The Factory sound bank secrets!

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nooomy
Posts: 543
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

25 Jul 2020

guitfnky wrote:
25 Jul 2020
the sad thing about having so many prebuilt sounds is that option paralysis, and time are both things. I used to check around for different sounds back when I first started using Reason (v5+Record), but it's really rare nowadays--and not for lack of quality--BECAUSE of the quality. there's so much good stuff there, that it can easily become a rabbit hole of auditioning, and you never actually make any music.

I usually end up just creating everything from scratch, now. it's a shame. now if RS could apply their ingenuity to solve THAT problem (you know, without just eliminating droves of presets), I'd be a very happy camper. :P
I used to have that problem but i solved it by changing my workflow and just look for presets for max 10 min and then pick the one i like the best and then tweek that present until it sounds like i want it.

PhillipOrdonez
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25 Jul 2020

Sine of the times is quite pleasing.

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guitfnky
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25 Jul 2020

nooomy wrote:
25 Jul 2020
guitfnky wrote:
25 Jul 2020
the sad thing about having so many prebuilt sounds is that option paralysis, and time are both things. I used to check around for different sounds back when I first started using Reason (v5+Record), but it's really rare nowadays--and not for lack of quality--BECAUSE of the quality. there's so much good stuff there, that it can easily become a rabbit hole of auditioning, and you never actually make any music.

I usually end up just creating everything from scratch, now. it's a shame. now if RS could apply their ingenuity to solve THAT problem (you know, without just eliminating droves of presets), I'd be a very happy camper. :P
I used to have that problem but i solved it by changing my workflow and just look for presets for max 10 min and then pick the one i like the best and then tweek that present until it sounds like i want it.
that's a good idea--I should try that. just need to remember to set a timer, otherwise, it'll be four hours later, and I'll be two hours late for work. :lol:
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

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selig
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26 Jul 2020

guitfnky wrote:
25 Jul 2020
the sad thing about having so many prebuilt sounds is that option paralysis, and time are both things. I used to check around for different sounds back when I first started using Reason (v5+Record), but it's really rare nowadays--and not for lack of quality--BECAUSE of the quality. there's so much good stuff there, that it can easily become a rabbit hole of auditioning, and you never actually make any music.

I usually end up just creating everything from scratch, now. it's a shame. now if RS could apply their ingenuity to solve THAT problem (you know, without just eliminating droves of presets), I'd be a very happy camper. :P
My solution is to spend some time with the FSB and mark your "favorites", especially good to do on days you're not feeling particularly creative but still want to get "something done". I find that when in the creative "heat of the moment" I don't want to be rummaging around looking for a good sound. Instead I just check my "favorites" list and scroll through tens of patches (all of which I love) instead of thousands of patches (few of which I even like).

Video editors call this "getting familiar with your footage" so you can then start to put things together, so they spend the time reviewing everything and mark the "use-able" takes so that when it comes time to actually edit they can move more quickly because they don't have to review EVERYTHING to find the good stuff.

It's totally worth the time in my experience. We all have days we don't feel we have a song in us, but still have the energy to do "something" useful with Reason. :)
Selig Audio, LLC

jlgrimes
Posts: 661
Joined: 06 Jun 2017

26 Jul 2020

nooomy wrote:
25 Jul 2020
Todays gem is the Monotone Bass patch called "Mr Fingers" named after the bass in one of the very first deep house songs from 1986
"Mr Fingers - Can You Feel It"

Very nice!

Monotone is a great sounding synth. It's hard to get a bad sound from it.

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EnochLight
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26 Jul 2020

jlgrimes wrote:
26 Jul 2020
Monotone is a great sounding synth. It's hard to get a bad sound from it.
I agree. It’s easy to write it off as too simplistic and basic (and a lot of people gave it hate just because it was a Reason Compact instrument that required in-app purchases to unlock it fully in Compact), but it really is a fantastic sounding mono synth. It’s hard to hate it - especially seeing as how it came as a free update in 10.x!
Win 10 | Ableton Live 11 Suite |  Reason 12 | i7 3770k @ 3.5 Ghz | 16 GB RAM | RME Babyface Pro | Akai MPC Live 2 & Akai Force | Roland System 8, MX1, TB3 | Dreadbox Typhon | Korg Minilogue XD

