Fast and intuitive, the AURA is a powerful beat creation and performance instrument. Featuring 16 hyper-sensitive RGB illuminated pads, an onboard step sequencer, a flexible pad repeat engine and incredible plugin control, AURA brings an exciting drum-machine-style workflow to any DAW or external MIDI setup.
Nektar AURA Beat Composer USB MIDI Pad Controller Features
- VST, VST3 AU, AAX compatible MIDI pad controller and beat composer
- Nektarine VST, VST3 and AU plugin hosting and patch management
- Step Sequencer and Pad Repeat engine
- Nektar DAW integration
- Stand-Alone operation
- Compatible with all MIDI software applications in Internal Mode
- Full MIDI programmability in Internal Mode
Paired with the included Nektarine 2.0 software, AURA becomes a plugin control powerhouse for VST, VST3 and AU plugins. Whether working a single multi-sound drum plugin or hosting a comprehensive kit using multiple plugins, setting AURA’s pads up is fast and intuitive, with realtime auditioning. Nektarine can host up to 16 different instrument-plugins simultaneously, so that each of AURA’s pads can play its own plugin. Any pad can be re-routed to a new plugin by creating a plugin slot and loading a patch or plugin directly from AURA’s browser. Pad assignments are saved as part of a DAW project/song or a Nektarine Multi-Patch for instant recall.
AURA’s ‘Plugin’ mode provides instant control of hosted instrument plugin parameters. When programming drum sounds, quick access to key parameters such as pitch, decay or level is essential. Nektarine makes short work of this by auto-selecting the relevant parameters for control with AURA's 8 rotary pots based on the last triggered pad. Nektar plugin maps ensure that even plugins with thousands of parameters can be controlled seamlessly.
Nektarine 2.0 provides 4 FX insert slots per hosted instrument plugin for up to 64 insert effect plugins per Nektarine instance. Dedicated AURA ‘FX’ buttons enable selection and control of hosted effects plugins. Each Nektarine instance has another 4 global send effects slots. Their send levels are controlled for each instrument plugin from AURA’s mixer page. Other mixer page controls are volume, pan and mute/solo for each plugin slot.
Nektarine’s Browser is designed to manage thousands of patches with features like customizable tags and sorting tools, with full control from AURA. Browser settings are independent for every instrument and effect plugin slot. They are stored with a Nektarine Multi-Patch or even a DAWproject/song, along with all other settings. Nektarine can be run in any DAW hosting AAX, AU, VST or VST3 plugins or as a standalone application in Windows and Apple OSX.
AURA’s on-board pad repeat engine is directly accessible, featuring a dedicated on/off button and settings menu. Using pad pressure to control velocity while changing repeat rates with the RGB LED buttons, makes it a great tool for creating dynamic rolls. The Repeat engine is highly customizable, parameters include Repeat Rate, Gate, Accent Interval, Accent Velocity Offset, Swing, Trigger Mode and Clock Source.