Propellerheads

James Bernard .plan

Wireless Midi... the future is now! 2008-11-21 20:32

In my ongoing quest for new ways to use and control Reason, I have always been drawn to different and unusual controller surfaces. For the last 2 years I have been using a Wiimote to control Reason over bluetooth with success (especially in live performance)... and wondered aloud why no hardware control surface manufacturers were exploring that area.

About 2 months ago during our Producers Conference in Atlanta, Kurt Kurasaki (aka Peff) was showing me an application on his iPhone that used WiFi and OSC (Open Sound Control) along with OSCulator, and he was controlling Reason with it! I was dumbfounded.. but could not bring myself to getting an iPhone just for this purpose (cool as it was).. and honestly I still do not see how anyone can justify the monthly costs of an iPhone... but that's just me...

Then I remembered.... the iPod Touch shares a lot of what the iPhone has minus the hefty monthly charges... WiFi, AppStore, Email and yes.. even VoIP when you use a headset with microphone (trust me.. I have already done this on my last overseas trip... nothing like calling home from Frankfurt Airport for 5 cents a minute).

So, I purchased my new 16GB iPod touch (2nd Gen), got online on my home WiFi network.. went to the app store and purchased TouchOSC. I downloaded the templates for OSCulator that support TouchOSC and got to work setting up the iPod touch to communicate with my macbook over WiFi (I suggest you set up a new network - computer to computer).

Once I established connection between TouchOSC running on the iPod and OSCulator running on the macbook... I opened up Reason and created a new control surface (Midi Keyboard with Controls), selected OSCulator out as the MIDI input.. and BAMMO.... I was controlling Reason from my iPod!!!!!!

Not only was it working flawlessly... but the range is INCREDIBLE... I was walking all around my house playing the Keyboard mode of TouchOSC and triggering Reason with VERY low latency (equal to that of any USB connected controller I have used). To say I am excited about the possibilites of this is an understatement... FINALLY the future is here!!

Now all that's left to do is get to work on making a Remote script for use with TouchOSC (I am tinkering with that now).

For the $3.99 that TouchOSC costs, the $19 minimum donation to register OSCulator and the $300 for the 16GB iPod touch it's easily the best $325 I have ever spent.

Next week I will post a quick video showing how this all works together... in the meantime here are some links for you to check it out. Note that this all works for both iPhone and iPod Touch (1st and 2nd Gen).

TouchOSC
http://hexler.net/touchosc

OSCulator
http://www.osculator.net/wiki/

Comments (8)

Using Reason for Live Performance 2008-10-30 20:49

A lot of people have asked me how I set up Reason when I perform live. Here is a diagram showing the connections.

The idea is to treat Reason like you are spinning/mixing vinyl records, since you can open and play multiple Reason songs at the same time.

By using an audio interface with 4 outputs, you can assign 1 Reason song to outs 1&2 and the second song to outs 3&4 (using the audio outputs on the hardware device at the top of the rack). On the DJ mixer you have the ability to cue the second song while the first song is playing without the crowd hearing the secong song (using the crossfader).

Syncing the two songs together is a rather easy process as well. You have the ability to change the tempo on either song since Reason does not automatically lock the two songs together. I usually start with a set tempo and when I load the next song I set it to the same tempo as the song that is playing, then start it on the downbeat and nudge the tempo +/- using the + and - keys of a usb numberpad until the second song is locked into the same tempo. Now mix into the second song using the crossfader.. once the second song has taken over.. close the first song and repeat the process.

Make sure you remember to route the audio of each song to the correct set of outputs before you press play.. I have had a few gigs where after a drink or two..I loaded up the next song which was supposed to be on outs 3&4 and pressed play before checking the output assignments... of course the song began playing on the same outputs as the song that was playing previously... oops...

Some cool things that happen when using Reason this way...

Any USB controllers you have connected will control the first song you open and then as you open and close new songs it will jump to the next song you had opened after the first.

You can start and stop each song independently of each other just by selecting the song and pressing the spacebar.

You could have a song that has a full arrangement and play another song which is just an improv style loop or samples to trigger on top of it.

Everybody that comes up to see what you are using will probably say... "I can't believe you are using Reason live"

If I have missed anything or you need some clarification.. please comment!

Comments (6)

Feeling Cheesy... 2008-10-24 17:37

It's a rainy Friday and I'm feeling a bit cheesy and in the mood for some lo-fi sounds. Opened the closet this morning to find an old Casiotone MT-400V which belongs to my wife.

Turned it on and loved the tones... so... I sampled all the drum beats and fills.. ran them trough ReCycle and made some rex loops and then created a ReDrum kit.

Here is an early X-mas present.

MT-400V drums refill

Maybe I will sample the tones and bass autochords in the future and make some combinator which mimicks the entire functionality of the MT-400V someday... we'll see... in the meantime.. enjoy the cheese.

