Propellerhead Reason - 3.0 Operation Manual

, English

, Operation Manual

stand-alone music production instrument

3.0

14 Channel Expandable Mixer,Analog Polysynth,Graintable Polysynth,Digital Samplers,Mastering T ools,REX-loop Player,Drum Machine

ReBirth Input Device,Multiple Effects Processors,Combinator Device,Shelving and Parametric EQs,Master Song Sequencer,Pattern

Sequencer

64 Channel Audio Output,64 Channel ReWire Output,512 Band Vo coder,CV Processing Tools,Full Automation,To tal Recall

Operation Manual by Synkron: Anders Nordmark

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Propellerhead Software AB. The software described herein is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to any other media expect as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Propellerhead Software AB.

Note: Trademarks referred to within the Reason product are the property of their respective trademark holders. None of these trademarks holders are affiliated with Propellerhead Software AB or our products. The referrals to these trademarks do not in any way constitute trademark use. Nor does the use of these trademarks intend to explore the goodwill associated with these trademarks.

C 2005 Propellerhead Software and its licensors. All specifications subject to change without notice. Reason is a trademark of Propellerhead Software. All other commercial symbols are protected trademarks and trade names of their respective holders. All rights reserved.

D Table of Contents

5 The Sequencer

57 Advanced MIDI - the External Control Bus inputs

6 Recording 9 Copying REX loops and Patterns to Sequencer Tracks 11 Editing - About Snap 12 Editing in the Arrange View 15 Using Groups 18 The Edit View 28 Quantizing 29 The Change Events Dialog 31 Importing and Exporting MIDI Files

33 Routing Audio and CV

34 About the various signals that can be routed 34 About Cables 35 Automatic Routing 36 Manual Routing 37 Using CV and Gate

39 Remote - Playing and controlling Reason devices

40 About the various MIDI inputs

58 About the External Control Bus inputs

59 Synchronization

60 ReWire users – Read This! 60 What is Synchronization and MIDI Clock? 60 Slaving Reason to an External Device 61 Slaving Reason to Another Program on the Same Computer 61 Synchronization Considerations

63 Optimizing Performance

64 Introduction 64 Optimization and Output Latency 65 Optimizing Your Computer System 65 Optimizing Songs 67 Songs and Memory Requirements

69 Transport Panel

70 Overview

40 About Remote 40 Setting up 42 Remote basics 43 Locking a surface to a device 45 Remote Override 47 Additional Remote Overrides... 48 Keyboard Control 49 Saving Remote Setups

51 Using Reason as a ReWire Slave

52 About this Chapter 52 Why use Reason with ReWire? 52 Introducing ReWire! 53 Launching and Quitting 53 Using the Transport and Tempo Controls 53 Synchronization 54 Routing Audio 54 Routing MIDI via ReWire 2

73 Reason Hardware Interface

74 Introduction 74 MIDI In Device 74 Audio Out

75 The Combinator

76 Introduction 76 Creating Combinator devices 77 Combinator elements 77 About internal and external connections 78 Adding devices to a Combi 80 Combi handling 81 Sequencer tracks and playing Combis 81 The Controller panel 82 Using the Programmer

55 Converting ReWire Channels to Audio Tracks 55 Details About Various ReWire Hosts

TABLE OF CONTENTS

87 The Mixer

123 Malström Synthesizer

88 Introduction 88 The Channel Strip 90 The Mixer signal flow 90 About the EQ modes 90 The Auxiliary Return Section 90 The Master Fader 91 Connections 92 Chaining Mixers

93 The Line Mixer 6:2

94 Introduction 94 Channel parameters 94 The Auxiliary Return Section 94 Master level 95 Connections

97 Redrum

98 Introduction

124 Introduction 125 The Oscillator section 127 The Modulator section 128 The Filter section 131 Routing 134 The play controls 136 Connections 137 Routing external audio to the filters

139 NN-19 Sampler

140 Introduction 140 General Sampling Principles 141 About Audio File Formats 142 About Key Zones and Samples 146 Automap Samples 147 NN-19 Synth Parameters 150 Play Parameters 152 Connections

98 About File Formats 99 Using Patches 100 Programming Patterns 103 Redrum Parameters 106 Using Redrum as a Sound Module 106 Connections

107 Subtractor Synthesizer

108 Introduction 108 The Oscillator Section 112 The Filter Section 115 Envelopes - General 117 LFO Section 118 Play Parameters 120 External Modulation 121 Connections

155 NN-XT Sampler

156 Introduction 156 Panel Overview 157 Loading Complete Patches and REX Files 158 Using the Main Panel 159 Overview of the Remote Editor panel 160 About Samples and Zones 161 Selections and Edit Focus 163 Adjusting Parameters 164 Managing Zones and Samples 166 Working with Grouping 167 Working with Key Ranges 170 Setting Root Notes and Tuning 171 Using Automap 171 Layered, Crossfaded and Velocity Switched Sounds 174 Using Alternate 174 Sample Parameters 176 Group Parameters 177 Synth parameters 183 Connections

TABLE OF CONTENTS

185 Dr. Rex Loop Player

221 The Effect Devices

186 Introduction 186 About File Formats 187 Adding a Loop 188 Creating Sequencer Notes 189 Slice Handling 190 Dr.Rex Synth Parameters 194 Connections

195 Matrix Pattern Sequencer

196 Introduction 197 Programming Patterns 201 Example Usage

203 ReBirth Input Machine

204 Introduction 204 Preparations 205 Routing

222 Common Device Features 223 The MClass effects 223 The MClass Equalizer 224 The MClass Stereo Imager 225 The MClass Compressor 227 The MClass Maximizer 227 Scream 4 Sound Destruction Unit 232 RV7000 Advanced Reverb 239 RV-7 Digital Reverb 240 DDL-1 Digital Delay Line 241 D-11 Foldback Distortion 241 ECF-42 Envelope Controlled Filter 244 CF-101 Chorus/Flanger 245 PH-90 Phaser 246 UN-16 Unison 246 COMP-01 Auto Make-up Gain Compressor 247 PEQ-2 Two Band Parametric EQ 248 Spider Audio Merger & Splitter

207 BV512 Vocoder

208 Introduction 209 Setting up for basic vocoding 211 Using the BV512 as an equalizer 212 BV512 parameters 213 Connections 214 Automation 214 Tips and tricks

249 Spider CV Merger & Splitter

253 Menu and Dialog Reference

254 Reason Menu (Mac OS X) 254 File Menu 258 Edit Menu 274 Create Menu 274 Options Menu 276 Windows Menu (Windows Version) 276 Windows Menu (Mac OS Version) 277 Help/Contacts Menu

279 About Audio on Computers

280 General Information 281 PC Specific Information 282 Mac Specific Information

283 MIDI Implementation

284 About This Chapter 284 How various MIDI messages are Implemented

285 Index

TABLE OF CONTENTS

D The Sequencer

Recording

Recording Notes

The Overdub/Replace switch

Recording and Playback Basics

The basic procedures for recording and playback are described in the Getting Started book. Here is a brief repetition:

D Make sure that the device you wish to play/record has master keyboard

MIDI input by clicking in the In column for the track connected to the device.

The master keyboard icon and the Record enable button will light up for the corresponding track in the sequencer track list.

