tojo1771 – Page 8

37 – Dr. OctoKong Looper

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you how to use Kong and the Dr. OctoRex together to create some continuous looping fun. You’ll learn how to continually loop and play a series of OctoRex files with Kong. This way each pad turns the loop on and off as a toggle, with Velocity sensitivity too.

You can download the project file here: DrOctoKong1-v4. There are 2 RNS files containing 2 Combinators in this zip file. Both Combinators contain the Kong device and 10 Dr.OctoRex devices. The first rns file shows you ways you can play the loops and switch from slot to slot to cycle through all 80 loops. The second one is an update I did which shows how you can use a separate pad to Re-Trigger the loops at any point while they are playing. Keep in mind that what you need to play is the Kong device, and not the Combinator (though you could play the Combinator if you want to. But it might be easier to lay down the midi note clips on the Kong track so you can see what’s going on inside Kong itself). Also, make sure you press the “Run Pattern Devices” button on the Combinator. Alternately, press the “Play” or “Record” button on the Transport. This ensures everything runs as it should.

To see how this setup works, take a look at the video below.

So here’s the basics of how it all works

You create your Kong device without any audio routings. Then you create a series of up to 16 OctoRex devices, all with their audio routings sent to different channels on a 14:2 Mixer. Load them up with your favorite Rex files, flip the rack around and send the “Gate Out CV” from each pad in Kong to the “Master Volume CV In” on each Dr. OctoRex device. Then press “Run Pattern Devices” on the Combinator to initiate the “Run” button for all the OctoRex devices at once (or alternately, press the “Play” or “Record” button on the Transport), and your pads become a play/stop loop toggle for each of the attached OctoRex devices.

The Routing necessary on the Back to link up the Kong with the Rex files

The front panel of the Combinator and Dr.OctoRex devices - Turning on "Run Pattern Devices" will enable all the Rex files to continuously run

A few notes here:

The way it works is by having the Rex files continuously looping and running. All the Pad is doing is turning up the volume. For this reason, the rex files are free-running and do not re-trigger when the pad is pressed again. But as I said in the video, don’t let this discourage you. It’s still a very simple and great way to play the Rex loops from Kong.
The best way I’ve found to play the loops is by using the Keys from C1 – D#2 on your keyboard. I haven’t tried using a Korg or Akai pad controller to play the loops in this way, but I have a feeling if you do, the pads will end up running the loops continuously without a way to shut them off (you’ll have to press the pad with your mouse directly on the Kong device to stop it again). It’s a little quirky, but I’ve tested the keyboard, and it works great. Press a key and the Rex file sounds. Lift up the key and the Rex file sound stops.
One of the benefits of this setup is that the Pads (or keys rather), are velocity sensitive. The result is that the Rex loop volume can be controlled via the Velocity of your pads. This adds a nice dimension to your loops and dynamics to your sound.
You can setup the Rotaries and Buttons as I did here. For each Dr. OctoRex, you’ll need to set up the following Modulation parameters in the Combinator’s Modulation Bus Routing:

The Combinator's Modulation Bus Routing - Just a suggestion. ;-) — The Combinator's Modulation Bus Routing - Just a suggestion. 😉

Taking things a step further

One thing you can do is load up the other slots of the OctoRex devices, and then tie the Loop Slot to a free Rotary (you’ll have to give up one of the parameters above). This way, you not only have the ability to play multiple loops using the Kong device, but you can also switch slots for new Rex Loops by turning one of the Combinator Rotaries. Add to that the various parameters you can tweak at the slice level of each Rex loop, and you have some very powerful fun at your fingertips.

I decided to go ahead and implement this. However, I realized that there’s a nice little way to keep all our parameter automation in place in the Combinator, and still provide the ability to switch from loop slot to loop slot in all the OctoRex devices. It’s really not too complicated. Here’s a video to show you how it’s done.

The nice thing about this method is that it uses the new CV inputs on the back of the Combinator in conjunction with Thor’s step sequencer and triggering provided by Pads 15 and 16. So you can see how some of the Reason devices can be interconnected and operate together to provide some useful functionality.

The idea that you can trigger 80 Loops (and if you used all 14 pads you could trigger 112 loops!) using a single Kong can be pretty overwhelming, but can provide some interesting chaotic possibilities. And even structurally, you can create some amazing songs using little more than Rex loops. For example, think of having each OctoRex device contain 8 loops related to a single instrument. So the first OctoRex contains your drums, the second contains the basslines, the third contains guitar loops, and so on. You have a complete band that you can switch from verse to chorus with one press of a key or a pad.

Extra Bonus: Let’s add some Effects

Here’s a quick video to show you how to simply add an FX or two. I’ve also updated the main project file so be sure to download that at the top of this post. For now, here’s the method I used to show how to add the effects to some of the free pads. There’s also some Delays and Reverbs on two other pads that you can cycle through (5 delays and 5 reverbs). The cycling is somewhat similar to how the Loop Slot Changers work on Pad 15 and 16, except the audio gets split between a bunch of different FX devices with different settings. I didn’t go over how to set that up, but you can look at the file and figure out the routing. Hope you have lots of fun with this one. I had a really great time making it. And now… the video:

Re-Triggering the OctoRex Loops

This video is an update to the main tutorial above. A big thanks has to go out to EditEd4TV at Bauman Productions for helping me figure out how you can re-trigger all the loops as they are playing. Essentially, it uses the note function of the Thor step sequencer to start the loops from the beginning again. Very cool indeed. I also placed the finalized file in the project file download at the top of this article. So go check it out there. And if you want to know how it was put together, check out the video below:

As always, any comments or suggestions or ways we can improve upon this are welcome. So please let me know what you think and what other ideas you might have. And have fun Reasoning!

36 – Let’s Talk Compression

Let’s start talking about Compression. In one of my previous tutorials, I showed a way you could use Kong to parallel compress a Kick Drum. So that was one method. But here are a few others that everyone should know about, especially if you’re working on most dance music genres.

Sidechain Compression (aka: “Ducking” or “Gating”)

This is a basic concept that everyone should know. But the twist is that we’ll use Kong, instead of Redrum, to compress a Thor bassline. This way, when the kick drum sounds, the bass is compressed and “ducks out” of the mix. This ensures the Kick drum cuts through the bass in your track.

Compression can also be used for other things as well. It does not have to be confined to a Kick drum and Bassline. You can use any sound source to duck out any other sound source and create a pumping rhythm like this. For instance, you can use a Kick drum to compress your main synth line. This can create some interesting gating effects if used properly.

