Reason's getting heavier

[dvdrtldg]

Just an observation: my main gripe with Reason when I got started on it (Reason 4 in 2010) was that it didn't do crushing, thick slabs of sound all that well. I liked Malstrom for its out-there potential, but struggled to get a truly devastating sound out of it.

Then when REs appeared, I initially got excited about things like Blamsoft's DC1, Faturator and other similar devices, but again - great for adding some grit to things, but not really bringing the heavy noise.

But I think we're almost at the point where Reason can be used to create something truly annihilating. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with my improving skills (I hope) in getting the sound I want, but REs like EVE-MP5, Devastor, Etch Red, Disperser and the Primal Audio filters are really helping.

Anybody else experimenting with the heavier/noisier side of things?

[Auryn]

I'd definitely recommend blamsoft zero for the noise terror you describe. You can do some heavy FM growls, and drive filter II pretty hard.
You can also abuse Antidote quite a bit, I put up a free refill with a 100 or so patches that try to drive it beyond the usual supersaw type sounds. You can find it here: http://www.reasontalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=7493531

Last but not least, malstrom shouldn't be forgotten! But it can sound harsh in a not-so-pleasant way. In my experience working with it, using more than one in a combinator and offsetting the duplicates by changing the shift, index or motion slightly yields the best sounds.

[Vince-Noir-99]

I also recommend looking into Decimort2. Great annihilation potential there.

About general destruction strategies, I find the options Scream 4 offers to be plenty useful, and unless you did already, I have these tips:

Let the distortion show off its nonlinearities by modulating LP/HP cutoff pre-distortion. Dynamically morph between a basic (close to a sine wave) and harmonically rich tone.

Ring-mod type modulation with two clashing pitches. Try it with two sine waves and listen how different intervals (especially inferior to a 5th) make some interesting modulation. It's sort of like with electric guitar when you play two notes and bend one up whilst the other is still ringing and you hear that warping effect. Note that if you're doing this in Thor or Malström their distortion modules are per-voice polyphonic, so you need to route the two notes as a mono signal into the dist stage.

Multiply pitched signals - classic ring mod - before distortion. I've noticed it creates some nasty results. You may use Pulveriser and its audio Filter Mod and Volume Mod inputs for that, or Thor, by scaling a signal with another in the matrix.

[ZombieFightsShark]

What genre are we taking about? There are a lot of different "heavies".

[TritoneAddiction]

I've certainly experimented with making heavy distorted sounds in Reason. This is from my electronic metal project Synthetic Flesh.
On these songs I've only used the stock devices in Reason 7. It was before I bought any rack extensions.
The only thing that wasn't done in Reason here is the mastering. For that I used Izotope Ozone in another DAW.

I've abused Scream 4 and the Line 6 amps like crazy on these songs.

In "Drones" it's particularly heavy at 1:01

I'm not sure this is the type of heavy you're talking about, but it's pretty aggressive and noisy sounding many times.

Of course the over the top drum programming makes everything a lot heavier and noiser too.

[Vince-Noir-99]

I've certainly experimented with making heavy distorted sounds in Reason. This is from my electronic metal project Synthetic Flesh.
On these songs I've only used the stock devices in Reason 7. It was before I bought any rack extensions.
The only thing that wasn't done in Reason here is the mastering. For that I used Izotope Ozone in another DAW.

I've abused Scream 4 and the Line 6 amps like crazy on these songs.

In "Drones" it's particularly heavy at 1:01

I'm not sure this is the type of heavy you're talking about, but it's pretty aggressive and noisy sounding many times.

Of course the over the top drum programming makes everything a lot heavier and noiser too.

In Drones at 1:20 it's the Walking Dead progression!

[dvdrtldg]

What genre are we taking about? There are a lot of different "heavies".

I'm talking about balls-out heavy drone, and the sort of noise produced by artists such as Merzbow. Try doing something like this in Reason, it's not easy

[kuhliloach]

^ 8 minutes in and I didn't turn it off yet. This means something I'd use a Scream 4 to start, with a guitar. And a cat.

[dvdrtldg]

^ 8 minutes in and I didn't turn it off yet. This means something I'd use a Scream 4 to start, with a guitar. And a cat.

8 minutes is good, see how far you can get before the anxiety attack kicks in. I like it, but I struggle to go the full 73 mins in one sitting

Scream 4 is great, but you can't get that sense of massive, crushing thickness with it. Or I can't anyway. If I was going to try to replicate the sound, I'd probably start with Ammo 1200. That's a great synth for planet-annihilating harsh noise. And the cat, of course

[raymondh]

What genre are we taking about? There are a lot of different "heavies".

I'm talking about balls-out heavy drone, and the sort of noise produced by artists such as Merzbow. Try doing something like this in Reason, it's not easy

I'm definitely getting old!

How can you guys enjoy that stuff?
Is it the sort of thing you crack open a beer and listen to on the sofa, or is it driving music, or background music for your parties?
Or do you consider it not to be music, but a sound you enjoy listening to (like the roar of a V8 engine etc)?

It does nothing for me - but music is personal and I'm definitely interested to understand what appeals about it!

[Libraquaricorn]

What genre are we taking about? There are a lot of different "heavies".

I'm talking about balls-out heavy drone, and the sort of noise produced by artists such as Merzbow. Try doing something like this in Reason, it's not easy

I'm definitely getting old!