D To activate recording, click the Record button on the Transport panel or

press [*] on the numeric keypad.

If your computer keyboard lacks a numeric keypad, you can activate recording by holding down [Command] (Mac) or [Ctrl] (Windows) and pressing [Return].

D Recording starts at the current song position. D You can get a metronome click during recording by activating Click on

the transport panel.

The volume of the metronome click can be adjusted with the Level knob.

D If the Loop is activated, the area between the Left and Right locators will

be repeated, allowing you to add or replace material on each loop pass (depending on the Overdub/Replace switch - see below).

D To start playback from the current song position, click the Play button or

press [Enter] on the numeric keypad.

To stop, click the Stop button, press [0] on the numeric keypad or press [Return]. You can also toggle between Play and Stop by pressing the Space bar.

D To move the song position, click in the ruler, use the Rewind/Fast For-

ward buttons or edit the position numerically on the transport panel.

You can also move the song position to the Left or Right Locator by pressing [1] or [2] on the numeric keypad.

If you record over an area where there are notes recorded already, the result depends on the Overdub/Replace switch on the transport panel:

D In Overdub mode, the new recording is added to whatever was on the

Track before.

For example, this is useful for adding elements during loop recording or for adding controller data to recorded notes.

D In Replace mode, the new recording replaces any previously recorded

notes.

Only the notes in the actual recording area are replaced.

! It’s probably best to use Overdub mode as your default mode, to avoid

removing material by mistake.

Quantizing during Recording

If the Quantize Notes During Recording switch is activated on the sequencer toolbar, notes will automatically be quantized when you record them. This is described in detail on page 26.

Recording Controllers

In Reason, you can automate virtually all device parameters, creating completely automated mixes if you like. This is done by recording (or drawing) controllers in the sequencer.

Before you record automation

Before you start recording automation of a parameter, you may want to set it to a suitable “static value”. By this, we mean the value the parameter should have whenever it isn’t automated in the song. Here is why:

D When you first record a section of automation for a parameter, its origi-

nal value will be inserted throughout the rest of the song.

This is explained in detail on page 8.

Let’s say you want to create a fade-out by recording your lowering a fader in the Mixer. Then it’s a good idea to first set the fader to the correct static value (i.e. the value the fader should be set to before you start the fade-out).

The same thing is true if you want to create a filter sweep for a synthesizer, somewhere within the song: First set the filter frequency to the value it should have elsewhere in the song, then record the filter sweep.

THE SEQUENCER

Recording automation of a device parameter

Recording more for the same controller

1. Make sure there is a sequencer track for the device.

For the instrument devices and the Matrix, sequencer tracks are automatically added when you create the device. For a mixer or effect device, you need to add tracks manually, by selecting “Create Sequencer Track for...” from the device context menu. You can also select “Sequencer Track” from the Create menu and connect the created track manually to the desired device (in the Out column in the track list).

2. Click in the In column for the track in the track list, so that the MIDI keyboard symbol is highlighted.

The record enable symbol (to the right of the MIDI keyboard icon) is also automatically highlighted. The track will now receive MIDI and is ready for recording.

3. Start recording from the desired position.

4. During recording, adjust the desired parameter(s), from the device panel or from a MIDI remote control surface.

You can record automation for several parameters in the same recording pass.

✪ You can also record automation for several devices at a time (not just the

device whose track has MIDI input). See page 8.

5. Stop recording.

On the device panel, each automated parameter will have a green frame.

If you need to redo a section of recorded automation, or add some automation of the same controller elsewhere in the song, proceed as follows:

! The Overdub/Replace switch does not affect controller recording. How-

ever, you should make sure this is set to “Overdub”, to avoid accidentally deleting any notes on the track.

1. Set up and start recording in the same way as described above.

As long as you don’t touch the parameter, its automation data will be played back normally.

2. At the desired position, adjust the parameter.

As soon as you start changing the parameter value, the Punched In indicator will light up on the transport panel.

From this point on, the previously recorded automation will be replaced!

3. Stop recording when you are done.

You have now replaced the section from where you Punched In up to where you stopped recording.

The parameters Feedback and Pan are automated.

In the Arrange view, recorded controllers are indicated in blue (the pale blue “strip” indicates that the track contains any kind of controller automation).

If you play back the recorded section again, the parameters will change automatically. Outside the recorded section, the parameters will have their original settings (the values they had before you started recording).

D Any time after Punching In, you can click the Reset button below the

Punched In indicator.

This turns off the Punched In indicator and “resets” the controller recording (making the previously recorded automation active again, from that position). You are still in record mode, and as soon as you adjust the parameter again, the Punched In indicator will be lit. Basically, clicking the Reset button is the same as stopping recording and starting recording again.

Moving Automated Controllers during Playback - “Live Mode”

Even if you have automated a parameter, you can still “grab it” and adjust it during playback, overriding the automation:

1. During playback, click and drag an automated parameter.

The Punched In indicator lights up on the transport panel. From this point on, the recorded automation for the parameter is disabled.

2. To activate the automation again, click the Reset button.

This returns control of the parameter to the sequencer.

D Automation override is automatically reset when you stop playback.

THE SEQUENCER

Recording automation on multiple tracks

Recording Pattern Changes

Although only one track can have MIDI input, it is possible to record enable any number of tracks for automation recording.

D Simply click in the Rec column to record enable the tracks you wish to

record automation events for.

D When recording is activated, all record enabled tracks will record param-

eter changes from their respective devices in the rack.

This is especially useful if you have multiple control surfaces, controlling different devices in the rack while you’re recording. See the Remote control chapter for details.

Background: How recorded controllers are handled

Even though the recording procedures are practically the same, the sequencer handles controllers differently from notes. While each recorded note is a separate event, there are no “controller events” as such in the sequencer. Instead, it works like this:

Each sequencer track has a number of controller “subtracks” (one for each automatable parameter in the corresponding device). A controller subtrack can be viewed as a length of magnetic tape, which you can fill with controller data.

When you haven’t yet recorded any automation for a parameter, its subtrack is empty. The parameter is not automated.

If your song contains pattern devices, you probably want to use more than a single pattern throughout the song. To facilitate this you can record pattern changes in the sequencer (or draw them in manually, as described on page 26).

1. If you want to use the same pattern for the main part of the song (and only want to add some variation patterns here and there), make sure this “main pattern” is selected before you start recording.

When you first record a pattern change somewhere in the song, the originally selected pattern will be inserted throughout the rest of the song. This is similar to the way controller automation works - see page 6.

2. Locate the sequencer track for the device, and make sure MIDI is routed to the track.

That is, the MIDI connector symbol should be shown in the In column for the track in the track list.

3. Start recording from the desired position.

When playback starts, the pattern device will automatically start (provided the pattern section is enabled on the device).

4. During recording, change patterns with the Bank and Pattern buttons on the device panel.

Make sure to change the patterns slightly in advance - the actual pattern change will be recorded (and happen) on the next downbeat according to the main sequencer time signature.

As soon as you record anything for the controller, anywhere in the song, the whole subtrack is filled with controller data:

This is the section you recorded.

This is the original, static value for the parameter.

5. When you are done, stop recording.

There will be a green frame around the pattern selection buttons to indicate that pattern changes are automated for the device.