Comments (1)

Something to help when using ReWire 2008-10-21 18:23

I just returned from a trip on the west coast doing a round of artist interviews and one question that came up a bunch was using Reason ReWired to another DAW. A few of the artists requested a template to use to make the process easier for "stemming out" tracks created in Reason to their DAW software.

So... I made a template.

Get it Here!

Here is the way it works...

I created 16 empty combinators that are used as "placeholders" for 16 tracks. The idea is that you use this as your startup template when creating music. To select a sound in the combinator... just click on the folder icon and make sure that you enable show "All Instruments" in the upper right hand side of the browser. Now you will be able to select any sound for the track. I also created 4 RV-7000's as effect "placeholders" to be used in the same way.

I routed each combinators output to a channel on the 14:2 mixers and also to the individual outs on the Hardware Device (Outputs 3-34). Same goes for the RV-7000's .. they are connected to Aux Send/Return 1-4 with the Aux Sends and Returns being routed to the 14:2 mixer in Reason and also to 16 outputs on the Hardware Device (Outputs 35-50).

The idea is that you can compose in Reason and when you are ready to rewire to your DAW the devices are already wired up and feeding ReWire outputs 3 - 50.

This template can be used when using Reason ReWired to any DAW application.

Hope it helps!

Comments (9)

Back from NYC! 2008-10-10 18:21

Last week I was in NYC for 2 events. The Producers Conference event at Legacy Recordings and also a private VIP event for some NYC area producers and artists.

The TPC (The Producers Conference) event was well attended with about 150 users there. Everyone was very well informed and had lots of questions for Chris Petti, Kurt Kurasaki (Peff) and I.

Labtekwon was very entertaining and played some great tunes.

Marley Marl called about 3o minutes prior to his timeslot with some bad news.. he was heading to the hospital for an emergency hernia operation! We wish him the best and hope he heals soon!

Here are some pics from the VIP event.

Steve Pageot and I

Priest (Antipop Consortium and Chris Petti)

Aaron Albano, JB and friends

Ok, so last week I shared a concept of "1 sample for a song" and promised that I would post a Reason song file to look at. Here it is...

Get it here (Reason v4 required to open the song):

http://www.propellerheads.se/user/index.cfm?fuseaction=download _song&songID=23473

It's an 8 bar loop of 4 tracks (Lead, Bass, Pad and Drums) using only 1 sample for each part (BD-Boomer from the FSB). This should give you an idea of how I came up with all the processing to create the tunes you hear in the last blog entry.

JB out...

Comments (5)

Welcome 2008-10-02 08:50

Welcome to my first entry to my new blog page on the Propellerhead Website! I plan on using this page to share any tips or tricks I have picked up, insight on some of my travels around the world doing Producers Conference events and also share some useful files or links I might come across. Please let me know what you think of it and feel free to request any specific tips/tricks you would like to see.

First off, let me give you a little glimpse into my world as I see it everyday that I go to my studio to work. The studio is a separate building from our house and even though it's rather smallish (about 10' x 10'), I have everything I need to work on music, demos and even do some video tutorials (soon to be uploaded!).

Here is the view from my chair ... notice the ancient JBL 4311 speakers? Yes... I am very oldschool... but I know the sound of these speakers very well and get great mixes out of them... they are showing their age a bit though... and yes.. that is an FM3 Buddha Machine www.fm3.com.cn

(Click picture to enlarge)

Here are some of the only hardware pieces I still own (all Reason these days!) .. never will part with these... extra points for anyone who can find what's unique about the TR-606 and identify the mystery synth with wood sides...

(Click picture to enlarge)

Tomorrow I am off to NYC for our Producers Conference event at Legacy Studios on the 4th and it is looking like a big one. If you are in the NY area, don't miss this one and make sure to say hi!... but first I am hosting some ultra VIP sessions with NYC area artists on Thursday and Friday.. will post some pics and info on that in the next blog for sure!

In the meantime... here is something to chew on...

In my Producers Conference presentations lately I have been discussing a concept of mine which has had a great reaction. The concept is to create a piece of music from very little.. for example limiting yourself to one very short sample and creating the entire piece of music using just that one sample.

I have done this using a TR-909 kick drum sample

(Click picture to enlarge)

and also a single bass note hit from a TB-303

(Click picture to enlarge)

As you can see from the screenshots, every single sound/track is using either an NN-XT or Redrum as the sound source with no other forms of synthesis. I only used Thor and Maelstrom to process the sound (through the filters/shapers) and not for any of their oscillators.

In the next blog I will upload a Reason sing file which shows exactly how I did this (just an 8 bar loop with a few tracks). I feel that this really inspired creativity since I was forcing myself to come up with sounds and musical phrases without relying on loops or preset sounds. It does require a bit of sound design trickery and knowledge of sampling.. but it's worth it.

Until next time... JB out.

