Get to Know Reason's Combinator (new Reason Studios video)

[Loque]

[StephenHutchinson]

A very nice introduction to what does what. I'm excited to start making my own fun combi creations in Reason 12/Reason+

[stratatonic]

These Combinator front panels that have invaded Reason 12 look like absolute crap.
Seriously? Looks like they just threw them together in 5 minutes just to have something that was new for the upgrade.

who designed this.jpeg (64.08 KiB) Viewed 1403 times

[Loque]

These Combinator front panels that have invaded Reason 12 look like absolute crap.
Seriously? Looks like they just threw them together in 5 minutes just to have something that was new for the upgrade.
who designed this.jpeg

OMG! And they did not updated all the other 16000 patches in the FSB! OMG! OMG!

</sarcasm>

[Billy+]

I spotted the video when it was released but didn't watch it until today,

It's always good watching Ryan's videos he's like a puppy with a new toy and it's infectious it even made me consider buying R12 just to play with the new combinator but I held myself back for now.

[guitfnky]

These Combinator front panels that have invaded Reason 12 look like absolute crap.
Seriously? Looks like they just threw them together in 5 minutes just to have something that was new for the upgrade.
who designed this.jpeg

OMG! And they did not updated all the other 16000 patches in the FSB! OMG! OMG!

</sarcasm>

I mean they’re not so bad that they look like absolute crap, but you’ve gotta admit they do look pretty low-effort, at least in the skins department.

[Billy+]

OMG! And they did not updated all the other 16000 patches in the FSB! OMG! OMG!

</sarcasm>

I mean they’re not so bad that they look like absolute crap, but you’ve gotta admit they do look pretty low-effort, at least in the skins department.

Tbf one of the first things I do is remove backdrops from just about every combinator I load

[guitfnky]

I mean they’re not so bad that they look like absolute crap, but you’ve gotta admit they do look pretty low-effort, at least in the skins department.

Tbf one of the first things I do is remove backdrops from just about every combinator I load

probably not a bad idea. I’ve seen some really good designs, but also a lot of pretty terrible ones.

[DaveyG]

I mean they’re not so bad that they look like absolute crap, but you’ve gotta admit they do look pretty low-effort, at least in the skins department.

Tbf one of the first things I do is remove backdrops from just about every combinator I load

The first thing I do is open up the combi, remove all the components and line them up along the edge of the plate in order of increasing size.
Or I might be confusing it with a Big Mac.

[BRIGGS]

A lot of the designs are way too busy.

Good thing you can make your own:

image_2021-09-28_113206.png (248.13 KiB) Viewed 1270 times

[Loque]

OMG! And they did not updated all the other 16000 patches in the FSB! OMG! OMG!

</sarcasm>

I mean they’re not so bad that they look like absolute crap, but you’ve gotta admit they do look pretty low-effort, at least in the skins department.

Took me easily half a day just to make a good skin for the Combinator and easy another half day for design and layout of it.

What do you expect and want to pay for the update?

[joeyluck]

I too was a little confused by the basic combinator skins included in the FSB and Reason+ sound packs.

I feel like maybe they are easing users into it? Perhaps allowing a little room for the community to be more creative? I can understand new users to Reason seeing things that look like separate devices in the FSB and not understanding it's the Combinator when they ask about, "Where did that one synth go? I came across a patch for it before, but I don't see it in the devices..."

The FSB is one thing, but with Reason+ they should be going to town with that! There they can give a description and story behind the pack to explain what it is and how it was created. R+ users should feel like they are getting new devices. But it has been VERY plain. The only benefit they seem to be taking from it is the ability to remove controls that aren't used. And many patches are still using 4x4 macros. Hard to break old habits I guess?

[nickb523]

I too was a little confused by the basic combinator skins included in the FSB and Reason+ sound packs.

With the FSB patches we had very little time and considering patch design for Combi 2 is now basically a lite version of RE development, it simply wasn't possible to take the builds all that far.

With R+ I'm certainly doing device style packs and I'm sure others will too, but it's a bigger job than just sound design so some producers may not participate or even have the required skillsets. Ideally you are needing quality sound designers who also have experience in building devices and doing graphics work, so it's a pretty big ask. At the moment I think the only two R+ producers who have tried and tested experience with RE, ReFills and general sound design are DNA Labs and myself. Given time I'm sure more producers will be doing bigger things but realistically it's going to take a bit of time for that to develop.

[Billy+]

I don't think that designers really need to spend a lot of time on graphics, pick a colour and make the controls make sense that's it, anything else is fairly pointless.

I can't stand opening a combinator to find it covered by logos and graphics that interfere with reading the control labels, it's cool to see all the current designs but I'm not joking when I say that the first thing I do is remove them and the only reason I don't is because it includes relevant information.

[joeyluck]

I too was a little confused by the basic combinator skins included in the FSB and Reason+ sound packs.

With the FSB patches we had very little time and considering patch design for Combi 2 is now basically a lite version of RE development, it simply wasn't possible to take the builds all that far.

With R+ I'm certainly doing device style packs and I'm sure others will too, but it's a bigger job than just sound design so some producers may not participate or even have the required skillsets. Ideally you are needing quality sound designers who also have experience in building devices and doing graphics work, so it's a pretty big ask. At the moment I think the only two R+ producers who have tried and tested experience with RE, ReFills and general sound design are DNA Labs and myself. Given time I'm sure more producers will be doing bigger things but realistically it's going to take a bit of time for that to develop.