In the Arrange view, recorded pattern changes are indicated as dark yellow bars (the pale yellow “strip” indicates that the track contains any pattern change data at all).

D Each pattern change will be recorded on a downbeat (at the start of a

new bar in the sequencer).

You can move pattern changes to other positions in the Edit View (see page 27).

D You can punch in on recorded pattern changes, to replace a section of

the track.

This works the same as punching in on controllers (see page 7).

D After recording the pattern changes, you can use the function Convert

Pattern Track to Notes, to transfer the notes in the patterns to the main sequencer.

This allows you to create unlimited variations by later editing the notes in the Edit View.

This makes it possible to set up a static mix first, and then add some automated parameter changes anywhere in the song while maintaining the static values elsewhere in the song.

THE SEQUENCER

Copying REX loops and Patterns to Sequencer Tracks

As described on page 188, you need to use the “To Track” function when using the Dr.Rex Loop Player device. This creates sequencer notes on the selected track, so that each slice in the REX loop gets a corresponding sequencer note. Playing back the sequencer track will then play all slices in the correct order, with the original timing of the loop.

Similar functions are available for the pattern devices (Redrum and Matrix).

• By using the function Copy Pattern to Track on the Edit menu or device context menu, you can copy the contents of the current pattern to notes on the selected sequencer track.

• The function Convert Pattern Track to Notes works in a similar way, but converts all patterns in a song to notes (taking pattern changes into account).

The procedures differ slightly for the different device types:

Using the “To Track” function for REX Loops

This assumes that you have loaded a REX loop into the Dr.Rex device. For details, see page 187.

1. Set the left and right locator to encompass the section you want to “fill” with notes for the REX loop.

D If the length of the area between the locators is greater than the length

of the REX loop, the loop will be repeated on the track.

This function always creates an exact number of loops, meaning that the last loop may “stick out” after the right locator.

The created notes are automatically grouped (as indicated by the colored boxes). Read more about groups on page 15.

Here, the loop was 2 bars long. Since there are three bars between the locators, the second loop will stick out after the right locator.

The “Copy Pattern to Track” function

This is available for the Redrum and the Matrix. It is useful when you have created a single pattern and want to use it as starting point for editing in the sequencer. You could also use this if you e.g. have created a drum pattern and want to have this pattern play back some other type of device.

Proceed as follows:

1. Set the left and right locator to encompass the section you want to “fill” with the notes in the pattern.

You may want to make sure the length of the area between the locators is a multiple of the pattern length, to avoid “cutting off” the pattern.

2. Select the track connected to the Dr.Rex device.

To avoid confusion, make sure there are no events between the locators on the track.

3. Click the “To Track” button on the Dr.Rex device panel.

Notes are created for the slices in the loop, and added to the track.

2. Select the track connected to the pattern device.

In fact, you can select any track. For example, if the device is a Matrix, it may make

sense to copy the notes not to the Matrix track, but to the track for the device con- trolled by the Matrix (since the Matrix doesn’t produce any sound in itself, and thus

can’t be played by the sequencer notes).

3. Select the device and select “Copy Pattern to Track” from the Edit menu or the device context menu.

D If you selected a track not connected to the pattern device, an alert will

appear, asking if that’s really what you want.

Click OK to proceed, or Cancel to abort.

THE SEQUENCER

The pattern is converted to sequencer notes on the track (see the notes below). If the length of the area between the locators is greater than the pattern length, the pattern will be repeated to fill out the area.

The created notes are automatically grouped (as indicated by the colored boxes). Read more about groups on page 15.

Redrum notes

When you use this function with the Redrum, you should note the following:

• The notes will have the pitch of the corresponding drum sound (see “Using Redrum as a Sound Module” on page 106) and the velocity depending on the Dynamic value. Soft notes have velocity 30, medium notes have velocity 80 and hard notes have velocity 127.

• You probably want to turn off the “Enable Pattern Section” switch on the Redrum device panel. Otherwise, the drum sounds will be “double-triggered” when you start playback (once by the pattern section itself, once by the main sequencer).

The “Convert Pattern Track to Notes” function

If you have recorded or drawn pattern changes on a Redrum or Matrix track, you can have the whole track converted to notes, in the following way:

1. Select the track with the pattern changes.

2. Select “Convert Pattern Track to Notes” from the Edit menu or the context menu for the track.

For each bar, the corresponding pattern is converted to notes on the track (following the same rules as for the “Copy Pattern to Track” function). The track will play back just the same as when you played the pattern device with the pattern changes.

In these sections, the pattern was muted (Pattern Enable off) in the pattern track.

D All pattern changes are automatically removed from the track after the

operation.

Redrum notes

Matrix notes

When you use this function for the Matrix, you should note the following:

•A note will be created for each pattern step with a gate value other than zero. The notes will have the pitch according to the key CV value for the step, and the velocity according to the gate value.

• The curve CV is not copied.

• Make sure that the track is connected to the correct device! Having the track connected to the Matrix itself is pointless, since the Matrix cannot produce any sound.

• You may want to disconnect or even remove the Matrix after performing a “Copy Pattern to Track”. This is because you probably don’t want both the Matrix and the sequencer notes to play back at the same time.

• The “Enable Pattern Section” switch is automatically turned off when you use this function.

Matrix notes

• After performing “Convert Pattern Track to Notes”, you need to move the contents to another track, or re-route the track to another device. Having the track connected to the Matrix itself is pointless, since the Matrix cannot produce any sound.

• You may want to disconnect or even remove the Matrix after performing this function. This is because you probably don’t want both the Matrix and the sequencer notes to play back at the same time.

THE SEQUENCER

Editing - About Snap

D Drawing Groups in the Arrange View.

When you create Groups with the Pencil tool, their start and end positions will be magnetic to the snap value positions. See page 15.

When you select and edit material (both in the Arrange View and the Edit View), the Snap (Snap to Grid) function determines the result. By activating Snap, editing becomes “restricted” to the note values selected on the Snap pop-up menu (the Snap value). The Snap button and pop-up menu are located on the sequencer toolbar:

Use this pop-up menu to select the Snap value.

Click here to turn Snap on or off.

! Note that you can select different Snap values for the Arrange View and

the Edit View.

D Drawing events in the Edit view.

The Snap value determines the smallest note position on which you can draw a note or insert a controller value or pattern change. Furthermore, the Snap value determines the smallest length of the events when you draw. See page 19.

D Using the Eraser tool to delete events in the Edit and Arrange views.

With Snap activated, clicking directly on events with the Eraser tool will not only

delete the events “touched”, but all events within the set snap value (e.g. 1 bar).

The Eraser tool can also be used for making selection rectangles and these will be magnetic to the snap value as well. See page 14.

Snap has an effect on the following operations:

D Moving the Song position, Locators and End marker.

When you adjust these markers with Snap activated, they will be “magnetic” to the Snap value.

D Selecting events by enclosing them in a selection rectangle.

Since the selection rectangle is magnetic to the snap value, this determines the smallest “block” you can select. However, selecting by clicking directly on notes in the Edit View (or Groups in the Arrange View - see page 16) is not restricted by Snap.

D Moving and duplicating events.

