How it Works
Propellerhead
Loading...
Reason Essentials - 8.1
Installation Manual
36 pgs2.1 Mb0
Installation Manual [fr]
36 pgs2.18 Mb0
Instruction Manual
770 pgs62.79 Mb0
Table of contents
Loading...

Propellerhead Reason Essentials - 8.1 Instruction Manual

Download
OPERATION MANUAL
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 except 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 Propel
lerhead Software AB.

Table of Contents

Introduction 19
Welcome! 20
About this chapter 20
About this manual 20
About the Reason Essentials operating system versions 20
Conventions in the manual 20
Authorization 22
Registering and authorizing Reason Essentials 22 About deauthorizing the computer 23 Running Reason Essentials on an authorized computer ­or with an Ignition Key hardware 24 Running Reason Essentials with Internet Verification 24 Running Reason Essentials in demo mode 25
Reassigning the Function Keys in Mac OS X 26
Scrolling 40 Zooming in the Sequencer 41 Scrolling and zooming using a wheel mouse 42
Editing parameters 43
Knobs 43 Faders and sliders 43 Buttons 44 Fold/Unfold buttons 44 Multi Mode selectors 45 Numerical controls 45 Alpha-numeric controls 46 Numerical segment displays 47
Tool Tips 48
Context menus 49
Parameter context menus 49 Device context menus 50 Main Mixer channel strip context menu 51 Rack “background” context menu 51 Main Mixer “background” context menu 52 Sequencer context menus 52
Undo and Redo 53
Common Operations and Concepts 29
About this chapter 30
Areas, windows and basic navigation 30
Song window overview 30 The Browser 31 The Main Mixer 32 The Rack 33 The Sequencer 34 The Transport Panel 35 The ReGroove Mixer 35 Navigating between the areas 36 Showing/hiding the Navigators 36 Using several Reason Essentials Song windows 36 The Tool Window 37 The On-screen Piano Keys window 38
General window techniques 39
Resizing 39
On-screen Piano Keys 55
About this chapter 56
Using the On-screen Piano Keys 56
Opening the Piano Keys window 56 Mouse mode 57 Computer Keys mode 58
Audio Basics 61
About this chapter 62
How Reason Essentials communicates with your audio hardware 62
Manual audio routing 63 Audio quality 63 Audio settings 64 About audio levels 67
4
System signal paths 69
Audio Track signal paths 69 Instrument Track signal paths 70
General information about audio and computers 71
About latency 71 About processors 72 About RAM 72
Sequencer Functions 73
About this chapter 74
Introduction 74
Lane details 96
Audio lane 96 Note lane 97 Parameter automation lane 98 Pattern lane 99 Creating/adding lanes 100 Deleting lanes 102 Moving note lanes 103 Copying (duplicating) note lanes 103 Muting lanes 104
Clip basics 104
Clip types 104
Toolbar details 105
Toolbar tools 105 Alternate tools 107 Snap 108 Sequencer Toolbar keyboard shortcuts 109
Sequencer area overview 74
Arrange Mode and Edit Mode 74 Toolbar overview 75 Track List overview 76 Tracks overview 76 Lanes overview 76 Clips overview 77 Inspector overview 77 Ruler overview 77 Edit/Arrangement Pane overview 77 Track scrollbar overview 78 Song Navigator overview 78 Transport Panel overview 78
Track details 79
Track definition 79 The relationship between the track, the rack and the Main Mixer 80 Master Keyboard Input 84 The relationship between tracks, lanes, clips and events
85
Track types 85 Track List elements 87 Creating tracks 87 Selecting tracks 91 Moving tracks 92 Deleting tracks 92 Duplicating/copying tracks and devices 93 Coloring tracks 94 Naming tracks 94 Folding tracks 94 Muting tracks 95 Soloing tracks 95
Ruler details 109
Transport Panel details 110
Transport keyboard commands 113
About the Inspector 115
About subticks in the Position and Length displays 115 About the “Match Values” function 115
Recording in the Sequencer
117
About this chapter 118
General recording functions 118
Record enabling 118 Click and Pre-count 122 Loop mode 124 General recording procedure 125 Undoing a recording 126 Recording tips 126
Audio recording details 126
Setting up the audio track 126 Recording audio 131 Recording audio in Loop mode 133 Overdubbing audio using the “Dub” function 134 Duplicating audio tracks using the “Alt” function 134
5
Recording over or into an existing audio clip 135 Recording audio from Mix Channel outputs 136 Recording a mixdown of several audio tracks 138
Note recording details 142
Setting up the instrument track 142 Recording notes 142 Recording notes in Loop mode 142 Recording over or into an existing note clip 143 Recording notes using the “Dub” and “Alt” functions 144
Parameter automation recording details
146
Performance controllers vs. track parameter automation
146
Recording performance controller automation 147 Recording parameter automation into Note Clips 148 Recording performance controller automation over or into an existing clip 148 About performance controller automation on multiple lanes 149 Recording parameter automation 149 Recording parameter automation in Loop mode 150 Recording parameter automation over or into an existing clip 151 Adjusting automated parameters during playback - “Live mode” 152 Recording parameter automation on multiple tracks 152
Pattern automation recording details 153
Recording pattern automation 153
Tempo scaling clips 165 Moving clips 167 About overlapping clips 169 Duplicating clips 169 Cutting, Copying and Pasting clips 169 Naming clips 170 Coloring clips 170 Splitting clips 171 Joining clips 172 Muting clips 174 Merging clips on note lanes 174 Matching clips using the “Match Values” function 175
Inserting bars 177
Removing bars 177
About removing bars that contain audio recordings 178
Audio Editing in the Sequencer 179
About this chapter 180
Clip Modes and Editing 180
Inline editing vs. the Comp Editor (Edit Mode) 180 Clip Modes 180 Opening audio clips for editing 181
Tempo automation recording 154
Recording tempo automation 154
Arranging in the Sequencer
157
About this chapter 158
Clip handling 158
Creating Clips 158 Selecting clips 158 Setting audio clip Level and Fades 160 Deleting clips 161 Resizing (masking) clips 162 About masked recordings and events 163
Editing audio inline 182
Preparing audio clips for inline editing 182 Audio clip elements inline 183 Inline audio editing tools 183 Selecting Slices and Slice Markers 184 Adding Slice Markers 185 Deleting Slice Markers 186 Repositioning Slice Markers 186 Moving/stretching Slices 186 Nudging Slices 188 Quantizing audio 188 Split at Slices 189 Bounce Clip to REX Loop 189 Revert Slices 190
Editing audio in the Comp Editor 191
Audio clip elements in the Comp Editor 191 The relationship between Clips, Comp Rows and Recordings 195
6
Comp Editor window handling 197 Comp Editor audio editing tools 197 Selecting a Comp Row for playback in a Single Take clip
198
Selecting Comp Rows 199 Deleting Comp Rows 200 Moving Comp Rows 200 Duplicating Comp Rows 200 Cutting, copying and pasting Comp Rows 201 Adjusting the Comp Row Level 201 Adjusting the Recording Offset 202 Delete Unused Recordings 202 Bounce Clip(s) to New Sample(s) 203 Normalizing Clips 204 Reversing Clips 205
Comping audio 206
Adding Cuts 206 Adding Segments 207 Adding Crossfades to Cuts 207 Deleting Cuts 208 Moving Cuts 208 Changing Comp Row assignments 209 Bounce Clip(s) to New Recording(s) 210 Creating a comped audio clip 211 Turning Comp clips into Single Take clips 215
Changing the tempo of the audio 215
Selecting Stretch Type 215 Tempo scaling Clips 215
Audio and tempo matching 217
Matching an imported audio clip to the song tempo 217
Editing audio using the Inspector 218
Editing recordings and cuts in the Inspector 218 Matching audio values using the "Match Values" function 218
Note and Automation Editing
221
The Edit Mode 222
Selecting what to edit 223 Opening note and automation clips for editing 223 Edit Mode elements 225 Edit Mode window handling 227 Note Edit Modes 227 Creating empty clips 230
Tool Window editing tools 231
Note editing 232
Selecting notes 232 Drawing notes 233 Deleting notes 235 Resizing notes 235 Moving notes 238 Duplicating notes 241 Using Cut, Copy and Paste 242 Quantize 243 Pitch (Transposing) 246 Extract Notes to Lanes 247 Scale Tempo 250 Editing note velocity 251
Automation editing 253
Overview 253 Editing parameter automation 253 Drawing parameter automation events 256 Deleting automation events 257 Editing performance controller automation 257 About Automation Cleanup 259 Editing pattern automation 260 Drawing pattern automation 261 Moving, resizing and duplicating pattern automation clips
262
Deleting pattern automation clips 262 The “Convert Pattern Automation to Notes” function 263 Editing tempo automation 263 About tempo changes and tempo automation of audio tracks 264 Automating time signature 264 Moving, resizing and duplicating time signature automation clips 266 Deleting time signature automation clips 266
About this chapter 222
Note and automation editing in the Inspector 267
Editing notes and events in the Inspector 267 Matching notes or events using the “Match Values” function 267
7
Working with the Rack 271
About this chapter 272
Sounds, Patches and the Browser 293
Rack device procedures 272
Navigating in the rack 272 Resizing and detaching the rack 273 About Device Groups 274 Creating devices 276 Selecting devices 278 Deleting devices 279 Re-ordering devices 279 Re-routing devices 281 Creating new rack columns 281 About the “Sort Selected Device Groups” function 281 Replacing devices 282 Duplicating devices 283 Cut, Copy and Paste devices 283 Naming devices 284 Folding and unfolding devices 285
Working with Rack Extensions
287
About this chapter 288
What are Rack Extensions? 288
Future compatibility 288
About this chapter 294
About patches 294
Reason devices that use patches 294 Loading patches 295 Setting browse focus 297 Saving patches 298 Copying and pasting patches between devices 298 Initializing patches and resetting device parameters 299
About ReFills 300
Using the Browser 301
Opening the browser 302 Browser elements 303 Navigating in the Browser 307 Using Locations and Favorites 309 Favorites Lists 309 Selecting and auditioning samples and REX loops 312 Selecting multiple files 312 Cross-browsing patch files 313 Create Instrument/Create Effect 314 About patch formats and sampler devices 314 Using the “Search” function 315 Loading files 315 About browse lists 316 Handling Missing Sounds 317 Reason Essentials file formats 319
Trying and buying Rack Extensions 288
Trial versions of Rack Extensions 288 Buying Rack Extensions 288
Installing and managing Rack Extensions 289
Using Rack Extensions in Reason Essentials 290
About missing Rack Extensions 292
Routing Audio and CV 321
About this chapter 322
Signal types 322
Audio signals 322 CV/Gate signals 322 About P-LAN signals 323 About MIDI routing 323
About cables 323
Cable appearance 323 Checking and following cable connections 324 Cable color 325
8
Automatic routing 325
Auto-routing of audio input signals 325 Auto-routing of Instrument devices 326 Auto-routing of Effect devices 326 Auto-routing of CV/Gate signals 327 Auto-routing devices after they have been created 327
Manual routing 328
Connecting cables 329 Connecting cables using pop-up menus 329 Disconnecting cables 330 Disconnecting devices 330
FX Sends section 343 Fader section 344 Channel Header section 345
The Master Section strip 346
Master Compressor section 347 Master Inserts section 348 FX Return section 349 Master Fader section 350 Master Section Header 350
Automating mixer parameters 351
Using CV and Gate 330
Routing CV and Gate signals 330 About CV Trim knobs 330
The Main Mixer 331
About this chapter 332
Overview 332
The Audio Track, its device and mixer channel strip 333 The Mix Channel device and channel strip 334 The Master Section device mixer strip 335
Navigating in the Main Mixer 336
Viewing the Main Mixer area 336 Scrolling and navigating in the Main Mixer 336 Switching between channels, rack devices and tracks
337
Managing mixer channels 338
Creating and deleting channels 338 Selecting channels 338 Moving channels 338 Copying and duplicating channels 339 Copy channel settings 339 Resetting channel settings 340 Naming mixer channels 340 Coloring mixer channels 341
Working with effects 351
Insert FX 351 Send FX 355
Remote controlling the Main Mixer 358
Remote controlling a single mixer channel 358 Remote controlling multiple mixer channels 358
Advanced routing tips and tricks 361
Chaining Send effects from Redrum or Mixer devices
361
Splitting signals using the Insert FX Out 363 Using the Mix Channel and Audio Track devices’ Direct Outs 364 Creating an input channel for recording with effects 365 Creating a sub-mixer 367
Song File Handling 371
About this chapter 372
Opening Songs 372
Opening a Reason Essentials Song 372 Opening a Reason Essentials Demo Song 373 Opening the last Song at program launch 373
Closing Songs 373
Closing a Song 373
The channel strip 342
Input section 342 EQ section 342 Insert FX section 343
Creating Songs 374
Creating a new Song 374 Setting up a Default Song 374 Creating a new Song from a template 374
9
Saving Songs 375
Saving a Song 375 Saving and optimizing a Song 375 Including Song Information 376 About Self-Contained Songs 377 Making a Song appear as a Template Song 378 A note about saving Songs as audio files 378
General sampling functions 399
Setting up for sampling 399
Sampling 401
The Sample buttons 401 Sampling procedure 401 The Song Samples location 404
Audio data and Scratch Disk settings 379
About audio data in Song files 379 Changing Scratch Disk folder location 379 About “Orphan Audio Streams” 380
Importing and exporting Standard MIDI Files 380
Importing Standard MIDI Files 380 Exporting Standard MIDI Files 381
Importing and Exporting Audio 383
About this chapter 384
Importing audio 384
Audio formats, sample rates and tempo matching 384 About tempo matching imported audio 384 Importing audio to the sequencer 385
Editing samples 406
The Edit Sample window 406 Setting Sample Start and End 408 Cropping samples 410 Normalizing samples 410 Reversing samples 410 Fading in/out samples 411 Looping samples 412 Saving edited samples 414 Renaming samples 414
Sample management 415
About Assigned and Unassigned samples 415 Saving samples in a song 416 Deleting samples from a song 416 Loading samples into a device 417 Duplicating samples 418 Exporting samples 419 About self-contained samples 421
The ReGroove Mixer 423
10
Exporting audio 388
Exporting Songs or parts of Songs 388 Bouncing Mixer Channels 389 Bouncing Audio Clips 392 Drop to Propellerhead 393
Sampling 397
About this chapter 398
Overview 398
One-click sampling 398 The Edit Sample window 398 About sample format, rate and resolution 399
Introduction 424
ReGroove basics 424
The ReGroove Mixer 425
Global parameters 425 Channel parameters 426 Copy, Paste and Initialize ReGroove channels 430
Groove Settings 431
Working with grooves 434
Applying grooves to your music 434 Commit to Groove - making the grooves “permanent”
437
Creating your own ReGroove patches 438
Groovy tips & tricks 439
ReGroove patches in the Reason Essentials Sound Bank 440
Remote - Playing and Controlling Devices 441
Introducing ReWire! 460
In ReWire version 1 460 In ReWire 2 460
How does it work? 460
Terminology 461 About system requirements 461 About synchronization 461
About the various MIDI inputs 442
About Remote 442
Setting up 443
Adding a control surface or keyboard 443 Other functions 445 Example Setups 446
Remote basics 446
About Standard vs Remote Override mapping 447 About mapping variations 447
Locking a surface to a device 448
Locking a surface 448 Unlocking a surface 450
Remote Override 451
Activating Remote Override Edit mode 451 Remote Override mapping 452
Additional Remote Overrides... 455
Assigning Additional Overrides 456
Launching and quitting applications 461
Using the Transport and Tempo controls
462
Routing audio 462
Preparations in Reason Essentials 462 Routing in the ReWire host application 463
Routing MIDI via ReWire 2 463
Converting ReWire channels to audio tracks 464
Details about various ReWire hosts 464
Synchronization and Advanced MIDI 465
About this chapter 466
Keyboard Control 457
Enabling Keyboard Control 457 Editing Keyboard Control 457
Saving Remote Setups 458
ReWire 459
About this chapter 460
Why use Reason Essentials with ReWire? 460
Synchronization to MIDI Clock 466
ReWire users – read this! 466 What is synchronization and MIDI Clock? 466 Slaving Reason Essentials to an external MIDI application or instrument 466 Slaving Reason Essentials to another program on the same computer 467 Synchronization considerations 468
Advanced MIDI - The External Control Bus inputs 470
About the External Control Bus inputs 470 Routing MIDI to devices 471 Receiving Controller data via MIDI 471 About recording Pattern Changes 471
11
Optimizing Performance 473
Introduction 474
Checking Processing Power 474
Optimization and Latency reduction 474
About Latency Compensation 475
Optimizing your computer system 476
Optimizing Songs 478
Adding devices using drag and drop 494 Adding devices using copy/paste 495 Adding a Combi to a Combi 495 Combining two Combis 495 Combining devices in a Combi with devices in the rack
495
Combi handling 495
Moving the entire Combi 495 Moving devices within a Combi 496 Moving devices out of a Combi 496 Deleting devices in a Combi 496 Uncombining devices 496
RAM requirements 480
Hardware Interface 481
Introduction 482
About using ReWire 483
Sampling Input section 483
Advanced MIDI Device 484
More Audio 484
The Big Meter 485
The Combinator 487
Introduction 488
Sequencer tracks and playing Combis
496
The Controller panel 497
Select backdrop... 498
Using the Programmer 499
Key Mapping instrument devices 500 Setting Velocity Ranges for instrument devices 501 Using Modulation Routing 502 CV Connections 505
Mixer 14:2 507
Introduction 508
The Channel Strip 508
Channel Strip Controls 509
The Mixer signal flow 510
12
Creating Combinator devices 489
Combinator elements 490
About internal and external connections
491
About External Routing 491
Adding devices to a Combi 493
About the Insertion line 493 Creating new devices in a Combi 493
About the EQ modes 510
The Auxiliary Return Section 511
The Master Fader 511
Connections 511
Chaining several Mixer 14:2 devices 513
The Line Mixer 6:2 515
Introduction 516
Filter 1 Frequency 536 Resonance 536 Filter Keyboard Track (Kbd) 536 Filter 2 537
Channel parameters 516
The Auxiliary Return section 516
Master level 516
Connections 517
ID8 Instrument Device 519
Introduction 520
The Sounds 520 The ID8 and Standard MIDI Files 520
Using the ID8 521
Selecting Sounds 521 Controlling Sounds 522 About saving edited Sounds 522
Subtractor Synthesizer 523
Envelopes - General 538
Amplitude Envelope 539 Filter Envelope 539 Mod Envelope 540
LFO Section 541
LFO 1 Parameters 541 LFO 2 Parameters 542
Play Parameters 543
Velocity Control 543 Pitch Bend and Modulation Wheels 544 Legato 545 Retrig 545 Portamento (Time) 545 Setting Number of Voices - Polyphony 546 About the Low Bandwidth button 546
External Modulation 546
Connections 547
Audio Output 547 Sequencer Control 547 Modulation Inputs 548 Modulation Outputs 548 Gate Inputs 548
Introduction 524
Loading and Saving Patches 524
The Oscillator Section 525
Oscillator 1 Waveform 525 Setting Oscillator 1 Frequency - Octave/Semitone/Cent
527
Oscillator Keyboard Tracking 527 Using Oscillator 2 527 Oscillator 2 Waveform 528 Noise Generator 528 Phase Offset Modulation 529 Frequency Modulation (FM) 531 Ring Modulation 532
The Filter Section 533
Filter 1 Type 533
NN-XT Sampler 549
Introduction 550
Sampling in NN-XT 550
Panel overview 551
The main panel 551 The Remote Editor panel 551
Loading complete Patches and REX files
552
Loading NN-XT Patches 552 Loading NN19 Patches 552
13
Loading SoundFonts 553 Loading complete REX files as Patches 553
Using the main panel 554
The Pitch and Modulation wheels 554 The External Control wheel 554 High Quality Interpolation 555 Global Controls 556
Overview of the Remote Editor panel 557
The Key Map display 557 Sample parameters 558 Group parameters 558 Synth Parameters 559
About Samples and Zones 559
Selections and Edit Focus 560
Selecting Zones 561 Moving Edit Focus 563
About the Lock Root Keys function 574 About the Solo Sample function 575 Sorting Zones by Note 576
Setting Root Notes and Tuning 577
About the Root Key 577 Setting the Root Note manually 577 Tuning samples manually 577 Setting the Root Note and Tuning using pitch detection
578
About changing the pitch of samples 578
Using Automap 578
Layered, crossfaded and velocity switched sounds 579
Creating layered sounds 579 About velocity ranges 579 Setting velocity range for a Zone 581 About Crossfading Between Zones 581 Setting crossfading for a Zone 583
Adjusting parameters 563
Adjusting Synth parameters 563 Adjusting Group parameters 563 Sample parameters 564
Managing Zones and Samples 565
Creating a Key Map 565 About file formats and REX slices 566 Adding more samples to the Key Map 566 Replacing a sample 566 Quick browsing through samples 567 Removing samples 567 Auditioning samples 567 Adding empty Zones 567 Duplicating Zones 568 Removing Zones 568 Rearranging Zones in the List 568
Working with Grouping 568
About Groups 568 Creating a Group 569 Moving a Group to another position in the List 569 Moving a Zone from one Group to another 569 Selecting a Group and/or Zones in a Group 570 The Group Parameters 570
Working with Key Ranges 570
About Key Ranges 570 Setting up Key Ranges 570
Using Alternate 583
About the Alternate function 583
Sample parameters 584
Root Note and Tune 584 Sample Start and End 584 Loop Start and End 584 Play Mode 585 Lo Key and Hi Key 585 Lo Vel and Hi Vel 585 Fade In and Fade Out 585 Alt 585 Out 585
Group parameters 586
Key Poly 586 Legato and Retrig 587 LFO 1 Rate 587 Portamento 587
Synth parameters 588
The Modulation controls 588 The Velocity controls 590 The Pitch section 591 The Filter section 592 The Modulation Envelope 593 The Amplitude Envelope 595 The LFOs 596
14
Connections 598
Sequencer Control 598 Modulation Input 599 Gate Input 599 Audio Output 599
Dr. Octo Rex Loop Player 601
Introduction 602
ReCycled Loops 602
About REX file formats 603
Loading and saving Dr. Octo Rex patches
603
About the Dr. Octo Rex patch format 603
Playing Loops 604
Switching playback between Loop Slots 604
Loop Transpose 616 Loop Level 617 Oscillator section 617 Mod. Wheel 617 Velocity section 618 The Filter Section 618 Envelope section 620 LFO section 621 Pitch Bend Range 622 Setting number of voices - polyphony 622 Audio Quality settings 623
Connections 623
Modulation Inputs 623 Modulation Outputs 624 Gate Inputs 624 Gate Output 624 Slice Outputs 624 Main Outputs 624
Redrum Drum Computer 625
Adding Loops 605
Loading Loops “On the Fly” 606 Removing Loops 606 Cut/Copy and Paste Loops between Loop Slots 606
Playing individual Loop Slices 606
Creating sequencer notes 607
Slice handling 610
Selecting Slices 610 Editing individual Slices 610 Editing in the Waveform Display 611 The Slice Edit Mode 612
Dr. Octo Rex panel parameters 613
Pitch and Mod wheels 613 Trig Next Loop 613 Note To Slot 613 Loop Slot buttons 614 Enable Loop Playback and Run 615 Volume 615 Global Transpose 615
Dr. Octo Rex synth parameters 616
Select Loop & Load Slot 616
Introduction 626
Sampling in Redrum 626
About file formats 627
Using patches 628
Loading a patch 628 Checking the sounds in a patch 628 Creating a new patch 629 Creating an empty patch 629
Programming patterns 630
Pattern basics 630 Pattern tutorial 631 Setting pattern length 632 Setting pattern resolution 633 Step dynamics 633 Pattern Shuffle 634 Flam 634 The Pattern Enable switch 635 The Enable Pattern Section switch 635 Pattern functions 636 Chaining patterns 636 Converting Pattern data to notes in the main sequencer
637
15
Redrum parameters 638
Drum sound settings 638 Global settings 641
Using Redrum as a sound module 642
Reverb algorithms and parameters 664 The EQ section 670 The Gate section 671 CV Inputs 672
Connections 643
The MClass Effects 645
The MClass effects 646
The MClass Equalizer 647
The MClass Stereo Imager 648
The MClass Compressor 649
The MClass Maximizer 652
Line 6 Amps 653
Introduction 654
About the Amp Tones patch format 654 Basic usage 654 Front panel 655
Scream 4 Sound Destruction Unit 673
Scream 4 Sound Destruction Unit 674
Parameters 674 CV inputs and outputs 678 Screamy tips and tricks 679
Half-Rack Effects 681
Common effect device features 682
DDL-1 Digital Delay Line 684
CF-101 Chorus/Flanger 685
Spider Audio Merger & Splitter 687
Spider CV Merger & Splitter 689
16
Using the Line 6 Amps 656
Selecting Patches (Amp Tones) 656 Selecting Amp and Cabinet model 657 About the Amp/Cabinet models 658 Amp Parameters 658 Additional parameters 658 Additional Line 6 Amp Models 659 Connections 660
RV7000 Advanced Reverb 661
The RV7000 Advanced Reverb 662
Matrix Pattern Sequencer 693
Introduction 694
About the three Output types 694
Programming patterns 695
Pattern basics 695 Tutorial 698 Using Curve Patterns 700 Setting Pattern Length 701 Using Tied Notes 701 Setting Pattern Resolution 702 Pattern Shuffle 702 Pattern Mute 702 Pattern Functions 703 Chaining Patterns 703
Converting Pattern data to notes in the main sequencer
704
Example usage 705
Using the Matrix for modulation 705 Programming “Acid Style” lead lines 706 Triggering samples 706
Menu and Dialog Reference
707
Reason Essentials menu (Mac OS X) 708
File menu 709
Edit menu 713
Preferences – General 729 Preferences – Audio 732 Preferences – Control Surfaces 736 Preferences - Sync 740 Preferences – Advanced 741 Preferences - Language (Windows only) 743
Create menu 744
Options menu 745
Window menu (Windows version) 749
Window menu (Mac OS X version) 751
Help menu 753
Index 755
17
18
Chapter 1 Introduction