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nooomy
Posts: 543
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26 Jul 2020

EnochLight wrote:
26 Jul 2020
jlgrimes wrote:
26 Jul 2020
Monotone is a great sounding synth. It's hard to get a bad sound from it.
I agree. It’s easy to write it off as too simplistic and basic (and a lot of people gave it hate just because it was a Reason Compact instrument that required in-app purchases to unlock it fully in Compact), but it really is a fantastic sounding mono synth. It’s hard to hate it - especially seeing as how it came as a free update in 10.x!
The analog simulating osc And moog filter is so phat! I have been thinking about building a poly monotone :p

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Jagwah
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29 Jul 2020

nooomy wrote:
17 Jul 2020
One secret i found 2-3 months ago is that all kick drum samples are tuned in A
I could have used this information before, I figured they were all random. Getting the pitch of kicks is not easy imo. How did you discover this and does it apply to the newer drum / loop supply folders aswell??

One of my favourite FSB patches would be Thor / Leads / Gangsta Lead 3, really nice to pitch bend and play around with.

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nooomy
Posts: 543
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30 Jul 2020

Jagwah wrote:
29 Jul 2020
nooomy wrote:
17 Jul 2020
One secret i found 2-3 months ago is that all kick drum samples are tuned in A
I could have used this information before, I figured they were all random. Getting the pitch of kicks is not easy imo. How did you discover this and does it apply to the newer drum / loop supply folders aswell??

One of my favourite FSB patches would be Thor / Leads / Gangsta Lead 3, really nice to pitch bend and play around with.
I have been practicing identifying the pitch of drums for a year and realized it after some months. I don’t know if it applies to the loops aswell, but I can look it up after work today.

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Jagwah
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31 Jul 2020

nooomy wrote:
30 Jul 2020
Jagwah wrote:
29 Jul 2020

I could have used this information before, I figured they were all random. Getting the pitch of kicks is not easy imo. How did you discover this and does it apply to the newer drum / loop supply folders aswell??

One of my favourite FSB patches would be Thor / Leads / Gangsta Lead 3, really nice to pitch bend and play around with.
I have been practicing identifying the pitch of drums for a year and realized it after some months. I don’t know if it applies to the loops aswell, but I can look it up after work today.
I had a lot of trouble with this mostly because the fundamental frequency of many kicks in the world roll down in pitch, you can actually see it in the spectrum analyzer. Detecting the pitch of those are really hard, and lots of kicks are like that. I even have a VST for detecting kick pitches and a lot of the time it simply doesn't work. If you are pretty good at this you could always make a video ;) I'd be more interested to know if the kicks in the newer drum folders in Reason are all As. I guess I could start trying to decipher some of them myself and see if they keep hitting A. Then again, if it is the case, surely Props could answer us If we ask about it, might send them a mail about it. Thanks for your response!

Popey
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01 Aug 2020

Jagwah wrote:
31 Jul 2020
nooomy wrote:
30 Jul 2020


I have been practicing identifying the pitch of drums for a year and realized it after some months. I don’t know if it applies to the loops aswell, but I can look it up after work today.
I had a lot of trouble with this mostly because the fundamental frequency of many kicks in the world roll down in pitch, you can actually see it in the spectrum analyzer. Detecting the pitch of those are really hard, and lots of kicks are like that. I even have a VST for detecting kick pitches and a lot of the time it simply doesn't work. If you are pretty good at this you could always make a video ;) I'd be more interested to know if the kicks in the newer drum folders in Reason are all As. I guess I could start trying to decipher some of them myself and see if they keep hitting A. Then again, if it is the case, surely Props could answer us If we ask about it, might send them a mail about it. Thanks for your response!
This is a great piece of info if they are all in A. I always find the key with voxengo span so knowing they are in A will save me loads of time.

