1. First steps in Reaktor Core - Native Instruments

4. Structures with internal state
4.1. Clock signals
How a Reaktor Core module processes an incoming event is completely up
to the module. Normally a module would process the incoming value in some
way, but it can also completely ignore it. The most typical case of such processing
is clock inputs.
One example of a module with a clock input is a Latch. The Latch is not a
built-in module; it’s a macro; nevertheless, it’s perfect for demonstrating the
clock principle.
The Latch has two inputs – one for the value and one for the clock.
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The value input (the upper one) will store the incoming value to the internal
memory of the latch in response to an incoming event; nothing will be sent
to the output. The clock input will send the last stored value to the output in
response to an incoming event.
Clock inputs (unless otherwise specified) completely ignore the value
of the incoming event and respond only to the fact that the event is
coming.
(Because now we are discussing clock signals, not latches, examples of using
the Latch module will come later.)
Because there are modules with clock inputs, it should be clear that some of
the signals in the structure do not carry any used (or, for that matter, useful)
values. Some signals can even be produced for the sole purpose of being used
as a clock source. We will call them clock signals.
A sampling-rate clock is one example of a clock signal. It produces an event
for each new audio sample to be generated, so at 44.1 kHz sampling rate it
would tick 44,100 times per second. The value of the signal has no meaning,
is not intended to be used in any way, and is (in the current implementation)
always zero.