Parallel Compression

Parallel Compression occurs when you mix a dry sound source together with that same sound source which has been compressed. In this way you get a wider, fatter sound, and you also get the flexibility of controlling the mix between the dry and wet signals. I put together a video to show you how Kong can be used in a Parallel Compression scenario on YouTube. However, why don’t I show you another way you can use a Redrum to parallel process a Kick Drum (a very common usage of this technique), or an entire set of drums (this is a little more unorthodox because you would usually parallel compress one drum at a time, but just to show you that you have options. . . ). Here’s the video:

Frequency-Based Compression

This approach is a little different, but the concept is similar. A lot of times, you might have a specific frequency that you want to “duck” out of the mix. One method you can use is Frequency-based compression, where you compress only a specific frequency in your mix. This is usually used to remove an unwanted sound, and probably the most popular usage for this kind of compression is “de-essing” where those nasty sibilant “S” sounds are removed from vocals. This is really childs play with Reason and the M Class EQ and Compressor devices. Let’s take a look at how it’s done:

As an alternative to using the M Class Eq device, you can use the BV512 Vocoder. In this way, the sound is colored slightly (and moreso if you use the 512 FFT setting), but it’s still a legitimate way that has its own technique. You can see the video of it below. Try it out. You might come to like this method.

Multi-Band Compression

Of course, there’s also something called “Multi-band Compression” which takes the EQ frequency idea to an extreme. This is usually applied to the whole mix at the end of the signal path, before going to the audio outputs. In this way, you set up multiple compressors each affecting a specific range of frequencies. The concept is not entirely difficult, depending on how many compressors you want to set up. For a really great introduction to multi-band compression, I would advise you to check out James Bernard’s week 7 video tutorial on Multi-Band Compression. In addition, James also has a complete multi-band toolkit available as a free download. So go check it out now if you haven’t already!

So that’s it. I’m sure there are other creative ways you can use Compression, but I hope that begins to inspire you to look at compression as a useful dynamic processing tool or even special effect. If you have any comments on this or any other tutorials, please let me know.

35 – Glitch Box Redux (R4 & 5)

In this tutorial, I’m going to show you some new ideas for Glitch Boxes in Reason 4 and Reason 5. Because, hey, we can never have enough glitch boxes or IDM-style sounds. Just like you can never have enough creativity. Consider this a “Glitch Box (Part 2)” for those that missed my first installment.

Download the project files here: more-glitch-boxes This is a single zip file with one RNS file containing both Combinators. Since those with Reason 4 won’t be able to open the file, I’ve included the Combinators separately. Note that one of the Combinators is for Reason 4 and up, while the other one is for Reason 5. Sorry to those who can’t open the R5 file, but you at least get to use the R4 Glitch Box Combinator right?

Glitching up Keith LeBlanc via the Dr. OctoRex (for Reason 5)

I’ll start with the Reason 5 approach, which uses a Dr. OctoRex to apply some interesting variations to a single loop, then copies that loop multiple times into various different slots. Once that’s done, you change all the slice parameters in all the different loops. Then send the 8 audio outputs of the OctoRex to different FX devices (even the Kong FX) and back into the Mixer channels. Using this setup, you could even apply different mastering FX to the different outputs.

Incidentally, I’m using a rex file that’s located in the Factory Soundbank that was created by drummer Keith LeBlanc. I was supremely excited to see some of his material included in the FSB (among other very talented individuals). If you haven’t heard of him; he, along with Adrian Sherwood, Doug Wimbish, Skip McDonald, and even Mark Stewart, formed a group back in the 80’s called “Tackhead” which were revolutionary at the time. I would highly suggest you visit these links and explore them further on your own. While not the first band to ever use samples, they were one of the first bands to heavily rely on them for their music. And they ushered in the industrial hip hop genre which was an amazingly ecclectic mix of genres. Their music may sound a little dated now, but still gets me going. Definitely worth your time to explore. Luckily I have the original “Tackhead Tape Time” LP (yes, an actual original issue LP). But enough about that. Let’s get busy Glitching up Keith LeBlanc!

Once the basic setup is in place, you can go crazy editing all the slice parameters, but pay special attention to the “Out” or “Output” parameter. This is what will send the various slices to the various FX devices. So that’s going to have the most impact on how the slice is played.

Lastly (and this is discussed in Part 3 below), you can set up a few CV sources via Thor devices, and send them to the different FX device CV sources. In this way, you can take the Glitch Box to a whole new level of crazy. Don’t miss it.

Glitch Box (Redux – for Reason 4)

In this second approach, I wanted to give Reason 4 users another way to create some Glitch in their rack. This is an idea I got from delving into the Glitch Box Combinator that comes with the Factory Soundbank. It was an old patch that has been around since R3, and so it uses a few NN19s hooked up to a 14:2 Mixer, and the mixer levels are triggered by the Redrum CV Gate outs. In this one, I update the idea by using a few Thor devices. You can really have a lot of fun using a few different Wavetable oscillators, and changing around the LFO2 Wave types and rates between all the Thor devices (this is something I neglected to do in the video below, but I would think it would produce some interesting variations). Anyway, this method can be used in R4 and above and is for all those who haven’t yet purchased Reason 5. But seriously, what are you waiting for?

So does anyone else out there have some good glitch ideas or know ways in which these combinators can be improved? Possibly adding some mastering or Reverb before they hit the mixer is one thought I had. Any other ideas?

Reese Bass & Trance Lead

This time, I was trying out various Reese Bass ideas and other trance lead ideas after watching Hydlide do a few interesting tutorial videos on putting together a trance lead. So I thought I would try out creating some trancey sounds in a Combinator which everyone can use if they wish.

Download the RNS file and two Combinators (in a single zip file) here: trance-leads.

Description: This time, I was trying out various Reese Bass ideas and other trance lead ideas after watching Hydlide do a few interesting tutorial videos on putting together a trance lead. So I thought I would try out creating some trancey sounds in a Combinator which everyone can use if they wish.

Features: The Combinators are pretty simple. Mostly, they use saw waveforms which are detuned. Add in a few special effects and you have some highly customizable sounds. The Reese’s Pieces Combinator was created with a Reese Bass sound in mind, so it’s better if you use this in the lower registers of your keyboard. The Trance Lead Combinator is pretty much what it says on the tin: a Trance Lead. Here are a rundown of each Combinator’s controls:

Reese’s Pieces

Here’s how the patch was put together:

Pitch Bend: The pitch bend adjusts the Pitch up or down by 7 semitones.

Mod Wheel: The mod wheel is assigned to the Malstrom only. Index is increased, Shift is reduced, and the Filter is increased.

