bypass – Reason101

63 – Effects Bypass Methods

This article is not so much a creative experience as it is a basic concept and educational tutorial about how to create bypasses for your effect Combinators. You can use a bypass to enable the sound travelling through the effects processor to play while the effects are turned off, and then allow the effect to affect the sound when they are turned on. In essence, it’s a way to build your Combinators so that they can be more flexible, and still allow sound to pass through; letting you decide when you want the effects built inside them to take hold of your sound.

This may be old hat for many of you reading here, but I’ve had a few requests for some explanations on how to split signals and create chained effects. So I thought I would put together a little piece on some different bypassing methods, since that’s vital to the core of creating multi-FX processors.

You can download the project files here: Bypass-examples. This contains a few examples of different methods you can use to Bypass effects inside a Combinator. The files are all done in Reason 5, though you can still use them if you have Reason 4 as well. This zip file also includes updated versions of the 3 Key FluX FX processors I created for a recent article. This updated version allows you to still hear the unprocessed audio signal going through the Combinator when keys are not pressed. Read on to see how I set that up.

Why would you need a bypass if the Combinator already has an Enable On/Off/Bypass switch, as well as an “Enable all Effects” button. The answer is simple. The Enable switch can click and pop if you automate it or use it while the sound is running. For this reason, I never ever under any circumstances use it. Well, okay, I do use it the odd time, but only in a situation where I’ll either keep it on, off, or bypassed the entire time the song or track is playing. I never automate it to change during a track or song. If you do, you can have undesired “pop” consequences.

As for the “Bypass all effects” and “Run Pattern Devices” buttons on the front of the Combinator, the main problem with those is the lack of automation ability. Since you can’t automate them, you’re limited in how you can use them or set them up inside your track. And why limit yourself to a bypass that can’t be automated? So while these buttons are good for previewing sounds, and getting things to run on and off while I’m creating patches or testing patches, they have very little practical use for me when I’m building a song.

So here are some of the methods I use to create an FX bypass.

The Basic Button-based Bypass (say that ten times fast).

This method is probably one of the easiest and simplest of all bypasses. It allows you to build one yourself using one of the programmable Combinator buttons. We’ll start with the premise that you have created a Combinator with a 6:2 Line Mixer, added a synth (I’ll use a Thor here, but any synth or sampler will do). Then I have a Matrix playing this Thor synth. Finally, I have a simple Scream distortion unit at the end of the chain, so that the Thor synth is running through a Scream algorithm to give it some bite. This is our effect unit. And this is what we’re going to bypass.

The initial device setup from the front panel in the Rack.

The initial device setup from the rear panel in the Rack.

Now for the Bypass. Add a Spider audio merger/splitter between the Mixer and the Thor device. Flip the rack around (Tab) and connect the Thor left/right outputs into the Spider’s Splitter inputs. Then send one split pair out to the Line Mixer’s channel 2, and send another split pair output to the Scream input.

The back of the Rack, showing the routing which is split to 2 separate channels on the Line Mixer (using a Spider).

Next, flip back to the front of the Rack (Tab) and open up the Combinator programmer panel. Select the Line Mixer, and enter the following into the Modulation routing section:

Button 1 > Channel 1 Level : 100 / 0

Button 1 > Channel 2 Level : 0 / 100

This sets up Button 1 on the Combinator to switch between the two channels of the Line Mixer. If you play the sequence, you can bounce back between the FX-applied version of the sound (with the button disabled), and the bypassed (original unprocessed) version of the sound (with the button enabled). If you want to switch this around and have the bypassed version the default, just reverse the min/max amount values for Channels 1 & 2 in the Combinator’s Modulation Routing section, or else flip to the back of the rack and reverse the cable pairs going into Channels 1 & 2. That’s all there is to it.

The Button 1 setup on the Combinator, showing the Line Mixer settings and Modulation Routing.

Switching Between Three Values

This is all well and good, but there may be times that you want to switch between more than 2 parameters or channels. This can get a little more tricky, but is still relatively easy to work out. The trick involves creating a second 6:2 Line Mixer. I’ll show you what I mean below.

This idea came out of a user on the Reason forum who wanted a way to switch between Oscillator 1 and Oscillator 2, and then a Combo of both Oscillators together (1&2). I’ll use a different example here where I have a switch between 2 Scream algorithms (Scream 1 and Scream 2), and then another switch which bypasses both FX and gives you access to the original unprocessed sound. It’s the same type of idea, just implemented via FX instead of Oscillators. But if you want to read about the original question that was posted, here it is: https://www.propellerheads.se/forum/showthread.php?t=139636.

