17. January 2017 | Developers | Carl
Talk-Zone #49 Interview with Rigid Audio
Welcome Dennis to this interview. You’re the CEO and mastermind of Rigid Audio. Let’s talk about your company. How did you come to the idea to establish Rigid Audio and when did you start?
I did launch Rigid Audio officially back in December 2015. But please don´t ask me why i´ve called my company „Rigid Audio“ since there is no special story behind it. I just liked the name and i wanted to have something with „Audio“ in it to emphasize what it´s all about :)
You’ve released a very interesting software, called „Kontakt GUI Maker“. Please explain the features of that application, so that people will know, what they can do with it.
Thanks!
Actually, i had the idea for something like this years ago but never found the time to dive into it. But now, as i started developing it, it became a huge success and that very quickly. The idea behind „KGM“ is that you can use it to create your own custom graphical user interfaces for Kontakt instruments. At least that was the primary goal, when i started working on it.
I quickly realized you could do way more than just designing interfaces with it. Today, you can create complete Kontakt instruments with it, that feature all the bells and whistles like complete effects control, sequencer tables and much more. So basically, you can design your very own instrument with „KGM“ without writing a single line of code (script).
If someone uses „Kontakt GUI Maker“, how much instruments may people develope at their own? Is there a limitation for that and is a full version of Native Instruments Kontakt required to use „Kontakt GUI Maker“ or is the Kontakt Player enough?
You can create as much instruments on your own as you prefer. There´s no limitation, no licensing or royalties are involved. You are free to even sell your instruments made with „KGM“. The full version of Kontakt 4 and higher is required, though.
The portfolio of your soundproducts seems to be versatile. But I think you’ve got an affinity for cinematic, dark and a little bit psycho/epic sounds with much textures and drones, right? Where do you get the ideas for new instruments and where do you get the sounds?
That is true, i´ve always been interested in such kind of sounds.
Most of the time when i browse the internet and discover products made by other companies that does become my source of inspiration. I try to analyse their instruments, get an idea on how they made certain things, how they made the interface and so on. Then i might try to make something similar but of course as different as possible.
Do you create the sounds from scratch or do you use presets of synthesizers for them?
I use a lot of virtual instruments (synthesizers) and a palette of effects that i mix and match to achieve a certain sound. I do program all my sounds myself. Very interesting sounds can be achieved when layering multiple plugins. I have a custom „rack“ for that purpose as well that i use as a source for sampling my own sounds.
What artists inspire you? Do you have some musical heroes?
I am a huge fan of Jean-Michel-Jarre, i did visit him two times when he was giving a concert in Berlin. His music constantly amazes me since it´s full of life and full of interesting sounds and effects.
If you start developing a new Kontakt instrument, how much time do you need to invest until it’s completely finished and how many people are working on it?
Well, it depends on the amount of patches and features that i plan to include. Since Rigid Audio is a one-man-show, development times vary from something like two weeks to nearly half a year.
Which kind of equipment do you use for recording your sounds. Are you working with hardware-synths or with plugins or a combination of both?
I am mainly working with software instruments (synthesizers) due to the ease of use. I also have a few hardware synthesizers, like a very old CS1x, a Waldorf and a very interesting german synthesizer from Quasimidi, called „Polymorph“. You can get some very funky sounds from this machine alone!
I’ve heard you’re doing a special give-away for the Noizefield-readers. Which product could the people win and what do they need to do?
That´s right!
I´m giving away copies of my Kontakt GUI Maker which is very close to release now.
Now you’ve got the chance to tell us something that you always wanted to say!
I want to thank my family, my friends and of course all my customers for the huge support in the last year. Without you, there would be no Rigid Audio at all :)
Dennis, thank you so much for this interview!
It was a pleasure, thanks!
More information:
Rigid Audio – Website
Rigid Audio @ Facebook
Rigid Audio @ Twitter
Rigid Audio @ YouTube