An Interview with Mr. Enrico Iori from IK Multimedia
by Glen Heffner* - 7th September 2004 -

Recently, Cakewalknet.com was honored to be allowed to interview the man behind the magic of IK Multimedia, Mr. Enrico Iori. Mr. Iori was kind enough to answer a series of questions very straightforward and clearly. It isn't everyday that one gets a chance to hear what the central figure of a company is thinking. Read on in this interview by Glen Heffner to hear what Mr. Enrico Iori had to say!

Glen : Thank you for your time Enrico! Could you tell us a bit about your own personal background and the events that led up to the formation of IK Multimedia?

Enrico : I come from a background working in the electronics industry in Modena, Italy. For those that don’t know, Modena is a special place where many fine quality things are made such as the Ferrari or Mazerati cars. Or, you may have seen popularly labeled Balsamic Vinegar from Modena perhaps. Being a musician myself, I wanted to bring a certain quality craftsmanship to new territory of the music software. IK designs software for musicians with a high standard of quality and usability giving the user unprecedented sound and power of expression for a great price. So this is what we set out to do in 1996 when IK Multimedia was formed.

Glen : Many companies tend to work in a specific area, i.e. softsynths, recording, etc., yet IK Multimedia has introduced products in all three major areas: Recording, Softsynths and Guitar Emulation. Was this by design and do you have dedicated design groups working in each area?

Enrico : Sound modules, guitar amps and fx and mastering are some of the most important incredients in producing great quality music. This diverse development was by design and many of our products benefit from the use of this technology.

Glen : IK Multimedia has been a major innovator by introducing products such as Amplitube, T-Racks, and SampleTank; but do you see the trend shifting more toward innovations within existing software or do you think that there are new avenues yet to explore?

Enrico : There are both new avenues to explore as well as our own product line to expand. For instance, we’ve just released over 20 “Expansion Tank” sound module plug-ins based on SampleTank 2 combined with top quality third party sounds from companies like Sonic Reality and AMG. Each title comes with the new SampleTank 2 LE software that has unprecedented 16 channels, 16 outputs and all 32 effects of SampleTank 2 plus other features that cannot be found in a product for such a low price. Then there are Sonik Synth 2 and Studiophonik which are new sound modules that are based on the SampleTank 2 engine and more products in the works. Some will expand upon what we’ve built and others will cover new territory that has yet to be explored. So, it will be an exciting adventure that will continue to grow.

Glen : What is the process involved in bringing a product like SampleTank 2 to market? Are musician’s a major part of your development process?

Enrico : Yes. The key to having products that are appreciated by musicians is to have them also created by musicians who know the right things to look for. In order to bring something as complex underneath yet so simple to use to market we had to concentrate and focus on what the musician’s needs are and how to design a module that would keep the flow of creativity intact.

Glen : SampleTank was a major boon to the softsynth market because it was one of the first truly professional self-contained softsynths that was all inclusive. That is, effects, mixing, excellent samples all in one package, and at a very impressive price; can we expect to see other softsynths developed in the future?

Enrico : Because of IK’s unique strategic alliance with Sonic Reality, between the two companies we probably have one of the largest archives of instrument samples in the world under one collective group. While most companies would have a difficult time putting together just one workstation with as much variety of instrument samples as SampleTank 2 XL, we have the rare ability to actually release several different flavored workstation sound modules with completely different sample material! So, for instance, in the very near future we will be releasing Sonik Synth 2 which is a synth module workstation that covers sounds from every classic analog synth to modern workstation sounds including stacked pianos with pads, vocal textures and many other useful sounds. Then soon after this we have a unique module that is unlike anything that has existed before in hardware or software before called Studiophonik. This is what we call a “studio instrument workstation” and it simulates the feel and mixing control of specific high end studio instrument groups such as drums, percussion, guitar, bass, piano, organ and a horn section. In other words, a virtual band’s instrumentation with the ability to adjust the mix elements like the mics, pickups, processing and more.

Glen : ST2 come with a remarkable collection of included sampled sounds. Are these developed in-house or do you use 3rd party companies for your samples?

Enrico : IK is one of the few software companies that is able to create its own sounds in house. Nearly all of the material that comes with SampleTank 2 XL has been created by our internal team in Italy plus Dave Kerzner of Sonic Reality has added a few additional samples and patches as well. It is a very diverse and powerful sound collection to get right out of the box.