I had suggested they pair graphic designers with patch designers. And even if there were more generic layouts for patch designers to work with, that would be a start. I know they invest in the pack cover art, so maybe it could be someone else internally to do designs for backdrops.

[guitfnky]

I mean they’re not so bad that they look like absolute crap, but you’ve gotta admit they do look pretty low-effort, at least in the skins department.

Took me easily half a day just to make a good skin for the Combinator and easy another half day for design and layout of it.

What do you expect and want to pay for the update?

I don’t expect anything. I just think it’s low-effort to slap the existing backdrop on everything and cram a bunch of new controls into it.

bringing what they’re charging into it doesn’t make things any better. for $130, considering the wasteland of actual features in 12, they should’ve at least made it look like they didn’t just throw shit together to say “hey, here look at these updated patches. please pat us on the back”. now that they want $200 for an upgrade, they would’ve had to completely reskin their combis (individually), for it to be worth that price.

and that’s the sad bit—they made it easy to add some controls, but didn’t make it easy on themselves or anyone else to actually create new skins. same controls—just more of them, and placed where you want—and we’re supposed to ooh and ahh like it’s somehow groundbreaking, despite the fact that it’s still super limited, and a pain in the ass to make skins for. some of us are oohing and ahhing, which is sad, but predictable.

[QVprod]

I too was a little confused by the basic combinator skins included in the FSB and Reason+ sound packs.

With the FSB patches we had very little time and considering patch design for Combi 2 is now basically a lite version of RE development, it simply wasn't possible to take the builds all that far.

With R+ I'm certainly doing device style packs and I'm sure others will too, but it's a bigger job than just sound design so some producers may not participate or even have the required skillsets. Ideally you are needing quality sound designers who also have experience in building devices and doing graphics work, so it's a pretty big ask. At the moment I think the only two R+ producers who have tried and tested experience with RE, ReFills and general sound design are DNA Labs and myself. Given time I'm sure more producers will be doing bigger things but realistically it's going to take a bit of time for that to develop.

This exactly. Backdrop was standard and we did what we could in the little time we had. I think the patches made still came out great…but I’m clearly biased…

With more knob/fader options, making them resizable…etc I think there’s much more that can be done in the future.

[Faastwalker]

Reason Combinator Livestream! Sep 30th - 10AM (PST), 19:00 (CEST).

[nickb523]

I don't think that designers really need to spend a lot of time on graphics, pick a colour and make the controls make sense that's it, anything else is fairly pointless.

I can't stand opening a combinator to find it covered by logos and graphics that interfere with reading the control labels, it's cool to see all the current designs but I'm not joking when I say that the first thing I do is remove them and the only reason I don't is because it includes relevant information.

I agree with this to a point. I've suggested to RS that we should have the ability to natively add line dividers and labels without an accompanying widget - That change would give everyone the ability to create cohesive and tasteful GUI's without any external image editing.

The logos and graphics are a really good point. TBH I think that issue may stand in the way of the community creations inside the companion idea. If community creations are integrated then they are all going to need rules and acceptance testing which someone at RS is going to need to do. You cant have IP infringing logo's all over the place or any risqué stuff which is exactly what is going to happen right out the gate.

[Shoukz]

I don't think that designers really need to spend a lot of time on graphics, pick a colour and make the controls make sense that's it, anything else is fairly pointless.

in fact since combinator is just about reinventing the wheel with existing devices, spending time on user interface that fit with the combinator programmation, is certainly the most important part of them.

[Loque]

I don't think that designers really need to spend a lot of time on graphics, pick a colour and make the controls make sense that's it, anything else is fairly pointless.

I can't stand opening a combinator to find it covered by logos and graphics that interfere with reading the control labels, it's cool to see all the current designs but I'm not joking when I say that the first thing I do is remove them and the only reason I don't is because it includes relevant information.

Did you forgot all that whining about UIs of RE and no full mega uber design for the new Combinators in FSB?

PPL expect great designs not just gray boxes with knobs on them anymore...

[Loque]

Reason Combinator Livestream! Sep 30th - 10AM (PST), 19:00 (CEST).

Ok, cool. Probably cannot watch live, but will look it later...

[Billy+]

PPL expect great designs not just gray boxes with knobs on them anymore...

Maybe it's just my age but I'm fine with a gray box so long as it's tidy and well presented

But seriously for me it's much more about what it does than the graphics.

[Billy+]

The logos and graphics are a really good point. TBH I think that issue may stand in the way of the community creations inside the companion idea. If community creations are integrated then they are all going to need rules and acceptance testing which someone at RS is going to need to do. You cant have IP infringing logo's all over the place or any risqué stuff which is exactly what is going to happen right out the gate.

I was surprised to see Ryan use the softube console 1 combinator in the video just because it's a registered trademark, using registered trademarks is tricky especially from a corporate perspective.

I'm a qualified Microsoft professional and using their logo on business cards has a load of legal requirements regarding its size placement and usage and I'm guessing most companies would have similar usage requirements especially for 3rd party use...

[Faastwalker]

Reason Combinator Livestream! Sep 30th - 10AM (PST), 19:00 (CEST).

Ok, cool. Probably cannot watch live, but will look it later...

Same. It starts at 3AM here! If I wake up I’ll watch it. Otherwise, the following day I think