Comments (10)

ReGroove Booster

This refill contains 66 new patches for one of the exciting new features of Reason version 4, the ReGroove Mixer. The ReGroove Mixer is a great tool for making the feel of your songs less rigid and cold, which can often be the case when using quantization on any sequencer. Many of these ReGroove patches contain not just timing/shuffle feel, but also Note Velocity and Note Length variations. These patches can be applied to any track in your sequences, try them on bass or keyboard parts... or even the whole song... you may be pleasantly surprised by the results.

A few things to know when using the ReGroove Mixer:

• To load any patches into the ReGroove Mixer, press the ReGroove Mixer icon (lower right hand side of the transport) and the press the folder icon of the desired Channel location (ex. A1).
• Make sure the Channel you are using is enabled (ON is illuminated at the top of the channel). If you would like to adjust the Timing, Velocity or Note Length Impact, make sure the EDIT button is on in the Channel you wish edit. Press F8 to bring up the Tool window, and then select Groove at the top of the Tool Window.
• ReGroove can only be used with notes that are recorded into clips on a sequencer track, not pattern devices (ReDrum, Matrix, RPG-8). If you would like to try out any ReGroove patches on parts that exist in a pattern device, you must use the copy pattern to track function to get the pattern converted to notes.
• In order to hear any Note Velocity changes when using ReGroove with a Dr. Rex loop player, you must first enable velocity to modify the Amp by turning the AMP knob clockwise (look under the VELOCITY section on the left of the module... near the Mod Wheel).
• Remember that you can create your own ReGroove patches as well from any sequenced material in a song (I suggest limiting it to 4 bars at the most). This includes any MIDI data that is created when you load a .rx2 file into a Dr. Rex Loop Player and press the TO TRACK button.

The R eGroove Tutorial .rns file is a song which has some tracks for you to test out the groove patches that are included in this refill. Try different ReGroove patches on the tracks and you will get an idea of how power ReGroove mixer really is!

In all my travel and presentations I have found that the ReGroove Mixer seems to be one of the most under-used features in Reason version 4, and I hope that after trying out some of these new patches you are inspired to use it more in your productions.

JB Vol.4 - ReGroove Booster
(Available as a free download to all registered Reason version 4 users.)

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Multiband Toolbox

The third installment of the James Bernard Free ReFill series focuses on an interesting concept: Multi-Band processing using the Combinator.

The Multi-Band Toolbox ReFill uses the Combinator as an effects device and does not contain any "sound" patches at all. It is meant to be used to process either the entire mix of a song by loading one of the patches into the Combinator Mastering Device at the top of the Reason Rack, or as an insert effect after a device that you would like to process.

The Multi-Band Toolbox gives you the capability to do Multi-Band compression and limiting (4 and 8 band versions) but also includes ways of using it for other things like effects and sound design. The real power and beauty of this Refill is revealed when you open up the patch (by pressing the Show Devices button) and tweak the parameters for each band's device individually.

J B Vol.3 - Multi-Band Toolbox

Update from James Bernard:

"After creating the initial Multiband Toolbox refill some users has commented that using some of the mastering patches "changed" the timbre or sound of the mix. After doing some testing on my own and discussing it with the head DSP guru at Propellerhead Software I came to a conclusion. I did it incorrectly.

Apparently the BV-512 does not use Phase Linear filters, and because I used it to do all the band splits it could change the timbre of the audio even if no effects or additional proccesing is applied. So.. I was told that using the M-Class Stereo Imager (which DOES use Phase Linear filters!) I could do the band splits and not have any change in timbre.

It's not as easy to do the band splitting using Stereo Imagers, but the hard work was worth it. I decided that the only patches that really needed this special attention were the Mastering patches, let's be honest....you don't need Phase Linear filters on a mutilband bit crusher, you are already intending to alter the timbre if you use that patch. This update contains new Mastering Patches using the Stereo Imagers to do the splits, as well as a 4 band and 8 band template for you to experiment with as well."

JB Vol.3 - Multi-Band Toolbox (Mastering tools update)

The update comes with updated combinator patches from the mastering tools section of the Multiband Toolbox.

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Modular Madness

The second installment of the James Bernard Free ReFill series is here. This ReFill is called Modular Madness, and rightly so. The ReFill consists of a collection of heavily processed synth and drum loops that have escaped the Propellerhead labs. The loops were created using Reason in a modular approach, which you can hear from the results.

The ReFill also contains two drum kits for Redrum in the same style.

If you are looking for something to spice up the holiday season, download Modular Madness today and help yourself to a tweaked out Christmas. Your family will love it!

J B Vol.2 - Modular Madness

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Weird and Wonderful

The first installation of the James Bernard Free Refill Series has arrived: Song Starters Volume 1 - Weird and Wonderful. The concept behind this Refill is to make it possible to compose/perform an entire song based on just one Combinator Patch, and show the power of Reason 3.0. Factory Soundbank is the only source for samples/patches, and in many cases new patches were created from scratch.

The name says it all - download Weird and Wonderful yourself and get playing (free to all registered users of Reason 3.0)!

Song Starters Volume 1 - Weird and Wonderful

Weird and Wonderful patch list

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