New PLAYERS drafted to the Rack Extension team!
As most of you know already, and published in the official press release, Propellerhead released a free update to Reason 10. For many the greatest news is that from now on third party developers, including PH themselves, can build and sell Player type Rack Extensions. Opening up Players for third party developers was predicted since their release as stock player devices have the same patch format as Rack Extensions. In this article we introduce you the first batch of Player Rack extensions released together with Reason 10.1.
From now on third party developers can build and sell Player type Rack Extensions!
Lets start with two players from LoveOne which might seem not so exciting at first look, but their essential feature set makes sure they will find their way into the Rack of many Reason users.
The first one is called MIDI Compressor. But before we get under its hood, let’s have a think about what compression is and why it is needed at all. Compression is used by everybody, no matter what genre or stage in the production one is involved in. It is designed to control the ever-changing level of a sound source (e.g. a performance). But it is a better later than never situation. The ultimate solution would be the ability to control how hard the keys were clamped on, drums were hit, etc. while leaving the imperfections of the performance intact. It sounds miraculous, doesn’t it? Well it is definitely not! This is what LoveOne`s MIDI Compressor is for!
MIDI Compressor was first and foremost designed to control the dynamic range (velocity) of incoming MIDI notes. But it can be abused in various ways. A neat trick this MIDI Compressor has up its sleeve is that the compression curve is user editable and it is even automateable and Remote (™) able. This means that one can redefine the velocity response of any MIDI controller and even change it over time. Along the same line, extreme compression curves can be created, resulting in a flat velocity response. This can be very handy while using pad controllers lacking fixed velocity mode. Moreover, MIDI Compressor can easily change the velocity of all MIDI notes corresponding to an instrument by an incremental value (+/-) across all the note clips and lanes with a turn of a knob. For the more demanding situations such as live acts, one could take advantage of the above mentioned automation or Remote(™) features to alter the response of a MIDI input device to fit all instruments. Our verdict is that MIDI Compressor is definitely a useful tool to have in you arsenal. You can grab one from the Propellerhead Shop for 29€.
The other device from LoveOne is called MIDI-CV Converter. And it does exactly that, converts MIDI to CV and CV to MIDI. As you know by default CV in Reason is monophonic, therefore converting polyphonic MIDI data to CV was not possible at all until the mighty Blamsoft developed the Poly CV standard. With the help of Poly CV this great little RE can transmit polyphonic note data between different Player stacks. Of course, it can feed note information directly to instruments via Note and Gate CV if the target device accepts Poly CV. Moreover, a great use of MIDI-CV Converter is to create one man bands where playing a single note triggers a whole bunch of instruments. One thing to be avoided while piping MIDI around is creating feedback loops between player stacks as it can result in hanging notes.
Another useful utility type of player is Chord Detector from none other than Static Cling. If you want to figure out what chords have been laid down in the sequencer just load an instance of Chord Detector and problem is solved. The RE even provides alternative results when things get complicated and has a hold function to store all the played notes, which can be useful if one wishes to determine the key of the song.
The most complex player released in this first batch is definitely Kompulsion by Lectric Panda. It is a powerhouse when it comes to creating patterns either for melodic instruments or drums. In a nutshell, Kompulsion has two major modes: an advanced polyphonic Matrix-style sequencer mode with user selectable key and scale, and an arpeggiator mode which uses the incoming MIDI notes to fill out the scale similar to Dual Arpeggio.
Using it will let you arrive to patches you would never think of otherwise.
A new feature in the RE SDK, debuting with Player REs, is native pattern automation support. Kompulsion can include up to seven patterns which can be toggled via automation or Remote(™). Kompulsion is a really versatile device and it would be impossible to cover all the features it houses so we will note just a few and encourage you to try it yourself. We’ll start with the one that has the biggest impact: it is the Randomiser, which can be customised to a great extent. Using it will let you arrive to patches you would never think of otherwise. There are a few hidden features worth to keep in mind, such as clicking on the box next to the note list in sequencer mode will trigger the assigned note, Alt/Option+clicking on the S1-S16 labels will mute, Alt/Option+Shift+clicking on them will solo the corresponding lane while Ctrl/Cmd+clicking on any of them will clear solo and mute states. Further, just as you can do it in Matrix, holding Shift while painting in note or other events will create a ramp. It is definitely recommended to read the manual. Go grab this great player in the shop for an intro price of 69€.
The next device by Zvork was in the works for a good while. It has started its life as VOLT ST1 CV Strummer but fortunately turned into ST100 Strummer.
This player lets you play guitar strum-like patterns by turning incoming chords into strums based on the programmed pattern. A great way to feed this device with chords is to use Scales and Chords or Note Echo. The ST100 has a number of controls which were designed to add some variations in order to achieve a more human strum. This player also has patterns which can be automated from Reason’s sequencer. Also, there is a simple random function that helps to come up with new strumming patterns.
While we are at chopping up chords let us introduce Euclidean Rhythms by Robotic Bean. This RE will transform long notes into great sounding rhythmic phrases such as an echo, etc. On the other hand, by stacking multiple Euclidean Rhythms and locking each instance to a single MIDI note, it can be used to automatically trigger drums.
A neat trick is that one can add steps by Alt/Option+click. Euclidean Rhythms can shift the pattern in time with steps and/or ticks and it can add shuffle to it too. It is also worth experimenting with the modulation of density, offset and length via CV.
All in all, this is a really exciting time to be a Reason user. Opening up the Players section for third party Rack Extension developers means that they can build great devices unique to Reason ecosystem. The ecosystem which now includes features such as Pitch edit, VST support, Ableton Link etc. Hopefully the party is not over yet! You know Propellerhead, they always have something up their sleeves!
Now go update or upgrade your Reason to 10.1 and spice up your Rack with some Players and let us know in the forum which one is your favourite or what sort of players you would love to see!