Native Instruments

Native Instruments as a company was founded in 1999 in Berlin, Germany, where its headquarters are still located.^[5] Founders Stephan Schmitt and Volker Hinz began using the name Native Instruments in 1996, when they developed Generator, a modular synth software package (which would later form the foundations for their ongoing product, Reaktor).^[6]

Following the release of Generator, the company's employees expanded to include Bernd Roggendorf (later a founder of Ableton) and Daniel Haver, who later became Native Instruments' CEO.^[6]

In 1999, Native Instruments expanded its staff count and moved to its current building in Berlin's Kreuzberg district.^[6]

In 2000, the company began creating products for the DJ community, beginning with the first version of their Traktor software.^[7] In 2002, they expanded further to include software samplers, in the form of ongoing products Kontakt and Battery.^[6]

In September 2004, the company began a partnership with the DJ hardware manufacturing company Stanton Magnetics and with online music store Beatport.^[8] 2004 also saw the release of their guitar amplifier and effects pedal emulation software, Guitar Rig. In 2006, Native Instruments restructured into 3 divisions: instruments, DJ, and guitar.^[6][9]

In March 2017, Native Instruments acquired remix-licensing startup MetaPop.^[10]

In January 2020, a works council was elected that represents the employees of the Berlin office.^[11]

In January 2021, it was reported that private investment firm, Francisco Partners acquired a majority stake in Native Instruments.^[12]

Aside from its German offices in Berlin and Langenfeld, Native Instruments now also has offices in Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, Paris, and Shenzhen.^[5]

In April 2022, Native instruments briefly became a subsidiary brand of Soundwide,^[2] a parent company created with the backing of Francisco Partners and EMH Partners.

In January 2023, Soundwide laid off 8% of its workforce, citing "challenging market conditions" as the reason.^[13] In June of the same year, the Soundwide name was retired and substituted with Native Instruments' own branding, citing familiarity concerns as what led to the change.^[14]

Software produced by Native Instruments includes the following:

• Reaktor: A visual programming environment based on modules and wires.^[15] Several of Native Instruments products were built using Reaktor, including Monark – NI's emulation of the Moog Model D. In addition to the company's own offerings, it also hosts a large collection of community creations on the Reaktor User Library.
• Kontakt: A software sampler with support for users to program their own virtual instruments.^[16]
• Guitar Rig: A modular software effect processor, focused on amplifier and effects pedal emulation for guitar.^[17]
• Multiple software synthesizers, such as Massive (wavetable-based),^[18] Absynth (semi-modular),^[19] and FM8 (frequency-modulation-based).^[20]
• Traktor: Digital DJ and vinyl emulation software.^[21]

Native instruments also produce a number of other sample libraries, virtual instruments and effects processing plug-ins, many of which function through the architecture of Reaktor or Kontakt. Some of these software items are also grouped together in their Komplete software bundle.^[22]

The company also develops the Native Kontrol Standard (NKS), a plug-in extension which allows integration with Kontrol and Maschine products (both hardware and software).^[23]

Native instruments also produce music hardware, such as:

• Maschine: A system with integrated software for creating drum beats.^[24]
• Kontrol: A series of MIDI controllers, audio interfaces and DJ controllers with software instrument support.^[24][25][26]

• Official website
• Daniel Haver Interview at NAMM Oral History Collection (2021)