http://knowledgeableproducers.

com/forum/

Native Instruments Massive Mega Guide

By Krux of Knowledgeable Producers Forum

This is Massive, a very daunting looking synthesiser made by Native
Instruments. The labels on the following diagram indicate the chapter heading
for the rest of this guide (with a few additions):






Filter section


Effects Section


Oscillators





Modulation and

the central panel


Modulation

Oscillator





Noise

Oscillator


The Macro
Feedback

The insert effects
Controls
control






Massive is a subtractive wavetable synth. See the sound design guide for more
information on synthesisers, but this means that it is a mix of Wavetable and
Subtractive synthesis.

This video gives you a walkthrough similar to that in this guide, but I recommend
you look at both in order to learn the most:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzsAzrj8XNI

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

1. Oscillators

The following picture shows the oscillator section of Massive

Clicking this blue dot

will turn the oscillator
on or off.

Using the arrows, or

using the dropdown
menu will allow you to
choose a wavetable.

This menu selects what the

intensity knob does.

This slider adjusts

how much of this
sound is sent to
each filter.
This number
indicates the pitch
of the oscillator.
Hold alt to move
in multiples of 12
(octaves).

Moving this alters the waveform that

the oscillator produces by changing
the position of the wavetable. See the
sound design mega guide for more
information on wavetable synths.

For all dials in Massive, drag or scroll
on it to change its value.

The volume control for

the oscillator.

What this does depends on what mode you have set for the oscillator:
Spectrum:
This allows you to change how many upper harmonics there are. (A
Lowpass filter).
Bend -:
This stretches out the middle of the waveform, while squashing the
start and end.
Bend +:
This one squashes the middle whilst stretching the beginning and end.
Bend-/+:
This allows you to do both of the above functions with only one dial.
Formant:
As you turn up the intensity, it gradually increases how much formant
action there is in the wave. Try for yourself!

All 3 of Massives oscillators are exactly like this one, and having multiple allows
you to layer your sounds up.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

2. Modulation Oscillator

While it labels itself as an oscillator, this section doesnt produce sound of its
own, but changes the sound that the other oscillators make.

The standard blue, on/off button.

It goes grey when off.

The numbers indicate which

oscillator each mode is assigned
to. You can have multiple modes
acting on the same oscillator at
once, but you cant set one mode
to be on two oscillators.

An identical pitch control to the

standard oscillators. This pitch
value applies to all different
modulation modes.
Turning this allows you to alter the
amount of each mode in operation. You
can have different values for each mode.

These are the modes, which you can choose between.

Ring mod:
Ring modulation is effectively a very fast tremolo. You can experiment with what it does by bringing the pitch
down really low and then turning the amount up; you will hear a slow tremolo.
Phase:
Similarly, this is a very quick vibrato. Phase is basically another way of saying FM synthesis, which also refers to
modulating the pitch. See the sound design guide for more about FM synthesis.
Position:
This allows you to modulate the wavetable position of your chosen oscillator. Think of it like a quick way of
putting a tuned LFO on your wavetable position (Ill get to LFOs later).
Filter FM:
This is like standard FM, but it works on the cutoff of your filter (see chapter 6). There are only two numbers
because there are two filters. However this doesnt work on Bandpass, Bandreject, Scream or Comb filters, and
the number will be come greyed out if you try to do so.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

3. Noise Oscillator

This is much like the other oscillators; only it doesnt produce a sound with a
pitch. Instead it produces white noise or a variant.
On/off button. (I will stop
mentioning this from now
on).

Change the type of noise

using this dropdown menu.

Alters how much of the

sound goes through each of
the two filters.

For all the noise

waveforms, turning up the
color makes the noise
brighter in some way.

This allows you to change

the volume of the noise
oscillator.

4. Feedback

The feedback section is located just to the right of the Noise Oscillator. Feedback
allows you to reprocess your sound with the effects and filters multiple times.

This tells you where

the feedback is
coming from, which
can be changed in the
routing tab

This allows
you to
increase the
volume of the
feedback.
The standard
filter mix
slider.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

Pre A
F1

Post A

F2

Circled are the options for the feedback (FB) routing. Once the source has been
chosen the sound always returns to the oscillators to be processed again.

