Ableton Forum

NI have IMO been bogged down with greedy irresponsible management practices for years now.
The original ideas and actual software is brilliant, but it's rarely more than solid beta in stability and it takes months for simple things to iron out.
From a Gearslutz post.

The thing that concerns me the most about the present state & the future of NI is that it looks like Stephan Schmitt has left to start something new.

According to it's website Nonlinear Labs was founded in Nov 2011 to develop digital musical instruments & effects.

Who is in charge of Nonlinear Labs? - Stephan Schmitt

Upon investigating NI's site it looks like Stephan Schmitt is out of there, wording has changed on the info stuff about the CEOs etc.

Plus this!
http://nonlinear-labs.org/

In case you don't know Stephan Schmitt is the guy behind Reaktor, and very possibly the main force behind most in house products at NI since day one!
I fucking hope to god he makes plug ins! and anally rapes NI's profit margin by being the real deal. I seriously am happy as a pig in shit about this!
Good things are going to happen I believe.

AND controllers. He's got the right idea. Sell specialized controllers for the specialized s/w ie Maschine. Maybe he'll collaborate with Bitwig

Man? if I was Ableton or Bitwig I would have sold him a substantial portion of my company if he joined up as developer!
Seriously this is the guy behind Reaktor, Pro 53, FM8, Kontakt, and very probably Guitar Rig, Massive, and Maschine.
Absynth is a single developer at the helm, and I believe that NI bought Traction?

Also the guy just has an honest face, I know this is shallow, but the other CEO always looked like a guy who manages a Guitar Center, who only recently got rid of his mullet. Schmitt looks like the guy who fixed your guitar amp and did some extra work that he didn't charge you for because he didn't notice it in the initial estimate.
Since Daniel (? other CEO at NI's name) was in charge of marketing and timelines for products I think this is accurate, he's the guy that's made NI huge, but also the guy who's made them largely irresponsible.

I seriously just want to send Schmitt some money now and get it over with!

Yeah I don't think people realize it's as big of a deal if they don't know his history. Just for Reaktor alone...but you know what; it's probably been about 15 years at NI and it's just become a headache.
It's the perfect time. I just remember his name from when I started exploring Reaktor 3 in the late 90's.

I don't think he'd fit at Bitwig (or vice versa), but it's not like he couldn't make something for them.

Yowza. Between this and the BITWIG announcement we've got some potentially cool changes ahead.

Thank God.

Everyone was just resting on their laurels at this point and simply coasting.

He should make a wikkid controller and write something to rival Aalto.

Yeah it's funny because I was just posting about how hardware synths have a better tactile interface, well at least the ones that are smart about it.
It looks like he's planning on designing some sort of universal controller for his new software products and other peoples as well I bet. If he does anything like Massive or Reaktor etc, that interfaces with a controller like good hardware, then he's got my cash. I think digital synthesis on the computer has far surpassed big workstations, but the interface to the end user is still shit compared to the Xpander or Memorymoog, or the Virus (when it's working from all accounts anyway).

No respect for the oxford comma.

shuutobi wrote:No respect for the oxford comma.

Fuck, the, oxford, comma.

I love it that the invitation says "no DJ".

And it actually says "tools for musicians". Not "DJ-software".

pepezabala wrote:I love it that the invitation says "no DJ".

And it actually says "tools for musicians". Not "DJ-software".

This just gets better and better!

[subscribe]

Their office is close to ours. And almost directly on the line between our two offices lies U-he. Conspiracy!

8O wrote:[subscribe]

Their office is close to ours. And almost directly on the line between our two offices lies U-he. Conspiracy!

Lol! Urs probably convinced him to do a small and noble start up like his!
I get the impression there's just one huge business park in Berlin where everybody has to work. I mean business is business but having to see your ex-employers randomly in the AM before the coffee sinks in on the way to work seems awkward, yet Bitwig are what? 5 blocks or less from Ableton? and I get the feeling NI aren't too far away either.

Machinesworking wrote:

8O wrote:[subscribe]

Their office is close to ours. And almost directly on the line between our two offices lies U-he. Conspiracy!

Lol! Urs probably convinced him to do a small and noble start up like his!
I get the impression there's just one huge business park in Berlin where everybody has to work. I mean business is business but having to see your ex-employers randomly in the AM before the coffee sinks in on the way to work seems awkward, yet Bitwig are what? 5 blocks or less from Ableton? and I get the feeling NI aren't too far away either.

You do keep bumping in to the same people everywhere... it's good, stops people making too many enemies as who knows how the constellations will change in the future...

Bitwig, Liine, Ableton are all in a line too - if you extend that out southwards you hit the Jomox office! I'm sure it's possible to superimpose a pentagram and ley-lines on all of this, as I think the bitwig conspiracy theorists have already done...

pepezabala wrote:I love it that the invitation says "no DJ".

And it actually says "tools for musicians". Not "DJ-software".

omfg. That's fantastic.

We are developing digital musical instruments, effects and controllers.

The only thing that would have been better:

We are developing digital musical instruments, effects, and controllers for people that want to play dirty, filthy music in which the term sidechaining is unheardof...