Nektar adds record and 3 drum synths to the Aruba pad controller

Words by Mixdown Staff

Nektar have announced firmware and software updates for the Aruba pad controller, formerly known as Aura.

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The update expands Aruba’s existing feature set with new sequencer record, Nektarine drum synth instruments and automatic calibration of pad sensitivity.

Aruba’s onboard drum machine-style sequencer now includes a record feature which compliments the already advanced step programming options. With Record enabled, the notes and velocities played by the pads are captured immediately as sequencer steps. An entire beat can be recorded in one go or built up, one instrument at a time. Steps are quantized at the set play-rate (1/4 to 1/96) to ensure a tight beat. The play rate can be adjusted independently for each pattern, which enables different record quantize results for each pad. When recording over existing pattern content, the last note played replaces any previous note data.

Activating Aruba’s note repeat feature while recording, takes the chore of repetitive note playing out of the equation and enables easy entry of flams or ghost notes. Selecting Aruba’s repeat menu while the sequencer is recording, adds another dimension by allowing recording of repeat parameters, such as note gate (i.e. length) or play rate, in real-time.

Steps can in addition be removed or added while recording, using the 16 RGB LED sequencer buttons, giving a super-fast workflow for beat creation.

Automatic pad calibration

Aruba’s acclaimed pads have always delivered extremely sensitive trigger performance with a user option to adjust pad sensitivity for each pad. The firmware update now adjusts the pad sensitivity setting automatically, to train or optimize the trigger performance for each pad. This ensures a great response, straight out of the box.

K1, S1 and T1 drum synth instruments

The included Nektarine software has also been updated, with the addition of 3 new drum synth instruments: K1 Kick Synth, S1 Snare Synth and T1 Tom Synth. Each drum synth combines a harmonics oscillator, tailored to deliver the body of the instrument drum sound, with other sound elements. This enables a sound pallet covering acoustic inspired to outright electronic or experimental drum sounds.

For example, the K1 Kick Synth combines open and closed beater options with body, pitch and transient parameters along with a bend parameter that can deliver a sharp electronic pitch thud or longer glide.

The S1 Snare Synth includes Wire options and noise sources with Body and Transient parameters. Each instrument is optimised for the purpose its designed for.

All instruments have control of pitch, decay, slope and a cutoff filter with saturation. The shared effects section contains important tools for production-ready sounds including overshoot distortion which adds grit and zap to any sound, a one control compressor optimised for drum sounds and a 2 band EQ. Velocity as well as pressure can be routed to many of the instrument parameters to create dynamic and well playing sounds.

The new suite of drum synth instruments compliments the existing DP-1 drum sample player which already comes with a factory sound library of acoustic and electric sampled kits. The factory sound library has been expanded with new K1, S1 and T1 drum synth patches, taking the total to over 600 individual drum sounds and 45 kits.