The way you do this is to first set up all the various parameters (or effects devices) to create the two different sounds. Working off the original “button-based” example above, we’ll add another Scream device below the first Scream unit (hold down Shift while you create the device, so that it’s not auto-routed). Send a new split pair from the original Spider, and have that going into the input on this “Scream 2” device.

Then create a new 6:2 Line Mixer beneath the first Line Mixer. Set up both line mixers with the following routings:

Line Mixer 1 (Main Mix):

Channel 1: Left / Right input from Line Mixer 2 (below)

Channel 2: Left / Right input from one split pair of the Spider Audio Splitter.

Note: The main left / right output goes into the “From Devices” input on the Combinator.

Line Mixer 2 (FX Mix):

Channel 1: Left / Right input from Scream 1

Channel 2: Left / Right input from Scream 2

Note: The main left / right output go into Channel 1 on Line Mixer 1 (Main Mix).

In the Combinator programmer, enter the following settings for the Modulation Routing:

Line Mixer 1 (Main Mix):

Button 2 > Channel 1 Level : 100 / 0

Button 2 > Channel 2 Level : 0 / 100

Line Mixer 2 (Main Mix):

Button 1 > Channel 1 Level : 100 / 0

Button 1 > Channel 2 Level : 0 / 100

The "Triple Switch" bypass routings on the back of the Rack. It's really not as hard as it looks.

Now enable Button 1 and disable Button 2. This means the new Scream 2 device will be sounding. Note: you will first need to press each of the buttons once to “initialize” their settings. Enter some different settings on this new Scream device until you like what you hear (or load up a patch from the Factory Sound Bank).

Yes, there is a much more compact way of creating this type of scenario. It involves setting up only 2 Screams in series and then using the Combinator Modulation Routing section to enable / disable each Scream device (enabling / disabling each 3 parts of the Scream unit). But for the sake of showing how bypassing works, I’m not going to do it that way here.

With this setup, Button 1 acts as a switch between the 2 effects, and Button 2 acts as the bypass switch between those 2 effects and the original unprocessed sound. Cool right?

Bypassing FX that are on your Keys

There is another kind of bypass method that works well if you have your effects set up on keys. A perfect example of this is the “Key FluX FX Processor” Combinator I created a few articles ago. In those project files, I created a few different Combinators that were controlled by pressing the keys on your keyboard, but I failed to integrate a bypass method, so that you didn’t hear the original unprocessed sound when the keys weren’t being pressed. Essentially, you only heard a sound when the keys were pressed. So here’s a method you can use to create a bypass to hear the original unprocessed sound anytime the effects are not being played.

This method boils down to one thing: allowing the unprocessed sound to be heard when keys are not pressed. In other words, we need a way to tell Reason that when the MIDI gate is NOT triggered, let the sound pass through. When the MIDI gate IS triggered, let the effects be heard. We already have the latter part of this process set up in the patches by default. So we simply need to create a method for the former to work. Here’s how it’s done.

You need 3 things when creating this kind of bypass: A 6:2 Line Mixer, a Thor, and a Spider Audio Merger/Splitter. Add those into the Combinator. Take the left / right cable pair “To Devices” going from the Combinator into the Spider Splitter Left / Right input. Then send one split pair into Thor’s Audio In 1 & 2, and another split pair going out to the effects chain (in my Key FluX FX Processor patches, these cables would go into the first FX chain Spider Audio Merger / Splitter — to split the signal out to all the various keyed FX).

Then send the Left / Right audio output from Thor into the first channel of the 6:2 Line Mixer (in the image below, this is labelled “Bypass.” This Line Mixer’s second channel’s left / right input is coming from the end of the audio signal chain after all the effects. In other words, you need to send the final signal post FX processing into the second channel. This is the end of the audio line after the effects. The Line Mixer becomes the switcher, just like in the first example above, however, we’ve added an automatic component into the mix by adding the Thor device.

The back of the rack showing the routing between the Line Mixer, Spider Audio Splitter, and Thor.

So what is this Thor device doing to the audio. Before it can do anything, you need give it an explanation of what you want it to do to your audio (which is much easier than explaining the Theory of Relativity to a third grader). In the Modulation Bus Routing Section (MBRS), enter the following:

Audio In1 : 100 > Audio Out1 : -100 > MIDI Gate

Audio In2 : 100 > Audio Out2 : -100 > MIDI Gate

Thor's Modulation Bus Routing Section (MBRS) showing the negative MIDI gate scaling.

There you have it. The negative MIDI gate values mean that the original unprocessed sound will shine through when the keys are NOT played. They will also cut the sound when the keys ARE played. In this case, since you have the effects loaded on the keys, the FX signal will take over and you’ll hear the effects processing the sounds while those keys are played.

