Reason 3 Jacked Up
Dec 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Jim Aikin
ENTER THE MATRIX
Although the Subtractor rear panel has eight inputs for CVs, many of the parameters on the front panel have no CV inputs. But if you dig a little deeper, you'll find a way. The key is the Combinator. This patch makes a Subtractor perform a type of wave sequencing — a burbling sound you may remember from such vintage synths as the PPG Wave. For this article, I'll do it by using a CV to change the Subtractor's waveform. This is accomplished by routing the CV through a rear-panel CV input on the Combinator itself.
Start by creating an empty Combinator, and then create a Subtractor inside it. Below the Subtractor, Shift-create a Matrix Pattern Sequencer. The Matrix makes no sound of its own; it's strictly a CV source. Patch its Note CV output to the Combinator's Rotary 1 CV input. Set the Matrix to an 8-step pattern and enter some quasi-random note values.
Next, open the Combinator's programmer by clicking on the Show Programmer button on the front panel. Select the Subtractor in the column on the left side, and in the column on the right side, use the pop-up menu to select Osc1 Wave as the Target for Rotary 1 (see Fig. 3). Now run the Matrix and play a few notes or chords on the Subtractor.
Unless you've slipped up somewhere along the line, you'll hear a pattern of changing waveforms and see the Subtractor's Osc 1 Waveform selector jumping from one number to another. By adjusting Rotary 1 itself and the Rotary 1 rear-panel CV amount knob, you can change the pattern.
With a little experimentation, you can come up with many variations on this patch. (For some extra grit, try using the mod envelope instead of a Matrix to sweep through the waveforms.) Download the RNS file that accompanies this article at remixmag.com, and you'll be able to hear how I've used two Matrix sequencers playing patterns of different length to modulate both the oscillators' waveforms and their phase knobs to produce a rich and haunting electronic tone.
SCREAMING FITS
We haven't used a Scream 4 distortion module yet, so create yet another Combinator and Shift-create a Scream 4 inside it. Shift-create a Subtractor in the Combinator and name it Modulator. We're going to use it as a CV source.
Shift-create a Malström in the Combinator and leave its waveform set to Sine. On the rear panel, patch the Malström's audio outs to the Scream 4's audio ins and the Scream 4's audio outs to the Combinator's From Devices jacks. If you play the keyboard at this point, you should hear a distorted Malström.
Now patch the Subtractor Mod Env output to the Scream 4 Damage Control input, the Subtractor Filter Env to the Scream Body Scale and the Subtractor LFO to the Scream 4's P1 input (see Fig. 4).
On the front panel, switch on the Scream 4's Body section and switch the Damage selector to Distortion. Since we're using the Subtractor strictly to generate CV signals, set its Polyphony to 1 and click on the Low BW (bandwidth) button; that will save a few CPU cycles. For this patch, which applies two Subtractor envelopes to Scream parameters, you may want to increase the Subtractor Filter Envelope attack time and the Mod Envelope decay time. And try a synced square wave for the Subtractor LFO.
Experiment with the front-panel settings, especially Damage Control and Body Type. They'll have a big impact on the tone. Play some open fifths on the keyboard; you should hear the sine wave transformed into a pulsing fuzz sweep.
Are you still not satisfied? Here's another idea. Create a second Subtractor in the Combinator, which will also be used as a CV source. Create a Mixer 14:2, route the Scream 4's audio through it and use the Mixer channel's Pan CV In jack to sweep the sound from side to side under LFO control. As you'll discover, the downloadable RNS file adds one or two more wrinkles to this patch for you to explore.
KEEP ON PATCHIN'
It's been a while since Reason 3 was released. Propellerhead most likely has visionary enhancements up the proverbial sleeve for the next version, but Reason 3 users have no need to moan while they wait. This is a mature product with an amazing set of largely untapped features. Every time I work with it, I learn or try something new. So hit that Tab key and get to patchin'!
Go to remixmag.com for a Reason RNS file with the examples in this article, as well as a couple of audio examples.
SIDEBAR
CV Radio
In the beginning, there was the analog modular synthesizer. It was the size of a refrigerator, and you designed sounds by plugging patch cords into jacks (hence the word “patch” to describe any synth sound). The synth was built out of separate modules, and one module could control another by sending a control voltage (CV) along the cord.
The electrical details don't matter much anymore, except in the small-but-passionate community of modular hardware synth users. For our purposes, a control voltage is simply an electrical signal that can be used to control some aspect of what a module does. Think of a CV as an extra hand: It can turn the filter cutoff knob for you when your hands are busy elsewhere.
Of course, Reason is an all-digital device and doesn't use real control voltages. But the CV labels on Reason's rear panel indicate that the concept is close to identical. When you patch a CV output from one module to a CV input on another module, the first module will control the sound of the second one in some way.
Some of Reason's CVs are bipolar — that is, they range both above and below zero. The Subtractor LFO output is in this category. Others, such as the Subtractor Mod Env, are unipolar, which means they never dip below zero. (You can use the inverted output on a Spider CV splitter to send them down into the basement, however.) Also, a switch that changes the Curve output from unipolar to bipolar is on the rear panel of the Matrix.
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