Native Instruments
Driver
Combines a resonant filter with distortion inside its feedback path, using envelope following and audio-rate modulation for input-responsive coloration or aggressive sound design.
GUI Screenshot
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The Overview
Filtering and distortion interact
DRIVER is built around a 12 dB state-variable filter with low-pass and notch responses. Distortion sits in the filter's feedback path, so resonance, filtering and drive interact rather than behaving like three unrelated processors. At restrained settings it can reshape tone and add movement; stronger settings can produce unstable, self-oscillating feedback.
Play the effect with audio
The lower half provides an envelope follower plus an audio modulation section. Both can affect filter frequency and distortion. The follower derives a slower control shape from the current input or a sidechain, while the second modulator uses raw audio or an internal sine oscillator. This makes DRIVER useful for dynamic sweeps, rhythmic external control and metallic audio-rate effects. Set a stable tonal sound first, then introduce modulation one destination at a time and keep output levels conservative.
Source: Manual, “The Interface Parameters,” pp. 12–18.
The Controls
Tone section
Input changes incoming gain; Output sets the final processed level. FREQ locates the filter's operating frequency and RES emphasizes the area around it. Select LPF to attenuate frequencies above the cutoff or Notch to remove a band around the center frequency. DISTO increases distortion, while COLOR moves its tone from darker on the left to brighter on the right. High resonance and drive can generate loud self-oscillation, so reduce monitoring level before exploring extremes.
Envelope follower
Select IN to follow the processed track or SC to follow the host's sidechain input. Route that external signal in the DAW when using SC. Smooth changes responsiveness—left smooths the envelope, right sharpens it—while Release sets its return toward zero after a peak. The separate FREQ and DISTO envelope sliders set modulation depth. Their polarity icons decide whether louder input pushes the destination upward or downward. For example, use positive FREQ modulation for a filter that opens on attacks, or negative modulation for the opposite movement.
Audio modulation
The AM selector switches between Audio and Osc. Audio mode can use IN or SC; Clip Cut clips the modulation source for a more aggressive shape, and Lag rounds its rapid changes. Dedicated FREQ and DISTO modulation amounts determine how strongly it affects the tone section.
In Osc mode, Rate sets the internal sine oscillator's frequency, Range chooses low- or high-frequency operation, and Envelope applies positive or inverted envelope modulation to the oscillator frequency. Slow rates produce movement; audio-rate settings create much more complex timbres. The header's A/B slots support comparison, and presets preserve useful setups.
Source: Manual, “The Menu Bar,” pp. 9–11; “Tone Parameters” and “Modulation Parameters,” pp. 13–18.