Glen : While we’re talking about development processes, I want to ask about the very promising STRETCH engine in SampleTank 2. Are there any plans to expand upon this further in upcoming revisions?

Enrico : This to me is one of the secret weapons in SampleTank 2 that people can use to do some incredible things that cannot be done with other samplers. It is the type of technology that works on sample material that is suited for it. Certainly something as great as STRETCH would be explored further. For the moment I cannot say more than this.

Glen : While SampleTank 2 handles samples very well, since one now has the capability to import large samples, do you plan to add a “streaming from disc” feature for playing very large samples?

Enrico : SampleTank 2 is designed more as a sample workstation sound module that is portable and efficient to use. It is a different “animal” than other some sample-based plug-ins that are designed to be more like Giga. In fact, I see no reason why someone wouldn’t have BOTH SampleTank 2 XL as a sound module and use another “Giga-like” software sampler for streaming large samples. For example, are there not people who have had both an E4 and a Triton? Both are sample-based but they have different features that make them useful in different ways. SampleTank 2 XL happens to work very well with the amount of ram people can get these days and it is also probably the most “laptop-friendly” this way.

Glen : ST2 is already extremely flexible in terms of its import capabilities, but are there any plans to make SampleTank open to additional sample formats such as Giga, Kontakt, etc.?

Enrico : Possibly. Nothing has been announced officially at this time on this however. I will say though that we’ve done something new for people who also use other sampler formats. We have just released a collection of sounds developed with Sonic Reality called “Sonik Capsules” where each of them support multiple sample formats including SampleTank 2, Kontakt, Battery, HALion, EXS24 and Reason. They even come with a SampleTank 2 LE as well in case the user doesn’t have one of these other samplers but even if they do this is a great way to stress the point that SampleTank 2 is a different type of sample-based plug-in than any other. It is a message to say that it is perfectly okay to have SampleTank 2 in addition to any other software sampler because it is different.

Glen : The effects section in ST2 features code borrowed from Amplitube as well as T-Racks. This is obviously a big attraction, (and a welcome addition), to the potential as well as existing customer. Do you see IK Multimedia ultimately “sharing” more “code” components or “modules” between your software packages?

Enrico : Absolutely. This has been an edge for hardware companies like Roland, Yamaha or Alesis who make both signal processors and keyboard/sound module instruments. This is also our edge as a software developer. With our modeling DSP we have a great opportunity to outfit a sound module like SampleTank 2 based plug-ins with models of hundreds of classic guitar amp combinations or $10,000 vintage tube compressors or limiters and other things that you might not normally expect to have inside a sample-based module. But these elements allow for creating a professional sound very quickly and easily because of this convenient integration.

Glen : Amplitube has been an extremely popular program for quite a while now, so I’ve got to ask, is there an Amplitube 2 “on the drawing board”?

Enrico : I prefer not to answer this question so specifically at this moment. But, if you are asking me if we plan to expand on the success of products we make in general then, as a I have said previously, we do.

Glen : Keyboard controllers, footswitch controllers and other hardware devices are obvious add-ons to software. Do you see this as a potential area of development?

Enrico : I have a background in hardware with electronics and I am used to dealing with this side of things. So, you never know.

Glen : Most of our readers become really supportive of a product when they really feel they identify with the people behind the software. What can you tell us about your company that you would like our readers to know?

Enrico : We take our work very seriously and put in a lot of “labor of love” which gives our products versatility and longevity. We don’t want to just get one customer and say “thank you, goodbye”. We want to help them build a system of inspiring tools that will propel their music into new levels of creativity and productivity. We have a vision and everyone in our team is focused on achieving it. But, besides all of that, I don’t think you’ll find a friendlier, more knowledgeable and helpful group of people in this industry. These are the kind of guys you would want to hang out with and talk about the things you love which, as a modern musician, ironically tend to be music software and sounds!

Glen : Last, but not least, could you please expand on where you think IK Multimedia wants to put its capabilities over the next few years; i.e., software improvements, hardware, research and development, etc.?

Enrico : I think it can be exciting to see what a company like IK will do next, particularly if you like what we’re doing currently and before. So, please forgive me for not revealing all of our secrets. But, certainly there are many things that are logical steps that we would take toward our goals and then there are also some surprises on the way too.

* Glen Heffner is a midi specialist, keyboardist and engineer located in North Carolina, USA. He has a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano and he operates a 48 track studio. Currently he is working on an instrumental CD. You can check him out at www.majormidi.com or contact him at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it