Welcome!

This is the Operation Manual for Propellerhead’s Reason Essentials music production software. The information in this manual is also available as html files in the built-in Reason Essentials Help system.
If you haven’t already, don’t forget to check out the Video Tutorials web site, which can be accessed from the Help menu in Reason Essentials.
Also, be sure to regularly check out the Propellerhead web site at www.propellerheads.se for the latest news!

About this chapter

The Introduction chapter describes some of the general conventions used throughout the Reason Essentials refer­ence manual. It also contains instructions on how to utilize the Reason Essentials protection system.

About this manual

In this Operation Manual, all aspects of the Reason Essentials program are described in detail. The first chapters deal with general methods and techniques, e.g. how to connect audio sources, mix and record. Then follow descriptions of all rack devices in Reason Essentials.

About the Reason Essentials operating system versions

Propellerhead Reason Essentials comes in two platform versions: one for Windows 7 or later and one for Mac OS X
10.7 or later. The screenshots in this manual were taken from both platform versions of Reason Essentials, and some screenshots remain from older versions of Reason Essentials. Since the program layout is more or less identical in these versions, there shouldn’t be any problem following the instructions.

Conventions in the manual

This manual describes both the Windows and Mac OS X versions of Reason Essentials; wherever the versions differ this is clearly stated in the text.

Text conventions

The text conventions are pretty straightforward. The examples below describe when certain text styles are used:
D This style instructs the user to perform the task(s) described in the sentence.
! This text style means IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Read carefully to avoid problems!
q This text style is used for tips and additional info.

