native Instruments GmbH Schlesische Str. 29-30 D-10997 Berlin Germany www.native-instruments.de Native Instruments North America, Inc. 6725 Sunset Boulevard 5th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90028 www.native-instruments.com © Native Instruments GmbH, 2012. All rights reserved.

  • Page 4: Table Of Contents

    4.2.2 Loading a Snapshot from the Header ................ 15 Saving a Snapshot ........................15 Selecting MONARK A and B Panel Views ..................16 Overview of MONARK Ensemble .................. 18 Overview of Signal Flow ......................19 View A—Overview of MONARK User Interface ................20 5.2.1...

  • Page 5: Monark - Manual

    Table of Contents 5.3.6 FILTER Section ......................47 5.3.7 GLOBAL Section ......................47 Credits ........................49 MONARK - Manual - 5...

  • Page 6: Welcome To Monark

    Thank you very much for downloading this REAKTOR ensemble from Native Instruments. MONARK is a faithful replication of a classic analog synthesizer which can be used either with the free REAKTOR PLAYER, or the full version of REAKTOR 5.8 (or above). On behalf of the entire NATIVE INSTRUMENTS team, we hope this product will inspire you.
  • Page 7 Welcome to MONARK Basic Information Results of actions are introduced by this smaller arrow. → MONARK - Manual - 7...

  • Page 8: What Is Monark

    MONARK puts special focus on a single analog voice with maximum impact; a clear layout and smooth controls providing ac- cess to three oscillators, a warm and potent filter, a feedback path and envelopes with lots of attitude.

  • Page 9: Installation And Activation

    When installation is finished, start the Service Center application, which was installed with MONARK. It will connect your computer to the Internet and activate your MONARK installa- tion. In order to activate your copy of MONARK, you have to perform the following steps within the Service Center: Log in: Enter your Native Instruments user account name and password on the initial page.
  • Page 10 Download updates: When the server has confirmed the activation, the Service Center automati- cally displays the Update Manager with a list of all available updates for your installed prod- ucts. Please make sure that you always use the latest version of your Native Instruments prod- ucts to ensure they function correctly.

  • Page 11: How To Use Monark

    The following sections will give you a brief overview over some basic operations: you will learn how to open MONARK, how to explore the factory-set Snapshots and how to load and play MONARK Snapshots from the REAKTOR Header and Sidepane.
  • Page 12 How to Use MONARK How to Open MONARK Click the MONARK folder. The content of the folder will be displayed in the lower section of the Browser. Double-click the MONARK.ens file, or drag it into the main screen. MONARK - Manual - 12...

  • Page 13: Exploring Factory-Set Snapshots

    When MONARK has loaded, you may be presented with a notice regarding your audio set- tings. MONARK was designed to be used with the audio setting of 88.2/96 KHz. If your current REAKTOR audio settings are less than those recommended, please change them to either 88.2 KHz or 96 KHz for optimal sound quality.
  • Page 14 How to Use MONARK Exploring Factory-set Snapshots A Snapshot is REAKTOR’s notion for a sound, preset, or patch. MONARK can hold banks of Snapshots, and loading any of these Snapshots will set each control of that Instrument to a specific value, and re-create a particular sound.

  • Page 15: Loading A Snapshot From The Sidepane

    REAKTOR PLAYER, so you can tweak a sound perfectly for your song. All parameter settings made in MONARK will be saved as part of your DAW project. Please read the REAKTOR documentation for more information on plug-in mode.

  • Page 16: Selecting Monark A And B Panel Views

    How to Use MONARK Selecting MONARK A and B Panel Views Selecting MONARK A and B Panel Views REAKTOR allows for each Instrument to have two separate Panel layouts, A and B. You can switch between the A and B panel views by clicking on the...
  • Page 17 How to Use MONARK Selecting MONARK A and B Panel Views View B MONARK View B. MONARK - Manual - 17...

  • Page 18: Overview Of Monark Ensemble

    Sample Rate MONARK was designed to be used with a sample rate of 88.2/96 KHz. It is with that sample rate that MONARK delivers optimal results, so it is generally not recommended that you change the default sample rate setting.

  • Page 19: Overview Of Signal Flow

    If performance is an issue and the highest quality or absolute authenticity is not required, you can try a sample rate of 44.1/48 kHz. In most "real world" situations MONARK will still provide a high quality sound, but at 44.1/48 kHz extreme settings may cause aliasing, which will be- come noticeable.