Rotary 1: Filter Frequency – This affects the Thor’s Filter 1 Frequency and allows you to play with the full frequency range. This knob is also tied to the ECF filter frequency which affects the sound coming out of the Malstrom in the same way. Essentially you can create a filter sweep with this Rotary.

Rotary 2: Resonance – This gives you a limited, but useful range affecting the Thor and Malstrom Resonance kn0bs.

Rotary 3: Unison – This Rotary affects the impact of the Unison affecting the Thor Oscillators. Fully left, and there is no Unison (fully dry), while turning the knob fully right provides you with a full Unison detuned sound (fully wet).

Rotary 4: + Shift – This changes the Shift of the two Malstrom Oscillators (A and B) from 0 to +63. You just have to try this out to hear for yourself. It’s a very interesting and quirky application to the sound. But I personally like playing around with this rotary.

Button 1: Twist 1 – This turns on the Thor Shaper. It provides a slightly overloaded or overdriven sound on top of all three sawtooth waves in Thor. It’s not overly heavy though, so it’s pretty safe to use. However, depending on how your Frequency and Resonance are set, this will affect how much you will hear the Shaper affect the sound.

Button 2: Twist 2 – This turns on the Malstrom Shaper. It provides an overdriven sound effect. This is much higher pitched or brighter than the Thor Shaper, so it provides a more distinctive sound. However, depending on how your Frequency and Resonance are set, this will affect how much you will hear the Shaper affect the sound.

Button 3: Reverb – Adds in a strong reverb sound, which I find is pretty common in these types of patches.

Button 4: Unassigned

Usage: You can use this any way you like. But mainly it can provide a very bass-heavy sound (my take on a Reese Synth Bass sound).

Trance Lead

Pitch Bend: The pitch bend adjusts the Pitch up or down by 7 semitones.

Mod Wheel: Unassigned

Rotary 1: Bass Increase – As the name suggests, the bass is increased by increasing the Filter Frequency of Thor’s Filter 2.

Rotary 2: Motion – This affects the Motion of the Malstrom Oscillators A and B from -64 to +30.

Rotary 3: Reverb – Adds Reverb to the overall sound coming out of the Combinator. This is a Dry/Wet Reverb knob going from 0 to 70.

Rotary 4: Filter Sweep: This affects the frequency of all the Oscillators. Use this rotary to create a simple filter sweep for build-ups in your songs.

Button 1: FX 1 – Each of the buttons adds a specific effect which you may or may not like. I added these in as an afterthought just to provide more flexibility with the Combinator. Play around and experiment with them to see if they enhance the sound for you. Button 1 here Changes the Modulator A to Index from 0 to -64.

Button 2: FX 2 – Changes Thor’s Oscillator 1 Octave from 3 to 4. Also changes the Malstrom’s Oscillator B Octave from 4 to 5.

Button 3: FX 3 – Changes the Malstrom’s Modulator A to Shift from 0 to 22 and Modulator B to Motion from 0 to -10

Button 4: FX 4 – Changes the Malstrom’s Modulator B to Filter from 0 to -64

Usage: You can use this any way you like, but mainly it provides a basic trance lead sound.

Other Notes: For both Combinators, you can really change this sound around quite a bit just by playing with all the parameters. So you’ll have to experiment to find something that suits your taste. In addition, you can use the Frequency rotary to create a frequency sweep or build-up in your tunes.

As always, please let me know what you think or let me know if and how you use this in your own projects. Happy Reasoning!

34 – Breaking out of Kong

Exploring the Advanced features of Kong, learn how to use Kong’s FX modules on audio from other devices, process your Kong sounds through other Effects units not included in Kong, expand your Drum processing abilities by parallel drum processing or processing each drum module individually.

In this tutorial I’m going to explore some of the advanced features of Kong. We’ll learn how to use Kong’s FX modules on audio from other devices, process your Kong sounds through other Effects units not included in Kong, expand your drum processing abilities by parallel drum processing, and process each drum module individually.

Break Out / Break In

The first foray into exploring some outside routing came from an email request I got. The person who emailed me wanted to know how the first tip from “Music Radar’s Top 10 Essential Reason 5 Tips” worked. The tip went like this:

“One of Kong’s best features is its powerful level-setting system, but another key point is its connectivity. Instead of mixing internally within Kong, try routing the pads out through a 14:2 Mixer and then back into Kong via the Break-in connections. This enables you to set levels and EQ with the mixer, and still use the powerful master output FX. Save your construction as a Combinator for future use.”

Well, here’s how it works. The basic idea is that the Break-out jacks on the back of Kong act as an additional way to insert Effect devices between the FX2 and Bus FX modules in the signal flow. The flow works something like this:

Drum Module > FX1 > FX2 > [Your Insert FX here / Break-out & Break-in jacks] > Bus FX > Master FX > Main Output

That’s essentially the signal flow. Keep in mind though, that if your Drum output is set to “Master FX” which is the default, or any of the output jacks (3-4, for example), you will need to use the Bus FX Send knob on the drum panel on the front of Kong to adjust the level of the external effects devices. Also note that the external effects devices are global. You can use them as an insert for all the drum modules inside Kong. If you don’t want them used on a specific drum, then just keep the Bus FX Send for that specific drum at it’s zero (0) default.

I know this sounds a little complex, so I put together this video to show you an example:

Parallel Drum Processing, Kong Style

Here’s an interesting way to create Parallel processing on your kick via Kong. And it’s stupid-easy!

Parallel processing is when you use the same drum sound both wet and dry at the same time. You can tune the amount of each, but both together add up to a beefier sound. Again, the idea is to trigger both a processed and unprocessed drum sound at once and then mix both together to create a punchier beefier kick. So here’s the easy way to do it in Kong. Note that we’ll do it inside a Combinator so you can save the patch for later use.

First, Create a Combinator and inside create a 14:2 Line Mixer (we’ll do this to have access to the Mixer’s EQ, otherwise you can create a 6:2 mixer instead, that’s totally up to you). Then create a Kong.
Open up Kong and add a Physical Bass Drum into drum module 1. Set the drum output to the 3/4 stereo pair. Add a Parametric EQ device into the Bus FX slot and a Compressor into the Master FX slot.
Flip the rack around and send a pair of audio cables from the 3 / 4 Audio outputs on the back of Kong into the second channel of the 14:2 Mixer.
Now comes the fun part. Flip back to the front. Turn up the Drum’s Bus FX send to about 100, and start playing the Drum Pad. As you play, adjust the EQ and Compressor to taste. You’ll hear the effect it has on the sound.