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nooomy
Posts: 543
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01 Aug 2020

Jagwah wrote:
31 Jul 2020
nooomy wrote:
30 Jul 2020


I have been practicing identifying the pitch of drums for a year and realized it after some months. I don’t know if it applies to the loops aswell, but I can look it up after work today.
I had a lot of trouble with this mostly because the fundamental frequency of many kicks in the world roll down in pitch, you can actually see it in the spectrum analyzer. Detecting the pitch of those are really hard, and lots of kicks are like that. I even have a VST for detecting kick pitches and a lot of the time it simply doesn't work. If you are pretty good at this you could always make a video ;) I'd be more interested to know if the kicks in the newer drum folders in Reason are all As. I guess I could start trying to decipher some of them myself and see if they keep hitting A. Then again, if it is the case, surely Props could answer us If we ask about it, might send them a mail about it. Thanks for your response!
All the kick drums I have tried have their fundamental tone in A. It is really hard to detect the fundamental tone with a Spectrum analyzer or a vst because on the complexity of kick drums and how short it is.

It is hard to show in a video because I don’t use spectrum analyzer I only use my ears.

If you don’t believe me you can pitch any kick 12 or 24 semitones and play A on the subtractor, you will hear how the fundamental tone in the subtractor and the kick will resonate with each other. then try to play a C on the subtractor and you will hear it’s not resonating as strong.

Also If you scroll through the kick drum folder you will hear that the fundamental pitch are all tuned the same

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lowtom
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01 Aug 2020

Since introduction of Grain all "Other" samples have new life.
:reason: :refill: :re:

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Jagwah
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02 Aug 2020

nooomy wrote:
01 Aug 2020
If you don’t believe me you can pitch any kick 12 or 24 semitones and play A on the subtractor, you will hear how the fundamental tone in the subtractor and the kick will resonate with each other. then try to play a C on the subtractor and you will hear it’s not resonating as strong.

Also If you scroll through the kick drum folder you will hear that the fundamental pitch are all tuned the same
It was never a matter of not believing you, this really is valuable information. I never learnt to detect pitches so I am left to the VST method, but actually using a Subtractor to create a sine wave and then compare it is much easier, just still have that rolling fundamental that makes it nearly impossible without a trained ear like yours.

In the ad for Armin Van Buuren's new masterclass he talks about the kick being in tune as one of the most important aspects of production. This is not the first time a big producer has mentioned this. It makes me wonder why have banks of a few thousand kicks in your software yet not label even one of them with pitch information.

I did email Props to confirm but I think people have trouble getting responses from them lately.

If anything, you did me a huge favour by letting me know about this, thanks!! :)

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Jagwah
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08 Aug 2020

nooomy wrote:
17 Jul 2020
One secret i found 2-3 months ago is that all kick drum samples are tuned in A
Popey wrote:
01 Aug 2020
This is a great piece of info if they are all in A. I always find the key with voxengo span so knowing they are in A will save me loads of time.
Hey lads I got a reply from Reason Studios, unfortunately the kicks aren't tuned specifically and to quote "We did not make any decision to tune all kicks in a specific tuning."

So I guess I'm back to where I was. I think I may go the route of learning to create my own kicks, detecting the pitch of kicks is difficult and many times impossible imo, and apparently the tuning of your kick is really important, so go figure :shock:

EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

08 Aug 2020

If your kicks have a long enough tail that they settle on a pitch, you should be able to find it with a tuner. (Loop the pitched part of the tail if it helps) If they don't decay long enough to settle on a pitch, it doesn't matter anyway.
You can slowly adjust the pitch control of your kick to see if there's a setting that sounds more "right" in the context of your track.

michael.jaye
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Location: Sydney, Australia
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08 Aug 2020

selig wrote:
26 Jul 2020
My solution is to spend some time with the FSB and mark your "favorites", especially good to do on days you're not feeling particularly creative but still want to get "something done".
On my 'off' days when I have time for music but not feeling creative, I'll pick a refill or parts of the FSB and just check out every patch (or sample) for anything I like. Saves a lot of time afterwards.

Some of my favourite FSB patches are:

Bass Guitar (Subtractor)
Amazonas Bass (Maelstrum)
Clean Bass (Maelstrum)
Lo Simple Sub (Thor)

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aeox
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08 Aug 2020

Jagwah wrote:
08 Aug 2020
nooomy wrote:
17 Jul 2020
One secret i found 2-3 months ago is that all kick drum samples are tuned in A
Popey wrote:
01 Aug 2020
This is a great piece of info if they are all in A. I always find the key with voxengo span so knowing they are in A will save me loads of time.
Hey lads I got a reply from Reason Studios, unfortunately the kicks aren't tuned specifically and to quote "We did not make any decision to tune all kicks in a specific tuning."