Key command conventions

In the manual, computer keyboard commands are indicated with brackets. For example:
D Hold down [Shift] and press [C].
However, some modifier keys are different on Windows and Mac computers. Whenever this is the case, the manual separates the commands with “(Win)” and “(Mac)” indications as in the following example:
D Hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and press [S] to save your song.
20
INTRODUCTION

References to context menus

Rack
Sequencer
Whenever the manual instructs you to select an item from the “context menu”, it means that you should right-click (or [Ctrl]-click if you’re using a Mac with single-button mouse) on the specific area, section or device, and then select the item from the pop-up menu that appears - the context menu. The item list in context menus varies depending on where in the application you click. See “Context menus” for an overview of the context menus in Reason Essentials.

Frames and circles (call-outs)

In pictures throughout this manual there might be circles and/or rectangles highlighting certain areas or objects. These are indicated by filled lines according to the examples in the picture above. Sometimes these highlighting frames/circles might also be accompanied by descriptive texts. The different colors of the frames and texts are only to enhance the contrast to the background picture.

Dashed arrows

A dashed arrow in a picture indicates the directions in which the pointer (or other tool) should be dragged to perform the desired operation. The example in the picture above shows in which directions (up and down) to drag the pointer to change the knob’s setting.
INTRODUCTION
21

Authorization

Reason Essentials uses an authorization system designed to be as flexible as possible, while at the same time pro­viding the best possible copy protection for the product. Here's how it works:
• The core of the authorization system is your license number, which is registered to your user account on the Propellerhead web site.
• You can then use this license to authorize one specific computer, one optional Ignition Key and one Propeller­head Balance audio interface (which contains built-in Ignition Key hardware).
If you choose to authorize your computer, you won’t need any physical Ignition Key hardware plugged into the computer. During start-up Reason Essentials automatically detects that your computer is authorized.
You can also choose to authorize an optional physical Ignition Key (USB stick) or Propellerhead Balance audio in­terface to run Reason Essentials in authorized mode, anywhere and on any computer.
• If you don't have an authorized computer or Ignition Key hardware at hand, you can still run Reason Essentials in authorized mode, provided that you have a working Internet connection.
The program will then contact the Propellerhead web site and verify that Reason Essentials is registered to your user account.
• Finally, if you don’t have an authorized computer or Ignition Key hardware at hand, nor a working Internet con­nection, you can run Reason Essentials in Demo Mode.
This is also the mode you use if you are trying out the program, but haven't yet purchased it. In this mode, you can work as usual and even save your work. You cannot, however, open songs (except for demo songs) in demo mode (for details, see “Running Reason Essentials in demo mode”).

Registering and authorizing Reason Essentials

To be able to run Reason Essentials in authorized mode (see “Running Reason Essentials on an authorized computer
- or with an Ignition Key hardware” and “Running Reason Essentials with Internet Verification”), the program must be
registered to your account on the Propellerhead web site.
! If you purchased Reason Essentials directly from the Propellerhead web site, the Reason Essentials license
has already been registered to your user account and you can use Reason Essentials by authorizing your com­puter or by running with Internet Verification.
If you have purchased the optional Ignition Key (USB stick) you will want to authorize it, so please read on!
22
INTRODUCTION
Here's how you register and authorize your copy of Reason Essentials.
! Note that a working internet connection is required to be able to perform the following steps.
1. Launch Reason Essentials.
When you start Reason Essentials for the first time, this window is displayed:
2. Click on the “Go to your account page” link.
Your default web browser starts up and takes you to the Login page at the Propellerhead web site.
3. Enter your user name and password and log in on your Propellerhead account.
If you don't have an account already, click on the "Create account" link and follow the instructions to register a new account.
4. The following step depends on the situation:
If you purchased the boxed version of Reason Essentials and haven't registered the program, you will be asked to do that:
D Enter the license number and registration code found on the DVD sleeve in the Reason Essentials box, then
click the Register button.
A new web page appears where you are asked if you want to write your license to your computer or to your op­tional Ignition Key hardware or do it later. If you click the Later button, you will still be able to run Reason Essentials using Internet Verification, see “Running Reason Essentials with Internet Verification”.
When you have registered Reason Essentials and want to write your license to your computer or Ignition Key:
D Click the Authorize button.
This will take you to the “Authorize Computer and Keys” page where you can choose to write your Reason Essen­tials license to your computer, to your optional Ignition Key and/or to a connected Balance interface.
5. Follow the instructions on the web page to write your licence to your computer or to your Ignition Key.
6. When you're done, Reason Essentials will restart automatically, and you will now be able to run the program in Authorized Mode.
You can now quit the web browser if you like.

About deauthorizing the computer

You can authorize one computer at a time. If you're moving your work to another computer, you can first deauthrorize the current computer and then authorize the other one. This is done from your account page at the Propellerhead web site.
! Remember to deauthorize your computer before sending it to service or selling it!
INTRODUCTION
23

Running Reason Essentials on an authorized computer - or with an Ignition Key hardware

If you launch Reason Essentials on an authorized computer, or with an authorized Ignition Key hardware (Propeller­head USB stick or Propellerhead Balance audio interface) connected, the program will simply start without further ado.
q If you are using an Ignition Key on an unauthorized computer, always connect the Ignition Key hardware be-
fore starting your computer and launching Reason Essentials. This way Reason Essentials will start up imme­diately, without the Authorization procedure.
If you have an authorized computer, or an authorized Ignition Key hardware connected to your computer, it’s no lon­ger necessary to have Internet connection when running Reason Essentials.

Running Reason Essentials with Internet Verification

If you launch Reason Essentials on an unauthorized computer, or without an Ignition Key hardware connected, the following window appears:
24
! Note that this requires a working internet connection (and that your Reason Essentials license has been regis-
tered to your user account as described in “Registering and authorizing Reason Essentials”).
D Enter the User name and Password for your Propellerhead account and click the Log in button.
Reason Essentials launches in Authorized Mode.
! It is not possible to run two instances of Reason Essentials (on different computers) authorized to the same
user account. Reason Essentials will then enter demo mode (see “Running Reason Essentials in demo
mode”).
INTRODUCTION

Running Reason Essentials in demo mode

If you don't have a Reason Essentials license, or if you don’t have an authorized computer or your optional Ignition Key hardware at hand and don’t have a working Internet connection, you can run Reason Essentials in Demo Mode:
1. Launch Reason Essentials.
The following window appears:
2. Click on the "Demo Mode" button.
Reason Essentials launches in Demo Mode.
The Demo Mode LED lights up to the right on the Transport Panel:
Running Reason Essentials in Demo Mode allows you to perform all operations as in Authorized Mode, with three ex­ceptions:
• You cannot export audio, Drop files to Propellerhead or bounce mixer channels to disk.
• You will not have access to any Rack Extension devices.
• You cannot open songs.
The only songs that can be opened in Demo Mode are the dedicated demo songs (file extension ".reedemo"). See
“Opening a Reason Essentials Demo Song”.
If you disconnect your Ignition Key hardware on an unauthorized computer, or lose the Internet Connection while run­ning Reason Essentials with Internet Verification, the program will automatically enter Demo Mode. You can continue to work, and save your songs as usual. When you reconnect the Ignition Key hardware or reconnect to the internet, Reason Essentials will automatically revert to authorized mode and the Demo Mode indicator will go off.
INTRODUCTION
25

Reassigning the Function Keys in Mac OS X

When you work with Reason Essentials, you will do a lot of navigating between the three main areas - the main mixer, the rack and the sequencer. The quickest way to switch between these areas is to use the function keys F5, F6 and F7 (see “Navigating between the areas” for details). Also, the F3, F4 and F8 keys are shortcuts for showing and hid- ing the Browser, On-screen Piano Keys window and the Tool Window, respectively.
However, on many Macintosh models (especially MacBooks), the function keys double as hardware control buttons. For example, they might control the volume of the built-in speaker, the display brightness or keyboard backlight. To make these keys actually work as function keys for software such as Reason Essentials, you need to hold the "Fn" key while pressing them.
This can work perfectly OK, but to get the best workflow in Reason Essentials we recommend that you change this behavior, so that pressing e.g. the F5 key actually sends "F5" to Reason Essentials (and you hold down the Fn key to get the hardware control functions instead). Here is how you change this:
1. Open the System Preferences in Mac OS X and select the "Keyboard" item.
The "Keyboard" preferences are shown.
2. Select the "Keyboard" tab and make sure the checkbox "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" is ticked.
Now you can use F3-F8 for controlling functions in Reason Essentials. To use hardware control features such as volume and display brightness, you need to hold down the "Fn" key before pressing the function keys.
26
Some function keys might also be pre-assigned to Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts, which will have priority over soft­ware such as Reason Essentials. This is easily changed:
3. Click the “Keyboard Shortcuts” tab in the “Keyboard” window.
The Keyboards Shortcuts window shows lists of keyboard shortcuts assigned to system functions. For example, [Cmd]+[F5] is in the Accessibility group assigned to turn VoiceOver on or off. In Reason Essentials, this is the key­board shortcut for detaching the main mixer into a separate window.
INTRODUCTION
4. Scroll down to the "Turn VoiceOver on or off" item in the Accessibility group and either remove the tick from the checkbox or assign it to another keyboard shortcut.
5. Now, you’re finished with the settings and can close the “Keyboard” window.
From now on, the function keys and keyboard shortcuts will perform their intended functions in Reason Essentials.
INTRODUCTION
27
28
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 2 Common Operations and Concepts

About this chapter

Main Mixer
Rack
Sequencer
Transport Panel
Browser
This chapter gives a basic overview of the Reason Essentials application and describes general methods and tech­niques employed throughout the Propellerhead Reason Essentials software. It also explains the terminology used throughout the program, manuals and help files.

Areas, windows and basic navigation

Song window overview

30
A Reason Essentials Song window with its Browser, Main Mixer, Rack and Sequencer areas.
The Reason Essentials graphical user interface is divided into four main areas:
•The Browser
The Browser is where you create devices, load patches into devices and load songs.
•The Main Mixer
The Main Mixer is located at the top in the Reason Essentials Song window. Here are the channel strips for the au­dio and instrument tracks in your song.
•The Rack
The Rack is where all sound and effects devices you use in your song are located. The Rack resembles a tradi­tional hardware rack, where sound modules and effects units can be mounted.
• The Sequencer
The Sequencer is where you record your audio and instrument tracks. Here you can also record automation of de­vice parameters in the Rack and of channel strip parameters in the Main Mixer. The Sequencer also incorporates the Transport Panel, where all sequencer transport controls are located.
The areas can be viewed together, as in the picture above, in pairs or separately - see “Navigating between the ar-
eas”. The areas can also be resized - see “Resizing”.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS

The Browser

The Browser to the left in the Song window features short-cuts for creating devices, loading patches and songs, and sample management functions. By pressing [F3] you can toggle between Show and Hide Browser.
The Browser with the Instruments palette selected.
• See “Creating devices” for information on how to use the “Device” functions.
• See “Using the Browser” for information on how to browse for patches and songs.
• See the “Sampling” chapter for information on how to use the functions of the “Song Samples” tab.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
31

The Main Mixer

Channel Strip Navigator
Mixer scrollbar
Detach Mixer button
The Main Mixer with the Fader sections currently scrolled into view.
In the Main Mixer, all channel strips of the Reason Essentials song are visible. You can scroll vertically in the Main Mixer by clicking and dragging inside the frame in the Channel Strip Navigator to the right. This way you will be able to access all channel strip parameters. If you have a lot of channels ins your song you can also scroll horizontally by clicking and dragging the Mixer scrollbar at the bottom of the Main Mixer area.
• By pressing function key [F5], or by double clicking the gray Mixer header, you can maximize the Main Mixer area.
• To the right on the Mixer header is the Detach Main Mixer icon. Clicking this, or holding [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and pressing [F5], will detach the Main Mixer and place it in a separate window.
This is especially useful if you are using multiple screens with your computer.
32
The Detach Mixer icon for the Main Mixer.
For more details about the Main Mixer, please refer to “The Main Mixer” chapter.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS

The Rack

Rack Navigator
Detach Rack button
The Rack with two rack columns next to each other, and the Rack Navigator to the right.
In the Rack, all instruments, effects and mixer channel devices of the Reason Essentials song are visible. You can scroll vertically and horizontally in the Rack by clicking and dragging the frame in the Rack Navigator. You could also click anywhere outside the frame in the Rack Navigator to immediately jump to the desired position. Alternatively, place the pointer on either of the wooden “side panels” in the rack, and click and drag in any direction. This way you will be able to access all devices in the rack.
• By pressing function key [F6], or by double clicking the gray Rack header, you can maximize the Rack area.
• To the right on the Rack header is the Detach Rack icon. Clicking this, or holding [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and pressing [F6], will detach the Rack and place it in a separate window.
This is especially useful if you are using multiple screens with your computer.
The Detach button for the Rack.
When you detach the Rack, the Transport Panel at the bottom of the Sequencer will be duplicated below the Rack in the new window. This way, you will be able to control the Sequencer transport functions without needing to change window.
For more details on how to work with the Rack, refer to “Working with the Rack”.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
33

The Sequencer

Track scrollbar
Song Navigator
Track List
Edit/Arrangement Pane
Toolbar
Ruler
The Sequencer with a number of recorded audio tracks.
To the left in the Sequencer, all tracks in the Reason Essentials song are listed in the Track List. By clicking on a track in the Track List you select the track for playback from a connected MIDI master keyboard and/or for recording.
At the top to the left is the Toolbar, with various sequencer editing tools. The big center section of the Sequencer is called the Edit/Arrangement Pane. Here is where all recorded sequencer
data is displayed. You can scroll in the Sequencer by using the Track scrollbar to the right and the Song Navigator at the bottom of the
Sequencer - see - see “Scrolling” and “Zooming in the Sequencer”.
• By pressing function key [F7], or by double clicking the Sequencer header, you can maximize the Sequencer area.
For more details about the sequencer, refer to “Sequencer Functions”.
34
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS

The Transport Panel

At the bottom of the Reason Essentials Song window is the sequencer Transport Panel. From here you control the sequencer transport functions, such as Rewind, Fast Forward, Stop, Play and Record. You can also set Tempo and Time Signature and various other parameters.
The Transport Panel is always available together with the Sequencer. If you have detached the Rack, a duplicate of the Transport Panel will be also present in the Rack window.
To the right on the Transport Panel are indicators for Audio In and Out levels, DSP Load, Disk Overload, Audio Cal­culation, Demo Mode and Automation Override status.
• The Transport Panel can be shown/hidden from the Windows menu.
For more details about the Transport Panel, please refer to “Transport Panel details”.

