Native Instruments Thrill Instruction Manual
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Document authored by: Adam Hanley
Software version: 1.0 (05/2017)
Disclaimer
Document Version: 1.0
Special thanks to the Beta Test Team, who were invaluable not just in tracking down bugs, but
in making this a better product.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1 Welcome to THRILL ...................................................................................................
2 About the Library .......................................................................................................
3 The Main Interface ....................................................................................................
3.1 The XY Pad ................................................................................................................................. 8
3.2 The Thrill Controls ...................................................................................................................... 8
3.3 Browsing for Sounds ................................................................................................................... 10
4 The Source Page .......................................................................................................
4.1 Atmosphere ................................................................................................................................ 14
4.2 Cluster ........................................................................................................................................19
4.3 Key Split and Octave Settings ..................................................................................................... 23
5 The Effects Page .......................................................................................................
5.1 Mod FX ........................................................................................................................................26
5.2 EQ ...............................................................................................................................................28
5.3 Space ......................................................................................................................................... 29
6 The Master Page .......................................................................................................
6.1 Effects ........................................................................................................................................ 32
6.2 Control Setup ..............................................................................................................................34
7 Credits ......................................................................................................................
5
6
7
13
25
32
37
THRILL - Manual - 4
Welcome to THRILL
1 Welcome to THRILL
Thank you for purchasing THRILL, a real-time cinematic tension instrument. We hope this instrument and sound design tool inspires you.
THRILL is a performance instrument for playing spine-chilling atmospheres, clusters, and hybrid textures. By using the intuitive X-Y performance control you can expressively morph and
modulate over 1000 complex sample sets that evolve and increase their intensity. The modulation engine gives control over different blend modes, a variety of modulation parameters like
pitch and pan, up to five effects, EQ, and reverb. Every detail can be adjusted and personalized manually, or sounds can be created by chance by using the randomize feature. The sample sets and modulations are performed together using an X-Y pad for a completely new way to
design and play cinematic textures and builds.
An indispensable scoring tool for big-screen soundtracks, game scores, sound installations, or
live theater productions, THRILL’s all-original content features orchestral recordings and hybrid sound-design based on ambiences, custom-built instruments, voices, pitched metal, synthesized drones, and more.
THRILL - Manual - 5
About the Library
2 About the Library
While THRILL uses musical sources, it is not strictly a musical instrument, but is more of a
performance effect engine. Most Snapshots will not even use the note information from your
MIDI keyboard; the MIDI is only used to trigger the sound.
The power of THRILL comes from the XY Pad – with this you can control the tension and drama of the sound, as well as morph between the two halves of the sound. The concept being
that you hold a sound and then adjust its Thrill Factor with the XY Pad in sync with your
project. Because of this, THRILL is a tool well suited to scoring film, television, and video
games.
THRILL’s sound engine is based on blending two identical sound generators. These generators
are called Thrills and contain a combination of samples and effects.
Most control pages in the instrument are divided into three sections with the XY pad in the
center, and the controls for Thrill A and Thrill B on the left and right of the pad.
THRILL - Manual - 6
3 The Main Interface
When you first open the THRILL instrument, you will see the Main Page of the interface.
The Main Interface
The Main Interface
This page contains only a handful of controls, but that does not mean that the Main Page is
limited, rather that it has been refined to just the main performance controls for the instrument.
The interface is roughly split into three equal parts:
▪ In the center of the instrument is the XY pad, a 2 dimensional performance control.
▪ To the left are the controls for Thrill A.
▪ To the right are the controls for Thrill B.
To the top right of the Main Page are controls that give you access to the Main Presets – presets that contain values for all parameters in the instrument.
THRILL - Manual - 7
The Main Interface
Click on the left and right arrows to cycle through presets.
►
Click on the preset name to open the Preset Browser (read ↑3.3, Browsing for Sounds for
►
more information on the Preset Browser)
3.1 The XY Pad
Since THRILL is a tool for creating dramatic sound effects, most performance aspects are covered almost entirely by the XY pad.
