Amateur needs help with Reason

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BYRN
Posts: 16
Joined: 19 Sep 2018

30 Nov 2018

Awesome. Thank you.
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BYRN
Posts: 16
Joined: 19 Sep 2018

11 Dec 2018

Ok, so now that you guys have helped me with working out all those little things, on to a new subject.

I want to begin to preform live. How do I go about setting up my computer and synth to be able to do that the most efficient way? I'm sure there is probably more than one way to do it, but what would be the simplest way? I am planning on buying a better midi interface so I can connect a drum pad/machine to the setup. But for now, it's just my laptop with reason 10, and my roland jdxi synth. What do you guys think? Thanks again.
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BYRN
Posts: 16
Joined: 19 Sep 2018

25 Feb 2019

Ok guys. So I bought my first sample pack. What is the best most efficient way to use them? Just as audio tracks? Redrum? Kong? Of course use a combinator and combine with some of my own style. But again, what do you think is the beat, most effecient way to use samples on Reason10?
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Baylo
Posts: 149
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

25 Feb 2019

Depends somewhat on what you are trying to achieve... I'd recommend taking a look at Ryan's "Super Neat Beat Cheat Sheet" series on YouTube. Here's a good one to start you off:


But if you're looking to trigger the drums using external midi (from your keyboard or a pad device) you'll want to load the samples into one of the devices

BYRN
Posts: 16
Joined: 19 Sep 2018

25 Feb 2019

Thank you Baylo
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artotaku
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26 Feb 2019

BYRN wrote:
11 Dec 2018
Ok, so now that you guys have helped me with working out all those little things, on to a new subject.

I want to begin to preform live. How do I go about setting up my computer and synth to be able to do that the most efficient way? I'm sure there is probably more than one way to do it, but what would be the simplest way? I am planning on buying a better midi interface so I can connect a drum pad/machine to the setup. But for now, it's just my laptop with reason 10, and my roland jdxi synth. What do you guys think? Thanks again.
If you want to perform live you need be clear about yourself how much flexibility and chance (and fails) you want to have and how your setup should be structured?

Do you want to just play one song after the other? Do you want to play only prerecorded sample loops? Do you want to introduce some live elements such playing the keyboard, finger drumming or hack in a drum sequence into a sequencer? Do you want to dial in some live effects such as filters, delays, stutter, etc.?

You will not have the same convenience as Ableton Live offers with clip launching but there are some ways with Reason. Just depends on how you imagine to deliver the live performance.

BYRN
Posts: 16
Joined: 19 Sep 2018

26 Feb 2019

Artotaku

I don't just want to play one song After the other that's for sure. I wanted to be a mix so what I'm thinking about doing is getting a good set of songs together and learning to mix and properly on a turntable. Not to be honest if there is a way for me to hook up my sense with that so I can throw some live element in there with it that would be nice but I'm just going to have to see how that's done. Right now I have my hands full with just trying to figure out how to get samples to work the easiest way on reason.
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jam-s
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26 Feb 2019

For my DJ needs I tend to use Mixxx.

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artotaku
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27 Feb 2019

BYRN wrote:
26 Feb 2019
Artotaku

I don't just want to play one song After the other that's for sure. I wanted to be a mix so what I'm thinking about doing is getting a good set of songs together and learning to mix and properly on a turntable. Not to be honest if there is a way for me to hook up my sense with that so I can throw some live element in there with it that would be nice but I'm just going to have to see how that's done. Right now I have my hands full with just trying to figure out how to get samples to work the easiest way on reason.
Yes, I think it´s a good idea to first get familiar with the samplers in Reason before starting to think about live performances. Still - with that in mind - sampler devices like NN-XT, Kong, Redrum and Dr. Octorex together with sequencer devices will most likely play a role in the live performance setup lateron.

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miscend
Posts: 1955
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27 Feb 2019

BYRN wrote:
20 Sep 2018
Thanks Timmy. I will check it out. I've had experience with a handful of DAWs so I do have most of the basics down, but I need help with things such as:
1. Using compressors
5. Adding fx properly
6. Track panning
7. How to master properly
For mixing and using compressors have a look at these clips. They use different DAWs but the principles are universal.