  • Page 20: View A-Overview Of Monark User Interface

    View A—Overview of MONARK User Interface View A—Overview of MONARK User Interface MONARK has four main sections. This overview begins with a description of the Oscillator sec- tion and ends with the Control section. It is important to first understand the OSCILLATORS, MIXER, and FILTER &...

  • Page 21: Oscillators Section

    (5) Master volume: This is the master level of MONARK. 5.2.1 OSCILLATORS Section MONARK offers three independent oscillators that each provides six classic analog waveforms as the source material for your sounds. These can be selected with the waveform knobs: ▪ Triangle ▪...
  • Page 22 Section. Advanced Oscillator Information While MONARK offers a small selection of different pulse widths for the pulse wave, pulse width modulation seems to be a noticeable omission. Here's a little trick, though: since the third oscillator has a reversed sawtooth you can create pulse width modulation by combining it with a sawtooth of any of the remaining two oscillators.
  • Page 23 Overview of MONARK Ensemble View A—Overview of MONARK User Interface OSCILLATOR Parameters View A—OSCILLATOR section. (1) RANGE: This parameter determines the pitch range of the oscillators. The settings of 32', 16', 8', are equivalent to octave standards based on organ stops. The setting puts the oscillator into a sub-audio range.

  • Page 24: Mixer Section

    5.2.2 MIXER Section MIXER section of MONARK combines the output of the oscillators and adds the NOISE source to the signal. Each sound source in the mixer has a dedicated on/off switch and volume control. The audio output of the mixer is routed to the filter. In addition, it's possible increase...
  • Page 25 Overview of MONARK Ensemble View A—Overview of MONARK User Interface Mixer signal flow diagram. MONARK - Manual - 25...
  • Page 26 Overview of MONARK Ensemble View A—Overview of MONARK User Interface MIXER Parameters View A—MIXER section. (1) VOLUME: Set the volume level of OSCILLATOR and 3. This can be used to mix the volume level of each oscillator. (2) On/Off button: Each sound source...

  • Page 27: Filter & Amp Section

    5.2.3 FILTER & AMP Section The MONARK filter is a faithful replication of the classic 4 pole ladder low-pass filter that made music history! All of MONARK's filter types are derived from this ladder structure and were carefully fine-tuned to offer high quality over the full frequency range. The filters allow for beautiful and potent resonance up to self-oscillation like you'd expect to get from a fully ana- log synthesizer.
  • Page 28 As with the oscillator pitch, the filter cutoff in an analog synthesizer doesn't really stay con- stant over time but fluctuates. MONARK also models this behavior and allows access to the amount of fluctuation globally for the instrument from View B (see ↑5.3.7, GLOBAL Sec-...
  • Page 29 In the release phase (when the note is released) the envelope will fall to its minimum value. While MONARK doesn't offer a dedicated parameter to set the release time there is a release button that, if active, applies the decay time in the release phase. Otherwise, the release time is basically a small fraction of the decay rate.
  • Page 30 Feedback Of all the parameters of MONARK this function probably is the most unusual... but it's so much fun! Analog synthesizers often provide an external audio input to allow for the processing of arbitrary signals. With analog synthesizers, where you can basically patch anything into any-...
  • Page 31 It's an authentic reproduction of one of the feedback paths available on the instrument MONARK was modeled from. In general feedback type B is more subtle but great for adding some warmth and still capable of heavy distortion.
  • Page 32 Overview of MONARK Ensemble View A—Overview of MONARK User Interface The picture changes when you provide a periodic signal from the oscillators. It will merge with the feedback energy and dominate the tone. The interplay of resonance, feedback and the sig- nal level of the oscillators will really open a new dimension you might not expect from a syn- thesizer with such seemingly simple layout.
  • Page 33 Overview of MONARK Ensemble View A—Overview of MONARK User Interface ▪ LP2: A 12 dB/Octave Low-pass filter. ▪ LP1: A 6 dB/Octave Low-pass filter. ▪ BP: A 12 dB/Octave Band-pass filter. (2) CUTOFF: Controls the filter's base cutoff frequency. (3) RES: Controls the amount of filter resonance. All filter types are capable of self-oscillation.