So I guess I'm back to where I was. I think I may go the route of learning to create my own kicks, detecting the pitch of kicks is difficult and many times impossible imo, and apparently the tuning of your kick is really important, so go figure :shock:
I always found tuners to be finicky and better suited for longer notes. As mentioned above, using a frequency analyzer is the quickest way I found to see the fundamental frequency. If you don't want to download any more plugins you can always look at the spectrum analyzer in Reason and use the LF bell to find the fundamental(helps visually for me), once you known rough frequency you can look it up. I have https://pages.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html downloaded on my laptop. (using span or coloring EQ is much faster though!)

I've spent the last 2-3 years learning to make my own kicks and would recommend it to anyone. Making your own kicks and snares is very rewarding! I know that the listener has no clue and doesn't care that we made the instruments from scratch but it's so satisfying.

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Jagwah
Posts: 2549
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

08 Aug 2020

aeox wrote:
08 Aug 2020
I always found tuners to be finicky and better suited for longer notes. As mentioned above, using a frequency analyzer is the quickest way I found to see the fundamental frequency. If you don't want to download any more plugins you can always look at the spectrum analyzer in Reason and use the LF bell to find the fundamental(helps visually for me), once you known rough frequency you can look it up. I have https://pages.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html downloaded on my laptop. (using span or coloring EQ is much faster though!)

I've spent the last 2-3 years learning to make my own kicks and would recommend it to anyone. Making your own kicks and snares is very rewarding! I know that the listener has no clue and doesn't care that we made the instruments from scratch but it's so satisfying.
EdGrip wrote:
08 Aug 2020
If your kicks have a long enough tail that they settle on a pitch, you should be able to find it with a tuner. (Loop the pitched part of the tail if it helps) If they don't decay long enough to settle on a pitch, it doesn't matter anyway.
You can slowly adjust the pitch control of your kick to see if there's a setting that sounds more "right" in the context of your track.
Thanks guys, this is a pretty important issue and maybe others have their tips / methods to share so I will make a thread on it very soon, keep an eye out maybe you can share there too.

@Aeox - Yes I would really like to make my own kicks, yesterday I was listening to Da Funk by Daft Punk and figured that would have never happened if they used a kick from a sound bank, I'm excited about getting into it and I have 'The art of drum layering' by Eddie Bazil, would you recommend any other sources for learning about this? Cheers!

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aeox
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Joined: 23 Feb 2017
Location: Oregon

12 Aug 2020

Jagwah wrote:
08 Aug 2020
aeox wrote:
08 Aug 2020
I always found tuners to be finicky and better suited for longer notes. As mentioned above, using a frequency analyzer is the quickest way I found to see the fundamental frequency. If you don't want to download any more plugins you can always look at the spectrum analyzer in Reason and use the LF bell to find the fundamental(helps visually for me), once you known rough frequency you can look it up. I have https://pages.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html downloaded on my laptop. (using span or coloring EQ is much faster though!)

I've spent the last 2-3 years learning to make my own kicks and would recommend it to anyone. Making your own kicks and snares is very rewarding! I know that the listener has no clue and doesn't care that we made the instruments from scratch but it's so satisfying.
EdGrip wrote:
08 Aug 2020
If your kicks have a long enough tail that they settle on a pitch, you should be able to find it with a tuner. (Loop the pitched part of the tail if it helps) If they don't decay long enough to settle on a pitch, it doesn't matter anyway.
You can slowly adjust the pitch control of your kick to see if there's a setting that sounds more "right" in the context of your track.
Thanks guys, this is a pretty important issue and maybe others have their tips / methods to share so I will make a thread on it very soon, keep an eye out maybe you can share there too.