The reason this works is because you are sending the same drum sound two different places. The unprocessed sound is going straight through ouput 3/4 (and into channel 2 on the Mixer), while the processed sound is running through the Bus FX and Master FX and back out the main outputs into channel 1 of the 14:2 Mixer. Both are playing at once. Instant parallel sound.

If you want to ease back on the level of processed sound (ie: the sound going through the EQ and Compressor), simply reduce the Bus FX send knob. If you want to adjust the level of dry sound, use the Channel 2 Level fader. You can also turn on the EQ and adjust the EQ parameters directly on the 14:2 Mixer. This setup provides loads of options.

7 Drums to 7 Channels: Hooking up each Drum Module Separately

And now for something completely different. I’ve heard many people ask how they can send their drum pads to individual channels in the mixer. The easy answer is to send each drum module through the different outputs available on the back of Kong; 7 stereo pairs in all.

In actuality, if you count the Master FX, Bus FX, and Direct output, you have 10 in total. But for our purposes here, let’s focus on sending 7 drum pads out to 7 different channels in the Mixer. In this way, all the drums operate exactly the same in terms of signal path and it’s the easiest to work with when you’re first starting out.

To set this up, first create a Combinator as we did earlier (so we can save this as a template for use later). In the Combinator create a 14:2 Mixer and holding the shift key down, create a Kong device.

On Kong, click the Show Drum and FX button. Then load up 7 drums in the first 7 drum module slots. These can be any drum modules you like, and they can have any associated FX inserted into the FX1 and FX2 slots.

At the bottom right of the drum module select the appropriate outputs as follows:

Drum Module 1 > Output 3 – 4

Drum Module 2 > Output 5 – 6

Drum Module 3 > Output 7 – 8

Drum Module 4 > Output 9 – 10

Drum Module 5 > Output 11 – 12

Drum Module 6 > Output 13 – 14

Drum Module 7 > Output 15 – 16

Flip the rack around to the back, and route each of the above audio outputs to their own Left/Right channels in the 14:2 Mixer (7 channels in total).

That’s all there is to it. Now, you can control each of the drums via the Mixer channels. This means that you can control the Level, EQ, Panning, etc. from the Mixer channel strip. This also opens you up to using 4 different sends on the drums via the Mixer sends if you like (if you did everything through Kong, you’d have access to only 2 sends via the Aux 1 and Aux 2 cables on the back of Kong).

One caveat. In this type of setup, you can control the Level of the individual drums via the Drum Level knob on each drum panel, if you so choose. So don’t get confused. Essentially, this means you have three junctures at which to control each of the drum levels: The Drum Module’s Level knob, the Drum panel Level knob, and the Mixer Channel Level fader. It’s important to know the proper signal chain between all these various levels. It goes exactly in that order:

Drum Module Level > Drum Panel Level > Mixer Channel Fader > Mixer Master Fader

Since there is nothing routed from the main output of Kong, Kong’s Master Level isn’t even utilized (put another way, it’s useless and does nothing in this setup).

Processing Audio Through Kong

Finally, here’s how you can process your audio through Kong. It’s drop-dead simple, and you can process Any audio from any device (and from any audio track if you have Record) through any number of Kong FX devices. Watch the video to find out how it’s done.

So that’s it. A few advanced ideas for breaking outside Kong and using the device for more than just drum processing. I’m sure there’s many others. But these are the ones that came to my mind. What’s your favorite idea or feature of Kong? Drop me a line or comment on this post and let’s see just how far we can push Kong.

33 – One Rotary, 64 Patterns

This is a problem that plagued me for a long time but with Thor, I found a very easy workaround. The idea is simple. I wanted to gain access to more than 32 patterns with a single Rotary on a Combinator. For the longest time I couldn’t figure out how to do it. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks and I had one of those “of course!” moments. I mean come on. Doesn’t everyone feel limited with only 32 patterns accessible from a Combinator rotary? How about 64 patterns?

Let’s take a breather from all the Reason 5 action. Since many people are still on Reason 4, let’s do something that everyone in 4 & 5 can do together. This is a problem that plagued me for a long time but with Thor, I found a very easy workaround. The idea is simple. I wanted to gain access to more than 32 patterns with a single Rotary on a Combinator. For the longest time I couldn’t figure out how to do it. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks and I had one of those “of course!” moments. I mean come on. Doesn’t everyone feel limited with only 32 patterns accessible from a Combinator rotary? How about if I showed you how to double the amount of patterns you could access. Would that be worth 10 minutes of your time?

Here is the project file for this tutorial: 64-patterns. It contains an .rns file (it was created in Reason 5, so I’m not sure if those with Reason 4 can open it or not. If not, let me know and I can create the same file in R4 for you). In the rns file there are two Combinator ideas. One that contains 64-pattern switching, and the other contains 128-pattern switching. Note that I have not populated all the matrixes with fully loaded patterns. Instead there is a single pattern on A1 for all the Matrixes. This way I was able to test switching from one matrix to another. It’s up to you to load the Matrixes with your own patterns, random or otherwise. Both Combinators are connected to the same mixer, so you will need to mute one channel to hear the outcome of the other and vice-versa. Have fun with these!

So let’s get down to business. . .

So why would you ever want to do this. Well, it gets me closer to what I would like to see out of Reason: a way to create truly generative music, where you can press a button and set sail a sea of sound that is ever-changing. Great if you want to have some Pad or Ambient sounds drift on in the background, ever changing and always new and interesting. You could also incorporate this into your glitch effects as a controlling device to provide an endless range of chaotic buzzes, blips and shazams. How you use it is really up to your own creativity. But at least with 64 (and even 128) different patterns, you can create a pretty long string of variety that, if played through from start to finish, no human could discern the repetition (think of it this way: at 120 BPM, a normal 4/4 bar with 64 patterns shifting at every 4 bars would last 8.5 minutes before any repetition occurs. In the case of 128 patterns, you could end up with an ever-changing pattern lasting 17 minutes long without any repetition.

Yes, it’s a little spastic and insane, but it can definitely prove interesting, even as nothing more than a creative experiment. So let’s take a look at how you can create 64 patterns on one Combinator rotary knob.

First, create a Combinator and inside create a 6:2 line mixer. Then, holding the Shift key down to force Reason not to autoroute the devices, create a sound source (let’s take a Subtractor so that we can differentiate from the Thor device which we’ll use as a CV switcher). Also create 2 Spider CV Mergers/Splitters, a Thor, and one Matrix pattern sequencer.
Load up the Matrix sequencer with 32 patterns, then duplicate the matrix so that you have another copy with the same 32 patterns. At this point, change the patterns on the second matrix so that you have a new set of 32 unique patterns in the second matrix.

