Reason 3 Jacked Up
Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Jim Aikin
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Jacked Up Examples.rns
Download this Reason 3 RNS file, which contains Combinator patches for the four example explained in this article. See the top Combinator for the first example and descend from there.
Reason Jacked 1.mp3
Listen to this MP3 demonstrating the "LFO, Meet Your Destination" example, which shows how a single Subtractor LFO can modulate several destinations. A chord progression repeats four times, beginning with a very simple organ sound. On the second repetition, LFO1 is routed to the FM amount from the Subtractor front panel. On the third repetition, LFO1 is also routed to the oscillator pitch from Subtractor's rear-panel jacks. And on the fourth repetition, LFO1 is routed to the FM amount using the Spider CV Splitter.
Reason Jacked 2.mp3
Listen to this MP3 demonstrating the "Follow the Bouncing Envelope" example, which uses a drum beat as a CV source for the BV512 Vocoder. Notice how about halfway through, the beat drops out, and thus the modulation coming from the vocoder also drops out, leaving the raw Malstrom sound.
Reason Jacked 3.mp3
Listen to this MP3 demonstrating the "Enter the Matrix" example, in which a patter in the Matrix sequencer alternates the Subtractor synth's oscillator 1 waveform. The first two bars play the initial setup; afterward, the Combinator's Rotary 1 knob is increased, which changes the Matrix pattern.
Sometimes you just want to get on with making music. You've got a looming deadline or a passionate idea, and the last thing you need to do is get lost in minutiae. Then there are those other times, when inspiration has taken a vacation, and you're searching for something new. Or maybe you want to build a deeper understanding of your gear, so the next time you need to get on with it you'll have a few extra tricks up your sleeve.
Propellerhead Reason 3 is a great resource either way. It's simple to just grab a factory beat or synth patch and lay down a track. But poking around in Reason's back panel, hooking things up without any idea about a specific musical goal sometimes leads to a surprise that can end up being the centerpiece of a whole new piece of music.
In this article we'll tiptoe down that signal path less traveled and take a look at Reason's backside stash, exploring things you may want to do with the CV ins and outs when you have a spare half hour to do a little patching and tweaking. See the “CV Radio” sidebar for the theory behind the machinations.
LFO, MEET YOUR DESTINATION
Get your feet wet by creating a straightforward CV patch. Launch Reason, create a Mixer 14:2 if your default song doesn't include one, and then create a Subtractor synth module. If you look at Subtractor's front panel, you'll see two LFOs, which for many types of sounds will be all you need. But each LFO can have only one destination at a time. What if you want to control the pitch, FM amount and filter-cutoff frequency all with one LFO?
Hit the Tab key to look at the rear panel. Notice the LFO 1 jack in the Modulation Output section? To send LFO 1 to two destinations, simply select a destination on the front panel and then patch LFO 1's rear-panel output to the Modulation Input of your choice. You'll notice a couple of destinations here (Amp Level and Filter Resonance) that aren't on the front panel at all.
Maybe two destinations still aren't enough to suit you. Create a Spider CV Merger & Splitter device. (Hold Shift while doing this so that it won't be patched to anything automatically.) Patch the LFO 1 output to the Spider Split A input, and then patch a couple of the Split A outputs to the destinations of your choice (see Fig. 1). Use the knob beside each input jack to adjust the amount of LFO modulation.
When you come up with a lively LFO patch this way, you may want to save it. If you use the File Save button on the front of the Subtractor, though, your CV connections won't be saved. The solution is to select both the Subtractor and the Spider by Shift + clicking, and then choose Combine from the Edit menu. This will create a new Combinator module and move both of the other modules into it, complete with their CV routings. When you save the Combinator patch, all of its internal patch-cord routings will be included.
Reason owners can download an RNS file containing this patch, and all of the others developed in this article, from remixmag.com.
FOLLOW THE BOUNCING ENVELOPE
One of my favorite Reason tricks is to load a beat into a Dr.Rex module and then use the beat as a CV source instead of (or in addition to) listening to it. Follow these steps to try it:
1. Create a Dr.Rex device, load a beat into it from the Reason library and click on the To Track button. When you hit Play on the transport, you should hear the beat.
2. Create a Spider Audio Merger & Splitter. Patch the audio outputs of the Dr.Rex into the Spider's splitter inputs (the ones on the right side). Patch the first pair of splitter outputs back to your mixer. You should hear the beat as before.
4. Shift-create a Malström synth and patch its outputs into the mixer manually. Choose a waveform for Osc A. Almost anything will do, but for this example, I chose the PWM wave (clicked on the Up arrow four times).
5. Tab to the rear panel. Connect the vocoder's CV Output 1 (at the left end of the top row) to the Malström's Shift input and the vocoder's Output 12 to the Malström's Pitch input. Depending on the beat, you may need to choose different CV outputs. By watching the vocoder's front panel while the beat plays, you can see which bands have lots of energy. Your patch should look like Fig. 2.
6. Start the transport and play some chords on the Malström. (When the transport isn't running, the patch will do nothing.) Each time the kick plays, the Malström's Shift parameter will move, and each time a snare or a hi-hat plays, the Malström's pitch will go up. Adjust the CV input knobs to taste.
7. For extra rhythmic interest, Shift-create a DDL-1 device. (You can park it next to the Spider.) Patch the DDL-1 between the Spider and the vocoder's modulator input, and turn the DDL-1's feedback down to 0. Now the pulsing changes in the Malström chords will be offset rhythmically from the beat.
The reason this patch works is because a vocoder is built using circuits called envelope followers. An envelope follower tracks the loudness of its input and outputs the result as a control signal. In a vocoder, the incoming signal is split into separate frequency bands before being sent to a bank of envelope followers. The envelope follower outputs from the first 16 bands of the BV512 Vocoder are then made available as CV outputs on the rear panel. Wherever your beat has a kick, the envelope follower for band 1 should peak, and so on.
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