It’s important to note that negative values are possible in the MBRS and can sometimes be preferred over positive values. I say this because many beginners who are new to Reason may not be aware of how negative values can be beneficial. Case in point above. Also don’t forget you can program Mod Bus Amount and Scale values inside the Combinator’s Modulation Routing section (to switch values using a Rotary or Button). And last but not least, you can automate Amount/Scale value changes directly in the main sequencer. So you have lots of possibilities here.

Lastly, since not all keys have effects mapped to them, you need to do one last thing. You need to map the key range of the Thor Bypass device to the same range as the keys that have effects on them. If you don’t do this, anytime you press a key that doesn’t have an effect loaded on it, you won’t hear any sound. This is because we’ve told Thor to cut out the sound on non-mapped keys. So open up the programmer, and select the “Bypass” Thor device. In the Key Mapping section of the Combinator, enter the proper Lo and Hi Key Range (near the bottom in the image below).

Mapping the key range of the effects to the Thor Bypass device in the Combinator.

Note: Since you can’t map non-contiguous regions (two separate regions with a space between the two), you need to ensure your effects are mapped to consecutive keys along the keyboard. You can’t, for example, have A1 and A2 mapped to 2 different effects without any effects mapped to the keys in between A1 and A2. This just won’t work correctly.

Pretty simple right? That’s all there is to it.

So do you have any other interesting ways of bypassing signals in Reason. I can think of a few other innovative ways to do it using CV as well. But this should at least get you started when you begin creating your own effects devices inside a Combinator. If you have any other ideas, please share them with the group. It’s always good to get more than just my own opinion on the matter. Especially since there are so many talented Reason users out there. Until next time, have fun playing inside Reason!

24 – A few No-Nonsense Tips

In this tutorial I’m going to outline some of my favorite quick tips that you can use when you find yourself in a bit of a bind with Reason. Hopefully these little tips open you up to a new way of thinking with the software, or else at least point you in the right direction if you get stumped.

In this tutorial I’m not going to outline any grandiose Combinator or showcase some majorly complex CV routing scheme (though I have a few interesting ones that I may show down the road). Instead, I’m going to outline just some of my favorite quick tips that you can use when you find yourself in a bit of a bind with Reason. Hopefully these little tips open you up to a new way of thinking with the software, or else at least point you into a direction in case you get stumped.

All of the tips below came out of a need I had to get out of jail with the software. In other words, I’d find myself at a standstill unable to go further because I’d locked myself in a hole. Here’s a few ways I found to get out and escape. I hope you find these tidbits useful.

Tip #1: Unison = Stereo (It’s not just big fat sound).

The first tip came out of a post I’d seen on the PUF (Propellerhead User Forum) entitled “Confessions.” In this post, a few people had stated that they never used the Unison device, and didn’t really understand what it was for. “I think it has something to do with fattening up the sound, but I don’t really use it and don’t really know what it’s for.” Fair enough. Here’s what I think:

Yes, it fattens up the sound. But it does more than that. For instance, take any monophonic sound device; The Subtractor and Thor come to mind. If you start playing either device, you can tell it sounds monophonic. In the case of Thor, you can do some clever things like add some Chorus and Delay. Perhaps in the Subtractor, you’ll add some ring modulation or FM synthesis, detune two oscillators together. But here’s the dilemma: you add a Stereo Imager after the device and nothing happens? Why?

This is because the Stereo Imager only works on Stereo audio, and since you have a device which is monophonic, nothing is going to happen. The simple fix: add a Unison device between the sound source and the Stereo Imager. Instantly, you’ve turned your sound into a Stereo audio pair going into the Stereo Imager, which can now effect the sound as you want (point of fact, it’s more of a faux stereo, but it works).

The unison device is there to “Stereo-ize” your monophonic sound. At the same time, it fattens the sound by creating multiple detuned voices out of the audio you send into it. Good enough!

The front of the rack showing the Unison device creating Stereo out of Mono

The back of the rack showing the Unison setup

Tip #2: Mixer Pan/Level CV automation is holding me back!

Ever automate the level and/or Pan info on your main mixer in Reason or Record and then realize you can’t alter it at all. For instance, if you send a Subtractor LFO to fully automate the level of your track, you end up unable to alter or change the level to fade it in or out right? Whatever is playing in a clip in your sequencer will be affected by the LFO as is. No fade ins, no fade outs, no changes along the way. Same goes for panning.

