Reason 6

It's been a while since I've been up here.
Has anyone bought any Rack Extensions here yet?
As far as synths, I bought the Korg Polysix and Synapse Antidote.
The Polysix is just as good as the VST Legacy edition. No disappointments there at all.

Antidote is incredible with all the effects built in (which are pretty much the same as the ones sold separately). The effects can be used with external devices as well.
As for the sound of the synth itself... being the analog purist that I am, I gotta say that it sounds warmer than any VA I've ever heard. The filters are incredible too.

I tried the Rob Papen synths, Predator and Sub Boom Bass. But I didn't like them. They sound too thin and artificial.

The PX7 is awesome. You can load all your Yamaha DX7 patches in it with the converter software on Props site. I havent bought it yet. But it's on my list.

Blamsoft Viking is a near perfect emulation of the Minimoog Voyager. I spent a lot of time with it between beta testing and trials. I still havent bought it. But I definitely plan on it eventually. Some people complained about it being monophonic. But that's how the Voyager is. Now there's a new RE from Blamsoft called Distributor, which allows you to add polyphony to Viking, as well as doing some other really cool routing with the rest of the synths available in Reason.
http://shop.propellerheads.se/product/distributor/

Anyway, it's getting late over here.... just thought I'd pop in and see what's going on.
I've been busy with a few projects. But I'll be back soon. Hope to hear from more Reason users here, whether they're using it standalone, through ReWire, or with an MPC... or all the above.

I really, really need to start using Reason again. I didn't use 5 enough and 6/6.5 I've only glanced at to test the new stuff. The other day I got my BCF 2000 plugged in again, it works amazing with Reason even using default mapping as Reason has a built in remote file for it.

I want a bunch of the RE's but having over 200 VST's I just can't see it as a "reasonable" investment. It's like the Ren, even if I really wanted one it's just insane to go that route as I already have that functionality.

I have an 8 core/24GB RAM, so Reason rewired to Live will continue to be my method thus pointing away from the RE's. But I think it's a fantastic idea, but it has the in built limitation of only representing total value if Reason is your main app, but for many it is the main app so it was a good idea overall.

I use Dune and EKS 9 Pro so I'd trust anything Synapse does. Even the old Hydra and Junglist synths they had were excellent.

For the Papen stuff Predator was always my favorite, but like many digital synths you do have to look out for that thinness you mentioned. I found predator to sound thicker than Albino or Blue. Never tried Sub Boom Bass. His Punch drum synth is cool and might translate well to an RE.

Main thing I look forward to in using Reason again is the CV routing and the Combinators. When You make use of the Spider modules it can get really amazing the things you can build and the parallel processing you can do with FX.

I'm still dreaming of Reason on maybe an iPad 6 or 7, I bet we end up there at there at some point. After 13 or so years it's fair to say Reason is as classic as a piece of hardware to me.

So yeah I love Reason, that's all I really have to contribute.

i always wished reason would take their virtual rack emulation to the next level... have a tool that emulates if a knob is dirty and you hear static/noise when automating something... or what if you accidentally knocked a cup of coffee on a reverb rack.. haha.. or using cheap cables... lol.. all part of the "real world weathering" package.


how about a mode for an analog style rack called "i bought this sh!t used.. and it needs tuning"

come on propellerhead..

mr_debauch wrote:i always wished reason would take their virtual rack emulation to the next level... have a tool that emulates if a knob is dirty and you hear static/noise when automating something... or what if you accidentally knocked a cup of coffee on a reverb rack.. haha.. or using cheap cables... lol.. all part of the "real world weathering" package.


how about a mode for an analog style rack called "i bought this sh!t used.. and it needs tuning"

come on propellerhead..

Mr. Debauch, that's a nice idea. I actually have one VST from 112dB called Morgana. It's essentially an Ensoniq Mirage tribute and it sounds nasty and dirty as shit, in a good way. The crazy thing is each licensed copy is said to beprogrammed so it won't sound the same as other people's copies. I think it may even never load with exact same rendering even just on one personal install.