How can you guys enjoy that stuff?
Is it the sort of thing you crack open a beer and listen to on the sofa, or is it driving music, or background music for your parties?
Or do you consider it not to be music, but a sound you enjoy listening to (like the roar of a V8 engine etc)?

It does nothing for me - but music is personal and I'm definitely interested to understand what appeals about it!

Holy shit, a Merzbow clip on a Reason user forum!!! That IS awesome.

I did not really understand noise music until I saw Merzbow live back in 1998. I saw him 3 times in a couple of years and the first time changed my understanding of music. He did an hour long set that felt like standing inside a glacier sliding down a mountain. It was a very physical experience that started with shock and surprise, moved on to panic and terror before it ended in an intense feeling of relief and liberation. I guess this is how it might feel to go through a birth from a baby's perspective. After that experience I could not listen to music for a long time. It was like Merzbow had destroyed it for me and liberated me at the same time. In interviews he talked about his work as deconstruction of music, and I totally see what he means by that. He claimed to having liked and listened to more "normal" music before getting in to noise. Well, he practically invented the genre as we know it today and it apparently started when he thought, what happens if I take this really noisy part that I like on this, say, Black Sabbath record and repeat and amplify it over and over in a deconstructive manner? He is now the indisputable godfather of noise.

Noise music is way better live than on record and no noise show has ever topped that first Merzbow show I attended. It was a truly revolutionary experience on a deeply personal level.

[yeahright31]

Yeah listing to Merzbow, triggered anxiety for me. I have Autism, maybe that had some impact.

I have to admit do like drone sound, haven't really been a fan of any of the Reason distortion stock stuff. I did however buy D16 Group -Devastor 2 Multiband Distortion. It has a nice warm tone and doesn't sound like you are putting you're sound in a jam jar- like the Line 6 Distortion in Reason. I shouldn't bag Line 6 like that, maybe I just don't know how to use it. Or it wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe I feel like my type of music don't need distortion.

A buddy of mine used to rave on and on about tone, for years I had no clue what he was hearing that I couldn't. But D16 Group -Devastor 2 Multiband Distortion just has a Wow factor about it for me.

[Vince-Noir-99]

I still think a fuzzbox alone won't quite do the job. It was traditional in harshnoise music to work with guitar pedals, indeed, but patched into each other along with other FX or unusual sound sources, of which the cranked noise floor of some old mixer, or a live end of a 1/4" jack were more likely than a synthesiser. But that doesn't matter much: static, a sine wave, a plucked string...

Reason's rack is particularly inviting to such workflow, where you may play with patch cord connections live.

[dvdrtldg]

For me, noise has to be a close listening experience rather than a background thing. You have to abandon resistance and give yourself over to it. After a while, "musical" (i.e. rhythmic & melodic) content starts to become discernible, but the experience of just letting yourself go in all that swirling noise can be exhilarating, even weirdly relaxing.

It's definitely a great live experience. I've never seen Merzbow but I did catch Masonna a few years back. Fucking wild.

Big fan of this guy too

[raymondh]

Amazing responses guys - really interesting!

One objective of good music is to get an emotional response and it looks like this stuff succeeds big time!

I might have to check it out a bit more.

Great thread!

[Leighbeater]

heres my first attempt at it, all in Reason

who else is going to give it a crack??

[dvdrtldg]

This track is probably the noisiest thing I've done in Reason that's been released - two Malstroms, a bunch of NN-XTs, and distortion courtesy of Scream 4, Pulverizer & Line 6 amps

[Auryn]

holy crap that is some extreme noise terror!

Aside from the sounds, am I the only one who's in danger of getting a kind of epileptic seizure by looking at the pattern in that merzbow clip?

Must look away...

[ZombieFightsShark]

What genre are we taking about? There are a lot of different "heavies".

I'm talking about balls-out heavy drone, and the sort of noise produced by artists such as Merzbow. Try doing something like this in Reason, it's not easy

Hmmm.... I feel like some of what's going on in your example is/has been really easy to do for awhile, but maybe I'm missing some of the nuance here.

[Vince-Noir-99]

What genre are we taking about? There are a lot of different "heavies".

I'm talking about balls-out heavy drone, and the sort of noise produced by artists such as Merzbow. Try doing something like this in Reason, it's not easy

Hmmm.... I feel like some of what's going on in your example is/has been really easy to do for awhile, but maybe I'm missing some of the nuance here.

Yeah, I perceive harshnoise as one of those Dadaist crafts like punk, which don't rely on technique but aesthetics first and foremost.

[MannequinRaces]

For harsh digital distortion this is hard to tame but can't be beat in Reason: https://shop.propellerheads.se/product/ ... th-module/.

[tibah]

Thread moved.

Not really my cup of tea, but I always enjoy when people with the same interest come together and share to achieve a certain sound in our beloved music program.

[dvdrtldg]

heres my first attempt at it, all in Reason

LIKE IT

What did you use?

[Leighbeater]

LIKE IT

What did you use?

Hey thanks for the encouragement

for this one i used
Antidote
Devastor
Faturator x 2
Saturation Knob
Scream x 2 ( but i don't think i ended up using the screams much)

I automated the Faturators' colour and mix and also the Devastor Res/filter type and cutoff

[Leighbeater]

By the way @ dvdrtldg really enjoyed your Bandcamp stuff, i will go back and listen to it this weekend