Why do you use OctoRex?

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Jagwah
Posts: 2549
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

12 Mar 2015

I'm just curious as to what the benefits are. Now with transient slicing and bounce to .rex so easily accessible I find it interesting that I still very rarely use OctoRex.

I haven't used it much so I'm probably missing some things, is the main attraction the way the midi clip is laid out in the sequencer?

What benefits do you find with using it over audio clips or CV / midi triggered drum machines for instance?

When I have drums I already like, is there much benefit to bouncing them to .rex, perhaps for stuttering or something else?


Cheers! :comp:


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Ixus
Posts: 283
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

12 Mar 2015


I only use it when im feel like adding a little spice to my songs. With spice i mean a drum/percussion loop here or there, often with alot of filtering, delays or reverby things on it.
So i dont use it often, but when I do I use it for the most basic purpose :)
 

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selig
RE Developer
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Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

12 Mar 2015

Looking at a few of my current projects, it's all over the place (in all meanings of the phrase). 

I find it handy for throwing in a quick shaker or tambo loop. For drum beats I almost always put the notes to track and change up the pattern for the main beat and for fills/variations. I also add a ReDrum or Kong to fill out the drum beat/sounds. 

Sometimes Dr Octa Rex is the main beat, like a recent track that uses a brush loop. Other times it's the chorus or bridge "extra" beat. 

Occasionally I'll use a pitched REX loop, but typically to find a sample to use rather than to simply trigger the original loop. 

:)
Selig Audio, LLC

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EddieG
Posts: 109
Joined: 18 Jan 2015

12 Mar 2015

It's a good idea starter
-beats
-riffs

It's a good seasoner
-layering beats
-riffs
-grooves

It's great for pitching and tuning above said uses for me
AND now I can bounce stuff out and splice and dice - what a great tool
I LOVE Reason

stratcatfl in the house !

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alex
Posts: 397
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Location: Italy
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12 Mar 2015

IMO there are three main advantages every time I choose to use Dr Oct Rex:
  1. if you slow down or speed up tempo song, timestretching will not take place in a dr.rex loop;
  2. fine grained control on every single slice (outs, panning, pitch, decay envelope etc...);
  3. ability to play every single slice with you MIDI keyboard or rearranging slice notes via sequencer.
Cheers
The best things happen after reading the manual. ;)
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tibah
Posts: 903
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

12 Mar 2015

I use it for everything really, but its strongest attributes are how it can inspire me and deliver that bit that's missing, without being only a loop-player. If you don't see the creative potential in slice edit mode, the way you can shift things around, tune/transpose, simple vibrato and filter modulation integration, rearranging musical content to new phrases - I can't help you. ;)

There is a lot of fun in rearranging musical loops for me. Even more so with not so perfect slices that will give me something that I would never cut that way manually. Happy accidents! I turned most of my sample collection into REX because of this.

Another trick is to load up 3-4 random loops into different loop slots, then automate notes to slot! ;)  (Of course, with slices / notes set in the sequencer.)

It offers limited tools, but I guess we all know about how limitations can actually help you to be more creative. 

I guess if you like that way of working like I do - finding samples / records, turning them into REX, using them in OctoRex (maybe like an SP1200 or MPC style way of working) and just use that, you would still never run out of ideas. Now THAT's how much fun I have using it and combining it with synths, other drum-machines, younameit.

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gak
Posts: 2840
Joined: 05 Feb 2015

12 Mar 2015

Being a fairly remedial drum programmer, it's quite possible to find a nice groove and build around it, including being able to extract a groove from it and then roll your own.


Seems like a powerful tool to me.

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phasys
Posts: 199
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

12 Mar 2015

If it would be able to sample, it might actually be useful. I used to like it, but now whenever I look at it, I get annoyed by what it can't do.

GRIFTY
Posts: 658
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

12 Mar 2015

If it could sample, it'd be a sampler. It's not one. It's a loop player.

For me it's very handy for drum breaks. I cut a record up in recycle and then use Rex to play the loop. I mean, it's essential for anybody who makes loop based tracks, which; it's fine if you don't. I don't get much use out of malstrom or Thor honestly
*gasps*

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Raveshaper
Posts: 1089
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

12 Mar 2015

Right now I'm using it to create a cheap version of backing tracks to allow for crossfading in transitions from one virtual deck to the other.

I also use pitchbend with a range of 24 in combination with a change in tempo automation curve to create phase shifts and tape stop effects.
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JoshuaPhilgarlic
Posts: 389
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Munich/ Germany

12 Mar 2015

I rarely use it 'cause I'm no loop user. I may use it for some additional percussion loops (mostly just a shaker), that's it.