5. Insert Effects

Since we have just been looking at the routing tab, now is a good time to look at
the inserts, which are located to the right of the feedback section. You have two
of them and they are basically effects, though very simple ones. What makes
them so good is that you can choose where to put them.


Choose which effect you want using the drop
down menu.

What the left dial does changes depending on

what effect you choose, but in all cases apart from
HP LP Filter it is labelled Dry/Wet. This allows
you to control how much of the sound is being
effected by the effect; all the way to left does
nothing, all the way to the right is 100% wet.

The right dial changes depending on which effect

you choose, but its label is often a good indicator
of its purpose.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

As mentioned before, what makes the inserts so great is how you can adjust
where they affect the sound, and this is done in the routing tab:

The circled areas indicate where the inserts can be placed. You can only have
one in a certain place at once, and cant have both inserts at the same place.
Also note that the section in the bottom right will only work if you have enabled
the feedback.

6. Filters

The filters are located to the right of oscillators one and two.
Once a filter type is selected, this becomes
a cutoff dial, which allows you to select
the frequency targeted by the filter.

This slider changes the

mode from series (top), to
parallel (bottom). When on
series the sound will go
through filter 1 and then
filter 2. In parallel, the
signal is split and it partly
passes through both, where
the distribution is adjusted
with the mix slider.

This dropdown
selects filter type.

This is usually the resonance control, but

becomes feedback when using the comb filter.
This slider controls the mix
between the filters,
allowing the user to bias
one over the other.
However its exact purpose
depends on the position of
the slider on the left.

There is one of these on

both filters, which acts as
another volume control.

The central dials use changes depending on which filter

mode. A lot of the time it is disabled, but sometimes
controls the bandwidth.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

7. The Effects Section and EQ

We have looked at the insert effects, but there is also the main effect section
found to the right of Filter2.
The EQ can be
accessed here.
Remember to turn
it on by clicking the
grey dot.

There are two identical effects sections, where the desired effect
can be selected from the dropdown as normal. The only
difference is that FX2 does not have any Tube distortion so if
you want to use any, make sure you do it on FX1.

The far left knob always functions

as a Dry/Wet control, which
adjusts the percentage of the
sound that the effect is influencing.

The next three vary depending on

which effect is selected, so youll
need to experiment to find out
what they all do!

Boost and Frequency work together, where

boost adjusts the gain of a band, and frequency
adjusts that same bands frequency.

This lets you change the

volume of the low
frequencies in the sound.

This allows you to boost or

attenuate the treble
frequencies in your sound.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

8. Amp, Bypass, and Master section

In the top right of the Massive window you should see this section:
The pan wheel lets you pan your
sound left and right.

The number in this box

selects which of the
envelopes controls the
master volume. More
on envelopes later, but
I recommend not
touching this.

The master dial turns

your sound up and
down. You can use the
meter on the right to
check that it isnt
clipping and is at a
sensible level.

The bypass section is special and requires another visit to the routing tab.

What this does is allow one of your oscillators to bypass all the filters and inserts. This can be
useful for many reasons one being the ability to make a bass and use a built in sub without it being
filtered or distorted.

These red circles change which of the oscillators

are being bypassed. Select one of the four options
and then follow the yellow line down to the right
You now have three options about where to route
the sound into again: Before FX1, before FX2, or
before the EQ.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

9. The central panel

- Osc tab

Other than the macros, the only area left to look at is the central section.
Unfortunately there are a lot of things to look at in this central panel, starting
with the osc (oscillator) tab.

As a side note, some of the features in this section are dependent on other
features being enabled in other tabs. For example, glide will only work if you
have monophon or monorotate selected in the voicing tab.

Select which tab you want to view

by clicking here, in this case, click
where is says osc.

This allows you to slide between

overlapping notes, also called
portamento. Turning up the time
increases the time to slide between
notes.

Equal - the time to slide will be the
same regardless of the pitch
difference of the two notes.

Rate - the time to slide is
proportional to how far apart the
notes are. Short distance = short time.

If in doubt turn this on by clicking

where it says, restart via gate.

