Native Instruments has launched a new short film, following a day in the life of Emmy-winning composer and producer Deru, a.k.a. Benjamin Wynn. The three-minute video explores Wynn’s strategies for overcoming creative difficulties, and provides an insight into some of his favorite production techniques.
“Creativity is exploring something deep down inside of you – it’s really trying to go deep and figure out what’s in there,” says Wynn. “There are times when you’re down in the studio and you don’t want to work at all, the ideas aren’t coming, and you’re frustrated. You just have to work through all that, because that’s going to be there.”
Part of the video focuses on Deru’s use of FORM, the transformative, sample-tracking synthesizer from Native Instruments. To celebrate the synth’s recent 1.1 update, Deru has teamed up with NI to host a track challenge. Users can download samples created by Deru, then use FORM (a free demo is available) to transform them into a track. Winners, chosen by Deru and NI, will receive prizes including KOMPLETE 11 ULTIMATE, an S-Series keyboard, and special Deru giveaways. Visit the competition’s page https://www.native-instruments.com/deruxform for more information.
Deru recently contributed a work-in-progress to season one of Komplete Sketches – a series of 24 works-in-progress created by 24 contemporary electronic producers using only the instruments and effects of KOMPLETE 11. For the track, Deru used FORM to twist acoustic sounds from his personal library into an evolving drone, layered with meandering melodies and a weighty bassline. The track, along with the other artists’ contributions is available here. To see Deru perform the track live, and explain how it was created, see this video from Native Sessions: Creative Interfaces.
The closing date for the track challenge is May 1st, 2017.
More information: Native Instruments / Deru: Everyday Inspiration