Here’s a simple tip to allow you to have both. And again it involves inserting a device between the sound source and the mixer. In this case, it’s another line mixer. Insert a 6:2 mixer between your main mixer and the sound source. Then flip the rack around and move the audio cables from the sound source into Channel 1 on the 6:2 line mixer. Then send some audio cables from the main output on the line mixer into the previous channel on the main mixer. Now you can flip back to the front again and right-click on the Channel 1 level knob, select “Edit Automation” and enter your fade-ins and fade-outs. You can also adjust your panning on this line mixer as well. This will affect the panning of the sound source before it gets sent into the main mixer where the CV is affecting the panning. In this case, the panning is combined together.

The front of the rack showing the Line Mixer inserted between the audio signal and main mixer.

The back of the rack showing the connections for the audio signal.

There you go. Total control over your mix, even when your mix is being controlled by CV.

Tip #3: While we’re on CV, don’t forget you can automate any CV trim knob on the back of any device

I discussed this tip in full here: #7 – Adjustable CV, but it bears repeating. If you want to control the trim pots for any CV connection (you know, the tiny knobs on the back of your devices into which you send the CV cables), simply insert a Thor device between the CV source and the CV destination. Route the CV into the CV in 1 within Thor, and send it out from CV out 1. Then in the modualtion Bus Routing Section of Thor (MBRS), use CVin1 as a source and CVout1 as a destination. Enter 100 as an Amount, and then use Thor’s Rotary 1 as a Scale (also with an amount of 100). Put everything (source/destination devices as well as the Thor “CV Pass-Through” device) into a Combinator, and program the Combinator’s Rotary 1 to adjust Thor’s Rotary 1.

This means that you’re adjusting the Scale amount value using the Combinator Rotary 1. Essentially, this will have the same effect of adjusting your CV trim pot. Sounds complicated, but it’s really quite simple.

Tip #4: Damn it, there’s no CV connection. But I want to automate it with an LFO!

Enter the Combinator to the rescue. For this trick to work, you have a device which has a parameter you want to affect with an LFO (or any other mod envelope or anything you like) and the device with the LFO which is going to affect it. This couldn’t be easier, but it’s not at first obvious. Here’s what you do:

Put both devices in a Combinator. Flip the rack around. Send the CV from the LFO device into the Rotary 1 CV in of the Combinator. Then flip back around to the front, and open up the Combinator programmer. Select the sound device. In the Modulation Matrix, use Rotary 1 as the Source andthe parameter you want affected in the destination device as the “Destination.”

Now, when the LFO is enabled and running, it gets sent along the CV cable and affects Rotary 1 on the Combinator. Rotary 1 on the Combinator in turn is affecting the parameter on your destination device. In other words, the Combinator Rotary 1 is used as a CV pass-through to affect any parameter you like, not just the ones that have CV slots on the back of the devices.

Tip #5: That nasty bypass click.

Not all glitch sounds are good sounds. Such is life when you are dealing with bypass switches in Reason. Sometimes you’ll get this nasty clicking sound when switching from on to bypass or vice versa. Sometimes you’re lucky and you don’t get it. It’s like Russian Roulette audio-style. This is why I never ever use the bypass switch. And also why I never ever automate it. Instead, here’s a few simple ways to get the same benefit without the horrible clicks.

First off, if you’re using a device that has a dry/wet knob, put it in a combinator and tie the dry wet knob to a button or a rotary. There’s your bypass button.

If, on the other hand, you need to get around bypassing an entire Combinator, try this trick. Inside the combinator create a spider and a second line mixer (assuming you already have a line mixer for the main audio). Then split the audio coming into the combinator, and have one split going to the main line mixer and the other going to the second line mixer. Merge the master outputs of both line mixers in the merge section of the spider, and then back out to the Combinator “From Devices” output. Ensure all your FX and Instrument devices go into channels on the main mixer. Leave the second mixer for the dry signal only, and nothing else.

In the Combinator programmer, program a button to switch between the two mixers. So when the button is off, the master level on the main mixer is at 0, while the master level on the secondary mixer is at 100. When the button is on (lit), the master level on the main mixer is at 100, while the master level on the secondary mixer is at 0. The button now acts as a bypass. When off, the signal is bypassed and the audio goes right through the Combinator unaffected. When the button is on, the Contents of the Combinator are enabled and the sound affected can be heard. Instant bypass without any clicking issues.

The back of the rack with the Bypass setup

The front of the rack with the Bypass setup shown on Button 4

Keep in mind there are some things that just can’t be stopped on a dime. For instance, changing the delay time or automating changes to the delay time will result in a very distinct sound, almost like a pitch shifting. You just can’t get around this. That’s the nature of audio. So while bypassing most things works without any side effects, other things can still be noticeable. The idea, however, is to minimize the unwanted audio problems as much as you can.

I hope you found these tips useful. I’ll keep posting more as time permits. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts or your own tips here by posting a comment. Happy Reasoning!