@Aeox - Yes I would really like to make my own kicks, yesterday I was listening to Da Funk by Daft Punk and figured that would have never happened if they used a kick from a sound bank, I'm excited about getting into it and I have 'The art of drum layering' by Eddie Bazil, would you recommend any other sources for learning about this? Cheers!
Looks like an interesting read! That should probably have you on the right track. :thumbs_up:

I guess it would depend on what kind of kicks you are trying to make. The video that I initially watched was for edm style drums but it's "Au5 drums" on youtube and he's using operator but you can use practically any synth to make a kick . There is all kinds of stuff on youtube but I don't have a lot of time to watch any of it for recommendations.

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Jagwah
Posts: 2549
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

12 Aug 2020

aeox wrote:
12 Aug 2020
Looks like an interesting read! That should probably have you on the right track. :thumbs_up:

I guess it would depend on what kind of kicks you are trying to make. The video that I initially watched was for edm style drums but it's "Au5 drums" on youtube and he's using operator but you can use practically any synth to make a kick . There is all kinds of stuff on youtube but I don't have a lot of time to watch any of it for recommendations.
Thanks I'll check out that video and hell yeah I will learn to do this, looking forward to it!!

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yamguitar
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13 Aug 2020

Call me shallow, but the way I avoid auditioning a zillion patches in a row is to search for a term that coincides somehow with the title or concept of my song, like "future" or "shark" or "romance" or "cake"... who knows what... try a couple of the patches that come up, and then make the best one(s) work, more or less.

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nooomy
Posts: 543
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

16 Aug 2020

Jagwah wrote:
08 Aug 2020
nooomy wrote:
17 Jul 2020
One secret i found 2-3 months ago is that all kick drum samples are tuned in A
Popey wrote:
01 Aug 2020
This is a great piece of info if they are all in A. I always find the key with voxengo span so knowing they are in A will save me loads of time.
Hey lads I got a reply from Reason Studios, unfortunately the kicks aren't tuned specifically and to quote "We did not make any decision to tune all kicks in a specific tuning."

So I guess I'm back to where I was. I think I may go the route of learning to create my own kicks, detecting the pitch of kicks is difficult and many times impossible imo, and apparently the tuning of your kick is really important, so go figure :shock:
Okey maybe not all are tuned but a majority of them are tuned to A

I made a tutorial series on how to find the tune of a kickdrum, snare and a hi-hat

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... I2qnDVexUq

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Boombastix
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16 Aug 2020

nooomy wrote:
16 Aug 2020
Jagwah wrote:
08 Aug 2020




Hey lads I got a reply from Reason Studios, unfortunately the kicks aren't tuned specifically and to quote "We did not make any decision to tune all kicks in a specific tuning."

So I guess I'm back to where I was. I think I may go the route of learning to create my own kicks, detecting the pitch of kicks is difficult and many times impossible imo, and apparently the tuning of your kick is really important, so go figure :shock:
Okey maybe not all are tuned but a majority of them are tuned to A

I made a tutorial series on how to find the tune of a kickdrum, snare and a hi-hat

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... I2qnDVexUq
I took three random kicks from the FSB. Set the loop point closer to the end of the waveform, assuming the pitch is more or less stabilized at that point. Used kicks with a little bit of sustain for the same reason. Result: NO KICK WAS TUNED TO A, and they were all different. So there you have it...It is all random...
10% off at Waves with link: https://www.waves.com/r/6gh2b0
Disclaimer - I get 10% as well.

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nooomy
Posts: 543
Joined: 16 Jan 2015

16 Aug 2020

Boombastix wrote:
16 Aug 2020
nooomy wrote:
16 Aug 2020


Okey maybe not all are tuned but a majority of them are tuned to A

I made a tutorial series on how to find the tune of a kickdrum, snare and a hi-hat

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... I2qnDVexUq
I took three random kicks from the FSB. Set the loop point closer to the end of the waveform, assuming the pitch is more or less stabilized at that point. Used kicks with a little bit of sustain for the same reason. Result: NO KICK WAS TUNED TO A, and they were all different. So there you have it...It is all random...
Well that’s not how you find the pitch of a kickdrum so that’s why you got different results every time.

Kick drum sounds usually contains 4-5 notes That it glides between and one of them is a fundamental note. By chopping up the sample you are removing 3-4 notes and changing the fundamental tone.

If you use your ears you will hear what I’m talking about

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