The ReGroove Mixer

To the left on the Toolbar in the sequencer is the “Groove” button. Clicking this will bring up the ReGroove Mixer.
The ReGroove Mixer is used for adding advanced grooves to your instrument tracks in the Sequencer. To hide the ReGroove Mixer, just click the “Groove” button again. For more details about the ReGroove Mixer, please refer to “The ReGroove Mixer”.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
35

Navigating between the areas

By using the functions keys [F5], [F6] and [F7] you can quickly and easily navigate between the different areas of the Reason Essentials window.
D Press [F5] to toggle between a maximized Main Mixer area and the previous view.
D Press [F6] to toggle between a maximized Rack area and the previous view.
D Press [F7] to toggle between a maximized Sequencer area and the previous view.
! If the Main Mixer and/or the Rack are detached in separate windows, you have to press [F5] to view the Main
Mixer window, [F6] to view the Rack window and [F7] to view the Sequencer window. It’s not possible to toggle between views/windows by repeatedly pressing the same function key.
It’s also possible to press any of the [F5], [F6] and [F7] function keys simultaneously in different combinations to switch between combined area views. For example, pressing [F5] and [F6] simultaneously will bring up a combined maximized view of the Main Mixer and Rack areas in the Reason Essentials window. The Sequencer area will then automatically become minimized
Pressing all three function keys simultaneously, or holding [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and pressing [F7], will bring up all areas together, equally sized.
! Note that using three function keys simultaneously is not supported on all computer keyboards.
! If the Main Mixer and/or the Rack are detached in separate windows, pressing any of the [F5], [F6] and [F7]
keys in combination will automatically attach the corresponding (detached) window(s).
To select an area for editing etc., simply click anywhere in the desired area. The selected area will then be surrounded by a thin blue rectangle.

Showing/hiding the Navigators

Deselecting “Show Navigators” on the Options menu will hide the Channel Strip Navigator in the Main Mixer and the Rack Navigator in the rack.
Selecting “Show Navigators” will show the navigators again.

Using several Reason Essentials Song windows

You can have several Songs open at the same time. Each Song will appear in a separate Song window, complete with Main Mixer, Rack, Sequencer and Transport Panel. Each Song window can be moved, minimized and resized using the standard Windows and Mac procedures.
36
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS

The Tool Window

The Tool Window is a floating window which features four tabs that contain short-cuts for creating devices, editing in the sequencer, editing grooves for the ReGroove mixer and sample editing functions. The Tool Window can be ac­cessed from the Window menu.
D Open the Tool Window by selecting “Show Tool Window” from the Window menu. Alternatively, press [F8].
The [F8] key can be used for toggling between showing and hiding the Tool Window.
The Tool Window.
• See the “Note and Automation Editing” chapter for information on how to use the various functions of the “Se­quencer Tools” tab.
• See “The ReGroove Mixer” chapter for information on how to use the functions of the “Groove Settings” tab.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
37

The On-screen Piano Keys window

The On-screen Piano Keys floating window features a virtual keyboard which lets you play instrument devices with­out needing to have a MIDI master keyboard connected to your computer. The On-screen Piano Keys window can be accessed from the Window menu.
D Open the On-screen Piano Keys window by pressing [F4], or by clicking the “Keys” button to the left on the
Transport Panel. Alternatively, select “Show On-screen Piano Keys” from the Window menu.
The [F4] key can be used for toggling between showing and hiding the On-screen Piano Keys window.
The On-screen Piano Keys window in “Mouse” mode.
See “On-screen Piano Keys” for more information.
38
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS

General window techniques

Show/Hide buttons

Resizing

Adjustable headers in the Reason Essentials Song window.
Between each area in the Reason Essentials Song window are gray headers that separate the areas from each other. Some of the headers can be adjusted, making it possible to resize the areas. The horizontal dividers between the Main Mixer and Rack, and between the Rack and Sequencer can be adjusted, as well as the vertical dividers between the Browser and the other areas - and the divider to the left of the Rack Navigator in the Rack.
When you place the mouse pointer on these types of headers, the pointer changes to a double-arrow symbol. Click­ing and dragging these headers makes it possible to resize the adjacent areas.
D You can also click the circular button on the header of any of the areas to show/hide the corresponding area:
The Show/Hide buttons of the Rack and Sequencer areas.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
39

Scrolling

Reason Essentials offers a few different options for scrolling in the different areas.
Scrolling with the Navigators and scrollbars
Navigators/scrollbars in a Reason Essentials Song window.
Whenever there is information “outside” the visible screen area, you may want to scroll to the desired destination. The Reason Essentials Song window features a number of Navigators that can be used for scrolling. Navigators are pres­ent in the Main Mixer, in the Rack and in the Sequencer.
The Main Mixer and the Sequencer have horizontal and vertical Navigators/scrollbars. The Rack has only one Navigator which can be used for scrolling both vertically and horizontally (when using more
than two rack columns next to each other). The Rack Navigator can also be resized by moving the vertical edge to the left of the Rack Navigator. Resizing the Rack Navigator will also resize the rack devices inside the Navigator, making them easier to distinguish.
D To scroll with a Navigator, click anywhere inside the frame in the Navigator and drag the frame to the desired
position.
As the pointer enters the frame, it automatically switches to a hand symbol.
D Alternatively, click anywhere in the Navigator area to immediately jump to the desired position.
• At high zoom values in the Sequencer, you can hold [Shift] and drag the Song Navigator frame to scroll with greater precision.
40
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
Scrolling with the Hand tool
Scrolling with the Hand tool in the Rack.
In the Rack and Sequencer, you can also use the Hand tool for scrolling the view.
1. In the Rack, place the pointer on either of the wooden side panels of a rack column.
The pointer will switch to a hand symbol.
2. Click and drag the rack vertically and/or horizontally to scroll in the rack, as shown in the picture above.
If you are using only a single rack column, it’s only possible to scroll vertically.
In the Sequencer you have to manually switch to the Hand Tool by selecting it from the sequencer Toolbar. With the Hand Tool selected, you can scroll in any direction on the Edit/Arrangement Pane. Refer to “Hand Tool” for more in- formation.

Zooming in the Sequencer

In the Sequencer it’s possible to zoom in and out horizontally using the Song Navigator. You can also use the Magni­fying Glass Tool on the Sequencer Toolbar to zoom vertically - see “Magnifying Glass Tool”. In addition to this, it’s also possible to set a zoom level for the audio recordings inside the Audio Clips.
q See also “Scrolling and zooming using a wheel mouse”.
Zooming vertically in the Sequencer
D To zoom in vertically in the Sequencer arrangement, and thus increase the Track height, click on the “+” mag-
nification button at the bottom of the Track List:
Increase the Track height by clicking the + magnification button at the bottom of the Track List.
D To zoom out vertically, click on the “-” magnification button.
• When the Sequencer is in Edit Mode, individual vertical zoom controls become available.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
41
Waveform Zoom Mode
D Choose between three zoom modes for the audio recording(s) inside all Audio Clips.
Using the Small Waveform Zoom Mode is especially useful if you have recorded with the Clip Safe function (see
“Recording using the Clip Safe function in Propellerhead Balance”) where the dynamic range can be quite wide.
! The zoom modes only affect the visual presentation of the waveform, not the audio levels.
Zooming horizontally in the Sequencer
You can also zoom in and out horizontally in the Sequencer by using the Song Navigator.
D To zoom in and out horizontally, click and drag a Song Navigator handle sideways.
The pointer changes to a double arrow symbol and you can now zoom in by resizing the Song Navigator Frame.
D [Shift]-click on a Song Navigator handle and drag horizontally to zoom in and out symmetrically.
D By right-clicking (Win) or [Ctrl]-clicking (Mac) inside the Song Navigator frame you can both scroll (drag side-
ways) and zoom (drag up or down) simultaneously.

Scrolling and zooming using a wheel mouse

If you’re using a mouse equipped with a scroll wheel, this can be used for the following scrolling and zooming opera­tions:
Scrolling in the Main Mixer with a wheel mouse
D Spin the scroll wheel to scroll vertically in the Main Mixer.
D Press [Shift] and spin the scroll wheel to scroll horizontally in the Main Mixer.
Scrolling in the Rack with a wheel mouse
D Spin the scroll wheel to scroll vertically in the Rack.
D Press [Shift] and spin the scroll wheel to scroll horizontally in the Rack.
Note that the Rack must have at least two rack columns next to each other for this to work.
Scrolling in the Sequencer with a wheel mouse
D Spin the scroll wheel to scroll vertically on the Edit/Arrangement Pane.
D Press [Shift] and spin the scroll wheel to scroll horizontally on the Edit/Arrangement Pane.
! Note that scrolling horizontally cannot be done when the Song Navigator frame is fully expanded.
Zooming in the Sequencer with a wheel mouse
D Press [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and spin the scroll wheel to zoom in and out vertically on the Edit/Arrange-
ment Pane.
D Press [Ctrl]+[Shift](Win) or [Cmd]+[Shift](Mac) and spin the scroll wheel to zoom in and out horizontally on
the Edit/Arrangement Pane.
42
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS

Editing parameters

Since a large part of Reason Essentials is laid out like “real” hardware devices, such as the Main Mixer, instrument and effect devices etc., almost all controls are designed like their real world counterparts - mixer faders, effect unit knobs, transport buttons, etc. How to adjust these controls is described in the following paragraphs.

Knobs

D To “turn” a knob, point at it, hold down the mouse button and drag up or down (as if the knob was a vertical
slider).
Dragging upwards turns the knob clockwise and vice versa.
D If you press [Shift] and drag, the knob will turn slower, allowing for higher precision.
You can also adjust the knob precision with the “Mouse Knob Range” setting on the General page in Preferences. This dialog is opened from the Edit menu (or from the Reason Essentials menu if you are running Mac OS X).
D To reset a knob to its default value (usually zero, center pan or similar), press [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and
click on the knob.

Faders and sliders

D To move a fader or slider, click on the handle and drag in the fader/slider direction.
D You can also click anywhere on the fader/slider to instantly move the handle to that position.
D If you press [Shift] and drag, the fader/slider will move more slowly, allowing for higher precision.
D To reset a fader/slider to its default value (usually zero, 100, center pan or similar), press [Ctrl](Win) or
[Cmd](Mac) and click on the fader/slider handle.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
43

Buttons

Click on the Fold/ Unfold Button to unfold the front panel.
Click on the second Fold/ Unfold Button on the unfolded panel to bring up the Remote Programmer.
Many functions and modes are controlled by clicking buttons. Many of the buttons in Reason Essentials have a “built­in” LED, or the button itself lights up, indicating whether the button is on or not.

Fold/Unfold buttons

Fold/Unfold buttons are distinguished by a small triangle at the top to the left on a device. Clicking on a Fold/Unfold button will unfold the device panel so that more controls are visible and can be accessed for editing on the screen.
On some devices, such as the RV7000 Advanced Reverb, there are more than one Fold/Unfold button. Clicking on the second Fold/Unfold button on the unfolded front panel will open up the Remote Programmer panel from which more parameters can be accessed:
The Fold/Unfold buttons on an RV7000 Advanced Reverb device.
44
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS

Multi Mode selectors

or
Some parameters allow you to select one of several modes. There are two different graphical representations of this in Reason Essentials.
The multi mode selector type below consists of a button with the different modes listed above it:
D Click the button to step through the modes or click directly on one of the modes printed on the panel, or click
on the corresponding LED, to select mode.
The currently selected mode is indicated by a lit LED.
The multi mode selector type below is a switch with more than two positions:
D To change mode, click and drag the switch, or click directly at the desired switch position (just as when adjust-
ing a slider).

Numerical controls

In Reason Essentials devices, numerical values are often displayed in numerical displays with “spin controls” (up/ down arrow buttons) on the side. Some parameter values, such as oscillator and LFO waveforms, are displayed graphically in the displays. There are two ways of changing values in these types of controls:
D By using the up and down buttons on the spin controls.
To adjust a value in single steps, click on its up or down arrow button. To scroll a value continuously, click on an ar­row button and keep the mouse button depressed.
D By clicking and holding the mouse button depressed in the actual display and then dragging the mouse up or
down.
This allows you to make coarse adjustments very quickly.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
45

Alpha-numeric controls

or
In Reason Essentials, alpha-numeric values and/or device presets are displayed in alpha-numeric readouts with “spin controls” (up/down arrow buttons) on the side. There are two ways to change alpha-numeric/preset values:
D By using the up and down buttons on the spin controls.
To adjust a value or select a preset in single steps, click on the up or down arrow button. To scroll a value contin­uously, click on an arrow button and keep the mouse button depressed.
D By clicking and holding the mouse button depressed in the actual alpha-numeric display and selecting from
the list that appears.
This allows you to make coarse adjustments very quickly or to immediately change to a preset anywhere in the list.
q This type of control is used to select, e.g., patch and reverb algorithms and some oscillator waveforms.
46
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS

Numerical segment displays

Click on the left display segment to select the “whole BPM” value. Then, either click and drag up or down or use the mouse scrollwheel to change tempo in steps of 1 BPM. You can also use the [Up]/[Down] arrow keys on the computer keyboard to change the value.
Alternatively, type in the new tempo and press [Enter] on the computer keyboard.
You can also type in a number preceded by [+] or [-] to add or subtract the number from the current tempo value. Then, press [Enter] on the computer keyboard.
Click on the right display segment to select the “1/1000 BPM” value. Then, either click and drag up or down or use the mouse scrollwheel to change tempo in steps of 1/1000 BPM. You can also use the [Up]/[Down] arrow keys on the computer keyboard to change the value.
Alternatively, type in the new tempo and press [Enter] on the computer keyboard.
You can also type in a number preceded by [+] or [-] to add or subtract the number from the current tempo value. Then, press [Enter] on the computer keyboard.
Double-click on the display, type in the new tempo and press [Enter] on the computer keyboard.
In the numerical segment displays on the sequencer Transport Panel and in the sequencer Inspector, values can be edited in a number of different ways. The editing principle is exactly the same for the Transport Panel and Inspector displays, which is shown in the two examples below.
Transport Panel segment displays
The segment displays of the Transport Panel can be edited as shown in the following Tempo display examples. The Tempo display segments show (from left to right) BPM and 1/1000 BPM:
The other segment displays on the Transport Panel can be edited in the same way as described above. Some dis­plays also features up/down arrow buttons.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
47
Inspector segment displays
Click the up/down buttons to change the value in steps of 1 Bar (the leftmost segment).
Click in the display to select either the Bar, Beat, 1/16th note or Ticks segment. Then, click the up/down buttons to change the value of the selected segment in steps of 1 unit.
Click in the display to select either Bar, Beat, 1/16th note or Ticks. Then, click and drag the cursor up/down to change in steps of 1 unit. Alternatively, change the value with the mouse scrollwheel. You can also use the [Up]/[Down] arrow keys on the computer keyboard.
Double-click in the display. Then, type in the desired value and press [Enter].
Click in the display to select either Bar, Beat, 1/16th note or Ticks. Then, type in a number and press [Enter].
Alternatively, select a segment, type in a number preceded by a [+] to add or a [-] to subtract the number from the current value. Then, press [Enter].
The segment displays in the Inspector can be edited as shown in the following Position display examples. The Posi­tion display segments show (from left to right) Bars, Beats, 1/16th Note and Ticks:
The other segment displays in the sequencer Inspector can be edited in the same way as described above.