When you move one or several Events with Snap activated, they will keep their relative distance to the Snap value positions. In the example below, Snap is set to 1/ 4 (quarter notes):

THE SEQUENCER

Editing in the Arrange View

The Arrange View allows you to view several tracks at the same time, and provides a good overview of the song. This view is best suited for large-scale editing, such as rearranging blocks of music, adding or removing bars or applying quantizing and editing functions to events on different tracks at the same time.

D To select the Arrange View, click the Arrange/Edit View button in the top

left corner of the sequencer area.

To select events in the Arrange view, click and drag a selection rectangle.

D If Snap is activated, the selection rectangle will be magnetic to the Snap

value.

D You can drag a selection rectangle covering only one lane, thereby se-

lecting only the notes, pattern changes or controllers.

You can also draw a selection rectangle covering several tracks.

D If you hold down [Shift] when you select events, any already selected

events remain selected.

This allows you to make multiple, non-contiguous selections: first select some events, then press [Shift] and select some more events, and so on.

You can also toggle between Arrange View and Edit View by pressing [Shift][Tab] or [Command]/[Ctrl]-[E].

! On the following pages we will use the word “event” as a collective name

for notes, controller changes and pattern changes.

! The procedures below apply to separate events in the Arrange View.

Some techniques are different for Grouped events, as described on page

15.

Selecting Events

Each track in the Arrange View is divided vertically into three “lanes”, in which events are shown as thin vertical lines. The top lane shows notes (including drum notes and REX slices) in red, the middle lane shows pattern changes in yellow and the lower lane shows controller value changes in blue.

D You can also use the “Select All” function on the Edit menu.

This selects all events, controllers and pattern changes in the song.

D The selection you make in the Arrange View will be maintained if you se-

lect the Edit View.

See page 20.

D To de-select events, just click anywhere in an empty area.

Moving Events

To move the selected events, click in the selection, and drag and drop it on a new position.

D When you move the selection, it is “magnetic” to the lanes.

That is, you cannot drag notes to a controller lane, etc.

D If you hold down [Shift] and drag, movement is restricted to horizontal or

vertical only.

D If Snap is activated, you will only be able to drop the selection so that it

maintains its relative distance to the Snap value positions.

See page 11.

Duplicating Events

To duplicate the selected events, hold down [Option] (Mac) or [Ctrl] (Windows) and proceed as when moving events.

D You can also use the Duplicate Track function on the Edit menu or the

track context menu.

This creates a copy of the selected track, complete with all events. The duplicated track will appear below the original track in the track list.

THE SEQUENCER

Using Cut, Copy and Paste

Deleting Events

You can move or duplicate events using the Cut, Copy and Paste commands on the Edit menu. When you Paste, the events appear at the song position, on their original track(s).

! If you have deleted the original tracks, or if you Paste into another Rea-

son song document, new tracks will be created as needed.

D See the note below about Copying and Pasting whole tracks!

Using Copy and Paste to repeat a section

When you Cut or Copy a selection, the song position will automatically move to the end of the selection (or, if Snap is activated, to the closest Snap value position after the end of the selection). This allows you to quickly repeat a section, in the following way:

1. Make sure playback is stopped.

2. Set the Snap value to “Bar” (or to the length of the section you want to repeat, if is smaller than one bar).

3. Activate Snap.

4. Select the section you want to repeat.

Since you can make selections over several tracks, this is a quick way to copy entire song sections.

D To delete an Event, either select it and press [Delete], [Backspace] or se-

lect Delete from the Edit menu.

Both of these methods will delete the Event.

You can also draw selection rectangles with the Selection tool, encompassing several Events and delete them all at once. The same rules apply as when selecting Events. That is, if Snap is on, the selection rectangle will be magnetic to the Snap value positions. Also note that an Event doesn’t have to be fully enclosed by the rectangle to be selected - the selection rectangle only needs to intersect or touch the Event.

Deleting Events with the Eraser tool

You can also use the Eraser tool to delete Events and Groups in the Arrange view, as well as Notes, Controller sections and Pattern Change sections in the Edit view.

The Eraser tool can be used in two ways: You can single click on events or you can make a selection rectangle encompassing several events. See below.

About Snap and the Eraser tool

! Note that Snap doesn’t apply in quite the same way when selecting

Groups (see page 16). Make sure the selection contains exactly what you want before proceeding.

5. Select Copy from the Edit menu.

The song position is moved to the closest snap value after the end of the selection (provided that playback is stopped).

6. Select Paste from the Edit menu.

The copied section is pasted in, and the song position is moved to the end of pasted section.

7. Paste again, as many times as you want to repeat the section.

Using Cut, Copy and Paste with Tracks

You can select one or several tracks by clicking or [Shift]-clicking in the track list. This allows you to use Cut or Copy on the track, complete with contents.

D If you Paste the track(s) into their original song, this simply duplicates

the tracks.

However, the Pasted tracks will not be connected to any devices in the rack.

With Snap activated, clicking directly on events or making selection rectangles with

the Eraser tool will not only delete the events “touched”, but all events within the set

snap value (e.g. 1 bar).

D You can also Paste the track(s) into another song.

Note that only the tracks (complete with contents) are copied and pasted - not their respective devices. You may want to separately copy and paste the devices to the other song.

THE SEQUENCER

Deleting events by single clicking

Inserting and Removing Bars

D Select the Eraser tool and click on the event you want to delete.

When using the Eraser tool to delete events with Snap on, the following applies:

•When single clicking, all events within the set Snap value will be deleted. The “area of effect” is indicated in a dark gray color.

In this example, the Eraser tool is used to delete notes in the Edit view. Snap is set to “Bar”, and therefore a single click will remove all the instances of the note C 2 on bar 6.

Deleting events by making a selection rectangle

D Select the Eraser tool, click and hold the mouse button and draw a selec-

tion rectangle.

This way, you can make a selection encompassing several events and delete them all at once.

When editing the overall structure of a song, you may need to rearrange the order and length of whole sections (e.g. make the “verse” two bars shorter, add a few bars to the intro, etc.). On the Edit menu or sequencer context menu you will find two useful functions for this:

Insert Bars Between Locators

This function inserts an empty area between the locators. All events after the left locator are moved to the right to “make room” for the inserted area.

Remove Bars Between Locators

This function removes all material between the locators. All events after the right locator are moved to the left to “fill out” the gap after the removed section.

If Snap is on when a selection rectangle is drawn, it will be magnetic to the nearest snap value positions. For example, if Snap is set to “Bar”, dragging a rectangle will select all notes within an exact range of bars.

Drawing a selection rectangle with Snap set to “Bar”. All notes enclosed in the “shaded” area will be deleted.

! Note that an Event doesn’t have to be fully enclosed to be selected - the

selection rectangle only needs to intersect or touch the Event.

✪ If you hold down [Shift] when making a selection rectangle, direction is

restricted to horizontal or vertical only.

✪ The “Remove Bars Between Locators” function will automatically

shorten any Groups intersected by the locators. This can be used as a feature in itself, as described on page 17.

Other Editing Functions in the Arrange View

You can also apply quantizing (see page 28) and use the Change Events function (see page 29) in the Arrange View. This is useful since it allows you to edit events on several tracks in one go.

D Note that you can select one or several tracks and have quantizing or

Change Events apply to all events on the selected tracks.

