Native Instruments was founded in Berlin, Germany, where its headquarters are still located. Founders Stephan Schmitt and Volker Hinz began using the name Native Instruments in 1996, when they developed Generator, a modular synthsoftware package. Following the release of Generator, the company's employees expanded to include Bernd Roggendorf and Daniel Haver, who later became Native Instruments' CEO. In 1999, Native Instruments expanded their staff count and moved to their current building in Berlin's Kreuzberg district. In 2000, the company began creating products for the DJ community, beginning with the first version of their Traktor software. In 2002, they expanded further to include software samplers, in the form of ongoing products Kontakt and Battery. In September 2004, the company began a partnership with the DJ hardware manufacturing companyStanton Magnetics and with online music storeBeatport. 2004 also saw the release of their guitar amplifier and effects pedal emulation software, Guitar Rig. Native Instruments now also has branches in Los Angeles, Tokyo, London, Paris, and Shenzhen.
Products
Software
Software produced by Native Instruments includes the following:
Reaktor: A visual programming environment based on modules and wires. 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.
Native instruments also produce a number of other sample libraries, virtual instruments and effects processingplug-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. The company also develops the Native Kontrol Standard, a plug-in extension which allows integration with Kontrol and Maschine products.
Hardware
Native instruments also produce music hardware, such as:
