Vaporwave in reason

[tehd]

Hello,

I just got the trialversion of reason 9.5 and it makes a lot of fun to create music. My problem is: How do I make a typical vaprwave sound? Does anybody know how to do it and which instrument are perfect for it?

Thank you!

tehd

[Hauser+Quaid]

Pardon my ignorance as I haven't checked it in years but isn't Vaporwave just slowed-down samples of 80s songs? Or has it evolved past that? I imagine it's still largely 80s-synth based, so pretty much any synth can produce those type of sounds, Subtractor, Thor, any basic subtractive synth.

[tehd]

Actually you are right, most vaporwave tracks are just bascially as you said, slowed down samples but I wanted to make an own composed track.

[Ahornberg]

maybe compose an 80s style track and slow it down

[EnochLight]

Hello,

I just got the trialversion of reason 9.5 and it makes a lot of fun to create music. My problem is: How do I make a typical vaprwave sound? Does anybody know how to do it and which instrument are perfect for it?

Thank you!

tehd

A great way to mess around with this is to deconstruct other vaporwave songs. While Washed Out's "Feel It All Around" may or may not be considered vaporwave, it's an easy song to deconstruct. Just start a blank song project, set your tempo to about 122 BPM, and then open up a copy of Gary Low's "I Want You" in Reason, and slice away. If you then drop your song project tempo to Washed Out's ~ 86 BPM, and drop the pitch a few octaves, you've got instant vaporwave. Add some 80's-style synths/pads, etc... Have fun!

Also, if you want to know how to work with/create loops in Reason without tempo data, try doing this:

[tnonguyen]

Pardon my ignorance as I haven't checked it in years but isn't Vaporwave just slowed-down samples of 80s songs? Or has it evolved past that? I imagine it's still largely 80s-synth based, so pretty much any synth can produce those type of sounds, Subtractor, Thor, any basic subtractive synth.

Ohhh.. but it HAS evolved! Anybody can simply "slow down" a song's BPM.... but, that would mean artists like SAINT PEPSI, 猫 シ Corp., or bl00dwave would all amount to sh*t if that was all that they did to get as much recognition as they are. The essence of Vaporwave is to take only a few snips of whatever you like from whatever song--old, new--then somehow make it sound like an entirely different song. I feel that it's more about emitting that slow-mo', sleazy but sexy retro vibe.. that wispy, smoke-like flow of melodic, funky sounds... The best Vaporwave work can make one think that it's a broken VHS tape. I really don't think it's that easy to just fart out a good vaporwave track...

I'm also wondering how I can make a track that can be on par with any of those guys I mentioned above.... ::ponderrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr::

[Ahornberg]

I'm also wondering how I can make a track that can be on par with any of those guys I mentioned above.... ::ponderrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr::

Have you searched for howto-videos? https://www.google.com/search?tbm=vid&q ... ound+howto

[supersplaron]

This should be able to get you started:

https://www.propellerheads.se/blog/crea ... ve-edition

[VHS]

Pardon my ignorance as I haven't checked it in years but isn't Vaporwave just slowed-down samples of 80s songs? Or has it evolved past that? I imagine it's still largely 80s-synth based, so pretty much any synth can produce those type of sounds, Subtractor, Thor, any basic subtractive synth.

Ohhh.. but it HAS evolved! Anybody can simply "slow down" a song's BPM.... but, that would mean artists like SAINT PEPSI, 猫 シ Corp., or bl00dwave would all amount to sh*t if that was all that they did to get as much recognition as they are. The essence of Vaporwave is to take only a few snips of whatever you like from whatever song--old, new--then somehow make it sound like an entirely different song. I feel that it's more about emitting that slow-mo', sleazy but sexy retro vibe.. that wispy, smoke-like flow of melodic, funky sounds... The best Vaporwave work can make one think that it's a broken VHS tape. I really don't think it's that easy to just fart out a good vaporwave track...

I'm also wondering how I can make a track that can be on par with any of those guys I mentioned above.... ::ponderrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr::

here is a list of songs sampled by Saint Pepsi. https://www.whosampled.com/SAINT-PEPSI/

here are some vaporwave songs A/B with the original https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4nrGjvWas

That should probably be enough to get an idea of what the artists are doing in a track. Don't forget to poorly process the sample so it sounds more like shit and add a four on the floor beat.

[antic604]

WhoTF comes with the names of those music genres?! Waporwave? Witch house? Footwork?

[EnochLight]

WhoTF comes with the names of those music genres?! Waporwave? Witch house? Footwork?

I always thought “witch house” was an awesome name for a music genre, but funny enough - the term was meant as a total joke. It was never supposed to be taken seriously.

[esselfortium]

I've written a lot of original vaporwave (i.e. no samples from other music) in Reason, on PC LOVE LETTER and Transmission Control.

Tape simulation is a big part of creating that sound, and you can build a powerful tape-simulation effects rig with stock Reason devices!

• Audiomatic has presets for Tape and VHS, but personally I prefer to use Scream 4's tape mode as a starting point. It's simple and versatile.

• Before sending it into the tape saturation, run your signal through some reverb and layer it with some noise. The wash of reverb smooths things out, and the randomness of the noise helps create interesting imperfections in the tape-saturated signal.

• For EQ, try tapering off the high end a bit to reduce its digital sheen, and try boosting some midrange frequencies until you find a warm sound you like. A little bit can go a long way here.

• Random pitch wobble can be achieved in a bunch of ways in Reason, but the quickest one to set up is using The Echo. Reset Device and set delay time to 1 millisecond, set the Dry/Wet knob to fully dry, and use either the Wobble knob or the LFO knobs (or both). I'd suggest dialing it in to be subtle enough that you only barely notice it.

• Once you've set up all of the above, try adding some additional reverb and delay after the tape saturation and pitch wobble. Adding delay after the pitch wobble creates a wonderful natural unison/chorus-like effect due to different subtle pitch variations from different points in time overlapping each other.

• Liberally apply chorus to taste. Reason's stock half-rack chorus effect isn't the greatest, but Jiggery-Pokery's Chenille and Kuassa's Efektor Chorus are both fantastic options for adding lushness to your sounds. There's also Kilohearts' Chorus, which is free and better than the built-in one at least, though I would say it's not on the same level as Chenille or the Efektor Chorus.

• If you come up with a tape-effects rig that you like, you can save it into a combinator for easy future use, so you can just call it up instantly and then modify it to taste.

With a setup like the above, you can literally reset Thor to its defaults and play a chord and instantly be in vaporwave heaven. All of the above techniques are also very applicable to creating a "Boards of Canada" inspired sound.



Also, worth considering on the composition side of things:

• If you're not sampling old music, you can still create a similar feel by listening to vaporwave 'source material' and dissecting a song (or several), then using it as a blueprint for a new composition. How do the drums sound? What sort of rhythms and chords are used? What kind of mood does it set, and how? etc.

• You can write a song yourself, export it from Reason, and then drop it back into the sequencer as an audio track to play with. Slowing it down, adjusting its pitch, slicing it up, you can find surprising things to pull out of your own music when sampling yourself this way. I've started a lot of vaporwave songs like this!

[mataya]

Peff's https://shop.propellerheads.se/rack-ext ... ssor-no22/