Compression explained


SSL Buss compression


Playlist of videos
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... fmoiJf5xGB

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vancityguy
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Joined: 23 Feb 2017

01 Mar 2019

artotaku wrote:
BYRN wrote:
20 Sep 2018
5. Adding fx properly
Since you have full control over the audio routing of devices in Reason there are different ways to build an FX chain which is up to personal taste
or organizational purposes.

Insert FX
You can attach them right after an instrument device or you can put them as insert FX into the mix channel that is attached to the instrument device.
Doing the latter has some advantages e. g. you can bypass all FX devices at once and change the order how the mix channel settings (compressor, insert FX, etc) are applied.

If you want to save the instruments with its FX chain in a patch you would put all devices in a combinator and save the combinator patch.

Send FX
Either add them as send FX to the mix channel (which is the same as in other DAWS) or to mixer devices (Reason specific).
I prefer the first or a mix of both, e .g if you want to build a complex instrument out of other instruments in combinator and the send FX should be inside the combinator.


Do you guys know of a tutorial (preferably video) that breaks down the difference between the two in good detail? Maybe with examples as well? I’m new to music production and sound design and can’t seem to wrap my head around it.

This part is daunting!!!!

I mean, I get some concepts such as sidechain compression etc pretty well now, but I had to watch 30 videos to get a hang of it. This part of the mixing board still scares the crap out of me. Where do I start folks?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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ScuzzyEye
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01 Mar 2019

vancityguy wrote:
01 Mar 2019
Do you guys know of a tutorial (preferably video) that breaks down the difference between the two in good detail? Maybe with examples as well? I’m new to music production and sound design and can’t seem to wrap my head around it.
Let me see if I can make it simple in text.

An Insert effect is inserted into the signal path. That instrument which is plugged into a mix channel. In the middle of the path between the instrument and the channel being summed into the master, there's an effect changing the signal.

A Send effect sits off to the side. For a signal to reach it has to be sent there. Say you have a reverb that's simulating a room. You're imagining multiple instruments in the mix are all sitting in that room. It wouldn't make sense to insert that reverb on every channel. Instead you can send multiple instruments to that one effect, and they'll all get mixed together. The send effect returns the processed audio.

Only one other little thing to note. When inserting an effect into the signal chain, you'll want to use the wet/dry mix knob to pick how much of the original signal is passed through, vs. how much of the effect is applied. On a send, the full original signal still passes through to the master. You choose what level is sent to the the effect. The effect should also be 100% wet, so no original signal is returned. More simply. Insert = adjust wet/dry to taste. Send = 100% wet.

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vancityguy
Posts: 11
Joined: 23 Feb 2017

02 Mar 2019

ScuzzyEye wrote:
01 Mar 2019
vancityguy wrote:
01 Mar 2019
Do you guys know of a tutorial (preferably video) that breaks down the difference between the two in good detail? Maybe with examples as well? I’m new to music production and sound design and can’t seem to wrap my head around it.
Let me see if I can make it simple in text.

An Insert effect is inserted into the signal path. That instrument which is plugged into a mix channel. In the middle of the path between the instrument and the channel being summed into the master, there's an effect changing the signal.

A Send effect sits off to the side. For a signal to reach it has to be sent there. Say you have a reverb that's simulating a room. You're imagining multiple instruments in the mix are all sitting in that room. It wouldn't make sense to insert that reverb on every channel. Instead you can send multiple instruments to that one effect, and they'll all get mixed together. The send effect returns the processed audio.

Only one other little thing to note. When inserting an effect into the signal chain, you'll want to use the wet/dry mix knob to pick how much of the original signal is passed through, vs. how much of the effect is applied. On a send, the full original signal still passes through to the master. You choose what level is sent to the the effect. The effect should also be 100% wet, so no original signal is returned. More simply. Insert = adjust wet/dry to taste. Send = 100% wet.


Thank you so much for explaining! I get it now! :D

I actually just tried it while I read through your explanation and tweaking the knobs along with the breakdown you provided finally flicked on the lights in my head. lol

Now is there really no way to get a 100% dry output of a Send Effect back into the mix channel? The reason why I want to do this is that I want to use a dry version of the same effect across many channels WITHOUT creating multiple instance of the effect for each instrument. If there's a way to do this, it'll save me processing power, won't clutter the rack too much and will save me the time to spent setting up the same effect component on multiple sources.

