Native Instruments Kontour Features Overview

In this tutorial, Echo Sound Works walks you through a features overview of  the new Native Instruments synth – Kontour, a new Reaktor Ensemble in Komplete 10.

Native Instruments Kontour has to be one of the more unique synths I’ve ever used. It was created by Stephan Schmitt, the founder of Native Instruments, and it is a really unique take on synthesis. It is marketed as a very expressive synth that is a sound designers dream, and I gotta say, it really is!

Native Instruments Kontour is essentially a phase modulation synth. So it sounds a little like an FM styled synth. However, it does not use operators and ratios, it does come equipped with two oscillators.

The Oscillators in Native Instruments Kontour are generating sine waves. These then run through a pair of Sine Shaper distortion modules to help beef up the sound. Those then go out to two different filters, a Comb Filter and a State Variable Filter.

One of the most interesting aspects of the synth are it’s envelopes. Typically synths will have ADSR, but Kontour has ADBDSR. These stand for attack, decay 1, break/bend point, decay 2, sustain, release. A lot of sculpting can be done using those!

Check out the video to hear some of the presets and a general walk through of Native Instruments Kontour!

Cheers

Echo Sound Works