You may want to temporarily tie the matrix to a sound source device so that you can audition the patterns and how they sound. You may alternately want random patterns, in which case you can select the Matrix device and press Ctrl+R in order to randomize a pattern into a pattern bank. Go to the next pattern (A2) and do the same. And so on, until you have all 32 pattern banks filled.
Next, flip the rack around and start making connections. Send the Audio output of the Subtractor to the Audio Input of channel 1 on the Line Mixer. Send the Note CV output of Matrix 1 to the CV 1 input on the Thor. Send the Gate ouput of Matrix 1 to the CV 2 input on Thor. Then send the Note CV output of Matrix 2 to the CV 3 input on the Thor. Send the Gate ouput of Matrix 2 to the CV 4 input on Thor.
Send CV 1 & CV3 outputs from Thor into the Merge input 1 & 2 on the first Spider. Then CV 2 & CV4 outputs from Thor into the Merge input 1 & 2 on the second Spider.
Send the merge output from Spider 1 to the CV input on the Subtractor, and merge output from Spider 2 to the Gate input on the Subtractor. Also, turn the trim knobs on all the CV merge inputs that are occupied fully right (set to 127). If you don’t do this, you won’t get what you expect when you start playing the patterns.
The CV and audio routings on the back of the rack
Now that everything is routed, we need to tell Thor what do do with all that CV stuff. So flip the rack around to the front again, and click the “Show Programmer button on Thor.

Note: Since the Thor device is only used for CV purposes, you can remove all of Thor’s audio settings (bypass the Oscillator and Filter, turn off all the envelopes, etc.). Alternately, you can open up the Combinator Programming panel and deselect the “Receive Notes” checkbox for the Thor device. Either way will work.

A completely initialized Thor device
Once the Thor programmer is open, enter the following in the Modulation Bus Routing System (MBRS):
CV In1: 0 > CV Out1

CV In2: 0 > CV Out2

CV In3: 0 > CV Out3

CV In4: 0 > CV Out4

The Modulation Bus Routing Section (MBRS) in the Thor device
Now let’s do a little programming in the Combinator. Open up the Programmer panel for the Combinator. Select the Thor device and enter the following:
Button 1 > Mod 1 Dest Amount: 100 / 0

Button 1 > Mod 2 Dest Amount: 100 / 0

Button 1 > Mod 3 Dest Amount: 0 / 100

Button 1 > Mod 4 Dest Amount: 0 / 100

Then select each matrix and tie them both to Rotary 1 as follows:

Rotary 1> Pattern Select: 0 / 31

The Modulation Bus of the Combinator: Thor settings on the left and the Matrix settings on the right.

Press button 1 twice to initialize it (turn it on and off). Also turn Rotary 1 in order to initialize it. Now when you play the sound source, moving Rotary 1 around will select pattern 1 – 32 on Matrix 1. When you press Button 1, the Rotary switches to Matrix 2 and you’ll be hearing pattern 1-32 on Matrix 2. This switch is instantaneous simply because both Matrix patterns are running at the same time. Thor and the Spiders are used to switch from one matrix to the other on-the-fly. It’s really that simple.

And now let’s go for broke!

Awesome. We have 64 patterns. Let’s go for broke. Let’s create 128 patterns! Because you can never have enough patterns. In this case, you essentially have to duplicate what you did for the previous section, and create a second set of 64 patterns on Rotary 2 / Button 2 in your Combinator. Once you’ve created those, and routed them up and programmed them (Tip: duplicate all your devices, that way you don’t have to reprogram the Thor again, and instead just need to set up the routings).

Once that’s done, you’ll need to create yet one more Thor and 2 Spider Mergers/Splitters. This time, you’re going to take the merged output from the two spiders hooked up to Thor #1 and the merged output from the two spiders hooked up to Thor #2, and send them through the third Thor. The CV outs from Thor will then go into the 2 Spider Mergers/Splitters you just set up (on the merged side), and then the merged output from both will go into the CV / Gate inputs on the sound source device (in this case, the Subtractor).

Now the only thing left to do is to program the Combinator. Open up the Programmer, select Thor #3, and again enter the following:

Button 3 > Mod 1 Dest Amount: 100 / 0

Button 3 > Mod 2 Dest Amount: 100 / 0

Button 3 > Mod 3 Dest Amount: 0 / 100

Button 3 > Mod 4 Dest Amount: 0 / 100

Matrix 1 & 2 will need to have their “Pattern Select” both tied to Rotary 1, while Matrixes 3 & 4 will need to have their “Pattern Select” both tied to Rotary 2.

This way, Rotary 1 controls which pattern is selected on Matrix 1 & 2 (64 patterns in total), and Rotary 2 controls which pattern is selected on Matrix 3 & 4 (64 additional patterns). Button 3 acts as a toggle switch between the two sets of Matrixes (Matrixes 1 & 2 on Rotary 1, and Matrixes 3 & 4 on Rotary 2). Phew. That’s it. You’re all set to play with the Rotaries/Buttons to switch between 128 unique patterns programmed into 4 Matrixes. If that’s not enough patterns, then even Reason can’t help you out.

I know this might get a little confusing for some of you. It was confusing to set up the first few times. But if you run into trouble, just download the project files up at the beginning of this tutorial. There’s a fully-functional 128-pattern switcher Combinator in there. Good luck!

So as far as practical applications, if you really need 64 or 128 unique patterns affecting the same sound source, you can do it all within a Combinator. With a little routing ingenuity you could probably access the Redrum patterns in much the same way and extend your creativity further. How’s that for an idea? Do you have any comments or questions? please jump in and post them here. Until next time, happy reasoning!

32 – Work with Live Re-Sampling

In this article, I’m going to go over some of the various aspects and things you can do with Live Sampling in Reason 5. Since all the sample players (NN19, NN-XT, Redrum, and Kong) have the new ability to directly record or “Sample” sounds, they can finally be called fully-featured samplers. So what does this mean for you?

First, it means you can resample from anywhere within Reason. Any audio going out of any device in reason can be sent to the “Sampling Input” which is integrated into the Audio I/O device (just under the Hardware Interface). This is perhaps my favorite use of the new Live Sampling capabilities, and it’s the focus of this article. Note, however, that you can sample from any outside source, such as a microphone, guitar, synth, or any other hardware that you can send into your computer. If you can send it into the computer, or create it in Reason, you can now sample it too.

Setting up your Song for On-The-Fly Live Re-Sampling

So to get the ball rolling, let’s start by taking a preliminary look at how to set things up in your Reason song so that at any point in your creative process, you can sample on-the-fly. It involves nothing more than a spider audio merger/splitter which splits the signal from your main mixer into both the “Sampling Input” and “Audio Output,” which are both found on the Audio I/O device.

