Scratching in Reason?

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RileyMouse
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Joined: 05 May 2020

05 May 2020

I love the scratching sound of turntables. Is there anyway for me to plug my USB turntable into Reason and scratch? Do I require a VST to do this? This is the one thing I feel is missing in Reason.

djsmex
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Joined: 23 Aug 2016

05 May 2020

I don't know of any VST only way I know of is audio in via audio hardware.

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pushedbutton
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05 May 2020

You probably want to look into using a timecode vinyl and a vst like scratch track 3.
https://djtechtools.com/2016/01/14/scratch-track-3/
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Using Reason since version 3 and still never finished a song.

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QVprod
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05 May 2020

There's a way to emulate it with a a sampler.

Here's an example. directions are in the comments. Not sure how well this would map to your turntable if you wanted to use that though



For a turn table you might have to use a vst. Here's what came up in a search

https://www.pluginboutique.com/products ... PTEALw_wcB

http://mcrow.net/product/vinylboy-scratch-vst/

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MrFigg
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05 May 2020

Pretty old but thought it may be of some use:

https://www.reasonstudios.com/shop/rack ... vinylizer/
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moneykube
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06 May 2020

the reason for scratching..... BUGS :puf_wink:
https://soundcloud.com/moneykube-qube/s ... d-playlist
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simonphinix1986
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06 May 2020


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Jagwah
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Joined: 16 Jan 2015

18 May 2020

MrFigg wrote:
05 May 2020
Pretty old but thought it may be of some use:

https://www.reasonstudios.com/shop/rack ... vinylizer/
Never had much luck with this one, certainly never got it to mimic scratching behavior, have you had much luck with it?

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Jagwah
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Joined: 16 Jan 2015

18 May 2020

simonphinix1986 wrote:
06 May 2020
From what I can tell he is just using the pitch bend and it really sounds like scratching! Who would have thought it could be so simple after all this time. Thank you for sharing.

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mjxl
Posts: 600
Joined: 23 Nov 2018

20 May 2020

So, for Reason instrument I'd say Grain on Tape Mode could do the trick :)

Which USB device are we looking at though?
Does it send MIDI, is it a generic USB device?
Which OS are you on?
So many questions :P

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MrFigg
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20 May 2020

Jagwah wrote:
18 May 2020
MrFigg wrote:
05 May 2020
Pretty old but thought it may be of some use:

https://www.reasonstudios.com/shop/rack ... vinylizer/
Never had much luck with this one, certainly never got it to mimic scratching behavior, have you had much luck with it?
Sorry. Just saw your post. I can’t remember is the answer. I’ll look at it tomorrow. I find Sugarbytes REs a bit weird to be honest.
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BedsitAudio
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Joined: 16 May 2020

20 May 2020

First, I assume a USB turntable has a built in audio interface so you can record the audio directly into Reason. Just record yourself scratching on a record (that you don't mind ruining, depending on the quality of the turntable/cartridge/needle). Then you can edit and adjust the timing as you please in Reason. Very straightforward.

Using a turntable to control a device in Reason isn't that straightforward.

What platform are you on? Do you have a controller? Are you willing to make investments?

I spent a lot of time researching scratching effects when I started making LoFi Hiphop.

A long time ago, there was a free 32 bit VST for Windows that did amazingly realistic scratching for windows. It's been ported to a Mac version that didn't work for me. You can surely find it on KVR - I can't even remember the name/maker.

There is also the option of using a dj software, and most of them can be mapped to any midi controller. I had a lot of fun playing algoriddim djay Pro from an OP-1.

The most straightforward way to do it in Reason is to use Grain in Tape mode, and map an envelope to position. I don't remember the details, but I got very realistic results using curved envelopes.

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TheDragonborg
Posts: 285
Joined: 10 Feb 2020

20 May 2020

Pitch bend + mod wheel or a slider controlling volume is how I've made scratch sounds in the past... but I've done some real scratching as well... not hard to find records to scratch with... though I don't have a DJ mixer so I can't really do cuts.

fev
Posts: 11
Joined: 09 May 2020

21 May 2020

RileyMouse wrote:
05 May 2020
I love the scratching sound of turntables. Is there anyway for me to plug my USB turntable into Reason and scratch? Do I require a VST to do this? This is the one thing I feel is missing in Reason.
As far as I'm aware USB turntables (or certainly most) do not send MIDI data at all and there are no vstis set up to be operated this way.

If you really want to get into it and want to be able to do any kind of scratch with any kind of sound, controlled by vinyl, then you will need to use traditional dj decks alongside something like Serato DJ or Traktor. I use Serato Scratch Live and you can hear an example of this in the first 20 seconds of this recent remix competition entry: https://metapop.com/feva-7469466/tracks ... mix/138794 as well as many of the songs on my soundcloud

However this will involve shelling out a fair bit of cash as well as actually learning to scratch. So suggesting it may be a bit like telling someone who is looking for a guitar vst to buy a guitar and learn how to play it.

So if you are looking to simply emulate the sound and effect without having to get the equipment and effectively learn a new instrument then this is probably not the way for you.

There are some VSTs for example Timeshaper by Cable Guys which I understand can be used to program some very detailed and versatile scratch sounds and you might be able to do something similar with reason devices.

However it will probably be a lot more fun to make a performance based instrument. As the videos in this thread demonstrate you can get pretty far just retriggering a sound and adjusting the pitch. Like real scratching it is the performance here that will determine whether it sounds musical or not. This approach may limit you to forward and stab type scratches but with some sounds such as the classic Aah scratch (first sound used in both those videos) they sound very similar forwards and back so it doesn't really matter.

For your instrument to have the full control of a scratch dj you would need to have control over triggering the sound, stopping the sound, the direction of the sound, the pitch of the sound and cutting the sound in and out. That's about it.

I reckon you could build a pretty versatile combi in Reason maybe using Grain tape mode to create a forward and back motion that follows the pitch and some kind of rhythmic gate to replicate crossfader cuts.

There are a lot of approaches you could take, all of which are probably going to be limited in some way but may be a lot of fun!

fev
Posts: 11
Joined: 09 May 2020

24 May 2020

fev wrote:
21 May 2020
RileyMouse wrote:
05 May 2020
I love the scratching sound of turntables. Is there anyway for me to plug my USB turntable into Reason and scratch? Do I require a VST to do this? This is the one thing I feel is missing in Reason.
As far as I'm aware ….. there are no vstis set up to be operated this way.

My mistake. Looks like there is one. https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/ ... atch-Track

This uses the control tone vinyl approach of Serato and Traktor rather than traditional midi but might be exactly what you need.

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