Now I've never A/B'd it or done a wave plot comparison or tried a phase cancellation null test (a fail would be a win there ), But I just wanted to mention that VST as it's a lot like your suggestion and shows at least one firm thought the same. There's a VA synth that does the randomizing too although i forget which one, it wasn't a majorly popular one.

oh that is neat ^ interesting... the only thing I can think of that is sort of like that is the ogun/autogun synth by imageline where you can cycle through presets or make your own but there are millions (no exaggeration) of them.. every time you launch it.. it starts at a different random preset. However most of them sound similar pretty much.. kind of disappointing synth too IMO.. but the idea is cool.

mr_debauch wrote:oh that is neat ^ interesting... the only thing I can think of that is sort of like that is the ogun/autogun synth by imageline where you can cycle through presets or make your own but there are millions (no exaggeration) of them.. every time you launch it.. it starts at a different random preset. However most of them sound similar pretty much.. kind of disappointing synth too IMO.. but the idea is cool.

Yeah I love the Ogun concept but it spits out so many atonal and non musical sounds. I actually like almost all of them but then am like, "wait I'm not trying make SFX for a Sci Fi Xbox game here..."

If someone could do something like that with more musical parameters chosen before the randomize and maybe toss in some generative music features it could be really dope. Like strap a horse harness on all that random stuff and give the user a chance to steer a little.

And make it an RE when they're done, so I can stay on topic.

EDIT - I logged as Jaded lady's private parts again by accident (one off one thread joke account) Jaded lady's private parts is Metatron

mr_debauch wrote:i always wished reason would take their virtual rack emulation to the next level... have a tool that emulates if a knob is dirty and you hear static/noise when automating something... or what if you accidentally knocked a cup of coffee on a reverb rack.. haha.. or using cheap cables... lol.. all part of the "real world weathering" package.


how about a mode for an analog style rack called "i bought this sh!t used.. and it needs tuning"

come on propellerhead..

i have a tape saturater in the master chain on my default reason rack and all u gotta do is turn one knob and it totally shits on the sound like you are wanting..

inflict3 wrote:

mr_debauch wrote:i always wished reason would take their virtual rack emulation to the next level... have a tool that emulates if a knob is dirty and you hear static/noise when automating something... or what if you accidentally knocked a cup of coffee on a reverb rack.. haha.. or using cheap cables... lol.. all part of the "real world weathering" package.


how about a mode for an analog style rack called "i bought this sh!t used.. and it needs tuning"

come on propellerhead..

i have a tape saturater in the master chain on my default reason rack and all u gotta do is turn one knob and it totally shits on the sound like you are wanting..

This is why I love Reason, you hear one thing said and your mind just starts going.

How about possibly using the CV to modulate some controlled "randomness" using the Matrix modules to have a bunch of user edited "random" curves for the module? Maybe just even very minor fluctuations on the matrix to have that slight unpredictability.

Then again holding shift and recording the knobs fine automation might work just as well.

inflict3 wrote:
i have a tape saturater in the master chain on my default reason rack and all u gotta do is turn one knob and it totally shits on the sound like you are wanting..

yeah I have a tape one too that shits on sounds...

but what I meant is to expand on the pushing tab in reason.

PMSL I was wondering who this Jaded lady's private parts was.
Anyone remember way back when Tutor had the swear filter in the forums? Every time you wrote "lady's private parts" the post would read "ladies private parts", and if you wrote "dick" it would read "richard". When I first joined the forums, I thought "richard" was some new internet slang. That shit had me scratching my head for a minute, cause I never heard anyone on the street say "suck my richard".

Back on topic, yeah I see how a lot of people who own a collection of VSTs not needing any REs. But sometimes you might find a few REs that aren't VSTs. I haven't used any VSTs in a long time. Reason is my only DAW. I thought about buying Ableton and Reaper 2 years ago. But my PC was too slow. So I ended up with a NFR copy of Reason 6 from James Bernard, who's an old friend of mine. Then I sold some hardware and bought a Mac Mini, a new interface, and MIDI controller. The Mac Mini can't handle much more than Reason. So using any other DAW to ReWire wouldn't be a good thing. Plus I didn't wanna spread myself too thin on all the learning curves involved. I'm still hoping for MIDI clock out in Reason eventually. But I've also been testing some 3rd party apps that have allowed me to track and sync my x0xb0x to record. It's not perfect. But it's much better than any other method I've tried.

There's a ton of CV REs in the Prop shop now. But I'm saving all those trials for when I get more familiar with them. So my use of CV/Gates are still limited until then. I'm slowly getting into building Combinators. Reason is a beast. Out of all the software I've ever tried, I've always enjoyed Reason the best since it's like having tons of hardware in a virtual rack without taking up half my living room. I still miss having tons of hardware. But I can do so much more with Reason until I win the lottery.

mr_debauch wrote:

inflict3 wrote:
i have a tape saturater in the master chain on my default reason rack and all u gotta do is turn one knob and it totally shits on the sound like you are wanting..

yeah I have a tape one too that shits on sounds...

but what I meant is to expand on the pushing tab in reason.