What it does is restart all of your
waveforms at the beginning of their
cycle. You can then adjust at what
point in their cycle they begin at by
moving the sliders below.

Changing these values alters the

maximum and minimum values
for the pitch bend.

You can use this in real time if
your keyboard has a pitchbend
wheel, or you can automate it
using midi afterwards.

This is the internal envelope.

Envelopes will be explained later,
but just remember, this is the same
as that, but an extra one for
exclusive use within the osc
section.

This is the vibrato section. Rate

controls the speed of the vibrato,
and depth (unsurprisingly)
controls the depth of it.

Above the two dials there is a
Mono button. This means you can
keep the vibrato in the same phase
for all the voices playing (assuming
you have activated multiple voices
in the voicing tab.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

- KTR Osc

Firstly, I would like to recommend that you leave the KTR Osc alone. It stands
for KeyTrack Oscillator and it is the section that controls the intervals between
the notes you play. For example, when you play a C on your keyboard, what you
hear is a C, and the same goes for every other note. The KeyTrack Oscillator
allows you to change this. As you can imagine, this can end up sounding terrible.
This graph indicates the relationship
between the notes you play and the notes
you hear. The straight angled line means that
the gaps between the notes are equal.

By default linear is selected, which

is usually what you want. Linear
gets you the straight, angled line.
Selecting off gets rid of
any relationship between
the notes you play and
the notes you hear. Now,
no matter what note you
play, you will always
hear the same thing.

Choosing user means you can change the

curve manually. Clicking it gets you this:

The red circles indicate the points that you can move. They move up, down, left and right.

Indicate with a yellow circle there are also two lines, which allow you to move all the points at
once while preserving their relationship with each other.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

- KTR Filter

KTR Filter stands for KeyTrack Filter. This is similar to the keytrack oscillator as
it controls a variable depending on which note is hit, but rather than pitch, this
time it controls the cutoff of your filters. With it activated as you play higher
notes, the cutoff of any filters you are using will increase in parallel with it. You
cannot see this happening by looking at the filter section; this feature happens
invisibly.
Playing with the KTR Filter is a lot less damaging to your music that playing with
the KTR Osc. In actual fact, sometimes it can have some really interesting effects.

Again you have the input/output graph.

For the KTR Filter, you can create two

different user curves for each filter and
switch between them at will.

The off setting ensures that the filter

cutoffs do not move at all, no matter
which note you play.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

- Voicing

Along with the osc tab, this section is probably the most useful.
These two numbers allow you to select the
number of voices your sound is playing.
Adding a new voice effectively duplicates
your oscillators.
Having a max value (the left number) can
stop your CPU dying from the overload of
new voices.

These boxes change the way that the synth responds to midi
information:
- Polyphon = you can play 2 or more notes at once.
- Monophon = only lets you play one note at a time. Any previously
playing voices will stop instantly.
- Monorotate = again, one note at a time, but instead of an immediate
stop when a new note is played, the notes fade out (but very quickly).

The trigger options:

- Always = the notes will retrigger all envelopes regardless of note overlaps.
- Legato = playing overlapping notes causes the notes to swap without the envelopes being reset.
- Legato Triller = The step up from legato; a note can now be held down while others play, and
when the others stop playing, the sound will return to the original note.

N.B. Legato triller is not available when polyphon is selected.

Once you turn Pitch Cutoff on you can detune some of the voices from each other. This does of course
require that you have more than one voice in the first place. The two numbers either side of the central
slider adjust the maximal and minimal values that that slider can access. You can then move the slider to
move between those values.

Centered and chord are just two different algorithms for the way the pitches are distributed. For centered
the average pitch value is halfway between the left value and the value for your slider. For chord it
becomes a mix of the left value, and the value on your slider.

The wavetable position is similar; it allows you to have different wave table positions for all of the voices
you have activated. As you move the slider up, the bigger the range of wavetable positions are reached.

This allows you to give different pan values to each of your voices. Beware though, sometimes bringing it
all the way left, or all the way right can make it incredibly loud.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

- Routing

The routing tab has already been covered in previous sections of this guide

- Global

The global section allows you to alter some parameters in your synth patch as a
whole and also some settings between different presets. A lot of the features in
this section are rarely used however:

Clicking this button resets everything in

massive to default. Dont do it by accident!