Tool Tips

If you hover with the mouse over a control on a device panel and wait a moment, a tool tip appears. The tool tip shows the name of the parameter associated with that control and its current value. This helps you fine-tune settings, set several parameters to the same value, etc.
D You can turn off the Tool Tips function by deactivating the option “Show parameter value tool tip” in the “Ap-
pearance” section on the General tab in Preferences.
48
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS

Context menus

Context menus are “tailored” to contain only menu items that are relevant to the current circumstances. Using the various context menus allows you to work more quickly and more efficiently with Reason Essentials.
D To bring up a context menu, right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) on the desired object, section or area in Rea-
son Essentials.
The Mixer 14:2 device panel context menu
q If you are using a Mac with a two button mouse, you may want to set this up so that clicking the right mouse
button generates a [Ctrl]-click. This way, you can right-click to bring up context menus.
The contents of the context menus depend on where you click. These are the primary types of context menus you will encounter in Reason Essentials:

Parameter context menus

If you click on an automatable control (a mixer parameter, a device parameter, a fader, etc.), the context menu will contain the following items:
• Functions for editing and clearing the recorded automation data for the control.
• Functions for associating computer keyboard commands and/or MIDI messages to the parameter.
This allows you to remote control parameters from a MIDI device or from the computer keyboard.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
49

Device context menus

If you click anywhere on a device in the Rack (but not on a parameter or display), the context menu will contain the following items:
The Mixer 14:2 device panel context menu
• Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete and Duplicate Device and Track items, allowing you to rearrange and manage the de­vices in the rack.
• Commands for managing Device Groups.
• A duplicate of the Create menu, allowing you to create new devices.
• A “Go To” submenu, listing all devices connected to the current device.
Selecting a device from the Go To submenu scrolls the rack to bring that device into view.
• Auto-routing and Disconnect functions.
This allows you to automatically route (connect) or disconnect a selected device in a logical way.
• Combine and Uncombine are used when you want to use the selected device in, or exclude it from, a Combina­tor setup.
• A Browse Instruments item which lets you browse for sounds for a selected Instrument device.
This item is available only for Instrument devices.
• Additional device-specific items.
If the device is pattern-based, there will be various pattern functions (Cut/Copy/Paste, Clear, Shift, Randomize, etc.). These affect the currently selected pattern in the device.
If the device uses patches, there will be functions for managing patches.
Depending on the device there may also be various device-specific functions available. For example, the drum ma­chine device has functions for manipulating the pattern for the selected drum sound only, etc.
• “Create Track for...” and “Delete Track for...” are used if you want to create a Sequencer Track for the selected device, or delete the Sequencer Track used for the device without deleting the actual device.
• The “Go To Track for ...” will scroll the corresponding Sequencer Track into view in the Sequencer.
• The “Lock Control Surface to this Device” lets you lock a connected control surface to the selected device.
• The “Track Color” item lets you select color for the associated Sequencer Track (and Main Mixer channel strip, if the selected devise is an Audio Track device).
50
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS

Main Mixer channel strip context menu

If you click anywhere on a channel strip in the Main Mixer (but not on a parameter or display), the context menu will contain the following items:
The Channel Strip context menu.
• Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete and Duplicate Channels and Track items, allowing you to rearrange and manage the channel strips in the Main Mixer.
• Commands for managing Device Groups.
• A duplicate of the Create menu, allowing you to create new devices.
• The “Create Send FX” lets you browse for an effects device, or Effect Combi patch, to connect and use as a send effect.
The send effect will be automatically connected to the first available Send FX connectors of the Master Section device in the Rack.
• The “Copy Channel Settings” item lets you copy groups of settings for the selected channel strip.
The groups that can be selected are: “Filters and EQ”, “Insert FX”, “FX Sends” and “All”.
• The “Paste Channel Settings” item appears if you have previously copied any channel settings and want to paste these to the selected channel strip.
• The “Browse Insert FX Patches” lets you browse for, and load, Effect Combi patches to the Insert FX section.
• The “Clear Insert FX” lets you remove any devices currently in the Insert FX area.
• The “Reset Channel Settings” resets all channel strip parameters to their default values.
It also automatically removes any used Insert FX devices from the channel strip.
• The “Set Remote Base Channel” item lets you set the remote base channel to the selected channel strip.
This is useful when you remote control channel strips from a control surface via MIDI.
• The “Lock Control Surface to this Device” lets you lock a connected control surface to the selected channel strip.
• The “Channel Color” item lets you select color for the Main Mixer channel strip (and the associated Sequencer Track, if the selected channel has a track in the sequencer).

Rack “background” context menu

If you click in an empty area of the rack, the context menu will contain the following items:
• A Paste Devices and Tracks item, allowing you to paste any copied or cut devices and tracks.
• A duplicate of the Create menu, allowing you to create new devices.
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
51

Main Mixer “background” context menu

If you click in an empty area of the Main Mixer, the context menu will contain the following items:
• A duplicate of the Create menu, allowing you to create new devices.
• The “Create Send FX” lets you browse for an effects device, or Effect Combi patch, to connect and use as a send effect.
The send effect will be automatically connected to the first available Send FX connectors of the Master Section device in the Rack.

Sequencer context menus

If you click in the Sequencer, the context menus will contain items related to editing tracks, clips and events. The available items will differ depending on in which section or lane you click (Track List, note lane, etc.), and depending on whether you click on a note or automation event or not.
For example, the sequencer context menus contain functions for inserting or removing bars, deleting tracks, chang­ing or deleting note and automation events.
52
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS

Undo and Redo

Virtually all actions in Reason Essentials can be undone. This includes creation, deletion and reordering of devices in the rack, parameter value adjustments, recording and editing in the sequencer etc. You can undo hundreds of ac­tions.
D To undo the latest action, select “Undo” from the Edit menu, or hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and press
[Z].
The action to be undone is indicated next to the Undo command on the Edit menu. For example, if your latest ac­tion was to delete some device(s) from the rack, the Edit menu will display “Undo Delete Devices and Tracks”.
D To redo the last undone action (“undo the undo operation”), select “Redo” from the Edit menu, or hold down
[Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and press [Y].
Similarly, the action to be redone is shown on the Edit menu.

About multiple Undos and Redos

The concept of multiple undos may require an explanation. Let’s say you have performed the following actions:
1. Created a Mixer device.
2. Created a synth device.
3. Adjusted the Attack parameter of the synth device.
4. Changed the panning for the synth device in the Mixer.
5. Adjusted the playback tempo on the Transport Panel.
After these five actions, the Undo History will look as follows:
UNDO
|
5. Adjust tempo
4. Change pan
3. Adjust Attack
2. Create Synth Device
1. Create Mixer Device
If you now select Undo, your latest action (the tempo change) will be undone, and moved to a “Redo list”:
UNDO
|
4. Change pan
3. Adjust Attack
2. Create Synth Device
1. Create Mixer Device 5. Adjust tempo
REDO
|
Selecting Undo again undoes the next action in the list (the panning adjustment):
UNDO
|
3. Adjust Attack
2. Create Synth Device 4. Change pan
1. Create Mixer Device 5. Adjust tempo
REDO
|
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
53
If you now select Redo, the most recently undone action will be redone. In this case, your panning adjustment will be performed again (and added to the Undo History again):
UNDO
|
4. Change pan
3. Adjust Attack
2. Create Synth Device
1. Create Mixer Device 5. Adjust tempo
REDO
|
At this point, you still have the option to Redo the tempo change. But if you instead perform another action (e.g. change the level of the synth device in the mixer), this would become the action at the top of the Undo History - and the Redo list would be cleared.
UNDO
|
5. Change level
4. Change pan
3. Adjust Attack
2. Create Synth Device
1. Create Mixer Device (Empty)
REDO
|
You can no longer redo the “undone” tempo change!
54
COMMON OPERATIONS AND CONCEPTS
Chapter 3 On-screen Piano Keys

About this chapter

This chapter describes the functions of the On-screen Piano Keys window. The On-screen Piano Keys window enables you to play instrument devices using either your mouse or computer key-
board. This provides a simple and convenient way to input notes or chords when using the program without an at­tached MIDI master keyboard.

Using the On-screen Piano Keys

Opening the Piano Keys window

D To open the window, press [F4] or select “Show On-screen Piano Keys” from the Windows menu - or click the
Keys button to the left on the sequencer Transport Panel.
Like the Tool window, the On-Screen Piano Key window “floats” on top of other windows, remaining visible most of the time.
• You can choose between two basic operational modes to enter notes; “Mouse” or “Computer Keys”.
Mouse Mode is for entering notes with the mouse, and Computer Keys Mode for using the computer keyboard to enter notes. The two modes are described separately below.
The respective buttons in the middle of the window are used to switch modes.
Mode buttons.
• Regardless of mode, the On-screen Piano Keys window always follows Master Keyboard input.
This means that the Piano Keys will trigger the device associated with the track that has Master Keyboard Input. The Piano Keys input is merged with any attached keyboard/control surface input so you can use both simultane­ously.
• The available note range is 10 octaves (C -2 to E 8).
• When the On-screen Piano Keys window is in Mouse mode, you can resize it by clicking and dragging the win­dow frame according to standard procedures.
This is especially useful in “Mouse” mode, since you can adapt the window to show the desired note range.
56
ON-SCREEN PIANO KEYS
The Keyboard Navigator
Keyboard Navigator
Available notes for the currently selected instrument
This is present in both modes and shows the total key range. The green area indicates the key range available in the On-screen Piano Keys window.
Keys that produce sound are indicated by a gray strip above the keyboard in the Keyboard Navigator. This is useful when playing a patch where only certain keys or key ranges produce sound, e.g. a REX file or a sampler patch.
Setting Octave range
There are several ways to set the Octave range:
D Click the arrow buttons on either side of the Keyboard Navigator.
Each click will shift one octave up or down.
D Click and drag the green key range area in the Keyboard Navigator.
The current octave number is always shown for the leftmost key - by default the [A] key on the computer keyboard.

Mouse mode

When Mouse Mode is selected, the Piano Keys window will show a standard piano keyboard.
D To enter notes, simply click on the keyboard with your mouse.
As described above, the record enabled track governs what instrument device is played.
ON-SCREEN PIANO KEYS
57
D The keys are velocity sensitive. The higher up on the key you click, the lower the velocity and vice versa.
Velocity=40
Velocity=127
The velocity range is between 40 and 127.
Low and high note velocities.
D The keyboard octave range can be set using the arrow buttons at each side of the navigator keyboard.
Each C key is labeled with the octave number. You can also simply drag the green key range area to where you want. It will snap to octave ranges.
D In Mouse Mode, the keyboard can be resized both vertically and horizontally.
Resizing horizontally extends or diminishes the key range. By resizing the window vertically you change the key size for the keyboard, as well as the key range.
Adding sustain
If you press [Shift] when entering notes, the notes will sustain, just like when using a sustain pedal.
Repeat and Hold functions
D The Repeat function will continuously repeat the last clicked note as quarter notes with a quarter note pause
in between (at the current tempo).
This feature can be useful when tweaking synth parameters or browsing for patches. It is activated/deactivated by checking/unchecking the box.
D The Hold function will keep any keys you click on pressed down for as long as Hold is active.
Hold is activated/deactivated by checking/unchecking the box.

Computer Keys mode

When Computer Keys Mode is selected, the On-screen Piano Keys window shows a graphic (partial) representation of a computer keyboard. The window cannot be resized in this mode.
58
ON-SCREEN PIANO KEYS
D In Computer Keys Mode you can play notes and chords using your computer keyboard.
The Computer Keys keyboard range is fixed to 18 notes (from C to F), although the octave range will give you ac­cess to any notes within the ten octaves shown in the navigator. You can also click on the keys with your mouse to trigger notes. The numerical keys in the top row are not used to enter notes but to set velocity, see “Velocity”.
D The default layout of the Computer Keys logically reflects the layout of a piano keyboard’s black and white
keys.
The first (leftmost) key represents C and so on up to F an octave above. By default, the [A]-key will play the first C, the [W]-key a C# and so on, according to piano keyboard standards. If you wish, you can customize the note to key assignment in the Preferences - Advanced tab (see “Preferences – Advanced”).
Octave range
D Press [Z] or [X] on your computer keyboard to shift one octave down or up, respectively.
There are also “Z” and “X” Octave buttons in the On-screen Piano Keys window that function in the same way.
See “Setting Octave range” for more ways of changing the Octave range.
Repeat and Hold functions
See “Repeat and Hold functions”.
Adding sustain
D Press [Shift] when entering notes to make the notes sustain, just like when using a sustain pedal.
There is also a Sustain button in the On-screen Piano Keys window that has the same functionality.
Velocity
In Computer Keys Mode, note velocity for notes you enter is set using the numerical keys in the top row. The currently set value is also shown in the Velocity value field. The numerical keys correspond to the following velocity values:
Numerical key
|
11
214
328
442
556
670
784
8 98 (default)
9 112
0 127
Velocity value
|
ON-SCREEN PIANO KEYS
59
Velocity Variation
This feature will randomly vary the velocity values for the notes you enter. There are four modes; None (default), Light, Medium and Heavy. The degree of velocity variation is as follows.
Item
|
None (default) 0
Light +/- 5%
Medium +/- 10%
Heavy +/- 25%
Variation
|
60
ON-SCREEN PIANO KEYS
Chapter 4 Audio Basics

About this chapter

This chapter contains some useful information about how audio is handled by Reason Essentials and how the audio is routed. Some of it may seem a bit technical, but we recommend that you read it to get the most out of Reason Es­sentials.