Selecting several tracks is done by [Shift]-clicking in the track list.

THE SEQUENCER

Using Groups

Sometimes it is practical to work with a section of events as one entity. This is done by Grouping the events. You may for example have a two-bar bass line that you want to move or repeat in the song - by Grouping the events, you can select, move and handle the bassline as a single object.

! This applies to the Arrange View only - you can still edit individual events

in a Group in the Edit View.

Appearance and Color

Creating Groups

There are two main ways to create Groups:

By using the Group command

1. Select the events that you want to Group.

It doesn’t matter which lanes you select - all notes, pattern changes and controllers within the area will be included in the Group.

D If you select events on several tracks, one Group for each track will be

created.

Each Group can only contain events on one track.

In the Arrange View, Groups appear as colored boxes.

The color of the Groups depends on their contents:

! Groups with the same color contain the same events.

This makes it easy to get an overview of the song, since variations will appear as Groups in another color.

These Groups are “variations”

- all the others have the same contents.

2. If you want the Group to have a specific length, activate Snap and select an appropriate Snap value.

Often it is practical to create Groups that are one or several whole bars long.

3. Select Group from the Edit menu or the sequencer context menu.

Or, hold down [Command] (Mac) or [Ctrl] (Windows) and press [G].

The events are Grouped.

By drawing with the Pencil tool

1. Select the Pencil tool.

You can also select the Pencil tool momentarily by holding down [Command] (Mac) or [Alt] (Windows).

2. If you want the Group to have a specific length, activate Snap and select an appropriate Snap value.

Often it is practical to create Groups that are one or several whole bars of length.

3. Click where you want the Group to start, drag to the right and release the mouse button.

A Group is created, containing the enclosed Events. It is also possible to create empty Groups this way.

✪ Groups are also automatically created when you use the “To Track”,

“Copy Pattern to Track” and “Convert Pattern Track to Notes” functions. See page 9.

THE SEQUENCER

Selecting Groups

Resizing Groups

To select a Group, just click on it in the Arrange View.

This Group is selected.

D If you hold down [Shift] and click, you can select multiple Groups.

You can de-select individual Groups by [Shift]-clicking them again.

D You can also select Groups by clicking and dragging a selection rectan-

gle, just as with events.

If Snap is on, the selection rectangle will be magnetic to the Snap value positions. However, note that a Group doesn’t have to be fully enclosed by the rectangle to be selected - the selection rectangle only needs to intersect or touch the Group.

✪ Note that it’s possible to select Groups and “loose events” at the same

time with this method. Make sure the selection rectangle encloses the elements you want!

When a Group is selected, a handle appears on its right edge. You can click on this handle and drag to make the Group smaller or larger. The following rules apply:

D If you drag to the left to make the Group smaller, any events that end up

outside the Group boundary are no longer included in the Group.

As a consequence, if you drag the handle all the way past the start of the Group, all events are Ungrouped (see below).

D If you drag to the right to make the Group larger, any events you enclose

will become part of the Group.

D Another way of selecting Groups is to use the arrow keys on the com-

puter keyboard.

Pressing the right arrow key selects the next Group on the track, pressing the down arrow key selects the closest Group on the track below, etc. Holding down [Shift] and using the arrow keys allows you to make multiple selections.

D If you select a Group and go to the Edit View, all events in the Group will

be selected.

D To de-select the selected Group(s), click anywhere in an empty part of

the Arrange View.

D Note: Groups cannot overlap!

This means that if you enlarge a Group so that it partially covers another Group, this will automatically resize the other Group as well:

The second Group now starts here!

THE SEQUENCER

Dividing Groups

Find Identical Groups

You can divide a Group into two by clicking with the Pencil tool at the desired position and dragging to the end of the Group.

Actually, this is just a consequence of the fact that Groups cannot overlap. As soon as you create a Group that overlaps another Group, the other Group is automatically resized. For example, if you were to draw a small Group within a larger Group, you would end up with three Groups:

Tip: Splitting Groups on several Tracks

If you have Groups on several tracks and want to split these at the same position, you can use the following method:

This command on the Edit menu helps you locate all Groups with the same contents:

1. Select a Group.

2. Select “Find Identical Groups” from the Edit menu.

All Groups with the same contents are selected in the Arrange View.

Ungrouping

There are two ways to dissolve a Group:

D Select it and select Ungroup from the Edit menu or sequencer context

menu,

D Click on the Group size handle and drag it all the way to the left.

Neither of these methods affect the events in the Group, they just remove the Grouping.

Editing with Groups

You can work with Groups much like you edit selected events in the Arrange view:

1. Set both the Left and the Right Locator to the desired split position.

2. Select “Insert Bars Between Locators” from the Edit menu.

The Groups are split.

Combining Groups

There are two main ways to combine two or more Groups into one:

By using the Group command

1. Select the first and the last Group that you want to combine.

All Groups in between these will be included as well.

2. Select Group from the Edit menu.

You will now have one larger Group.

By Resizing

1. Click the size handle of the first Group and drag to the right.

2. Release the mouse button at the end of the last Group.

All Groups in between are combined to one larger Group.

D To move a Group, click on it and drag it to a new position, taking the

Snap value into account.

If you move the Group so that it partially overlaps another Group, the other Group will automatically be resized. If the moved Group overlaps the other Group completely, you will get one large Group containing the events from both.

D To duplicate a Group, hold down [Option] (Mac) or [Ctrl] (Windows) and

proceed as when moving.

This duplicates the Group and all its contents. You can also use Copy and Paste for this, following the same rules as for selected events.

D To delete a Group, either select it and press [Delete], [Backspace] or se-

lect Delete from the Edit menu.

D Select the Eraser tool and click on a Group.

Both of these methods will delete the Group and all its contents. You can also draw selection rectangles with the Selection tool or the Eraser tool, en-

compassing several groups and delete them all at once. The same rules apply as when selecting groups. That is, if Snap is on, the selection rectangle will be magnetic to the Snap value positions. Also note that a Group doesn’t have to be fully enclosed by the rectangle to be selected - the selection rectangle only needs to intersect or touch the Group.

THE SEQUENCER

The Edit View

The Edit View allows you to perform detailed editing to the events on a single track. This is also where you create notes, pattern changes and controller values from scratch by drawing.

D To select the Edit View, click the Edit/Arrange View button in the top left

corner of the sequencer area.

About the Lanes

The Edit View is (or can be) divided vertically into lanes. There are six different lanes, suitable for editing different types of events. Any combination of lanes can be shown. You show and hide lanes by clicking their respective buttons in the sequencer toolbar:

Key lane Drum lane

Pattern lane

Controller lane

You can also toggle between Arrange View and Edit View by pressing [Shift][Tab] or [Command]/[Ctrl]-[E].

Selecting a Track for Editing

REX lane

D If you hold down [Option] (Mac) or [Alt] (Windows) and click a Lane but-

ton, only that lane will be shown (all other lanes are hidden).

By default, the lanes that are shown when you select Edit View depends on the device type to which the track is connected (and whether the track contains controller data). For Redrum tracks, the Drum lane, Velocity lane and Pattern lane are shown, for Dr.Rex tracks, the REX lane and Velocity lane are shown, and so on.