This changes the sound quality of your

preset, which is good if you are having
problems with CPU overload, but remember
to change back to ultra before exporting.

This lets you pitch your

entire preset up or down
by the chosen amount

Changes the bpm of

the preset (which
changes the speed of
LFOs, performers and
steppers). You can also
sync it to your DAWs
bpm if you are running
it within a DAW.

If you have the hold

feature enabled in your
envelopes, you can reset
them to silence here, or
choose to stop it when
your DAW stops playing.

This central area contains the randomise and copy functions.

Firstly, along the bottom you will see a number of copy and paste buttons.
Other than the copy/paste all, each set of buttons corresponds to the
section above it. Selecting copy means you can save the settings within one
preset and paste them into another.

The rest of this section lets you randomise values within the preset. In
order for this to work you need to have set a number in one of the central
blue boxes, which indicates how much randomisation you want to occur.
You can either randomise individual sections of the preset (oscs, filters,
etc.) or you can randomise everything in the synth.
Overdoing this can get you some really messy sounds so I recommend you
dont pick large values in the blue boxes.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

10. Modulation

The modulation sources are located in the same

place as all the tabs in the last section, and they
consist of Envelopes, LFOs, Performers and
Steppers.
However, having this would be useless without
something to modulate, and Massive is one of the
best with things to modulate. All over Massive you
should see little boxes next to most of the controls.
These do have a purpose!

Similarly on all the modulation sources, you should see lots of little
crosshairs.

To map a source to a destination click on the crosshair and then click on one of
the little boxes. You can map to multiple destinations at once by holding shift and
then clicking wherever you want to put them.

Right clicking on an already assigned box will bring up a menu.
You can remove the modulator by clicking off

You can temporarily mute it and then unmute it using the buttons
below that.

The three sections below that allow you to change the current
modulator into any of the other modulators available.


Once you have assigned a parameter click and drag upward or downward
to assign the amount of modulation. This will create a line that moves
along the parameter.

The colour of the line will change depending on what type of
source you are using. Envelope, LFO/Performer/Stepper, Macro.

On parameters where there are more than one box you will see a caption
that reads SC. This stands for sidechain. Click on it to activate it, put a
modulator in the box above, and then click on the line below the thing you
want to sidechain until it looks something like this:

Now, the amount of modulation caused by Source 1, will change
according to Source 5 (in this example).
You can disable this feature by clicking again on the SC so that it is no
longer lit up.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

- Envelopes

Below is a picture of one of the envelopes. There are four of these, all identical,
though please note that 4Env is linked to the master volume, so any changes
you make to that will also effect the envelope on the volume.

An Envelope is a method of changing something over time. The envelope used in
Massive is a development of the standard ADSR type. (Attack, Decay, Sustain,
Release).
Attack = Time from pressing note to fading in fully.
Decay = Time taken to reach the level indicated by the sustain.
Sustain = the secondary volume level reached after the decay time finishes.
Release = the time taken to reach 0 volume after releasing the note.

These menus let you select save

and delete envelope presets.

Starts the sound

at the attack
every time a new
midi note plays.

Changes the
curves to straight
lines.

Gate = when a note is released the

sound stops instantly
One shot = when a note is released
the sound will only start to release
once it has reached the end of the
decay section.
Hold = the sound will keep playing
even when no longer triggered.

These sliders
allow you to
influence the
envelope
according to
velocity and
the pitch of the
note youre
playing.

Delay = time
taken before
the sound
starts.

Attack = time
taken to fade
in.
Level = volume
it fades in to.

Decay = time
taken to get
change volume.
Level = volume
it changes to.

Release = the
time it takes
for the sound
to fade to
silence.

This section is an optional extra that you can add to your envelope curve. To activate it, change Loop: Off to a number; the
number indicates how many times the section repeats. A new section and dotted line should now appear.
- The S Loop knob changes how fast this extra section happens.
- The level adjusts the amplitude of the new section
- The two other drop downs with numbers in are S Loop curves to choose between. Once two have been selected you can
merge between the two with the morph dial.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

- LFOs

LFO stands for Low Frequency Oscillator. When mapped to a parameter, the
parameter will oscillate back and forth in the waveform set by the LFO. Massive
by default opens with two LFOs activated (modulators 5 and 6), but you can have
up to four of them or none at all.