And here’s the same method, but using Record 1.5. I had someone on Youtube request how this is done, so I thought I would create a video showing the method. It’s really simple. Just use a Spider to route the Master section outputs into the Live Sampling inputs as well as the audio Outputs. And then you’re all set:

Sample Editing

Now that we have a simple methodology for resampling anything in Reason, let’s take a closer look at what you can do with the Sample inside the sample editor. Note one of my favorite features here is the “Reverse” function in the Sample Editor. No longer do you have to use the RV7000 or Reverse function in the NN-XT player. You can embed this reverse functionality in the sample itself. Try this trick out: Save a drum sample. Duplicate the sample, open up the duplicate, Reverse it, and save it with a new name. Now you have a drum sample going forward, and the same drum sample in reverse. Tie each of these samples to a pad in Kong and you have them both playable at a moment’s notice. And all of this takes about a minute in Reason.

Using the “Song Samples” tab in the “Tools” Window

And finally, here is a video that goes in depth into the “Song Samples” tab of the Tools window (which is accessible by pressing F8 on your keyboard or going into Window > Show Tool Window). Note one of my favorite features: the Export button, where you can take any song sample and save it as a .wav file for use in not only Reason, but any other DAW or program that accepts .wav files (which is just about every one of them).

All of these features took less than an hour to figure out and understand. It’s a testament to the Propellerheads that it’s just plain easy for anyone to immediately jump into sampling. They took this process and made it intuitive. It’s nothing fancy or glorious or profound. It’s basic, simple, easy to understand, and gets you exactly where you need to go. Sure you can do this with a free program like Audacity, but it’s in keeping with the Prop’s philosophy of a closed system, and I’m glad that Live Sampling is now integrated into the program. Creating samples just became a little quicker.

So there are some ways you can set up Re-Sampling in Reason 5, editing your samples, and using the Tools Window “Song Samples” tab. As always, I’d love to hear your feedback and suggestions. For now, thanks for watching and keep on experimenting with Reason. We’ve all just merely scratched the surface.

31 – Kong Drum Pad Hit Types

In this tutorial, I’m going to cover and give a thorough explanation of how the hit types work for the Kong drum pads. Depending on which Drum Module you select in Kong, the hit types will change. So having a clear understanding of how each one works is important. After reading this tutorial and watching the accompanying videos, you’ll have a good grip on how they work.

First, A word about Hit Types.

First, the Hit Types can be found on the bottom right side of Kong’s main interface. You’ll see access to all four types, as outlined below. By default all pads are assigned to Hit Type I, no matter what drum module is selected. Each Pad can only be assigned to a single Hit Type (as opposed to Support Generator Modules, which can be assigned to any number of the four Hit Types – more on that below).

In addition, there is a “quick edit” mode button. When accessed, you can easily set up the Hit Types for all 16 pads at once. That’s what this button is for (see below).

Lastly, there are Hit Type assignments on both of the Support Generator Modules (Noise and Tone) at the top left side of each unit. This means that you can assign which hit type will make use of the Support Module (this can be one single Hit Type, or all four Hit Types). By default, all four Hit Types are affected by the support modules. Click any of the Hit Types to essentially turn off the support module for said Hit Type. For example, you may want to have a Closed Hi-Hat module make use of the Noise Support Module FX, but leave the Open Hi-Hat unaffected. In this case, you would keep Hit Type I (Closed Hi-Hat) selected, and deselect Hit Type IV (Open Hi-Hat).

Kong's Support Generator Modules and their Hit Types

Now that we’ve got the basics down, here are the various Hit Types you will find, in order of the Drum Modules that appear in Kong:

NN-Nano Sampler

The NN-Nano Sampler has four Hit Types, as follows:

I: Hit 1 (references sample 1 loaded into the NN-Nano)
II: Hit 2 (references sample 2 loaded into the NN-Nano)
III: Hit 3 (references sample 3 loaded into the NN-Nano)
IV: Hit 4 (references sample 4 loaded into the NN-Nano)

The idea behind the hit types provided by the NN-Nano Sampler is pretty straightforward. Each Nano Sampler can load up to 4 samples that can be adjusted both Globally by the global parameters and locally by the local parameters just below the sample. Note that you can load more than one sample into a single hit using the “Add Layer” button at the top of the Nano Sampler. This will create additional lanes below the selected Hit type, where you can load additional samples. If multiple samples are loaded, you can use the “Alt” function (checkmark below the samples) to alternate between the various layers when the Pad is pressed.

Note: In the video, I jump a little ahead of myself and go over creating Sample Layers in the first Hit Group within the NN-Nano. It’s important to understand that when you layer samples, by default all the samples will play at the same time when the pad is pressed. Not sure I got that across in the video, so I’m explaining it here. This is a common question that comes up: how do you layer pads together. This is one way in which you can layer Samples. To layer actual drums, like the Physical Bass Drum or Synth Snare, you would have to put the two drums inserted into two different drum modules, assign them to two different pads, and then create a “Link Group” between the two pads (assign the link group “D,” for example, to both pads). Then when you hit one pad, the other pad would automatically play at the same time. I hope that clarifies things.

The 4 Drum Pad Hit Types here correlate directly to the 4 Sample slots on the Nano Sampler. Nothing too fancy. In this way, you can select four pads and tie them all to the same Nano Sampler. Then tie the different Hit Types to the different Pads (Hit Type I on Pad 1, Hit Type II on Pad 2, Hit Type III on Pad 3, and Hit Type IV on Pad 4). This way you can trigger different samples from all four pads. The only downside is that the Nano’s global parameters are the same for all four Pads. But this, in essence is how you use the four Hit Types for the Nano Sampler.

Nurse Rex Loop Player

The Nurse Rex has arguably the most interesting selection of Hit Types. While the NN-Nano Sampler looks pretty boring in this regard, the Nurse Rex is completely opposite and has many different possibilities. Here are the Hit Types:

I: Loop Trig (Plays the entire loop once from start to finish)
II: Chunk Trig (Divides multiple pads into equal Chunks or sections that can be played back. Note that Chunks can be resized over the samples, but cannot be non-contiguous between each other)
III: Slice Trig (Allows you to select single or multiple slices to be triggered. Note if multiple slices are selected to be triggered by a single pad, the pad will trigger the various slices as if they were an Alt group; alternating between slices.)
IV: Stop (Stops loop, Chunk, or Slice playback)

Before jumping into an explanation of these Hit Types, I put together a short video that explains how they are used:

The first Hit Type is the most basic default: Loop Trig. This simply plays the entire loop once over from start to finish. Note that you can resize the loop’s start and end points by dragging the start and end markers just above the rex loop.

