Use Dr. Rex Loops to Add Feel to Thor's Step Sequencer

Oct 7, 2009 3:50 PM, By Asher Fulero

Reason's mock Control Voltage system can do some amazing things, including this bit of CV-cabling geekery.

Basically, the idea is that you can use timing information from a Dr. Rex loop's slices to control the advancing of Thor's Step Sequencer, making a drum loop drive a musical synth pattern.

This requires a small bit of setup, but follow these instructions and you should see results pretty quickly.

First, create instances of Dr. Rex and Thor; here, I've use the default patch for each.

Click the Show Programmer button on Thor so you can gain access to the Step Sequencer.

Flip the rack over to reveal the cables.

Disconnect Dr. Rex's audio outputs so you won't hear the loop itself.

Then connect Dr. Rex's Slice Gate Output' (at the top-left) to Thor's Gate In (Trig), which is located all the way at the bottom-left in the Step Sequencer CV Input section.

Next, connect the Thor Step Sequencer CV output at the bottom-right to its own Sequencer Control at the top-left; Gate/Velocity to Gate and Note to CV.

Press Tab again to flip back to the front of the Rack.

Find Thor's Step Sequencer and turn it from Off to Step.

Then dial in a Step Sequence of some kind so that you don't get just one note repeating.

Turn the knobs left or right to choose pitch, click the button below each knob to enable/disable that step.

Now just click the Preview button on the Dr. Rex and voila!

As each Slice from Dr. Rex plays, it triggers the next step in the Thor's Sequencer. Experiment with different Dr. Rex loops for different timing and feels, and make sure to spend some time dialing in both your Step Sequence and your Thor patch; short Amp Envelope Releases work well.

With this technique you can create all sorts of cool patterns that move with the kind of feel that Reason's main Arpeggiator Device can only dream of achieving.

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