Easiest way to build an "always-on" sample-based noise generator in Reason?

[selig]

Doh, we're ALL over thinking it.

Here's the solution that should work for certain:

(I won't spoil the surprise, but you'll kick yourself when you see how simple it is)

BackgroundLoop2_gr.cmb.zip

(2.06 KiB) Downloaded 79 times

[househoppin09]

Thanks selig, that is indeed an elegant simplification of your previous version, but the behavior appears to be the same: the loop survives pressing stop on the transport, but there's no auto-start when initially loading the combi or song file (though, once again, the auto-start strangely DOES work when wiping out the combi and reloading it while the loop is already playing). Activating the loop is thankfully simpler in this version, because all that's necessary now is to toggle the button off and back on. So, this is progress! Still, it seems like there should be a way to get a proper auto-start. I'd probably favor the Grain approach rather than Thor if that turns out to be the only way to get the auto-start, but there would need to be a way to get playback free of grain-y artifacting. Any ideas?

[RobC]

Doh, we're ALL over thinking it.

Here's the solution that should work for certain:

(I won't spoil the surprise, but you'll kick yourself when you see how simple it is)

BackgroundLoop2_gr.cmb.zip

Right! The easiest solution was well hidden - in front of our eyes...

[selig]

Thanks selig, that is indeed an elegant simplification of your previous version, but the behavior appears to be the same: the loop survives pressing stop on the transport, but there's no auto-start when initially loading the combi or song file (though, once again, the auto-start strangely DOES work when wiping out the combi and reloading it while the loop is already playing). Activating the loop is thankfully simpler in this version, because all that's necessary now is to toggle the button off and back on. So, this is progress! Still, it seems like there should be a way to get a proper auto-start. I'd probably favor the Grain approach rather than Thor if that turns out to be the only way to get the auto-start, but there would need to be a way to get playback free of grain-y artifacting. Any ideas?

I really have no idea why it works for me and not for you. Loads up blazing noise for me every single time, either loading the combinator or opening a song with the combi in it. I really can't think of why is shouldn't work…

How long is the sample you're using (mine is around 30 seconds long)?
Could it be it's still loading the sample when you open the file?

Any one else having this problem?

[househoppin09]

Very odd! I've tried it with your pink noise sample as well as several of my own, all very short/small. Makes no difference, it's always silent on first load, then works fine on all subsequent loads in the same session after "activation". I'm on Reason 10.1.2d1, so if you're using a different version maybe that explains it?

Definitely would be good to know how it behaves for others... anyone?

[selig]

Very odd! I've tried it with your pink noise sample as well as several of my own, all very short/small. Makes no difference, it's always silent on first load, then works fine on all subsequent loads in the same session after "activation". I'm on Reason 10.1.2d1, so if you're using a different version maybe that explains it?

Definitely would be good to know how it behaves for others... anyone?

Ahh, that's possibly a clue. Since I created the patch, all of my "loads" were "subsequent", if that makes sense. Not sure why it would work any differently. Gonna try something real quick here, be right back…
OK, quit Reason, re-booted and loaded up the song file. Yup, seeing the same thing. For some reason it won't play on first load after booting Reason. Very odd. If you delete the Combinator and then undo, it will play. Looks kinda buggy to me…

[househoppin09]

Yeah, I wouldn't think this was intended behavior, but who knows. I do tend to close/restart Reason on a regular basis, so am hoping there's a solution for this. Worst case, I'm sure there are plenty of VSTs that can easily do things like this, though I'm not sure where to even start narrowing down the choices there...

[househoppin09]

Got it figured out. As suspected, the culprit is buggy/glitchy coding. The first time Reason initializes certain devices in any given session, regardless of whether or not this is done at startup, CV signals take a finite amount of time to stabilize and don't function properly during that brief interval. This can clearly be seen on scopes like the CVA-7 if you know where to look. The workaround is thankfully quite simple and reliable: run all CV signals through delays when it's important for them to trigger on startup. I used a Thor to do the delay, and found that about 250ms is sufficient, though I'd imagine that figure might vary wildly depending on the setup. Anyway, now I've finally got exactly what I want... but only after hours of pointless overcomplicated experimentation, of course!

[rcbuse]

I should have suggested the Torsion Rack Extension. It would be an expensive solution to the problem, but you can drop in a sample to loop and click the 'On' button and bam, it just runs forever, even on relaunch.

[househoppin09]

Good to know, thanks! I'm sure I'll probably get Torsion sooner or later for all of its other capabilities anyway. When looping samples with Torsion, is it possible to have it play "perfectly" with no artifacting? That was the problem I ran into with Grain earlier. Admittedly I haven't learned my way around Grain yet so I might be overlooking something obvious, but I couldn't readily find any way of getting the looping sample to play back "pristinely" with perfect fidelity. Not a problem for Torsion, I take it?

Also: if I want to have a whole bunch of little background loops going on different tracks, I'll presumably need a separate Torsion instance for each one. When using a bunch of them like that, and assuming I don't use any other Torsion features, will the DSP usage start to add up to something significant? My current makeshift solution seems to be getting the job done pretty well with just one NN-XT and two Thors per loop, so basically no DSP hit at all no matter how many I want to have going at a time.

[Iapetus 9]

Use the wonderfully majestic and underrated free Blue Chip refill. It comes with many always on noise machines and has quite a few sample loading combis. Whomever created this refill is a madman and worthy of a big fat smooch. That is all.