How Reason Essentials communicates with your audio hardware

Reason Essentials receives, generates and plays back digital audio - a stream of numerical values in the form of ones and zeroes. For you to be able to record and play back anything, the audio must be converted from analog to digital when recording, and from digital to analog when playing back through some kind of listening equipment (a set of speakers, headphones, etc.).
This conversion is most often handled by the audio card installed in your computer, or by an external audio interface connected via USB or FireWire. To achieve the best possible performance, Reason Essentials requires that the audio card uses an ASIO driver on Windows systems. On Mac OS X systems, Reason Essentials supports Core Audio driv­ers.
When you use the Propellerhead audio interface, its audio drivers were automatically installed during the installation of Reason Essentials from the Reason Essentials DVD. You don’t need to install any additional audio drivers.
To receive and deliver digital audio to the computer’s audio hardware, Reason Essentials uses the driver you have se­lected in the Preferences dialog. In the Rack on screen, this connection is represented by the Hardware Interface (also known as the Hardware Device):
The Hardware Interface is always located at the top of the rack.
! If you are using Reason Essentials as a ReWire slave, Reason Essentials will instead feed the digital audio to
the ReWire master application (typically another audio sequencer program), which in turn handles the commu­nication with the audio hardware. See “ReWire” for more details.
The Hardware Interface contains 64 input and 64 output “sockets”, each with an indicator and a level meter. There are also two Sampling Inputs that can be used for sampling audio to sampler devices. 16 input and 16 output sockets are shown on the main panel, and an additional 48+48 sockets are shown if the “More Audio” button is activated on the main panel. Each one of these indicators represents a connection to an input or output on your hardware audio interface (or a ReWire channel to another application if you are using ReWire).
However, the number of available inputs and outputs depends on the number of inputs and outputs on your hardware audio interface. For example, if you are using the Propellerhead Balance audio interface with 2 input and 2 output channels, only the first two inputs and outputs will be available. In the Hardware Interface, the indicators are lit green for all currently active and connected inputs and outputs. Activation of inputs and outputs on your hardware audio in­terface is done on the Audio page in the Preferences dialog (see “Active input and output channels”).
Inputs and outputs that are currently connected have green indicators. Available but un-connected inputs and out­puts have yellow indicators and any connections made to unavailable inputs and outputs have red indicators.
In this case, Inputs 1 and 2 are available, but not connected in the Rack, Outputs 1 and 2 are available and connected, whereas Output 3 is unavailable, but connected on the back of the Hardware Interface.
62
AUDIO BASICS
! You never have to connect any cables to the Audio In jacks of the Hardware Interface to be able to record au-
dio on sequencer tracks. This routing is made internally “in the background”, which means you just have to se­lect audio interface inputs from the Audio Input drop-down list - see “Selecting audio input(s) and defining
mono or stereo”.

Manual audio routing

In most cases, you will want to have the Main Mixer Master Section device connected to outputs 1 and 2 of the Hard­ware Interface. This connection is made automatically as soon as you create a new Song document. However, there might be situations where you want to manually route audio to other outputs of the Hardware Interface.
To send the sound of a device in the Rack to a specific output, you route the device output to the corresponding Out­put jack on the Hardware Interface. This is done by using the patch cables on the back of the rack, as described in
“Manual routing”. If we flip the rack around, by pressing the [Tab] key, the Hardware Interface looks like this:
On the rear of the Hardware Interface, Inputs 1 and 2 are available but not connected, Outputs 1 and 2 are available and connected, whereas Output 3 is connected but unavailable.
! You never have to connect any cables to the Audio In jacks of the Hardware Interface to be able to record au-
dio on sequencer tracks. This routing is made internally “in the background”, which means you just have to se­lect audio interface inputs from the Audio Input drop-down list in the sequencer Track List - see “Selecting
audio input(s) and defining mono or stereo”.

Audio quality

The audio quality in a computer based recording system depends on two things:
• The quality of the software calculating the audio.
In our case, this is the Reason Essentials DSP (Digital Signal Processing) code.
• The quality of the hardware audio interface used for recording and playing back the sound.
Software
• Reason Essentials uses 32-bit floating point arithmetic for all internal audio operations, with 64-bit summing in the mix bus in the Main Mixer Master Section.
This ensures the highest possible audio quality throughout the entire signal chain.
• Reason Essentials supports 16, 20, and 24 bit resolution for input and output audio.
• Reason Essentials supports all standard sample rates between 44.1 kHz and 192 kHz - as long as the audio in­terface supports these sample rates.
Reason Essentials also supports lower sampling frequencies, but using a sample rate of less than 44.1 kHz is not recommended since it might affect the audio quality negatively.
• A number of digital audio techniques that reduce the risk of “aliasing”, background noise, unwanted distortion and “zipper noise” are implemented in Reason Essentials.
AUDIO BASICS
63
Audio hardware
How good a hardware audio interface actually sounds depends on a number of things; its frequency range and fre­quency response curve, the resolution (bit depth), the signal to noise ratio, the distortion under various circumstances, etc. Furthermore, some designs are more prone to disturbance from the other electronics in the computer than oth­ers. Such disturbance might add hum or high pitched noise to the signal.
The only advice we can give is that if you are serious about sound, choose your audio hardware carefully, for example the Propellerhead Balance audio interface!

Audio settings

Sample rate and resolution are properties of digital audio which determine the quality of the sound. Generally, higher sample rate and resolution result in better audio quality (but also larger audio files and higher demands on computer performance and audio hardware). The table below shows some common sample rate/resolution combinations:
Sample rate:
|
44.1 kHz 16 bit This is the format used on standard audio CDs.
44.1 kHz – 192 kHz
Resolution:
|
24 bit These are formats used in professional studios and high-end recording
Comment:
|
equipment.
To cater for all different situations, Reason Essentials supports multiple sample rates and resolutions.
Sample Rate settings for recording and playback
Reason Essentials handles all internal audio processing in 32-bit floating point resolution, with 64-bit summing in the mix bus in the Main Mixer Master Section. However, the resolution of the input and output audio is determined by the hardware audio interface. That is, if you have a 24-bit audio card, such as the Propellerhead Balance audio interface, Reason Essentials will record and output audio in 24-bit resolution, and if you have a 20-bit audio card, audio will be recorded and played back in 20-bit resolution.
The recording and playback sample rate can be specified on the Audio tab in the Preferences dialog (accessed from the Edit menu (Win) or Reason Essentials menu (Mac)):
D Select the desired sample rate from the drop-down menu.
Note that the available options on this pop-up menu depend on which sample rates are supported by the audio hardware.
64
AUDIO BASICS
! Reason Essentials supports multiple sample rates in the same song!
Reason Essentials allows import (or recording) of audio at any standard sample rate. If the original sample rate of a recording is different than the rate currently set for the audio card, Reason Essentials will automatically do a high-quality sample rate conversion.
First, a real-time sample rate conversion algorithm is used (allowing the audio to be played back immediately). Meanwhile, in the background, the program calculates a sample rate conversion of the highest quality, which will be used as soon as it is calculated. The CALC progress indicator on the transport panel lights up whenever the program is performing high quality calculations in the background:
The CALC progress indicator on the Transport Panel appears when Reason Essentials performs high quality audio calculations.
Buffer Size settings
The Buffer Size can be adjusted on the Audio tab in the Preferences dialog (accessed from the Edit menu (Win) or Reason Essentials menu (Mac)):
D Select Buffer Size by clicking and dragging the slider sideways.
The trick here is to find the optimum relationship between audio quality, DSP Load and latency. Experiment with dif­ferent Sample Rate settings in combination with different Buffer Size settings to get the best result.
A professional audio interface used together with a state-of-the-art computer should normally be able to handle a combination of a high sampling frequency (96 kHz) and a small Buffer Size (64-128 samples) without problems. A budget priced audio interface normally requires a lower sampling frequency (44.1 kHz) in combination with a little higher Buffer Size (256-512 samples).
The Propellerhead Balance interface can typically work with a small buffer size of 64 samples on a good computer. See “About latency” for more information about buffer size and latency.
CPU Usage Limit settings
In the “Miscellaneous” section on the “General” page in Preferences, you can define an upper limit for the CPU us­age. If the DSP Load should exceed this set limit, the Reason Essentials application will stop receiving and outputting sound. If this happens, you might have to change the audio settings (see “Sample Rate settings for recording and
playback” and “Buffer Size settings”) - or remove tracks and/or devices from your song. By default, the “CPU Usage
Limit” is set to 80%. This is where the CPU load usually starts to make the sound crackle and distort.
AUDIO BASICS
65
About MultiCore Audio Rendering
Reason Essentials fully supports multicore audio rendering. This means that if your computer has multiple CPU Cores (Dual Core or Quad Core, for example), or multiple CPUs, Reason Essentials takes advantage of this to signif­icantly enhance the performance. A higher system performance allows for more tracks and devices in your songs.
If your computer has a multi-core CPU, or multiple CPUs, MultiCore Audio Rendering is active by default, as indicated on the “General” page in Preferences:
Master Tune setting
By default, Reason Essentials plays back a “middle A” at 440 Hz, which is the standard tuning in most instruments. However, if you are playing Reason Essentials together with other instruments, you may want to adjust the tuning:
1. Select “Preferences...” from the Edit menu (Win) or Reason Essentials menu (Mac).
2. Click the “Audio” tab.
3. Adjust the global tuning with the Master Tune slider or button controls.
66
D If you like, you can also adjust the Master Tune during playback.
! The Master Tune setting affects the tuning of all sound sources in Reason Essentials, including the Tuner func-
tion on the Audio Tracks. It also affects the tuning of the Redrum and Dr. Octo Rex loop player.
AUDIO BASICS

About audio levels

The Clip indicators will stay lit for a short moment, to make them easier to spot.
If the audio out level is, or has been, too high, the Clip indicators in the Master Section will stay lit until you click the “Reset” button.
Audio Out Clip indicators
Reset button
Channel Selection buttons for the “Big Meter”
The “Show Big Meter” button
Clip indicators
Reset button
Channel Selection knob for the “Big Meter”
When recording and playing back in Reason Essentials, you should keep an eye on the Audio In and Audio Out Clip indicators on the Transport Panel, or on the Hardware Interface and the Big Meter. You should also keep an eye on the clip indicators on the Main Mixer Master Section. If any of the clip indicators light up, the audio level is too high, resulting in clipping (digital distortion).
The Clip indicators on the Audio In and Audio Out meters on the Transport Panel.
The Clip indicators in the Master Section of the Main Mixer.
! Note that if you use the Propellerhead Balance audio interface when recording audio tracks in Reason Essen-
tials, you can use the unique Clip Safe function. The Clip Safe function allows you to heal clipped input signals! See “Recording using the Clip Safe function in Propellerhead Balance” for more information
! Note that the Main Mixer Master Section Clip indicators will only work if there are no other devices connected
between the Master Section device and the Hardware Interface!
The Big Meter on the Hardware Interface.
AUDIO BASICS
67
D To remedy Audio In clipping, adjust the level at the input source, i.e. on the hardware audio interface or on the
Output 7 indicates audio clipping.
preamp connected to the hardware audio interface.
! When recording or sampling external audio signals, clipping cannot be adjusted in the Reason Essentials ap-
plication - it must be adjusted at the audio input source!
! When sampling audio internally from devices in the rack, you have to adjust the Output Level on the source de-
vice to make sure clipping doesn’t occur in the Hardware Interface.
D To remedy Audio Out clipping, lower the master level on the Mixer (or other device) that is connected to the
Hardware Interface, until Audio Out clipping doesn’t light up on playback.
You could also use the MClass Maximizer as an insert effect on the Master Section in the Main Mixer to ensure that clipping never occurs - see “The MClass Maximizer”.
D To get a better overview of the levels, bring up the Big Meter on the Hardware Interface, by clicking the “Big
Meter” button on the front panel. Then, select the input or output pairs to view in the Big Meter by clicking on the corresponding channel selection button below each input or output pairs. Alternatively, select channel by turning the channel selection knob.
If the audio level is, or has been, too high, the Clip indicators on the Big Meter will stay lit until you click the Reset button, or select new audio channels for the Big Meter.
! In some situations, the Audio Out Clip indicator on the Transport Panel and the Output Clip indicators on the
Reason Essentials Hardware Interface might light up if the metronome Click is active in the sequencer during playback (see “Click and Pre-count”). This is nothing to worry about and won’t cause any distortion in your song. To determine if the metronome is causing the clipping indication, just disable Click and see if the clip­ping stops.
! Note that it doesn’t matter if the level meters on the individual devices (effects, MIxer channels, etc.) “hit the
red”. Output clipping can only occur in the Hardware Interface.
The technical reason for this is that internally, Reason Essentials uses high resolution floating point processing, which ensures highest audio quality and virtually limitless headroom. In the Hardware Interface, the floating point audio is converted to the resolution used by the computer’s audio interface, and that’s where audio out clipping might occur.
If you are using multiple outputs
If you are using an audio interface with more than two outputs, you might want to have different devices connected to different outputs. If the Audio Out Clip indicator on the Transport Panel lights up, you should play back the section again while checking the Reason Essentials Hardware Interface. Each output socket has a level meter - if the red meter segment lights up, the output is clipping.
The indicator for Output 7 on the Hardware Interface indicates clipping.
D If necessary, bring up the Big Meter and select the output pair where the clipping occurs. Lower the output
level of the device connected to the clipping output, until no clipping occurs.
If you are using ReWire
If you are streaming audio to another application using the ReWire protocol, clipping can not happen in Reason Es­sentials. This is because the conversion from floating point audio happens in the other audio application. See “Re-
Wire” for more information.
68
AUDIO BASICS