Which tape saturator are you talking about? Is it a Combinator in the Factory Sound Bank? I'm guessing you're using Pulveriser.

I forgot to mention a RE from Blamsoft called ReSampler. It really does a nice job making samples sound like they were running through an MPC60, s950, SP1200, etc.
It's not as warm as real hardware. So I throw the Softtube Saturation Knob in right after it with the Rough Rider compressor and some EQing to compensate for the lack of high frequencies that are eliminated from Rough Rider. So it's been fun throwing in all these REs with Kong. This little recipe is what I call The Ren Killer.

i guess its not really a tape saturator but it does the trick with the grit..

http://shop.propellerheads.se/product/s ... tion-knob/

yo, ur friends with james?? i met him at decibel this past year and he is a great guy, ive always talked to him on the net, but meeting him was soooo great, this was while he was still at propellerhead.. ive got so much respect for that guy, he has been through a lot, im not sure how he does it...good dude indeed!

inflict3 wrote:i guess its not really a tape saturator but it does the trick with the grit..

http://shop.propellerheads.se/product/s ... tion-knob/

yo, ur friends with james?? i met him at decibel this past year and he is a great guy, ive always talked to him on the net, but meeting him was soooo great, this was while he was still at propellerhead.. ive got so much respect for that guy, he has been through a lot, im not sure how he does it...good dude indeed!

Yeah I grabbed Saturation Knob for free while the introductory offer was still valid. I get quite a bit of use with it (including The Ren Killer I posted about before).
I've known James since '92 or '93. i used to bump into him at a club called Voodoo/Caffeine on Long Island, and we used to talk about gear back then whenever I saw him and a few other producers and DJs we knew back then when he was mastering their tracks. Later in the '90s, he started working for Korg, then moved on to Propellerheads. He left Props in December. But he's working on some new business ventures including developing his own Rack Extensions with Peff and a few other people. I have no idea what he's got under his sleeve. But I'm sure it's gonna be good. James is always full of surprises.

distortedtekno wrote:

inflict3 wrote:i guess its not really a tape saturator but it does the trick with the grit..

http://shop.propellerheads.se/product/s ... tion-knob/

yo, ur friends with james?? i met him at decibel this past year and he is a great guy, ive always talked to him on the net, but meeting him was soooo great, this was while he was still at propellerhead.. ive got so much respect for that guy, he has been through a lot, im not sure how he does it...good dude indeed!

Yeah I grabbed Saturation Knob for free while the introductory offer was still valid. I get quite a bit of use with it (including The Ren Killer I posted about before).
I've known James since '92 or '93. i used to bump into him at a club called Voodoo/Caffeine on Long Island, and we used to talk about gear back then whenever I saw him and a few other producers and DJs we knew back then when he was mastering their tracks. Later in the '90s, he started working for Korg, then moved on to Propellerheads. He left Props in December. But he's working on some new business ventures including developing his own Rack Extensions with Peff and a few other people. I have no idea what he's got under his sleeve. But I'm sure it's gonna be good. James is always full of surprises.

link me to this ren killer post please!!!! yea, i think i grabbed the saturator for free too.. bout to buy this fm synth re, i tried it around december when it dropped and loved it, just didnt wanna fork out the cash, cause propellerhead is charging hella for it, but i feel the sound is worth it..px7 that is.. have u tried it???

The Ren Killer is posted above. But here's what I do...

1. Add Kong in your rack.
2. Add Blamsoft ReSampler
3. Add Saturation Knob
4. Add Rough Rider or any compressor of your choice *Optional*
5. Add Any EQ of your choice (MClass will do just fine) *Optional*

Settings:

1. Tweak ReSampler to your liking
2. Set the Saturation Knob to 2.2 and the type to Neutral
3. Tweak compressor to your liking *Optional*
4. Tweak EQ to your liking *Optional*

I made 2 quick combinators over the summer that don't have the optional compressor and EQ. These were early experiments. If you have Blamsoft Resampler, I'll send you the Combinators. I may have newer patches saved elsewhere. But I gotta look for them.