Blinksonic ECLO.RE/GEN is a procedural stem smasher/slicer for Reaktor 6 that takes any stem into unpredictable and glitchy territories.
Reaktor is one of the most powerful, yet often underrated, software modular Synthesizer environments on the market. You can start simply, but you can also delve very deeply into its capabilities.
Developers like Blicksonic from France demonstrate just how far this is possible. The latest release of Blinksonic is called ECLO.RE/GEN is a procedural stem smasher and slicer packed with resynthesis, granular, and other processors.
Blinksonic ECLO.RE/GEN
ECLO.RE/GEN is the third iteration of its ECO.RE Player interaction series for Reaktor 6. With ECLO.RE/GEN, Sylvain Stoppani of Blinksonic has designed its own sound design workstation/environment in Reaktor 6. He describes it as a mini DAW.
The new Reaktor 6 ensemble can transform your stems and loops into radical, non-linear patterns, where mechanical failure becomes the groove. One thing is for sure: it will be grainy, glitchy, noisy, and there will be a lot of movement.
Important: there’s no AI involved here; everything is based on tools/DSP that are at the core of Reaktor. It takes your source audio material and intentionally destroys it, then musically rebuilds it into a new and exciting form.
According to Blinksonic, digital clock malfunctions and rhythmic chaos play a major role in how this sound environment functions.
Procedural Stems Smasher & Recomposition Engine
The core is based on a 4-track system powered by Reaktor’s resynthesis module, which can simultaneously play up to 4 audio files and apply time-stretching. With the Lock-Pitch effect, you can maintain the original pitch of samples even when the global BPM is modified.
You can use the included library of 222 minutes of original music or your own stems. Once the stems are loaded, you are ready for the next step.
The creative fun begins with the advanced looper system with two modes (A – instant looper, and B is a gesture looper) that instantly create temporal variation. Important: these are not traditional audio recorders but structural modifiers.
Thanks to per-track controls like setting, filter, FX send, balance, reverse…, you have a lot of control and hands-on interaction per track. On top of that, you have a built-in MIDI looper that records and plays back triggers and 20 recordable momentary effects.
Playback & Real-Time Mangling
Yes, playback is also not normal in ECLO.RE/GEN. The 4-track systems have eight playable cue points per track, allowing you to play the waveforms like an instrument. Real-time offset shifting and quantized grid-snapping make this possible.
Well, this was just one part of how to bend, distort, and shake up sounds. There is another fascinating DSP effects engine packed with unique sound processors. FX 1 provides an FFT-based retuner with spectral pitch correction, featuring 24 selectable scales and frequency band selection.
Then, FX2 is an FFT-based resynthesizer that offers sound fragmentation, noise gating, and a freezer great for textures. In the FX3, you can choose between a spring reverb, a resonator, reverb, modulation delay, or distortion.
Alongside this, you can work with attack and release envelopes for modulation and to smooth out FX using MIDI.
With this pool of colorful effects and the ability to instantly loop, reverse, etc., you can massively turn stems upside down and catapult them in new directions.
Snapshots, Sequencing, and Logic
Additionally, you can take snapshots of mangling actions you’ve performed in the engine. More smart is the populate function that automatically fills snapshot banks with unique variations.
A dedicated snapshot arranger is also onboard, featuring a 16-slot sequencer that lets you sequence snapshots and instantly program a full snapshot scenario. That sounds like wild fun!
Plus, you have a random system that generates on-the-fly randomizations of group parameters like the song selection, autotune scale, FX3 selection, and Mix components.
And all this ships in a Cyberpunk-like UI that provides real-time visual feedback, with shaders and scopes that respond to every micro-glitch and MIDI pulse.
Blinksonic is an absolute professional and an artist in UI. This one looks super unique again. In case you didn’t know, he was also responsible for the UI of the Korg microKORG 2.
So that it also fits into the ECO.RE Player series, Blinksonic also ships ECLO.RE/GEN with two LPs, each with 8 tracks, ranging from experimental electronics to ambient up to heavy metal and grunge. Plus, you get a curated set of sound sources from live improvisations.
First Impression
Reaktor as an environment is far from dead, even if some believe it is. This massive new sound design tool from Blinksonic shows just how relevant Reaktor 6 is. You just have to be willing to develop for it.
ECLO.RE/GEN looks absolutely fascinating. It can be a bit overwhelming at first. But once you understand the concept, it can be a super powerful tool for turning existing tracks or loops into glitching, suttering and shimmering soundscapes.
Blinksonic ECLO.RE/GEN is available now for 89€ and requires the full version of Reaktor 6. Sessions in Reaktor 6 Player are limited to 30 minutes.
More information here: Blinksonic
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