Pearls - Euclidean Collision Sequencer - by Tonicmint

[DaveyG]

I love players. For me they are absolutely the best thing about Reason but I'm really not getting on with the trial of this one. I think it's going to end up on the very short list of players that I don't buy along with two of the Panda's more complex players. The UI is very cluttered and I'm just not getting good results from it. Sorry TM!

[Floyd42]

After half an hour of testing, instant bought.
I am a drummer and I think that this player is not immediately obvious to everyone. A monster, with an incredible number of possibilities.
Pearls in conjunction with Objekt - a dream! This player has been really missing in Reason.
A big thank you to TonicMint.

[_andreypetr_]

Yes, definitely a great device! A dream, a beast, an instant bought
By the way, I'd ask for an alt+click option to lock/unlock single steps in the sequencer so we could mix random stuff and things that we want to keep.

[Vil]

... why not dotted divisions on steps...

In "Step" mode, I just thought, divisions, like in other standard Reason devices like Redrum or Matrix, would be enough.
But you are right, Ill consider this.

Anyway with the "Cycle" mode you can easily overstep this.

[Vil]

... 10 min try then buy ...

... but I'm really not getting on with the trial of this one....

After half an hour of testing, instant bought.
I am a drummer and I think that this player is not immediately obvious to everyone...

Thank you guys to trying this out before your decisions.
This is why I always ask you to try before buy.

Maybe mentionable:
for the demo videos for demonstration purposes I choose/made patches where the note, velocity and length informations has significant impact on the sound. For example with Objekt I started with a percusive patch, but I added a noise exciter with a medium sustain to make hearable the longer notes. Or with the Europa I also used non zero sustains for envelopes and almost in all cases I modulated lots of things by the velocity inside the instruments.
So maybe Pearls with a random patch on a random instrument is not enough to enchanting your ears
But if in your patch/instrument the note, the velocity or the length has no significant impact, you can still use the related sequencers in Pearls to modulate things through CVs. (or modulate 3rd things of course...)

[Vil]

...I'd ask for an alt+click option to lock/unlock single steps in the sequencer so we could mix random stuff and things that we want to keep.

I think are you asking for this for the note sequencer. Because Alt is already used for multi edit (edit all lanes at once) in the velocity/length/selection sequencers.

Not a bad idea, Ill thinking on this...

But dont forget, for notes you have 4 slot, so you can copy your note pattern into another slot to keep in safe when you find a gem ( I mean pearl ) during experimentation.

[_andreypetr_]

...I'd ask for an alt+click option to lock/unlock single steps in the sequencer so we could mix random stuff and things that we want to keep.

I think are you asking for this for the note sequencer. Because Alt is already used for multi edit (edit all lanes at once) in the velocity/length/selection sequencers.

Not a bad idea, Ill thinking on this...

But dont forget, for notes you have 4 slot, so you can copy your note pattern into another slot to keep in safe when you find a gem ( I mean pearl ) during experimentation.

The locking feature exists in Audiomodern Playbeat 3, you can look up their implementation. I really love this concept - it's like you already have a rhythm foundation and you augment it with random "pearls".

[challism]

I love players. For me they are absolutely the best thing about Reason but I'm really not getting on with the trial of this one. I think it's going to end up on the very short list of players that I don't buy along with two of the Panda's more complex players. The UI is very cluttered and I'm just not getting good results from it. Sorry TM!

Not buying the two Panda players because of their complexity is understandable. But this one isn't *that* complicated. It absolutely can be complicated, but it doesn't have to be. I'm not sure how much of a try you have given this, but I would suggest giving it some more time and dig a bit deeper. It's worth it. It's a really useful player and it can help you come up with some very interesting rhythms other players just aren't capable of making.

Don't worry about all the knobs and all the features. It can be very useful with just the very basic stuff I'll talk about below.

-Brief overview-
The right side is for note settings.
It basically has two modes: sequencer (predefined) and arpeggiator (dynamic).

p1.jpg (34.41 KiB) Viewed 10665 times

Referencing the picture below... The circled parts are basically just the buttons to select between note, vel, length matrix views. Each of them have two modes: sync or async.

Sync will restart the note pattern in sync with the rhythm section (on the left). So each time the rhythm section completes it's revolution and returns to the top of the wheel, the notes on the right will restart playing from the beginning of the sequence (basically like a restart trigger).