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Carly(Poohbear)
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02 Mar 2019

vancityguy wrote:
02 Mar 2019

Now is there really no way to get a 100% dry output of a Send Effect back into the mix channel? The reason why I want to do this is that I want to use a dry version of the same effect across many channels WITHOUT creating multiple instance of the effect for each instrument. If there's a way to do this, it'll save me processing power, won't clutter the rack too much and will save me the time to spent setting up the same effect component on multiple sources.
100% dry??? That means you are bypassing the effect, what is the point?

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ScuzzyEye
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02 Mar 2019

vancityguy wrote:
02 Mar 2019
Now is there really no way to get a 100% dry output of a Send Effect back into the mix channel? The reason why I want to do this is that I want to use a dry version of the same effect across many channels WITHOUT creating multiple instance of the effect for each instrument. If there's a way to do this, it'll save me processing power, won't clutter the rack too much and will save me the time to spent setting up the same effect component on multiple sources.
Not every effect is good at a send. Something like a compressor is best when it can target specifically the part of a track you want to affect, and you don't want any of the original passing through to the master. (There is of course exceptions to that rule, because parallel compression is a thing.)

Sends work best for effects you want to glue multiple tracks together. Effects that add a little something on top.

But if you want only the send effect, and nothing from the channel to make it to the master, you can hit the little "Pre" button under the Send number, and then turn down the channel fader all the way. That'll still send the audio from the channel, but not mix anything into the master.

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vancityguy
Posts: 11
Joined: 23 Feb 2017

05 Mar 2019

ScuzzyEye wrote:
02 Mar 2019
vancityguy wrote:
02 Mar 2019
Now is there really no way to get a 100% dry output of a Send Effect back into the mix channel? The reason why I want to do this is that I want to use a dry version of the same effect across many channels WITHOUT creating multiple instance of the effect for each instrument. If there's a way to do this, it'll save me processing power, won't clutter the rack too much and will save me the time to spent setting up the same effect component on multiple sources.
Not every effect is good at a send. Something like a compressor is best when it can target specifically the part of a track you want to affect, and you don't want any of the original passing through to the master. (There is of course exceptions to that rule, because parallel compression is a thing.)

Sends work best for effects you want to glue multiple tracks together. Effects that add a little something on top.

But if you want only the send effect, and nothing from the channel to make it to the master, you can hit the little "Pre" button under the Send number, and then turn down the channel fader all the way. That'll still send the audio from the channel, but not mix anything into the master.
Thank you! I've been trying to figure this out for weeks! I wanted to add the 'sidechain compression' effect across a few instruments using the same instance of the compressor, but wanted this to sit in the Send effects section because I wanted different effect levels for each instrument.

Problem solved, finally! Thank you for helping me give my OCD a break!! :lol:

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selig
RE Developer
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Location: The NorthWoods, CT, USA

05 Mar 2019

vancityguy wrote:
05 Mar 2019
Thank you! I've been trying to figure this out for weeks! I wanted to add the 'sidechain compression' effect across a few instruments using the same instance of the compressor, but wanted this to sit in the Send effects section because I wanted different effect levels for each instrument.


This is possibly what you're looking for, which uses sends and a single compressor to create the ducking effect which can then be applied to any channel in the mixer. Another advantage is that each channel being ducked can be ducked a different amount.

This techniques uses the following Combinator:
SeligSendDucker.cmb.zip
(1.77 KiB) Downloaded 47 times
Selig Audio, LLC

BYRN
Posts: 16
Joined: 19 Sep 2018

01 Jun 2019

Ok guys, the amateur is back. Heh.. Let's move on. You're right, we'll discuss live preformance later. Now that I'm comfortable with the use of samples, there is one part I'm not 100% I understand, which are the midi clips that came with the sample pack. When I put a midi clip sample onto the sequencer, it ads a few tracks of midi notes to the sequencer, but it is always set up with a piano or some sh*t. How do I go about changing the plugin or instrument in which the midi clip is playing through? If I don't make sense I understand, I can try to clarify with pictures. Hopefully someone will know what I'm talking about through that sh*t description I just gave. Thanks again guys!
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