The second Hit Type is Chunk Trig, which is only really useful if you have multiple pads assigned to the same rex file. If you have a single pad assigned to use the Chunk Trig Hit Type, then it acts the same as if you were assigning Loop Trig to the Pad. So if multiple pads are assigned to the same Nurse Rex Loop Player, and all those pads are assigned the Chunk Trig Hit Type, the rex loop is subdivided into equal parts or “chunks” of slices. It’s important to note that you can reshape the various chunks to include/exclude slices, but moving one chunk left, will also move the adjoining chunk left. In this case, one chunk gets smaller while the other chunk gets larger. You cannot have non-contiguous chunks (gaps between any of the chunks). One easy way to get around this is to assign each pad to its own drum, then copy / paste the same rex into all the drum slots. Have all the pads set to Hit Type I (Loop Trig), and then you are free to independantly set up any sections of the various rex loops to any of the pads. They are all independant. The other benefit is that you have the ability to set independant levels and Nurse Rex settings. If all your pads are set to use the same Nurse Rex Drum module, then most settings become global parameters affecting all Pads across the board. This may be what you want, but for more control, copy/pasting the same file into multiple drum pads is a better way to go.

The third Hit Type is the Slice Trig, and this is probably the most confusing Hit Type of the four. Put simply, at default, the Pad will Trigger the first slice of the Rex file. This is because the “Trig” checkbox for the first slice is selected (checked). This checkbox tells the pad which slice to trigger. You can turn it off and select a new slice by clicking on the slice, and then placing a checkmark in the Trig checkbox. The new slice is now triggered by the pad. It’s very important to note that you can select multiple slices to be triggered by the pad. Simply select the next slice, place the checkmark in the Trig box, and so forth, for as many slices as you want to be triggered. If two slices are selected, hitting the pad will alternate back and forth between the two slices. If more than two slices are selected to be triggered by the pad, then the slice selection is random between all the slices. But any way you slice it (pardon the pun), only a single slice will be triggered with the pad.

The fourth and final Hit Type is Stop. This may be confusing, but it works well when you have 2 pads assigned to the same Nurse Rex module, and one pad is assigned to Hit Type I (Loop Trig) and the second pad is assigned to Hit Type IV (Stop). In this scenario, pressing on Pad 1 will start the loop playing, and pressing on pad 2 will stop the loop from playing. A simple Start / Stop scenario. Although, I must say, it would be nice to be able to assign both Start/Stop to the same pad as a toggle. Not sure why it wasn’t implemented in this manner, but I’m sure there’s some complex Thor workaround for this too. 😉

Physical Bass Drum, Physical Tom Tom, Synth Bass Drum, Synth Snare, and Synth Tom Tom

For the Physical Bass Drum, Physical Tom Tom, Synth Bass Drum, Synth Snare, and Synth Tom Tom drum modules, there are no variations on the Hit Types. Selecting any of the four Hit Types with these modules will have no effect on the output you hear from the drum module. Or put another way, you only get one sound out of these drums, no matter what Hit Type you select. There are no Hit Type variations here.

Physical Snare Drum

The Physical Snare Drum has four Hit Types, as follows:

I: Center (Plays the drum sound as if the drum stick struck the center of the drum)
II: Position 2 (Best described as closer to center.)
III: Position 3 (Best described as closer to the edge.)
IV: Edge (Plays the drum sound as if the drum stick struck the edge of the drum)

These Hit Types are pretty self-evident, and they depend somewhat on the setup of your drum parameters. However, all these Hit Types revolve around where the drum is struck with the drum stick. In this way, you can easily create variations on drum sound by associating four pads to a single Physical Snare Drum module, and then assign each Hit Type to each pad. Then create an “Alt Pad Group” between all four pads. This way, each subsequent hit of one of the pads will result in a slightly different sound emanating from the drum.

Alternately, you can associate two pads to the same Physical Snare Drum module and have Hit Type I (Center) on pad 1 and Hit Type IV (Edge) on pad 2. Then play a pattern whereby the first 3 drum hits use pad 1 and the fourth drum hit uses pad 2. This can have the effect of creating a jazzy kind of feel with a slight change in sound between the center and edge (or center and position 3 if position IV is too harsh). These are just some of the setups you can try out.

Synth Hi-Hat

The Synth Hi-Hat has a few options when it comes to Hit Types. Here they are:

I: Closed (Plays a closed Hi-Hat)
II: Semi-Closed (Plays a semi-closed Hi-Hat)
III: Semi-Open (Plays a semi-open Hi-Hat)
IV: Open (Plays an open Hi-Hat)

As with the Physical Snare Drum, the Synth Hi-Hat is pretty self-evident when it comes to Hit Types. And you can use the variations in smilar ways to what I’ve outlined above. However, you probably would want to create an alt group between Hit Type I and II (the closed positions), as well as a separate alt group between Hit Type III and IV (the open positions).

One other thing you can do which is unique to the Hi-Hats is mimic the old “Exclusive 8 & 9 Channels” on the Redrum. What this button used to do, for those who may need a refresher, is provide the ability to play channel 8 and channel 9 exclusively on the Redrum. These two channels were usually reserved for an open and closed Hi-Hat. The rationale was that you would never hear the open Hi-Hat at the same time that you would hear the closed Hi-Hat (since usually this was one and the same Hi-Hat in the real world). So this “Exclusive” button allowed you to ensure that when either the open or closed hi hat (on separate channels in Redrum) was played, the other channel was muted.

In Kong, you can create the same setup by assigning 2 pads to the same Synth Hi-Hat module, then assigning Hit Type IV to pad 1 (open) and Hit Type I to pad 2 (closed). Label both pads so you don’t get confused which is which. Now by default, the drums are exclusive if both pads are tied to the same Hi-Hat drum module. However, if you use two different Hi-Hat drum modules assigned to two different pads, you’ll have to make both pads part of a “Mute Pad Group” (either A, B, or C). Now when you play either drum by pressing pad 1 or pad 2, the opposite pad will be muted. Simple as can be. See the video below for an explanation and example (and yes I screwed up a little at first, but the main points are there). As always, thanks for watching!

In the end, by looking at the various Hit Types, it seems pretty evident that the Props went a long way toward trying to make alternate drum sounds and Alt groupings a big part of the new Kong Drum Designer. So use them when you can in new and creative ways, because the possibilities are truly endless. Now go forth and make beats! And drop me a comment if you want to add to this post or let me know what you think about the various Kong drum pad Hit Types. Your comments are always welcome.