However, once you show or hide lanes, the new combination of lanes will be stored individually for each track. The next time you select Edit View for that track, the lane configuration will be the same.

Velocity lane

Resizing and Zooming

D You can resize lanes by dragging the dividers between them.

The Edit View shows the events of the track that has the focus in the track list.

D If one track is selected when you enter Edit View, that track will have the

focus and its events will be shown.

D If more than one track is selected in the track list when you select Edit

View, the track you last clicked on will have focus.

D You can change edit track at any time, by clicking in the track list.

This way you can stay in the Edit View and select different tracks for editing, without having to go back to the Arrange View.

D Where applicable, the lanes have individual zoom controls and scroll-

bars.

D The Magnifying Glass tool can be used for zooming in and out.

Click to zoom in, and click while pressing [Option] (Mac)/[Ctrl] (Windows) to zoom out.

D The Hand tool can be used for scrolling the view.

Just click, hold and drag in the desired direction.

THE SEQUENCER

D For extensive editing, you may want to detach the sequencer area from

the rack and use it in a separate window.

This is done either by clicking the Detach Sequencer button in the rack or by selecting “Detach Sequencer Window” from the Windows menu.

The Detach Sequencer button.

To reattach the sequencer, either click the Attach Sequencer button (in the rack or in the detached sequencer window) or select “Attach Sequencer Window” from the Windows menu.

D Alternatively, you can also maximize the sequencer area so that it fills

the rack.

This is done by clicking the Maximize Sequencer button or by holding down [Command] (Mac) or [Ctrl] (Windows) and pressing [2] on the left part of the computer keyboard.

The Maximize Sequencer button.

Drawing and Editing Notes

Notes are drawn and edited in one of three lanes: the Key lane, the Drum lane and the REX lane:

The Key lane. The piano keyboard to the left indicates the pitch of the notes, covering the whole MIDI note range (C-2 to G8). Note that the black and white keys are reflected in the background colors of the grid, making it easier to find the right pitch when drawing and moving notes! This is the lane to use when editing Synth or Sampler tracks.

About the Ruler and the Group strip

At the top of the Edit View you find the ruler. Just like the ruler in the Arrange View, this shows meter positions (bars and beats), helping you find the right positions in the song.

D You can adjust the horizontal zoom individually for the Edit View and the

Arrange View.

This makes sense, as you will probably work with a larger magnification when performing fine editing.

Just below the ruler is a narrow empty strip. This shows the Groups (if any) as colored bars, providing additional means of orientation in the Edit view.

Groups

✪ When you edit events within a Group, you will note that the Group indica-

tor changes color. This is because the color of a Group depends on its contents, as described on page 15.

The Drum lane. This is divided vertically into ten pitches, corresponding to the ten drum sound channels on a Redrum device (and named accordingly, if the track is connected to a Redrum device). Use this for editing drum tracks.

The REX lane. This is divided vertically into pitches (from C3 and up), corresponding to the slices in a Dr.Rex loop player device. Use this for editing Dr.Rex tracks.

D In all three lanes, the actual notes are shown as “boxes”, with the note

length indicated by the width of the box and the velocity values indicated by the color of the box (the darker the color, the higher the velocity).

The basic note editing procedures are the same for all three lanes.

THE SEQUENCER

Drawing notes

Moving notes

1. If you want to restrict note input to certain note values (e.g. sixteenth notes), set the Snap value accordingly and activate Snap.

2. Select the Pencil tool.

You can toggle temporarily between the Arrow tool and the Pencil tool by holding down [Command] (Mac) or [Alt] (Windows).

3. If needed, click in the piano keyboard display, drum sound list or slice list to find the correct pitch.

If the track is connected to a device, this will play the corresponding note.

4. Click in the note display part of the lane, at the desired position.

A note will be inserted at the closest Snap value position.

D If you just click, the note will get the length of the Snap value.

This is true regardless of whether Snap is activated or not.

D If you instead click and keep the mouse button pressed, you can drag to

the right to set the length of the note.

If Snap is on, the length will be a multiple of the Snap value (unless you hold down [Shift] while you drag). Also, see the note about drum note lengths below.

Selecting notes

To select notes in the Edit View, use one of the following methods:

D Click on a note with the Arrow tool to select it. D To select several notes, hold down [Shift] and click.

You can de-select individual notes by [Shift]-clicking them again.

D To move a note, click and drag it to a new position.

If several notes are selected, all will be moved. The individual distance between the moved notes will be kept.

D If Snap is on, the moved events will keep their relative distance to the

Snap value positions.

For example, if Snap is set to “Bar”, you can move the selected notes to another bar without affecting their timing.

D If you hold down [Shift] when you drag, movement is restricted to hori-

zontal or vertical only.

This helps you move notes without accidentally transposing them, or transposing notes without accidentally changing their meter position.

Duplicating notes

To duplicate the selected notes, hold down [Option] (Mac) or [Ctrl] (Windows) and proceed as when moving notes.

D You can also click and drag a selection rectangle around the notes you

want to select.

If Snap is on, the selection rectangle will be magnetic to the nearest snap value positions. For example, if Snap is set to “Bar”, dragging a rectangle will select all notes within an exact range of bars (and within the pitches enclosed by the rectangle).

D You can select the next or previous note on the track by pressing the

right or left arrow key on the computer keyboard.

Holding down [Shift] and using the arrow keys allows you to make multiple selections.

D To select all notes on the track, use the Select All function on the Edit

menu.

Make sure that the correct lane (Key, Drum or REX) has focus first - otherwise you may select all controllers or pattern changes. To set focus to a lane, click somewhere in it (focus is indicated by a thin extra border within the lane).

D To deselect all notes, click somewhere in an empty area.

Using Cut, Copy and Paste

You can move or duplicate events using the Cut, Copy and Paste commands on the Edit menu.

D When you Cut or Copy, the song position is automatically moved to the

end of the selection (or, if Snap is activated, to the closest Snap value position after the end of the selection).

You can use this for repeating events, as described on page 13.

D When you Paste, the events appear at the song position, on their original

track(s).

Resizing notes

When you select a note, a handle appears on its right edge. You can click on this handle and drag to make the note shorter or longer.

THE SEQUENCER

D If Snap is on, the end of the note will be magnetic to the Snap value po-

sitions.

You can disable this function temporarily by pressing [Shift] when you drag. This allows you to resize the note to any length, regardless of the Snap value.

D If several notes are selected, all will be resized by the same amount.

• If a selection rectangle is drawn, it will be magnetic to the nearest snap value positions. For example, if Snap is set to “Bar”, dragging a rectangle will select all notes within an exact range of bars.

D If you hold down [Shift] when making a selection rectangle, direction is

restricted to horizontal or vertical only.

About resizing drum notes

Drum notes can be resized as any other notes. However, the result of this depends on the settings of the Decay/Gate switch and the Length knob for the drum sound on the Redrum panel:

D If Decay mode is selected, the drum sound will play to its end, regardless

of the note length.

Or rather, it will fade out according to the Length setting.

D If Gate mode is selected, the note length affects the resulting sound.

However, the maximum length of the sound is set by the Length knob - the sound will be cut off after this length, regardless of the note length. Finally, even if the Length knob is set to its maximum value, the sound will not play longer than the length of the drum sample.

