Native Instruments gave 24 contemporary producers a simple challenge: Create a new musical idea using only instruments and effects from Komplete 11. The result is Komplete Sketches, a series of 24 works-in-progress that celebrate the sound of forward-thinking electronic music in 2016.
A new microsite showcases each sketch and offers a rare, self-penned look inside the creative process of each artist alongside specially commissioned visuals from multimedia artist Rainer Kohlberger.
Contributions come from Jlin, Chino Amobi, M.E.S.H., Mumdance and Aïsha Devi among others, with labels including Tri Angle, PAN, NON, Planet Mu and STAYCORE represented. Artists were not selected based on their work within any one genre, but rather a shared commitment to unconventional sound design and a blurring of musical boundaries.
The individual sketches span a full spectrum from the hard-hitting and beat-heavy – epitomised by Angel Ho’s three-minute rave exploration – to the meditative and meandering, such as Ben Lukas Boysen’s washed-out melodic offering. Collectively, they offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse into varying different techniques and approaches. Accompanying notes, provided by the artists themselves, lift the lid on the creative processes behind each sketch — some even going so far as to name specific presets.
The series stands as a testament to how much can be achieved by adopting a faster and more stripped-back approach to creativity, with most artists choosing to limit their palette to just three or four instruments and effects. Komplete 11’s synths and creative tools feature heavily, with Reaktor 6, FM8, Absynth, Massive and Polyplex heard throughout multiple sketches.
Each Komplete Sketch is accompanied by generative visuals from award-winning Berlin-based artist Rainer Kohlberger. His algorithm-based works confront viewers with an all-out visual assault, achieved through the use of vivid colour fields and free-flowing patterns.
More information: Native Instruments / Komplete Sketches
