Looping – Reason101

It’s time for something new and fresh to come out of Reason 5. So I give to you the Dr. VocoRex Loop Manipulator. It’s a bit of a glitch, and it’s a bit of a fun creative way to merge some Rex Loops and a Vocoder together, and provide a few parameters that you can play with and manipulate. So let me know what you think. I’ll show you how to build it below, and then I’ll provide a few Combinator variations. You’re the loop doctor. So let’s start dissecting our patient.

The project files can be found here: Dr-VocoRex-Loop-Manipulators. This is a zip file that contains 3 Combinators that we’ll be building below. I used Reason 5 to build them, and since they use features from the new Dr.OctoRex, you’ll need Reason 5 to work with them. However, try to work on something similar in Reason 4. You won’t have access to multiple loops in a single device, nor some of the CV inputs, but you can still go a long way to recreating something similar. I also included an .rns file so that you could quickly open them both and try them out. For the .rns file, I believe you will need Reason 5.

To start off, you can do a lot of neat things with the Dr. OctoRex via CV, and that’s really at the heart of this tutorial. When you start creating 2 Dr. OctoRex devices with different loops and using a Vocoder to bring them together, things can quickly get very wild and interesting, especially where the CV routing is concerned. So it’s time to put on our CV hats and dive in.

The Basic Setup

Here’s the video to showcase the kinds of setups we will be working to build:

First, create a Combinator and 6:2 mixer underneath. Now create a Dr. OctoRex, Vocoder, and Spider Audio Merger/Splitter. Then holding the Shift key down, create another Dr. OctoRex loop player.
Flip the rack around and send the Left and Right audio output from the second Dr. OctoRex player into 2 left (mono) channels on the Merger side of the Spider. Then send the left output to the Modulation input on the Vocoder.
Flip the rack around to the front once again. Expand the Rex loop players and Add two different loops into the first slots of each device. For the moment, let’s ensure they are both the same speed. So now you have a loop in slot 1 for both devices. The top Dr. OctoRex is what will be played (the Carrier). The bottom Dr. OctoRex is what will be used to modulate the top Rex loop (the Modulator).

For this exercise, I chose the Drb18_Optical_165_eLAB.rx2 for the first Dr. OctoRex and the Drb09_Shadow_165_eLAB.rx2 for the second Dr. OctoRex loop player (both files can be found under the Dr Rex Drum Loops > Drum N Bass folder).

On the Vocoder, set the number of bands to 32. I prefer this band level because it gives a better definition of the sound.
Now let’s get into the CV and play with a few bands in our Vocoder. Flip the rack around and create the following CV connections:

Vocoder (Band 12 CV Out) > Dr. OctoRex (Carrier) Osc Pitch CV In (trim knob set to 127).

Dr. OctoRex (Carrier) Voice 1 Filter Env. > Vocoder (Band 7 CV In).

Dr. OctoRex (Modulator) Voice 1 Filter Env. > Vocoder (Band 11 CV In).

Immediately playing this will yield some interesting results. Now try adjusting the Filter Envelope on both Dr. OctoRex devices. You’ll notice you can get a variety of freaky sounds out of this setup.

The back of the rack showing the two Dr. OctoRex devices used as a Vocoder Carrier and Modulator

All that’s left is to open up the Combinator’s programmer and setup the Rotaries and buttons to gain access to a few crucial elements of these devices. Here’s how I set things up:

Rotary 1 > Vocoder Dry / Wet : 0 / 127

Rotary 2 > Vocoder Shift : -64 / +63

Rotary 3 > Dr. OctoRex (Carrier) Osc. Env. Amount : -64 / +63

Rotary 4 > Dr. OctoRex (Modulator) Osc. Env. Amount : -64 / +63

Button 1 > Vocoder Hold: 0 / 1

Button 2 > Unassigned.

Button 3 > Unassigned.

Button 4 > Unassigned.