Deleting notes

You can delete notes in two ways:

D Select them and press [Backspace] or [Delete], or select Delete from the

Edit menu.

Editing velocity

The velocity values of notes are edited in the Velocity lane.

D Select the Eraser tool and click on the notes you want to delete.

You can also drag a selection rectangle with the Eraser tool and delete all notes encompassed by the rectangle. When using the Eraser tool with Snap on, the following applies:

•When single clicking, all notes of the same pitch within the set Snap value will be deleted. The “area of effect” is indicated in a dark gray color.

In this case, with Snap set to “Bar”, a single click will remove all the instances of the note C 2 on bar 6.

The velocity values are shown as bars, with higher bars indicating higher velocity. Note also that the color of the notes and bars reflect the velocity.

To change the velocity of a note, click on its velocity bar with the Pencil tool and drag the bar up or down. Clicking above a bar immediately raises the velocity to the level at which you click.

THE SEQUENCER

Creating velocity ramps and curves

Editing Controllers

You can also edit the velocity of several notes at once, in two ways:

D By dragging the Line tool across the bars, at the desired height.

Controllers are shown and edited in the Controller lane. This lane in turn is divided into several “subtracks”, one for each automatable parameter for the corresponding device.

The Controller lane for a Subtractor track, with three controllers shown.

Drawing a velocity ramp with the Line tool.

D By dragging the pencil across the bars, at the desired height.

The Line tool is probably the preferred method for creating regular, smooth ramps, or for giving all the notes the same velocity (by drawing a straight line), while the Pencil tool can be used for creating more irregular curves.

! If you hold down [Shift] when you edit velocity values, only the selected

notes will be affected!

This can be very useful, especially in “crowded” sections with lots of notes. Consider for example if you have a busy drum beat, and want to adjust the velocity of the hi-hat notes only. Simply dragging with the line- or pencil tool would change the velocity of all other drum notes in the area too, but if you first select the hi-hat notes in the Drum lane and press [Shift] as you draw, you can edit their velocity without affecting any other notes!

Showing and Hiding Controllers

For each track, you can select which controllers should be shown. This can be done in several ways:

D Hold down [Option] (Mac) or [Alt] (Windows) and click on a parameter on

a device panel in the rack.

This sets focus to the first sequencer track connected to the device, opens Edit View, brings the Controller lane and shows the automation subtrack for the specified parameter, all in one go.

D You can do the same thing by selecting “Edit Automation” on the context

menu for the parameter.

You bring up the parameter context menu by [Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) or right-clicking (Windows) on the parameter on the device panel.

✪ If you use a Mac with a two-button mouse, it’s a good idea to assign

[Ctrl]-click to the right mouse button, allowing you to bring up context menus by right clicking.

THE SEQUENCER

D By using the Controller pop-up menu on the sequencer toolbar, you can

hide or show individual controllers from the sequencer.

Shown controllers are indicated by a tick mark on the pop-up menu - select a controller to show it or hide it. Controllers for which there is data (automation) in the track are indicated with an asterisk next to the controller name.

Drawing and Editing Controllers

Regardless of whether you’re editing recorded controllers or creating controller changes from scratch, you do it by drawing with the Line- or Pencil tool.

Note:

D When using the line tool, you can hold down [Shift] when drawing to re-

strict movement to horizontal only.

D If Snap is on, the controller value change you enter will snap to the near-

est Snap value position.

Also, the length of the changed section will be a multiple of the Snap value.

D Click the “Show Device Controllers” button to show all controllers avail-

able for the track’s device.

D Click the “Show Controllers in Track” button to show all controllers for

which you have recorded or drawn automation in the Track.

D Select “Hide All Controllers” from the Controller pop-up menu to hide all

controllers.

This will leave the Controller lane empty.

In this example, Snap is set to 1/4. Thus, the controller changes you enter will be in “steps”, one or more quarter notes in length.

D If the controller hasn’t been automated yet (the words “Not Automated”

are shown in the Controller lane), it is a good idea to first set the parameter to a good “default value” on the device panel.

The reason is that as soon as you enter a controller value, the rest of the track will be filled with the original value of the parameter (the value set on the device panel). This works exactly the same as when recording controllers - see page 6.

THE SEQUENCER

Selecting sections of a controller track

Deleting Controller sections

To select a section of the “subtrack” for a controller, click and drag a selection rectangle with the Arrow tool. If Snap is on, the selection will be magnetic to the Snap value positions, just as when selecting notes.

The selected section is shown as a shaded rectangle.

D By holding down [Shift] and dragging, you can select multiple, discontin-

uous sections of the controller subtrack.

✪ If you select Groups or sections of the controller lane in the Arrange

View, this section will be selected when you got to Edit View and vice versa.

Moving and Duplicating Controller sections

D To move a selected controller section, click and drag it to another posi-

tion on the same subtrack.

Snap is taken into account as usual.

You can delete controller sections in two ways:

D By making a selection (as described above) and pressing [Backspace] or

[Delete] or by selecting Delete from the Edit menu.

D By using the Eraser tool.

If Snap is on, you can single click to immediately erase the shaded area which corresponds to the set Snap value (e.g. Bar). You can also make a selection range by clicking and dragging.

The result is this:

The controller value just before the deleted selection will remain until the end of the selection.

! You can´t remove all automation using this method - there will always be

at least one controller value left. To remove all automation, use the Clear Automation function:

Clearing Automation

D To duplicate a selected controller section, hold down [Option] (Mac) or

[Ctrl] (Windows), click and drag it.

! Moving or duplicating controllers will replace the controller values at the

new position (just as if you had edited them with the Line- or Pencil tool).

Using Cut, Copy and Paste on a single subtrack

You can move or duplicate selected controller sections using the Cut, Copy and Paste commands on the Edit menu.

D When you Cut or Copy, the song position is automatically moved to the

end of the selection (or, if Snap is activated, to the closest Snap value position after the end of the selection).

You can use this for repeating events, as described on page 13.

D When you paste, the controller data appears at the song position, on the

original subtrack.

Note, however, that if another subtrack has selection focus when pasting, the copied data will appear on this subtrack instead - see “Copying data between different

controller subtracks” below.

To remove all automation for a controller, select “Clear Automation” from one of the following menus:

D The context menu for the controller subtrack.

This appears when you [Ctrl]-click (Mac) or right-click (WIndows) in the subtrack.

D The Edit menu.

Requires that the controller subtrack has focus. Click in the subtrack if you are uncertain.

D The parameter context menu.

This appears when you [Ctrl]-click (Mac) or right-click (WIndows) on the parameter on the device panel. Note that this clears all automation for the parameter, on all tracks!

Selecting “Clear Automation” will remove all controller values from the subtrack, and the text “Not Automated” will be shown.

THE SEQUENCER

Copying data between different controller subtracks

Using copy/paste for multiple parameters

It is possible to copy controller data (e.g. a fade) from one parameter and to apply it to another parameter. This works as follows:

1. Make a selection, and use cut or copy to add the data to the clipboard.

2. Select the controller subtrack you wish to paste the copied data to (on the same track or on a different track) by clicking on it so that it gets focus.

Only one subtrack can have focus.

3. Place the song position where you want the section to be pasted in.

You can use [Shift] to select and copy controller automation data on several subtracks. The following applies when you paste:

D The data on the uppermost subtrack (when copied) will be pasted in at

the song position on the subtrack with selection focus.