30 – Automating Kong FX & More

In this tutorial, I’m going to present two ways in which you can automate the FX parameters in Kong that you probably thought could not be automated. I’ll also show you a method to create an automated Drum Roll and tie it to a Combinator button. So let’s automate what at first seems unautomatable (say that five times fast!).

You can download the project files here: Kong Automation Examples. There are 3 Kong examples in .rns format for you to look at. The first one goes over automating Kong FX parameters by cross-fading two Kongs. The second provides an alternate “Step Sequencer” example to automate an FX parameter from one state to another. And the third .rns file is a way in which you can create a note-repeater (not a true note repeater but a drum roll creation) using an RPG-8 Arpeggiator and Thor tied into a Kong Drum module. The Combinator in this file provides 2 buttons: 1 button acts as the drum roll (note repeater) and button 2 acts as a single-shot note player. Enjoy!

The “Cross-Fading 2 Kongs” Method

The first method is my favorite, and it comes from Kloeckno on the Propellerhead User Forum (PUF). He suggested that you could automate any parameter on the FX or Drum Modules by creating a secondary Kong device and cross-fading between the sound source Kong device and that secondary Kong device. So here’s my take on his suggestion. Let’s try it out and see how it stands up (here’s a spoiler: it works amazingly well!).

The “Kong Parameter Step-Sequencer” Method

Next, let’s take a look at an alternative approach, which uses a single Kong device as a step sequencer for a single drum hit. With each pad, you increase the parameter slightly, so that you can step between multiple instances of the same FX parameter. This can be a good idea for things such as a drum roll (so you get the added benefit of seeing how you can create a drum roll as well). Take a look and tell me what you think of this approach?

So there are two methods which you can use to automate those parameters that you thought you couldn’t directly from Kong. With a little ingenuity you can find workarounds for almost any kind of problem that you face in Reason. I’m firmly convinced of that. Though, admittedly, there are some problems that involve a lot of routing and hard work and thinking through the routings on paper to get it right. Reason always amazes me for its ability to be flexible and provide solutions for some of the toughest audio problems. In fact, it’s this flexibility and a strength of the software that you can find so many workarounds and alternate ways of thinking. Perhaps that’s why the props are at the forefront of audio software.

Automating a Drum Roll

The easiest way to re-create a drum roll and automate it is to use an RPG-8 Arpeggiator to “Hold” the note that is being played. In a Combinator, place a Kong, RPG-8 and THor. With a little routing, you can use the Thor step sequencer to play the note via the Combinator Gate in (the Arp), and then let the RPG-8 hold that note, which in turn is triggering the Kong Drum 1 module. To see an example of this, refer to the Project files. The example is included in there. When I have some time, I’ll try to put together a video for this idea as well, if time permits.

What are your thoughts? Any cool workarounds in Kong or the other new devices that you’d like to share?

29 – Synth Drums from Scratch

The subject of today’s tutorial is how to create your own standard drum sounds via synthesis. Here, I’m going to show you a few techniques to bring these drums to life, with little more than a Thor, Malstrom, or Subtractor synth, and some supporting modules. This is a great alternative to using Drum samples or relying on sample CDs for your drum sounds, though those are both great alternatives that should not be overlooked.

Often times we don’t have access to a real drum kit and it’s not feasible to get real true-to-life drum samples to use in your own work. Or you may just want the sound of a synthetic drum as opposed to the real thing. One option is to purchase some sample CDs. Another is to create your own drum sounds from scratch, using the synths provided in Reason. That’s the subject of today’s tutorial. Here, I’m going to show you a few techniques to bring some standard drums to life, with little more than a Thor, Malstrom, or Subtractor synth, and some supporting modules.

I should start by saying that with the addition of Kong in Reason 5, creating drums has never been easier. Load up a physical drum or a synth drum module and you’re more than halfway there. However, for those that don’t have Reason 5 yet, then this tutorial is for you. Everything below is created using the Reason 4 devices. This goes to show you that you don’t necessarily need Kong to create interesting drum sounds. So let’s get started.

You can download the project files here: Synth Drums from Scratch. This is a zip file that contains 3 Combinators and 1 Thor patch outlining the different drum sounds from the tutorials below. The Combinator parameters will affect the sound of each drum. I’ve tried to tailor them so that you can get a very wide variety of drum sounds out of each Combinator. Have fun with the various buttons and rotaries to get the sound you want out of them.

The Bass Drum

The first drum we’ll emulate is a Kick or Bass drum. This is probably one of the easier drums to emulate because it has that very bassy deep and punchy feel to it. The hardest part about programming this kind of drum I think is in the Compression, which most every Kick drum should have. How it is compressed is really a matter of taste, but getting just the right sound you want is probably going to rely on the way you compress it. A close second in terms of seasoning your Bass Drum is using EQ to accentuate the correct frequency or frequencies. Here’s how I would go about creating a Kick Drum using Thor.

The Tom Drum

The second drum type we’ll create is a Tom Tom drum. This time, I’ll use a Malstrom with a TubeSlap Oscillator to emulate it. This oscillator is great for sounds like these, and can produce just the formant sound that is needed with a typical Tom drum. Of course, you can emulate all of these different drums using any of the synths. This is just one way to recreate the sound. You could instead, try using a Thor oscillator with a Formant filter to get the Tom Drum sound you’re after. Be sure to explore more on your own to find the sounds that truly inspire you.

The Snare Drum

The third type of drum I’ll recreate is a Snare drum. For this, I’ll use a subtractor with two Oscillators and a Bandpass filter. Then we’ll use a Noise Oscillator in Thor to add that extra tail that a Snare drum can have. To wrap it all up, we’ll combine them both and set up a little programming to the rotaries in order to get a little more out of our Snare sounds. Using these parameters we can create a variety of Snares, instead of a single type of sound. See how it’s done:

The Hi Hat

Finally, there is the tried and true Hi Hat sound, both open and closed. To emulate this one, we’ll use a Thor FM pair and Noise oscillator going through two State Variable filters set to High Pass and Notch mode in Thor. I’ll emulate the open and closed Hi Hat and tie it to a Thor button. This way, you can access both the closed and open state of the drum with the click of a button (and from within the same Thor synth, which makes it very CPU friendly). Of course, if you want to separate them, you can duplicate the Thor device and use one Thor for the “Open” Hi Hat position and one Thor for the “Closed” Hi Hat position. It’s all up to you and very flexible.

So there you have it. Four basic drums created with the three different synths in Reason 4. If you have any other drum sounds that you would like to contribute or tips for drum creation, please feel free to share with us. Until next time, have fun working your own magic in Reason and Record!