iZotope and Native Instruments recently announced a merger under a new umbrella company and to celebrate they’re offering you the chance to download two of their plugins for free. NI are offering up Hybrid Keys, a Kontakt instrument full of keyboards, synths, pads, mallets and more. It also features a flexible GUI that can morph between sample layers creating unique synth tones. 

Native Instruments and iZotope have joined forces to create an umbrella group focussed on "new creative possibilities for musicians, producers, and audio engineers".  The new allegiance will see both companies continue to operate under their own brands, with no structural changes to either organisation. The new group is backed by Francisco Partners, who acquired EMH Partner's majority shares in NI back in January this year.

In this Point Blank tutorial, Anna Lakatos aka Anna Disclaim, a Point Blank lecturer, Native Instruments Product Specialist and Ableton Live Certified Trainer, shows how you can sketch out quick track ideas and build beats using NI’s Maschine+ and demonstrates how you can do all of this using additional music production hardware.

Native Instruments has introduced an all-in-one standalone production unit called Maschine Plus. Operating without a computer, it’s the first standalone Maschine product since it was launched in 2011. Maschine Plus features the usual Maschine MK3 form factor, with 16 pads, two screens, macro knobs, but now features instruments and effects onboard the hardware rather than controlling the software.

Native Instruments have updated their ultimate bundle collection Komplete to version 13, adding their recent plugins and sample instruments released since the last version of Komplete in 2018. Prices start at £169 for Komplete Select, which features 12 instruments, four effects and five expansions all the way up to Komplete Ultimate, which costs £1,349 and features 96 instruments, 26 effects and 73 expansion packs.

Native Instruments CEO and co-founder Daniel Haver and NI President Mate Galic are stepping down from their roles at the German music-making software and hardware company in October this year. Haver, who co-founded NI in 1997, has been part of the team leading the company for nearly 25 years, while Galic joined in 1999 and was the Chief Innovation Officer, overseeing the development and conceptions of products like Traktor, Maschine, Massive and Reaktor. 

Native Instruments have released a new Community Drive sound pack with over 200 loops and one-shots from artists including Just Blaze, Take a Day Trip's No Idle Crew, Richard Devine, SIA, Junkie XL, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Laurel Halo and more. The pack is designed to both inspire artists in quarantine and raise money for COVID-19 charities with an optional donation.