Async will continue playing all the notes in the sequencer regardless of the rhythm wheel. So if you don't want the notes to restart after 3 steps, you could select "async" to the right of the note number "up/down" arrow buttons and in this example the sequencer would keep playing all 16 notes (empty or populated) and return to the beginning of the sequencer patter after the 16th note. This is a cool way to get different velocity or length values that aren't so much random, rather, they cycle through all the steps (depending on how many steps you have selected (left of the sync up/down button).

p2.jpg (34.33 KiB) Viewed 10665 times

The left side is for rhythm settings. This determines how often and at what speed the note sequencer (on the right side) moves. You can think of this as having Robotic Bean Sequences (in stepped mode) being driven by Robotic Bean Euclid (via CV in to Sequences Trigger in).

There are 4 different types (with two modes each). The two modes (CYCLE and STEP) are basically just locking the rhythm to fire at times determined by the length (setting to the right of the cycle/step button).

Pulses is the most simple of the 4 types, so let's look at that.
In the example below, it's set to STEP with 1/4 lengths. There are three steps. So the player will play the notes in the sequencer (right side) at a rate of 1 note per 1/4 beat (so basically quarter notes in 4/4 time signature). Since there are only 3 notes, it will just return to the first note and play it again. So notes C D E will play 1(C) & 2 (D) & 3 (E) & 4 (C) & 1 (D) & 2(E) & 3(C) & 4(D) and so on.

p3.jpg (11.96 KiB) Viewed 10665 times

If you switch to CYCLE it will play the number of notes (in the example below, I've got 3) in the amount of time selected to the right of the "cycle/step" button. In this example it will play 3 notes in one bar. So perfect triplets. You could increase it to 7 and it will play back septuplets. Go nuts! It's a polyrhythm monster!

p4.jpg (15.58 KiB) Viewed 10665 times

And if you still can't get anything going, don't forget to try out the presets in the menu button below the wheel (in the more complicated types Euclid Collision & Altered Euclid). Loads of great rhythms in there to try out and tweak.

p5.jpg (151.68 KiB) Viewed 10646 times

[selig]

Exploring this further and liking what I’m finding! Yes, this is a complex device. But thankfully it’s divided into sections and modes so you can use it as you see fit and never bother with the other features if you like.
If you prefer a simpler Euclidean device, QNG does this job just fine. But if you’ve explored that world and ever wished for a few additional features (and even some I never thought of before), this Player is looking pretty cool. To me it’s one part Euclidean player, one part “complex” Player device, and 100% Tonicment.
For example: I like having more specific control over the notes that are triggered than QNG (especially for drums/percussion), the separation of note sequence (pitch) and rhythm (really powerful), and the ability to randomize things for “happy accidents”.

I even have come to embrace it’s uncommon color scheme, as I feel it sets this device apart from all others, visually speaking.
Sure, it’s not for everyone, but for those who resonate with this type of approach to music making, overall I’d say it’s color is a strong indication of its uniqueness!

[Dionisio]

... why not dotted divisions on steps...

In "Step" mode, I just thought, divisions, like in other standard Reason devices like Redrum or Matrix, would be enough.
But you are right, Ill consider this.

Hi Vil

Yes, unfortunately other Reason devices and many others don´t have dotted divisions and i don´t understand why, that confuses me a lot.
That´s why ask you because maybe is there a special reason to avoid dotted divisions.

Thank you for your reply and consideration

Dionisio

[Re8et]

There's a video demoing it already?
I just saw the video on the shop page, well edited but really didn't get much along.

Ah, there's TWO videos! Nice! Others devs take note!

[dvdrtldg]

... why not dotted divisions on steps...

In "Step" mode, I just thought, divisions, like in other standard Reason devices like Redrum or Matrix, would be enough.
But you are right, Ill consider this.

Isn't it possible to use a combination of events/step numbers/whatever to get the same result as dotted divisions?

[dvdrtldg]

If you prefer a simpler Euclidean device, QNG does this job just fine. But if you’ve explored that world and ever wished for a few additional features (and even some I never thought of before), this Player is looking pretty cool.

Yep this one really solves some of the problems I have with QNG. As a rhythmic device QNG great, but I find the way it deals with notes incredibly frustrating - a fundamental flaw, given that it's called Quad *Note* Generator

[Vil]

In "Step" mode, I just thought, divisions, like in other standard Reason devices like Redrum or Matrix, would be enough.
But you are right, Ill consider this.

Isn't it possible to use a combination of events/step numbers/whatever to get the same result as dotted divisions?

Few workarounds for dotted length:

1. In Cycle mode set 3/4 or 6/4 or a similar length, then use 8 or 16 steps
2. In Step mode make 3 times longer sequences in async mode than the rhythm generator steps and skip the 2nd and 3rd notes in the note seq. (maybe you can set the length of the notes as 300% too)

of course any of them couldnt be the same as a step length by a dotted note.