Like in the envelope these menus allow you to
select, save and delete LFO presets.

Turning on mono means that the

LFO moves in the same phase for
all of the voices playing.

Rate allows you

to change the
speed of the LFO.
You can also
sync it and use
the fraction to
set its speed.
Restart ensures
the LFO always
begins at the
start of its cycle.

Changes the
amplitude of
the LFO.

You can change the LFO to

a Performer or Stepper
using this menu.

An internal
envelope
like the one
mentioned
in the osc
tab.

Providing you have

two different curves,
you can mix between
them using this slider.

This diagram lets you

see the waveform being
used. You can adjust
the phase by clicking
and dragging left or
right.

This section changes the

waveform of the LFO. You
have the four basic
waveforms but the
dropdown lets you pick
some more exotic ones.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

- Performers

By default there is only one performer activated when you launch Massive; it is
located at modulation source 7.
A performer is like a customisable LFO so you can change the curve even more!

Selecting this brings up the

curve library.

The standard performer curve

load/save/delete menus.

Keeps the
performer
curve in phase
for all voices.

This menu
allows you to
change the
performer to a
LFO or stepper.

Here you can change

the rate, sync to the
bpm of your track, and
choose to restart the
performer at the
beginning of its cycle.

The overall performer

amp control like the
one in the LFO.

Bringing the slider downwards lets you

reduce the amplitude of certain
columns in the performer. To choose
which columns you have to click on the
relevant rectangle along the bottom of
the performer window.

This slider lets the user blend between

the two performer curves. All the way
up is the top curve, all the way down is
the bottom, and the places in between
are mixtures of the two.

This graph indicates the curve

of the performer. There are
two independent curves, the
top and the bottom.

When you activate the load curve button, this menu appears:

These 16 tiles each contain a different curve. To select
one, click on it and then click on the main performer
graph where you want to put it.

To paste one curve in multiple boxes click and drag
over those boxes or hold shift and click on different
boxes that arent next to each other.

When you are done, click on the load curve button
again to close the menu.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

- Steppers

The stepper is like the performer except that it only works with single values,
rather than rising and falling curves. As such, a lot of the controls on the stepper
are very similar to those on the performer.
This menu
allows you to
change the
stepper to a LFO
or performer

Keeps the
stepper shape
in phase for all
voices.

The load/save/delete preset

options.

Here you can change

the rate, sync to the
bpm of your track, and
choose to restart the
stepper at the
beginning of its cycle.

The overall stepper

amp control like the
one in the LFO or
performer.

Bringing the slider downwards lets you

reduce the amplitude of certain
columns in the stepper. To choose
which columns you have to click on the
relevant rectangle along the bottom of
the performer window.

This slider lets you add glide when

moving between different stepper
values. Ensure you activate the boxes
below the columns that you want to
glide to.

This graph indicates the levels

on the stepper. When you
select a level, it will show a
number from 0-12 so you can
select values accurately. If you
hold alt it moves in integers.

- Macros and Keygroups

Finally, the last feature in the modulation section is the macro section
in the bottom right of the Massive window.
Keygroups
KTr = Keytracking
Vel = Velocity
AT = Aftertouch
TrR = Trigger Random

You can use the
crosshairs on these to
link any of these
controls to influence a
parameter.

Macros
You can map these to
parameters in
Massive too, and use
them to control
multiple dials and
sliders at once. You
can name them to
make them easier to
find later on.

http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/

Summary
So you have made it to the end of the guide; I hope you found it useful.
If you havent watched the accompanying video you should definitely do that
now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzsAzrj8XNI

Havent got Massive yet?
http://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synths/massive/

Also, please check out the people that made this guide possible, and be sure to
visit the Knowledgeable Producers forum:
http://knowledgeableproducers.com/forum/
https://soundcloud.com/kruxdubstep

While youre on the forum, take a look at the other guides to synths, DAWs and
general production.

Thanks again.
Krux and the Knowledgeable Producers Forum