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ebop
Posts: 142
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: NZ

12 Mar 2015

I use OctoRex in every track. Percussion and hats mainly and mostly just filler sounds.

I also use OctoRex with a percussion Rex file to drive a synth and vocoder in a dub techno patch, can result in some nice techy sounds to fill the space. I'd like to know more unique ways to use OctoRex like this as I'm sure there's plenty out there other than just using it as a loop player.

One thing though, I really wish Ochen K used a different Rex loop in his tutorials to sell his great REs. Boom tish boom boom tish ;)

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Jagwah
Posts: 2549
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

13 Mar 2015

Interesting replies thanks guys. Seems common to use it for the loops already in the patch bank, not many of you are bouncing your own drums to .rex which is what I was interested in the benefits of, could be others out there that do it a lot I suppose.

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phasys
Posts: 199
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

13 Mar 2015

GRIFTY wrote:If it could sample, it'd be a sampler. It's not one. It's a loop player. For me it's very handy for drum breaks. I cut a record up in recycle and then use Rex to play the loop. I mean, it's essential for anybody who makes loop based tracks, which; it's fine if you don't. I don't get much use out of malstrom or Thor honestly *gasps*
You use a seperate product to create your loop. Welcome to the 21st century.

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mcatalao
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Posts: 1826
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

13 Mar 2015

selig wrote:Looking at a few of my current projects, it's all over the place (in all meanings of the phrase). 

I find it handy for throwing in a quick shaker or tambo loop. For drum beats I almost always put the notes to track and change up the pattern for the main beat and for fills/variations. I also add a ReDrum or Kong to fill out the drum beat/sounds. 

Sometimes Dr Octa Rex is the main beat, like a recent track that uses a brush loop. Other times it's the chorus or bridge "extra" beat. 

Occasionally I'll use a pitched REX loop, but typically to find a sample to use rather than to simply trigger the original loop. 

:)
All this, and also the fact that you have multiple outputs for different slices:
Image 

If you use the rx2 sample directly on a sequencer track you can't send different hits to different channels in your mixer.

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Kov
Posts: 467
Joined: 21 Jan 2015

13 Mar 2015

I use it almost for all loop based percussion. Specially if use it for the main beat. Then i often use the slice outputs to separate bassdrum/snare/cymbals and process the differently.

GRIFTY
Posts: 658
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

13 Mar 2015

GRIFTY wrote:If it could sample, it'd be a sampler. It's not one. It's a loop player. For me it's very handy for drum breaks. I cut a record up in recycle and then use Rex to play the loop. I mean, it's essential for anybody who makes loop based tracks, which; it's fine if you don't. I don't get much use out of malstrom or Thor honestly *gasps*
phasys wrote:
You use a seperate product to create your loop. Welcome to the 21st century.
I'll admit it's not 100% user friendly nor ideal. But recycle is much more powerful and easy to chop with than reason. So in that respect I see your point. But still, I couldn't live without Dr Rex

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selig
RE Developer
Posts: 11685
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

13 Mar 2015

selig wrote:Looking at a few of my current projects, it's all over the place (in all meanings of the phrase). 

I find it handy for throwing in a quick shaker or tambo loop. For drum beats I almost always put the notes to track and change up the pattern for the main beat and for fills/variations. I also add a ReDrum or Kong to fill out the drum beat/sounds. 

Sometimes Dr Octa Rex is the main beat, like a recent track that uses a brush loop. Other times it's the chorus or bridge "extra" beat. 

Occasionally I'll use a pitched REX loop, but typically to find a sample to use rather than to simply trigger the original loop. 

:)
mcatalao wrote:
All this, and also the fact that you have multiple outputs for different slices:
Image
mcatalao wrote: 

If you use the rx2 sample directly on a sequencer track you can't send different hits to different channels in your mixer.
You can move all the snare hits to their own track, all the kick hits to another - in a way, it's probably faster to do this in the sequencer than trying to do it in Dr Octa Rex.

I wish there was a REX3 format that allowed things like tags for slices (so you could select all the "kick" slices at once automatically, then assign them to a new output, multi-track loops (so you can have the direct mic, and overhead, and room pair to mix between like a real kit), and multi-tempo data in a single file (to support more tempos without creating gaps when slowing down, etc). 
:)
Selig Audio, LLC

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mcatalao
Competition Winner
Posts: 1826
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

13 Mar 2015

Move? Don't you have to cut the slices for that?