Move the cursor in the Y axis to control the Thrill Factor, a combination of effects, dynam-
►
ics, and atonality.
Move the cursor in the X axis to morph between the two Thrills, which are sound sources
►
with independent effects and sound parameters.
3.2 The Thrill Controls
To the left and right of the XY pad are icons that display the type of sound loaded into the two
Thrills.
The XY Pad
Beside each of these icons are sliders that define the dynamic range of the Thrill:
Click and drag the lower slider to set the minimum dynamic level of the Thrill, this will
►
be the dynamic level used when the Thrill Factor is at its lowest value.
Click and drag the upper slider to set the maximum dynamic level of the Thrill, this will
►
be the dynamic level used when the Thrill Factor is at its highest value.
The dot between the two sliders shows the current dynamic level of the Thrill.
Below each Thrill icon is a selection of controls for that Thrill.
The Thrill Controls
THRILL - Manual - 8
The Main Interface
▪ The knob controls the volume level of the Thrill.
▪ The arrows beside the knob control the modulation amount for the volume level. Clicking
and dragging on this control will set how much the Thrill Factor will control the Thrill volume.
▪ The menu icon opens the random menu; more on this below.
▪ The text label not only displays the name of the currently loaded Thrill, but clicking on it
will open the Thrill browser (read ↑3.3, Browsing for Sounds for more information on the
Preset Browser)
Randomizing a Thrill
It is possible to randomize a Thrill, or parts of a Thrill, via the randomization menus.
Click on the menu icon beside the Thrill volume knob to open the randomization menu
►
for the Thrill.
The randomization menu will appear.
→
The Thrill Controls
On The Left is the Randomization Menu for an Atmospheric Sound, on the Right is the Menu for a Cluster
The contents of the menu will depend on the type of sound that is currently loaded, but the
general functionality is the same for both.
The contents of the menu lets you select which parts of the Thrill will be randomized.
THRILL - Manual - 9
The Main Interface
Browsing for Sounds
In the SOURCES section for an atmospheric sound, selecting from the list of categories will
narrow the source randomization to only those from the highlighted categories.
1. Click on the menu contents to toggle the randomization of those areas on or off.
2. Click on the dice button to randomize the selected parts of the Thrill.
→ The parameters of the Thrill will be randomized and an undo option will appear in the
menu.
Click on the undo button to revert the Thrill parameters to their previous settings.
►
After undoing a randomization a redo button will appear.
→
Click on the redo button to return to the randomized setting.
►
Note that when you close the randomization menu, the undo/redo data will be discarded, so
make sure you are happy with the settings before you close the menu.
3.3 Browsing for Sounds
There are three levels at which you can browse and load presets:
▪ Main Presets – these contain settings for the whole instrument.
▪ Thrill Presets – these contain settings for only one of the Thrills.
▪ Sources – these contain just the sample information and settings for the most basic param-
eters.
While the scope of each preset type varies, their browser functionality remains largely the
same. As such, this chapter will look at the basic functionality of all browsers at once.
THRILL - Manual - 10
The Main Interface
Browsing for Sounds
Accessing a Browser
To access any browser, click on the relevant label or icon of the currently loaded preset. The
locations of these access points are as follows:
▪ Main Presets – the preset name display to the top left corner of the Main Page.
▪ Thrill Presets – the name displays in the bottom left and bottom right corners of all pages.
▪ Sources – the source icons in the upper left and upper right quadrants of the Source Page.
Browsing and Loading Presets
The Thrills Browser
Browsing and loading presets is a three step process:
1. Use the tags on the left side of the browser to refine your search. Presets that match the
selected tags will be displayed on the right side of the browser in the PRESET column.
Note that selecting multiple tags will refine the search to results that contain both tags
(sometimes selecting conflicting tags will yield no results)
THRILL - Manual - 11
The Main Interface
Browsing for Sounds
2. Select a preset in the PRESET column by clicking on it.
3. Click on the tick icon to the top right of the browser to load the preset and close the
browser.
4. Alternatively, you can double-click a preset to directly load it and close the browser.
THRILL - Manual - 12
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