  • Page 34: Control Section

    CONTROL Section CONTROL section of MONARK contains all parameters relating to tuning, glide and modu- lation. The parameters here affect the main pitch of the oscillators, the keyboard glide set- tings, modulation of the oscillators and the filter via the modulation wheel.
  • Page 35 But for a specific sound or for your tastes it may just be the other way round. Experi- ment with it! Modulation MONARK has two modulation destinations and one modulation source. The pitch of all oscillators as well as the filter cutoff frequency can be modulated by a signal composed of the output signal of OSCILLATOR 3 and the noise generator.
  • Page 36 FREQUENCY section, the form of modulation available in MONARK is technically not frequency but pitch modula- tion (which is also true for the modulation of the filter cutoff). Pitch modulation differs from frequency modulation in that the frequency of the target is modulated in a logarithmic and not linear fashion.
  • Page 37 Overview of MONARK Ensemble View A—Overview of MONARK User Interface The "Formant Thang" Snapshot in the "Lead" Bank (Snapshot 80) is a perfect example (try ex- perimenting with the cutoff knob). Another example is "Escapade" (Snapshot 29) in the "FX"...

  • Page 38: View B─Overview Of Monark User Interface

    (pink/red noise) source for modulation purposes. View B─Overview of MONARK User Interface View B offers many options to customize MONARK to your personal taste. You might prefer a "cleaner" engine and modern performance features. Or you might go for total authenticity.
  • Page 39 Overview of MONARK Ensemble View B─Overview of MONARK User Interface View B—Overview of MONARK User Interface. (1) General section: This section allows you to select the setting slots that can be used to fine- tune MONARK. See ↑5.3.1, GENERAL Section for more information.

  • Page 40: General Section

    View B─Overview of MONARK User Interface 5.3.1 GENERAL Section There are three different setting slots allowing three global fine-tuning settings for MONARK. The "settings“ switch allows you to select one of these global settings for an individual Snap- shot. GENERAL Parameters View B—General section.

  • Page 41: Keyboard Section

    When browsing through Snapshots it might be irritating to have this, what used to be, instrument wide behavior change under your fingers. For this MONARK allows you to isolate the settings switch from the Snap- shot selection.
  • Page 42 MONARK's audio engine. In LAST note priority mode MONARK keeps track of the order in which the notes were played and always switches processing to the last (or newest) note. Last-note priority has become the de-facto standard behavior for monophonic synthesizers. In the predigital or computer controller era monophonic synthesizers usually offered either low or high note priority since these modes were easy to realize.
  • Page 43 This of course results in the envelope enter- ing the release phase. There are basically two things that can happen and MONARK allows both: FREE RUN the note continues gliding to its pitch destination. If set to...

  • Page 44: Pitch Bend Section

    Overview of MONARK Ensemble View B─Overview of MONARK User Interface 5.3.3 PITCH BEND Section This section allows fine-tuning of the pitch bend. View B—PITCH BEND section. PITCH BEND Parameters (1) CURVE: The curve parameter allows to bend the shape of the pitch bend controller, e.g. to get a finer resolution from your pitch bend controller around its center.
  • Page 45 Overview of MONARK Ensemble View B─Overview of MONARK User Interface View B—MOD WHEEL section. MOD WHEEL Parameters LO section Low frequency modulation for vibrato or wobble. CURVE: Adjusting the curve parameter allows you to bend the shape of the modulation wheel, e.g.

  • Page 46: Oscillators Section

    This control sets the deviation of the ideal key-tracking. Each oscillator has individual key-tracking. Playing two or more oscillators therefore gives the impression MONARK is getting ever so slightly out of tune over the whole keyboard range, which results in oscillator beating.

  • Page 47: Filter Section

    Overview of MONARK Ensemble View B─Overview of MONARK User Interface ▪ B: OSCILLATOR 1 has perfectly linear key-tracking. OSCILLATOR 2 OSCILLATOR 3 converge to ideal key-tracking with higher note pitch. ▪ C: OSCILLATOR 3 has perfectly linear key-tracking. OSCILLATOR 1 OSCILLATOR 2 converge to ideal key-tracking with higher note pitch.
  • Page 48 Overview of MONARK Ensemble View B─Overview of MONARK User Interface GLOBAL Parameters (1) LEAKAGE: This parameter controls the amount of oscillator and general noise leakage (see ↑5.2.1, OSCILLATORS Section ↑5.2.3, FILTER & AMP Section sections for details). DRIFT AMOUNT: This parameter controls the drifting of the three oscillators as well as the filter frequency (see ↑5.2.1, OSCILLATORS Section...

  • Page 49: Credits

    Spirt, Thanos Kazakos, Justin Myracks, Daniel Vester, Tommaso De Donatis / Noise- factory, Nori Ubukata, Tasmodia, Summa, Matthias Fuchs, Artemiy Pavlov, Jeremy Janzen, Uwe G. Hoenig, John Cohen, Kevin Lamb, Hecq. Manual: Maximilian Zagler, David Gover and Mike Daliot. MONARK - Manual - 49...

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