GRIFTY
Posts: 658
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

13 Mar 2015

^how about that AND recycle integration in reason?  either contained within dr rex himself somehow or in the sequencer.  man that'd be the dream

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MirEko
Posts: 274
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

14 Mar 2015

I must be in the minority but I almost use it exclusively to reimagine parts already in my track whether they be synths or drums. Octorex is one of the reasons I keep coming back to reason after trying other DAWs.

1. I bounce a part (let's say a drum track) to REX, open in octorex and then send midi to track. I then can create offbeat timings and fills as well as slightly edit the individual slices vol, filter, or pitch. Say slightly edit each snare differently then adjust the midi to use the snares I want. Also great to create different note lanes with different regroove timings.

2. Use it like an Mpc (usually when bouncing synth or sampled parts). Set poly to one and release to full and then you can trigger like an oldskool Mpc sampler. Great for revising parts and coming up with different variations on your melody etc.

3. Use it to make offbeat lazy beats, make a drum loop with lots going on but not over complicated. Bounce that out at say 90bpm, then use it in a 98bpm track. The trick here is to set up the octorex as a Mpc like above^ but also to chop your loop very coarse so a one bar loop has only between 4&6 chops. That way you get a kick followed by a few hats or a snare followed by a snare roll. Because the loop was created at a slower tempo it can give the beat a slightly lazy offbeat swing which can sound nice if your into that kind of thing :)

4. Layer drum hits with themselves.. So again bounce the midi to track. In a two bar loop you may have four slices for the same snare as the loop progresses. Copy the midi notes for two or more of these snares across the pattern and then edit each of the slices in the slice edit mode. You end up with stacked variations of the same slice sample. Can be quite cool. Also works great with melodic stuff.

Great thing about all this resampling is stuff like delays/reverb and other effects are included in the bounced REX loop, so you can get some weird stuff going on.
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Jagwah
Posts: 2549
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

14 Mar 2015

MirEko wrote:I must be in the minority but I almost use it exclusively to reimagine parts already in my track whether they be synths or drums. Octorex is one of the reasons I keep coming back to reason after trying other DAWs. 1. I bounce a part (let's say a drum track) to REX, open in octorex and then send midi to track. I then can create offbeat timings and fills as well as slightly edit the individual slices vol, filter, or pitch. Say slightly edit each snare differently then adjust the midi to use the snares I want. Also great to create different note lanes with different regroove timings. 2. Use it like an Mpc (usually when bouncing synth or sampled parts). Set poly to one and release to full and then you can trigger like an oldskool Mpc sampler. Great for revising parts and coming up with different variations on your melody etc. 3. Use it to make offbeat lazy beats, make a drum loop with lots going on but not over complicated. Bounce that out at say 90bpm, then use it in a 98bpm track. The trick here is to set up the octorex as a Mpc like above^ but also to chop your loop very coarse so a one bar loop has only between 4&6 chops. That way you get a kick followed by a few hats or a snare followed by a snare roll. Because the loop was created at a slower tempo it can give the beat a slightly lazy offbeat swing which can sound nice if your into that kind of thing :) 4. Layer drum hits with themselves.. So again bounce the midi to track. In a two bar loop you may have four slices for the same snare as the loop progresses. Copy the midi notes for two or more of these snares across the pattern and then edit each of the slices in the slice edit mode. You end up with stacked variations of the same slice sample. Can be quite cool. Also works great with melodic stuff. Great thing about all this resampling is stuff like delays/reverb and other effects are included in the bounced REX loop, so you can get some weird stuff going on.
Thanks a lot for chiming in this is just the sort of post I was hoping for. Some great ideas there cheers! :comp:

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JNeffLind
Posts: 976
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: So. Illinois, USA
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15 Mar 2015

I use it because programming drums takes time and I'm generally not as good as those wbo get paid to make Rex loops. Mainly I'm not inspired by production a great deal and usually try to do a relatively simple and quick approach so I can get back to writing. 

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gak
Posts: 2840
Joined: 05 Feb 2015

16 Mar 2015

Again, I'm just BLOW AWAY that in reason you can take a "drum loop" for example, and then "copy loop to track" and then extract a groove (and save/name it) and then use the groove to make your own. H...Y F....! Incredible. Better than any host I've personally ever used!

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dvdrtldg
Posts: 2386
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

16 Mar 2015

One of my favourite things about Dr Octo Rex is the filter. Really wish it was possible to run external audio thru it

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