... but I hope you still have planty of explorable options (like triplets length) ...

[Vil]

Exploring this further and liking what I’m finding! Yes, this is a complex device. But thankfully it’s divided into sections and modes so you can use it as you see fit and never bother with the other features if you like.
If you prefer a simpler Euclidean device, QNG does this job just fine. But if you’ve explored that world and ever wished for a few additional features (and even some I never thought of before), this Player is looking pretty cool. To me it’s one part Euclidean player, one part “complex” Player device, and 100% Tonicment.
For example: I like having more specific control over the notes that are triggered than QNG (especially for drums/percussion), the separation of note sequence (pitch) and rhythm (really powerful), and the ability to randomize things for “happy accidents”.

I even have come to embrace it’s uncommon color scheme, as I feel it sets this device apart from all others, visually speaking.
Sure, it’s not for everyone, but for those who resonate with this type of approach to music making, overall I’d say it’s color is a strong indication of its uniqueness!

ohhh, thanks for the kind words...

[Neo]

The Good - Ill be buying.. lol
The Bad - Currency Change in AUD
The Ugly - I vehemently dislike that pink lol

[Faastwalker]

The Good - Ill be buying.. lol
The Bad - Currency Change in AUD

Tell me about it! Cart looks okay .............. then you convert from US$ to AUS$!!

[Neo]

The Good - Ill be buying.. lol
The Bad - Currency Change in AUD

Tell me about it! Cart looks okay .............. then you convert from US$ to AUS$!!

[gkillmaster]

I really like the color of the interface

[RobBarnett]

Tried. New song on its way after 10 mins of use. Buying soon

[RobBarnett]

Tried. New song on its way after 10 mins of use. Buying soon

bought - fantastic player generating loads of ideas

[Faastwalker]

-Brief overview-
The right side is for note settings.
It basically has two modes: sequencer (predefined) and arpeggiator (dynamic).
p1.jpg
Referencing the picture below... The circled parts are basically just the buttons to select between note, vel, length matrix views. Each of them have two modes: sync or async ....................

I'm easily confused by these devices! I really appreciate this overview. I don't really do manuals, unless their brief, to the point, straightforward ............. I prefer the idiot guide style manuals

[selig]

-Brief overview-
The right side is for note settings.
It basically has two modes: sequencer (predefined) and arpeggiator (dynamic).
p1.jpg
Referencing the picture below... The circled parts are basically just the buttons to select between note, vel, length matrix views. Each of them have two modes: sync or async ....................

I'm easily confused by these devices! I really appreciate this overview. I don't really do manuals, unless their brief, to the point, straightforward ............. I prefer the idiot guide style manuals

Basically, and one thing I really like about this Player, is you have rhythm and pitch available as separate (or not) elements. You can do things like have a one bar rhythm with 7 notes, playing a 5 note sequence, which gives you an evolving sequence of notes/rhythms that are much longer than either the original rhythm or the note sequence. Basically allows you to come up with something that is not random and also not obviously repetitive both at the same time!

Applications could be to take a melody from your song and construct a second part that plays the melody "de-constructed" or disconnected from the original rhythm. But that's just ONE way to use this device, which is why I see it as so powerful (and with great power comes great responsibility to learn what is actually going on!).

[EdGrip]

As a Subharmonicon owner, I always enjoy devices that decouple the note sequence from the gate/pulse sequence. There are some fun M4L devices in that area - glad to see this for Reason!

[Faastwalker]

I'm easily confused by these devices! I really appreciate this overview. I don't really do manuals, unless their brief, to the point, straightforward ............. I prefer the idiot guide style manuals

Basically, and one thing I really like about this Player, is you have rhythm and pitch available as separate (or not) elements. You can do things like have a one bar rhythm with 7 notes, playing a 5 note sequence, which gives you an evolving sequence of notes/rhythms that are much longer than either the original rhythm or the note sequence. Basically allows you to come up with something that is not random and also not obviously repetitive both at the same time!

Applications could be to take a melody from your song and construct a second part that plays the melody "de-constructed" or disconnected from the original rhythm. But that's just ONE way to use this device, which is why I see it as so powerful (and with great power comes great responsibility to learn what is actually going on!).

Sounds good. Definitely the kind of thing I like to play around with. Wondering if there is any crossover with Lectric Panda's PSQ-1684? That's another Player device that looked amazing but I never really got my head around!