Going a Few Steps Beyond the Ordinary

So the next logical step is to add more loops and then set up 2 Combinator Rotaries to adjust the loop slot position of each. This opens you up to 8 different Loops in each Dr. OctoRex device which can be mixed and matched to your liking (it’s like having 8 carriers and 8 modulators; all of which are adjustable.

If you add more loops and then adjust the loops so that they can be tied to a Rotary knob and switched at will between them, ensure the “Trig Next Loop” on the Dr. OctoRex devices are set to 1/16. This way, the jump from one loop to the next will happen fairly instantaneously and without a long delay.

And Now for Something Completely Different. . .

Alternately, you could send all the output bands of the Vocoder into a series of Thors (4 CV bands for each Thor), then use these Thors to convert the CV to Audio and send all the audio outputs to a Mixer (you’ll need 2 14:2 Mixers to carry all 16 audio inputs). Then set up another bank of Thors to control the Level CV of each Channel on the Mixers. Once this is done, send the main audio output through a Spider Audio Merger/Splitter to make the signal Mono, and convert the audio back to CV in yet another “master” Thor. From there, it’s a matter of sending the CV into the Osc. Pitch of the Dr. OctoRex Carrier device. Now you can open the Combinator Programmer Modulation and set up a Rotary to control the “Step Count” (from 1 to 16) of all the Thor Audio devices (set in the “Reverse” direction). This allows the Rotary to cycle through the Vocoder’s “CV out bands.”

Of course, if you use this method, you’re going to need to give up a Rotary. So I would do this as an alternative to adding multiple loops. Instead, use only one loop for the Carrier and another loop for the Modulator. Then you free up 2 Rotaries (Rotary 3 and 4, which were previously used to control the loop slot position of both Dr. OctoRex devices). Apply the Step Count parameter to Rotary 3, and you’ll still have another Rotary (4) to spare, for controlling any other parameter(s) you like.

Then you can set up a series of Thors to control where the CV gets sent back “into” the Vocoder. To do this, you need to again convert the CV into Audio using a Thor, and then send this audio into a bank of new Thor devices, which are set up to determine where the CV source is sent (into 1 of 16 Input bands on the Vocoder). Then do the same thing we did previously on the Combinator’s third Rotary, except this time you’re using the Combinator’s fourth Rotary to control the “Step Count” of these new Thor devices. And there you have it. Rotary 3 controls the Vocoder’s “CV Out” bands, and Rotary 4 controls the Vocoder’s “CV In” bands. Pretty nifty. And it has all sorts of other applications, not just controlling parameters on a Dr. OctoRex. See: This tutorial provides you with more than just another loopy way to play with your loops. 😉

Ok this is a little crazy, but you can control the CV ins and outs on the Vocoder via 2 Rotaries on the Combinator. Here's the back of the rack.

If all of this is making your head spin, just check out the Project files. The third Combinator in the set (Dr. VocoRex 004) is the one that houses this little configuration. So look it over and you’ll see how it’s all set up.

Where do You go from Here?

Well, there’s many different directions you can go. If you’ve set up all the Vocoder CV bands as I did in the last part, it’s a cinch to plug the CV destination (from the Out bands) or CV source (from the In bands) to any CV in/out you wish on the Dr.OctoRex (or any other device you wish to introduce. So try playing around with these CV source/destinations.

You could also introduce another set of Dr. OctoRex / Vocoder devices and have two going simultaneously. Just a thought. And with the new editability of slices in the Dr. OctoRex, you can adjust each of the slices individually.

Or try perhaps to have a single Loop both be the Carrier and Modulator. With the separate outputs, you could have one set of slices modulating another set of slices; all within the same loop. Lots of possibilities.

So these are just a few ideas you can use with 2 Dr. OctoRex loopers and a Vocoder. There’s probably a million ways to combine them together for some awesome results. Why not share a few with me here. I’d love to hear all your ideas. Until next time, happy Reasoning and happy Recording. Go out and make some masterpieces!

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. And it’s super easy to do. In addition, when played on your keyboard (C1 – D#2), you get velocity sensitivity.

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!

Tag: Looping

52 – Dr.VocoRex: Going Loopy