![]() New Remix DecksTM in TRAKTOR PRO 2.5 softwareīerlin, March 14th, 2012 – Native Instruments today announced New hardware controller with multi-colored LED pads to access the Native Instruments Announces TRAKTOR KONTROL F1 Traktor has always, at its core, been about precisely curating pre-recorded sound, not generating it from scratch, as production-based suites tend to be. There are obvious parallels to Ableton's system-wide timestretching/syncing capabilities here, but Native Instruments doesn't seem to be playing catch-up here. While beginner DJs will want to stick to full songs to get their bearings, more experienced users will find that with a good amount of dedication to selecting, laying out, and learning sample banks, their mixes will become significantly more involved, and a lot more fun to work with. This box forces the DJ to give samples more attention before the action starts and while the performance is happening. In the past, working with samples felt like something of an afterthought, or a gimmick (see the perennial "airhorn" or "nuclear bomb drop" sounds for reference). Our all-too-scarce minutes with the Traktor Kontrol F1 weren't enough to get any significant production work going, but we did manage to get a feel for what might be possible when it tags along with our existing Traktor setup. Traktor 2.5 software, now with Remix Decks ![]() The grid also serves as a 16-pixel animation display, so you're constantly treated to a deeper look at how the interface is triggering or navigating through each individual sound. ![]() Those candy-colored lights - each hue customizable via an embedded LED - communicate which type of sample is loaded in the corresponding slot in software. A single Traktor-standard rotary encoder is used to adjust parameters. Above each column sits a slider generally used for column volume control and a filter knob. These also serve secondary functions in shift-mode (pitch, speed and color) to further shape the sound. Surrounding the grid are a host of operational effects that modify playback of sounds in the corresponding rows, or in other cases, of all the sounds currently playing back in a column: sync, quant, capture, stop, type and size. Putting it simply, the F1 is a 4.7-by-11.5-inch box with a standard 16-pad interface that should be familiar to anyone who's encountered an MPC-style interface. We had an exclusive sit-down with a beta version of the adorable blinky-buttony-slidery controller/instrument-thing that we're itching to spill the beans on, so join us after the break, won't you? ![]() New Remix Decks in the accompanying Traktor 2.5 software cater to a more granular perspective on mixing, and the F1 is the tool that brings the new layers to your fingertips. The rainbow-flavored box aims squarely at the growing number of beat junkies who fall somewhere between DJ and producer. So while we expect great lumps of gear to make the most difference, this small slab of controller goodness made itself well and truly known to the DJ scene, so much so that the X1 emkay 2, F1, and Z1 remain current in NI’s hardware offerings.A very colorful light will shine upon Native Instruments' DJ ecosystem on May 30th, and it's called Traktor Kontrol F1. Traktor hardware was plug and play in Serato software? If only it carried on that way. And such was the impact of the X1 on the Serato userbase, it was an officially supported accessory. It was that slice of MIDI control that you could put anywhere that could be mapped to any software, and make all those offputting checking-your-email looking moments a thing of the past. The Kontrol X1 had a huge impact on the DJ scene, so much so that it spawned an emkay 2 (yes that in-joke again) and was the blueprint for the Kontrol F1 and Z1. Allen & Heath’s K1 and K2 pay obvious homage to the Kontrol X1, and Behringer’s brilliant but underpromoted and underrated CMD series is an obvious evolution of the same modular concept as well. The DNA is clear in other controllers too. His hand steered NI to create the Traktor Kontrol series that users know, love, and still use today. The lead on both projects was Jim Mazur, a leading light at Stanton who then moved from LA to Berlin to pick up where he left off, albeit in a more restrained way. But it’s that product that inspired Native Instruments to release the Traktor Kontrol X1, which went on to become a firm favourite with users of all software Earlier on in this series, I showcased the Stanton SC system, a modular controller system so far ahead of its time that even if was released today would still be considered futuristic.
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