Replacement for Mimic advanced stretch feature

[rootwheel]

For those stuck on Reason 11 (computer still running Windows 7 or El Capitan, or perhaps don't want to run Reason 12 for whatever reason) but who work with samples and still want to have access to the main new feature added to the reason toolbox in Mimic, there's a workaround I've found.

The new feature I'm talking about is Mimic's advanced stretch feature; the ability to change the pitch of a sample without affecting its speed. Previously Reason had no way to do this easily with one-shots. With Mimic this is possible as it pitch-shifts the sample in real-time as you play, but maintains the tempo of the sample on each key.

The default NN-XT and NN-19 one-shot stretch gives the sample what I call the 'chipmunk + speedy gonzales effect' higher up the keyboard. A previous workaround for this, which I've seen posted for Reason 11 and earlier, involved creating multiple versions of the one-shot sample in the sequencer and using the sequencer transpose function to create multiple pitches (whilst maintaining lengths) and then importing those sample into NN-XT. This is a painful solution however.

My method involves offline batch conversion using a third party library to quickly create a whole multi-sample collection of WAVs from the single exported one-shot. The way I generate the samples is to use a bash script along with the Rubber Band Library https://breakfastquay.com/rubberband/ command line tool. This makes it easy to batch create all the required properly pitched and tempo stretched WAV files from the one-shot original (i.e. generating a sample for each incremental value of semi-tone up and down from the start sample etc.). Once created, these samples can then be imported into NN-XT and mapped chromatically across the keyboard with just a few clicks. The results are excellent and just as good as Mimic.

Obviously this workaround is nowhere near as smooth as using Mimic, where you can immediately import one-shots and automatically have them play smoothly across the whole keyboard range all within Reason. It does, however, provide a nice alternative if you can't do Reason 12 (for whatever reason) are technically enough inclined and still want a way to take a single one-shot and map it nicely across an NN-XT keyboard.

There is also one key benefit my solution does have against Mimic and that is how CPU light it is, especially when playing high polyphony patches. This is because all the pitch shifting and processing has occurred offline and isn't burdening your CPU as you play in real-time.

Anyway, I hope this post is helpful. Good luck!

[littlejam]

hello,

i plan on staying with R10 with the RE from R11 suite and windows 7
my audio interface doesn't have drivers for windows 10

thank you very much for the instructions on how to duplicate mimicqualities

you mimiced mimic
pretty dope

cheers and eat well,

j