D Data on other subtracks will keep the same vertical order in relation to

the uppermost subtrack when pasted.

Copied data.

4. Select Paste from the Edit menu.

The data is pasted in on the selected subtrack, and the song position is moved to the end of the pasted section.

About selection focus

As described above, the subtrack with selection focus determines where pasted controller data ends up. If there is no subtrack selected when pasting, the data will appear on the original subtrack(s) (at song position). This is useful when repeating automation, i.e. copying one (or several) parameter(s) to/from the same device - see below.

D To deselect subtrack focus, click in an empty area in the track list, or on a

device panel in the rack.

Pasted data (the red outline indicating the selected subtrack when pasting).

D If you are copying controller data to/from the same device, and your in-

tention is to repeat an automated section (i.e. for the same parameters), there is no need to make a selection focus - the data will automatically be pasted in on the original subtracks.

About different parameter values

Parameters can either be bi-polar (-64 to 63) uni-polar (0 to 127) or switches (off/on or a number of steps). When pasting controller data from one parameter to another, this should obviously be taken into account.

D E.g. copying a bi-polar parameter data to a parameter with uni-polar val-

ues will only take values above zero (0 to 63) into account.

Any values below zero are outside the range for the new parameter and is simply disregarded. This is completely non-destructive - if you should “re-copy” the pasted data and apply it to a parameter with bi-polar values, the full range will still be there.

THE SEQUENCER

Inserting and Editing Pattern Changes

Pattern changes are viewed and edited in the Pattern lane:

A pattern change is shown as a yellow “tab” with the Bank and Pattern number. From the tab, a bar stretches to the right, for as long as the selected pattern is “active”, i.e. to the next pattern change.

3. Pull down the Pattern pop-up menu to the left in the Pattern lane, and select the pattern you want to insert.

The selected pattern is shown next to the pop-up menu.

! When you record pattern changes, they are automatically positioned on

downbeats (at the beginning of new bars).

Inserting Pattern Changes

To insert a Pattern change, proceed as follows:

1. If you haven’t automated any pattern changes for the track yet (the words “Not Automated” are shown in the Pattern lane), it is a good idea to first select a “default pattern” in the pattern device.

This is especially useful if you are using a main pattern and want to insert changes to variation pattern here and there. The reason is that just like when you record pattern changes, the rest of the track will be “filled” with the original value as soon as you enter a pattern change somewhere on the track.

2. Activate Snap and set the Snap value to the note position where you want to insert pattern changes.

It is probably a good idea to set Snap to “Bar”, at least if you are working with patterns of a length corresponding to the time signature (e.g. 16 or 32 step patterns and 4/4 time signature). However, if you are working with patterns of another length, it can make sense to use other Snap values.

! Don’t insert pattern changes with Snap turned off, unless you want cha-

otic rhythm changes!

The patterns are listed with the bank letter and pattern number (A1, A2, A3, and so on).

4. Click with the Pencil tool at the position where you want the pattern change to happen, and keep the mouse button pressed.

5. Drag to the right.

When you drag, you will see the previous or original pattern being replaced by the pattern you insert.

6. Release the mouse button at the position where you want the pattern change to “end”.

! The “Pattern Enable/Mute” switch (the button above the pattern selec-

tion buttons on the device panel, used for temporarily silencing the pattern playback) is automated using controller automation. The controller is called “Pattern Enabled”.

THE SEQUENCER

Selecting Pattern Changes

To select a section of Pattern lane, click and drag a selection rectangle with the Arrow tool. If Snap is on, the selection will be magnetic to the Snap value positions, just as when selecting notes.

The selected section is shown as a shaded rectangle.

D By holding down [Shift] and dragging, you can select multiple, discontin-

uous sections of the Pattern lane.

✪ If you select Groups or sections of the pattern lane in the Arrange View,

this section will be selected when you got to Edit View.

The result is this:

The pattern before the deleted section will remain selected until the end of the section.

Moving and Duplicating Pattern Change sections

You can move and duplicate selected sections of the Pattern lane, just as when moving controller sections. Just like when inserting pattern changes, it is recommended that Snap is activated (and in most cases set to “Bar”) when you do this.

You can also move or duplicate sections using the Cut, Copy and Paste commands on the Edit menu. Again, the same rules apply as when editing controllers.

Deleting Pattern Change sections

You can delete a section of the Pattern Lane in two ways:

D By making a selection (as described above) and pressing [Backspace] or

[Delete] or by selecting Delete from the Edit menu.

D By using the Eraser tool.

If Snap is on, you can single click to immediately erase the shaded area which corresponds to the set Snap value (e.g. Bar). You can also make a selection range by clicking and dragging.

! Again, make sure Snap is activated. ! You can´t remove all pattern change data using this method. To remove

all pattern automation, use the Clear Automation function:

Clearing Automation

To remove all pattern changes, proceed as follows:

1. [Ctrl]-click (Mac) or right-click (WIndows) in the Pattern lane.

The context menu appears.

2. Select “Clear Automation”.

This will remove all pattern changes from the track, and the text “Not Automated” will be shown.

THE SEQUENCER

Quantizing

The Quantize function moves recorded notes to (or closer to) exact note value positions. This can be used for correcting errors, “tightening up” recorded music or changing the rhythmic feel.

Applying Quantizing

In Reason, you use the Quantize function in the following way:

1. Select the notes you want to quantize.

Only notes will be affected, so you can select Groups or complete Tracks if you like.

2. Pull down the Quantize pop-up menu on the sequencer toolbar and select a Quantize value.

This determines to which note values the notes will be moved when you quantize. For example, if you select sixteenth notes, all notes will be moved to (or closer to) the closest sixteenth note position.

4. Click the Quantize button or select “Quantize Notes” from the Edit menu.

The selected notes are quantized.

The Quantize button

The Quantize pop-up menu.

3. Select a value from the Quantize Strength pop-up menu.

This is a percentage, governing how much each note should be moved. If you select 100%, notes will be moved all the way to the closest Quantize value positions; if you select 50%, notes will be moved half-way, etc.

In this example, a sloppily recorded hi-hat pattern is quantized to straight eight notes (Quantize value 1/8, Strength 100%).

Quantizing to Shuffle

On the Quantize pop-up menu, you will also find an option called “Shuffle”. If this is selected when you quantize, the notes are moved towards sixteenth note positions, but with the Shuffle applied.

As described in the Getting Started book, Shuffle creates a “swing feel” by delaying the even-numbered sixteenth notes (the sixteenth notes that fall in between the eighth notes). The amount of Shuffle is set with the Pattern Shuffle control on the transport panel.

The Pattern Shuffle control.

Quantizing to Shuffle is useful if you want to match the timing of recorded notes with pattern devices in the song (if Shuffle is activated in the patterns).

D The Quantize Strength setting applies as when quantizing to regular

Quantize values.

THE SEQUENCER

+ 264 hidden pages

Propellerhead Reason - 3.0 Operation Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

D Table of Contents

D The Sequencer

Recording

Copying REX loops and Patterns to Sequencer Tracks

Editing - About Snap

Editing in the Arrange View

Using Groups

The Edit View

Quantizing