System signal paths

MASTER INSERTS
MASTER COMPRESSOR
SEQ RACK
LEVEL
1
2
3
4
PAN
0
-56
VU
VU
2
6
12
8 4
0
DIM
-20dB
SOLO
ALL OFF
MUTE
ALL OFF
Init Patch
THRESHOLD
RATIO
ATTACK
RELEASE
MAKE-UP
MAS
L
Rec Source
External Routing
Bypass Insert FX
G
HF
Khz
dB
LF
Khz
dB
INSERT FX
INPUT
EQ
L R
BELL
BELL
INV
ON
O
BYPASS
0
20
56
MUTE
SOLO
FX SENDS
1
PRE
2
PRE
3
PRE
4
PRE
M
M
M
M
Init Patch
SEQ RACK
AUDIO TRA...
My Master Patch
D
Show Programmer
Show Insert FX
MODE
VU
PPM
PEAK
RESET
12
10
840
-10
-20VU-56
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 13 14 15 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 13 14 15 16
AUDIO INPUT AUDIO OUTPUT
ADV. MIDI DEVICE IN USE
MORE AUDIO I/O IN USE REWIRE AUDIO CARD
SHOW BIG METR
FIREWYRE 16x16 Audio Interf
L
R
1
10
8 4
6
12
10
840
-10--20-VU
-56
External Routing
Bypass Insert FX
Rec Source
Init Patch
Frippe FW ASIO Interfaze Analog In 1
MUTE SOLO
Show Programmer
Stretch Type
Show Insert FX
10
8 4
6
AUDIO TRA...
Audio Track 1
M
M
S
S
Rack
Monitor signal via Audio Track device
Input signal from Hardware Device
Input signal
Monitor signal
Playback signal via Audio Track device
Audio Track device control
Master Section control
Output signal from Master Section device
Playback signal from Audio Track in sequencer
Sequencer
Main Mixer
EDIT
BYPASS
EDIT
SIGNAL
PATH
FX
RETURN
MASTER
COMP
MASTER
INSERT
FADER
Audio Interface
Depending on the track types in the sequencer, the default signal chain varies. In this section we’re going to describe the default audio signal paths for Audio Tracks and Instrument Tracks.

Audio Track signal paths

When you’re recording and playing back audio that originates from an external source, like a guitar or a vocalist, the audio signal must first travel from the source, via a hardware audio interface, into the Reason Essentials application. Then, when played back, the audio travels from the Reason Essentials application, via the hardware audio interface, to a speaker system or similar. The figure below shows a schematic overview of the audio signal paths for a “stan­dard” auto-routed Audio Track in Reason Essentials:
TER SECTION
TTM SERIES SUPERDIGITA
An Audio Track signal path in Reason Essentials.
IM -20dB
AIN
0-10-20VU-5
2
0-10-20VU-5
-
AUDIO BASICS
N
2
0
5
69

Instrument Track signal paths

MAS
L
Rec Source
External Routing
Bypass Insert FX
My Master Patch
D
Show Programmer
Show Insert FX
MODE
VU
PPM
PEAK
RESET
-20VU-56
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 13 14 15 16 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1112 13 14 15 16
AUDIO INPUT AUDIO OUTPUT
ADV. MIDI DEVICE IN USE
MORE AUDIO I/O IN USE REWIRE AUDIO CARD
SHOW BIG METR
FIREWYRE 16x16 Audio Interf
R
6
-20-VU
-56
Rack
MIDI In
MIDI Out from Master Keyboard
ID8 audio output signal via Mix Channel device
Mix Channel control
Master Section control
Output signal from Master Section device
Live and playback MIDI data from Instrument Track in sequencer
Sequencer
Audio Interface
ID8 audio output signal
External Routing
Bypass Insert FX
Rec Source
Init Patch
Show Programmer
Show Insert FX
MUTE SOLO
L
10
8 4
0
-20VU
-56
2
10
840-10
-20VU-56
MIX CHAN...
PITCH MOD
VOLUME
Piano
Upright
Delay
Chorus
Dance
Vibes
Grand
A
B
C
D
instrument device
ID8 1
ID8 1
M
S
S
MASTER INSERTS
MASTER COMPRESSOR
SEQ RACK
LEVEL
1
2
3
4
PAN
FX RETURNS
20
-56
VU
VU
20
56
8
0
DIM
-20dB
SOLO
ALL OFF
MUTE
ALL OFF
Init Patch
SIGNAL PATH
FX
RETURN
MASTER
COMP
MASTER INSERT
FADER
THRESHOLD
RATIO
ATTACK
RELEASE
MAKE-UP
G
HF
Khz
dB
LF
Khz
dB
INSERT FX
INPUT
EQ
L R
BELL
BELL
BELL
BELL
INV
ON
ON
BYPASS
6
MUTE
SOLO
FX SENDS
1
PRE
2
PRE
3
PRE
4
PRE
M
M
M
M
Init Patch
SEQ RACK
MIX CHAN...
Main Mixer
EDIT
BYPASS
EDIT
When you’re recording and playing back audio from an instrument device, like the ID8 Instrument device, the audio signal only has to travel only in one direction: from the Instrument device, via the hardware audio interface, to a speaker system or similar. The figure below shows a schematic overview of the audio signal paths for an auto-routed Instrument Track in Reason Essentials:
AIN
TER SECTION
TTM SERIES SUPERDIGITA
IM -20dB
An Instrument Track signal path in Reason Essentials.
0-1
-20VU-5
12
1
20
5
70
AUDIO BASICS

General information about audio and computers

About latency

On any personal computer system, there is a delay between the moment you input a sound, or “tell” the hardware to play a sound, and when you actually hear it. This delay is referred to as the “latency” of the design. This imposes a problem for any system where you want real-time user input to affect the sound.
Why is there latency?
All audio applications receive and generate their audio in chunks. These chunks are then passed on to the audio card where they are temporarily stored before being converted into regular audio signals. The storage place for these chunks are called “buffers” (an analogy would be a bucket brigade, where a number of people each have a bucket, and water is poured from one bucket to another to reach its final destination).
The smaller the buffers and the fewer they are, the more responsive the system will be (lower latency). The general rules regarding the buffer size are these:
• A small buffer size reduces the latency (the time it takes for the audio to “travel” from the audio interface in­put(s) to the application and from the application to the audio interface output(s)).
However, a small buffer size also increases the DSP Load. Too small a buffer size setting could also make the sound crackle and distort.
• A large buffer size reduces the DSP Load (allowing for more tracks to be played back simultaneously) and also ensures good audio quality.
However, a large buffer size also increases the latency.
A high sample rate will also reduce the latency. However, this will also raise the demands on the computer and its software. If the system can’t cope with moving the data to and from the buffers fast enough, there will be problems that manifest themselves as glitches in audio playback.
To make things worse, audio playback is always competing with other activities on your computer. For example, a buffer size that works perfectly under normal circumstances might be too small when you try to open files during playback, switch over to another program while Reason Essentials is playing or simply play back a very demanding song.
What is acceptable?
On a regular PC, the latency can vary quite a lot. This is an effect of the fact that computers and their operating sys­tems were created for many purposes, not just for recording and playing back audio. For multimedia and games, a la­tency of a 100 ms might be perfectly acceptable, but for recording and playing back audio it is definitely not!
• PC audio cards running under Windows with a MME driver might at best give you a latency of around 160ms.
• The same card with a DirectX driver running under Windows provides at best around 40ms.
• A card specifically designed for low latency, with an ASIO driver under Windows, or a Core Audio driver under Mac OS X, can usually give you figures as low as 2-3 ms. This is definitely good enough for audio applications. That’s also why ASIO or Core Audio drivers are required to run Reason Essentials.
Reason Essentials’s built-in sequencer is not affected by latency
When Reason Essentials’s sequencer is playing back a song, the timing between notes and audio is perfect! Once playback of a Reason Essentials pattern or song is up and running, latency isn’t a consideration at all. The computer clocks the audio between the steps and does this with perfect quartz accuracy! The timing is immaculate!
AUDIO BASICS
71
ReWire and Latency
When you run Reason Essentials as a ReWire slave, it is the other program, the ReWire master, that is responsible for actually rendering the audio and playing it back via the audio card. It means that any latency is present in the ReWire master.
! When Reason Essentials runs as a ReWire slave, what audio hardware you have, what audio driver you use,
and the audio settings you have made in the Preferences dialog are of no importance at all! All audio hardware settings are then instead made in the ReWire host application.
! Note, however, that you may have to adjust the “External Sync Offset” in Preferences if Reason Essentials is
synced via MIDI from the host application (see “Synchronization considerations”).
For information on ReWire, see “ReWire”.
Reducing latency
There are a few general methods for making sure latency is as low as possible:
D Make sure you are using the latest version of the drivers for your hardware audio interface.
D Adjust the Sample Rate and Buffer Size parameters as described in “Audio settings”.
D Remove unnecessary background tasks on your computer.
This might be any background utility you have installed as well as networking, background internet activities etc.
D Optimize your songs.
You might run into situations where you have to raise the Output Latency setting to be able to play back a very de­manding song on your computer. Another option would be to actually optimize the song. See “Optimizing Perfor-
mance” for details.
D Get a better audio interface.
This is only required if you find that you need to increase Output Latency because your audio card can’t really cope with the songs you try to play.
D Get a faster computer.
This is only required if you find that you need to increase Output Latency because your computer can’t really cope with the songs you try to play.
72

About processors

When you run Reason Essentials, the clock speed of the processor is a major factor determining how many audio tracks and devices you can use at the same time.
If you plan to buy a computer specifically for Reason Essentials, you could play it safe and choose a computer with at least a dual-core Intel P4, or equivalent AMD processor, running at 2.0 GHz or faster. MultiCore processors will give better performance and are highly recommended.

About RAM

Another important performance factor is the amount of installed RAM in the computer. Generally, one could say: the more the better, especially if you’re running several applications simultaneously. To run Reason Essentials, a mini­mum of 4GB RAM is required, but more is recommended for even better performance.
AUDIO BASICS
Chapter 5 Sequencer Functions

About this chapter

Edit/Arrangement Pane
Toolbar
Track List
Ruler
Inspector (context sensitive)
Audio Clips
Note Clips
Tracks
Transport Panel
Song Navigator
Lanes
Automation Clips
This chapter describes the layout and general functions of the main sequencer. Recording, editing clips and events and arranging in the sequencer are described in detail in the chapters “Recording in the Sequencer”, “Audio Editing
in the Sequencer”, “Note and Automation Editing” and “Arranging in the Sequencer”.

Introduction

The sequencer is where you record your songs. The sequencer can be used to record audio tracks as well as instru­ment tracks, performance controllers, parameter automation and pattern automation.

Sequencer area overview

74

Arrange Mode and Edit Mode

Arrange Mode is the “normal view” where you are working with your song arrangement. This mode gives a good over­view of the content of the tracks in your song.
Edit Mode is where you edit the contents of the clips in your song. To enter Edit Mode, hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and press [E]. In Edit Mode the Edit Pane shows detailed information about the content of one track (see
“Tracks overview”), or lane (see “Lanes overview”) at a time and you can edit the events in individual clips (see “Clips overview”).
q When you open a note or Comp audio clip by double-clicking it in Arrange Mode, the sequencer automatically
switches to Edit Mode. However, if you double-click a Single Take audio clip or parameter automation clip, it opens up for editing inline, directly in Arrange Mode.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
Arrange Mode
In Arrange Mode, all clips on all tracks can be viewed. Use this mode to get an overview of your arrangement, and when you want to perform clip-based editing such as rearranging whole sections of your song, etc.
Edit Mode
In Edit Mode, you get a close-up look at the recordings on a track. In Edit Mode, the Edit Pane can be divided into several horizontal edit rows, showing different types of events (notes, velocity, audio, parameter automation, etc.). This is the view mode of choice for fine editing the content of your recorded clips, and for drawing notes, performance controllers and other events manually.

Toolbar overview

The sequencer Toolbar features various sequencer editing tools as well as the Snap function. The tools can be used both in Arrange Mode and Edit Mode, with slightly different purposes in the respective modes. See “Toolbar details” for details about each tool.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
75

Track List overview

Tracks
Lanes
To the left in the sequencer, all tracks are listed in the Track List. Each track in the sequencer is associated with a specific device in the rack. By clicking on a device icon in the Track List you automatically set Master Keyboard Input (see “Setting Master Keyboard Input”) to the corresponding device in the rack for playing and/or recording.

Tracks overview

Most rack devices in a song automatically get their own dedicated track in the sequencer when you create the device. Each track can feature one or several lanes on which audio, note, performance controller, pattern and parameter au­tomation events can be recorded - in clips. See “Track details” for more details about tracks.

Lanes overview

Each track consists of one (default) or several parallel lanes. The lanes can contain clips that feature note events or audio recordings, depending on track type. A track can also feature automation lanes that contain clips with parame­ter automation events - or pattern automation for pattern based devices. See “Lane details” for more details about lanes.
76
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS

Clips overview

(Single Take) Audio Clips
Note Clips
Automation Clips
Note, audio, performance controller, pattern and parameter automation events are always contained in clips. A clip is basically a “container” for recorded data. Audio clips are displayed on the Edit/Arrange Pane as rectangular boxes with one or two graphical audio waves inside (mono or stereo). Note events are displayed in a “piano roll” fashion in the clip. Performance controllers and parameter automation events are displayed as continuous lines, and pattern events are displayed as repeated rectangles in the clips. See “Clip basics” for information about the different clip types.

Inspector overview

The context sensitive Inspector shows the properties of whatever is currently selected in the sequencer: clips, notes, automation events, audio comp rows and cuts etc. The properties of the selected item can be edited by changing the values in the various displays. See “About the Inspector” for more info.

Ruler overview

The Ruler is the song’s “time line”, measured in bars. In the Ruler, the Song Position Pointer indicates the current po­sition in the song, i.e. in which bar the song is, or will begin, playing. The Ruler also shows the Left and Right Loop Lo­cators as well as the Song End Marker. See “Ruler details” for more details.

Edit/Arrangement Pane overview

The big center section of the sequencer is called the Edit/Arrangement Pane. This is where all recorded events re­side in clips - on one or more lanes on the respective track.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
77

Track scrollbar overview

To the far right in the sequencer is the Track scrollbar. With the Track scrollbar you can scroll vertically on the Edit/ Arrange Pane. See “Scrolling” and “Zooming in the Sequencer” for more details.

Song Navigator overview

Below the Edit/Arrangement Pane is the Song Navigator. With the Song Navigator you can scroll and zoom horizon­tally on the Edit/Arrangement Pane. The Song Navigator also features indicators for the Ruler’s Loop Locators, Song Position Pointer and Song End Marker. In the Song Navigator, all clips on all lanes are displayed as colored lines, in­dicating their positions in the song. See “Scrolling” and “Zooming in the Sequencer” for more details.

Transport Panel overview

The Transport Panel features the sequencer transport controls (Rewind, Fast Forward, Stop, Play and Record) as well as controls for Tempo, Time Signature, Position, Time and Loop Locator placements and some other functions. See
“Transport Panel details” for more details.
78
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS

Track details

Transport Track Audio Tracks
Instrument Tracks
Automation Track

Track definition

The tracks in the sequencer are where you record your audio, note and automation to create your songs. A track is al­ways associated with a device in the rack (except for the Transport track). An icon with a picture of the associated device is shown in the Track List on the left hand side in the sequencer. In the Track List, the name of the associated device is shown, as well as icons and buttons related to the specific track. Each track can incorporate various lane types (depending on track type). To the right of the Track List - on the Edit/Arrangement pane - each track has its own dedicated area for recorded events.
In the picture below, six sequencer tracks are shown. From the top down are the Transport Track (which is always present and cannot be moved or deleted), two audio tracks, two instrument tracks associated with one ID8 instru­ment device each, and one automation track for a Mix Channel strip.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
79

The relationship between the track, the rack and the Main Mixer

Audio Track
Instrument Track
Automation Track (of channel strip parameters)
Automation Track (of device parameters)
External Routing
Bypass Insert FX
Rec Source
Init Patch
Frippe FW ASIO Interfaze Analog In 1
MUTE SOLO
Show Programmer
Stretch Type
Show Insert FX
2
10
0
VU-56
DISK CHA...
Mix Channel 1
S
S
FX2 Send On
ON
ON
MIDI
MIDI
Control
Khz
LF
Khz
dB
INSERT FX
L R
ON
BYPASS
0
20 56
12
8
MUTE
SOLO
FX SENDS
1
PRE
2
PRE
3
PRE
4
PRE
Init Patch
SEQ RACK
MIX CHAN...
EDIT
PITCH MOD
VOLUME
Piano
Upright
Delay
Chorus
Dance Vibes
Grand
A
B
C
D
instrument device
ID8 2
External Routing
Bypass Insert FX
Rec Source
Init Patch
Frippe FW ASIO Interfaze Analog In 1
MUTE SOLO
Show Programmer
Stretch Type
Show Insert FX
1080-10
-20VU-56
AUDIO TR...
External Routing
Bypass Insert FX
Init Patch
Show Programmer
Show Insert FX
MUTE SOLO
VU
-56
VU
-56
MIX CHAN...
Disk Channel 1
S
S
ID8 1
M
S
S
M
L
Rec Source
External Routing
Bypass Insert FX
My Master Patch
D
Show Programmer
Show Insert FX
MODE
VU
-56
VU
-56
VU
-56
MAS
ON
T
Rec Source
External Routing
Bypass Insert FX
My Master Patch
0dB
Show Programmer
Show Insert FX
MODE
VU
-56 L
V
6
VU
-56
Audio
Audio
Audio
Audio
Audio
MIDI
MIDI
Control
Control
Control
Control
MASTER INSERTS
SEQ RACK
LEVEL
1
2
3
4
PAN
FX RETURNS
0
56
2
DIM
-20dB
SOLO
ALL OFF
MUTE
ALL OFF
Init Patch
SIGNAL
PATH
FX
RETURN
MASTER COMP
MASTER INSERT
FADER
THRESHOLD
RATIO
ATTACK
RELEASE
MAKE-UP
HF
Khz
dB
LF
Khz
dB
INSERT FX
EQ
L R
O
O
BYPASS
0
20 56
8
MUTE
SOLO
FX SENDS
1
PRE
2
PRE
3
PRE
4
PRE
M
M
M
M
Init Patch
SEQ RACK
MIX CHAN...
EDIT
BYPASS
EDIT
MASTER INSERTS
SEQ RACK
LEVEL
1
2
3
4
PAN
FX RETURNS
0
6
2
DIM
-20dB
SOLO
ALL OFF
MUTE
ALL OFF
Init Patch
SIGNAL
PATH
FX
RETURN
MASTER COMP
MASTER INSERT
FADER
THRESHOLD
RATIO
ATTACK
RELEASE
MAKE-UP
HF
Khz
dB
LF
Khz
dB
INSERT FX
EQ
L R
O
ON
BYPASS
0
20 56
8
MUTE
SOLO
FX SENDS
1
PRE
2
PRE
3
PRE
4
PRE
M
M
M
M
Init Patch
SEQ RACK
MIX CHAN...
EDIT
BYPASS
EDIT
H
C/S
Q
Bypass On Off
Equal
LO
S
O CUT
MClass
FREQ
GAIN
Q
FREQ
GAIN
Q
FREQ
30-600Hz 30Hz-20kHz 30Hz-20kHz30Hx
GAIN
SLOPE
FREQ
3kHz-18kHz
GAIN
SLOPE
18 dB 12 dB 6 dB 0 dB
-6 dB
-12 dB
-18 dB
39Hz 78Hz 156Hz 312Hz 625Hz 1kHz 2.2kHz 4kHz 8kHz 16kHz
M EQ 1
Mix Channel 1
S
S
FX2 Send On
ON
ON
MIDI
MIDI
A track in the sequencer is always associated with a device in the rack; i.e. there can never be a sequencer track with­out an associated rack device (except for the Transport track). Audio Track devices and Mix Channel devices in the rack also have their corresponding channel strips in the Main Mixer. Mixer Channel strips can be considered “remote controls” for their corresponding rack devices. Depending on track type, the signal chain differs somewhat. The pic­ture below shows the signal flow in four scenarios with three different track types:
MASTER SECTION
TTM SERIES SUPERDIGITA
N
12
IM -20dB
N
-
TM SERIES SUPERDIGITAL
TER SECTI
N
12
DIM -2
U-5
80
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
-
1
840-10-2
L
izer
IGH DEFINITION PARAMETRI
HELVING E
HELF
Audio track relationships
Audio Track
Audio Track device
Audio Track Channel strip
Control
Audio and mixer automation
An audio track is always associated with an Audio Track device in the rack and its corresponding Audio Track chan­nel strip in the Main Mixer. An Audio Track device can also house insert effects.
In the figure above, the audio track is associated with the Audio Track device in the rack, which in turn is controlled from the Audio Track channel strip in the Main Mixer. The audio track features recorded audio and mixer automation.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
81
Instrument track relationships
The ID8 Track
Audio
ID8 Mix Channel device
ID8 Mix Channel strip
Control
MIDI and parameter automation
ID8 device
An instrument track is always associated with an instrument device in the rack. The instrument device in the rack is, in most situations, connected to a Mix Channel device in the rack. The Mix Channel device in the rack is controlled from the corresponding channel strip in the Main Mixer. A Mix Channel device can also house insert effects.
82
In the figure above, the ID8 track is associated with the ID8 instrument device in the rack. The ID8 instrument device is connected to the ID8 Mix Channel device in the rack, which in turn is controlled from the ID8 channel strip in the Main Mixer. The ID8 track features recorded MIDI notes and parameter automation.
Note that when you create an instrument, the connected Mix Channel device doesn’t automatically get a track in the sequencer. If you want to record Mixer Channel automation, you have to first create a separate sequencer track for the Mix Channel device. See “Automation (non-instrument) track relationships”.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
Automation (non-instrument) track relationships
The Mix Channel Automation Track
ID8 Mix Channel device
Mix Channel strip
Control
Parameter automation
The Equalizer Automation Track
The Equalizer device
MIDI
A pure automation track is always associated with a “non-instrument” device, i.e. a device which can’t receive MIDI
Note
information. Consequently, an automation track can only consist of parameter automation lanes. Examples of non-instrument devices are Mix Channel devices with their corresponding Mix Channel strips, effect devices, mixer devices and Spider Merger & Splitter devices. The picture below shows an example with an automated Mix Channel:
In the figure above, the Mix Channel automation track is associated with the Mix Channel device in the rack, which in turn is controlled from the channel strip in the Main Mixer.
The picture below shows an example with an automated MClass Equalizer device. Note that no mixer channel strip is involved in this situation since the automation only concerns a non-instrument device and not any Mix Channel de­vice:
In the figure above, the Equalizer automation track is associated with the Equalizer device in the rack.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
83

Master Keyboard Input

The standard way of routing MIDI from a connected MIDI master keyboard or control surface to a device in the rack is to set the Master Keyboard Input in the sequencer. When MIDI is routed to a selected track in the sequencer, the notes and controller data are automatically echoed to the associated device in the rack.
• Setting Master Keyboard Input to an instrument track is necessary if you want to play notes on an instrument
device from your MIDI master keyboard (and control the instrument device parameters via MIDI).
By locking additional MIDI keyboards to separate devices in the rack, you will be able to play and record on several sequencer tracks simultaneously, see “Locking a surface”.
• Setting Master Keyboard Input to an audio track is only necessary if you want to control the Main Mixer chan-
nel strip parameters via MIDI.
• Setting Master Keyboard Input to a “non-instrument” (parameter automation only) track is only necessary if
you want to control the device’s parameters via MIDI.
Besides the standard routing described above, it’s also possible to lock certain rack devices to specific control sur­faces. See “Locking a surface” for more details.
! If you have several MIDI keyboards/control surfaces locked to individual devices in the rack, it is possible to
control and record on several tracks simultaneously!
Setting Master Keyboard Input
D To set Master Keyboard Input to a track and its associated device, click the device icon in the Track List.
Master Keyboard Input set to an instrument track.
Master Keyboard Input set to an audio track.
The track gets a gray “arrow” symbol to the left, indicating that the track and associated device has Master Key­board Input. The track and device will now respond to incoming MIDI data from a connected MIDI keyboard/con­trol surface. By default, setting Master Keyboard Input also automatically selects the track, which is indicated by the gray color of the track in the Track List.
It’s also possible to set Master Keyboard Input and track selection independently from each other by selecting “Separated” on the “Keyboards and Control Surfaces” page in Preferences - see “Preferences – Control Surfaces”.
• Only one track at a time can have Master Keyboard Input. However, if you have locked additional MIDI key-
boards to specific devices in the rack via Remote (see these together with the track that has Master Keyboard Input.
“Locking a surface”), you will be able to play and record
84
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS

The relationship between tracks, lanes, clips and events

Track
Lane
Lane
Lane
Lane
Clip
Clip
Clip
Clip
Note Events
A track is the top level in the sequencer Track List hierarchy. A track can consist of one or several parallel lanes. A lane can contain clips, which in turn can contain audio recordings, note events, performance controller events, param­eter automation events or pattern events, depending on track type.
An instrument track with four note lanes featuring clips with note events.
• A device in the rack can never have more than one track in the sequencer.
• A clip is a “container” for various types of events (audio recordings, note, performance controller, parameter
automation or pattern events).

Track types

These are the different track types:
• The Transport track.
The Transport track is always present at the top of the Track List and cannot be moved or deleted. The Transport Track can have a maximum of two lanes: one containing time signature automation, and the other containing tempo automation. See “Automating time signature” and “Editing tempo automation” for more details.
• Audio tracks
An audio track can only have a single audio lane containing clips with mono or stereo audio recordings. However, each audio clip can contain several recordings, i.e. different "takes". You can view and comp these takes in the Comp Editor. See “Audio Editing in the Sequencer” for more details. An audio track can also have parameter auto­mation lanes containing automation for the Audio Track Channel strip parameters in the Main Mixer.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
85
• Instrument tracks
Devices that can receive MIDI notes, such as the ID8 device, will automatically be assigned a record enabled track when created. On an instrument track you can create a number of separate note lanes that can incorporate clips containing a combination of note and performance controller events. Multiple lanes are perfect if you, for example, are recording a drum track and want to record each drum sound on a separate lane. An instrument track can also have a number of parameter automation lanes that can contain clips with instrument parameter automation events.
• Parameter automation (“non-instrument”) tracks
Tracks for devices that do not receive MIDI note data (e.g. effects and mixer devices and mixer channels in the Main Mixer) can only contain parameter automation lanes. These “non-instrument” devices are not automatically assigned a track when created. To automate parameters for non-instrument devices you need to manually create a track for these. The number of available lanes is limited by the number of parameters of each device. There can be one lane for each automatable parameter in the device.
86
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS

Track List elements

Device Icons
Track Mute buttons
Track Solo buttons
Record Enable Parameter Automation buttons
Note Lanes
Parameter Automation Lanes
Parameter Automation Lanes
Parameter Automation Lanes
Transport Track
Audio Track
Instrument Track
Automation Track
In the picture below, a Track List with four different tracks is shown. From the top down are the Transport Track (which is always present and cannot be moved or deleted), an Audio Track associated with an Audio Track device, an Instrument Track associated with an ID8 Instrument device and an Automation Track associated with the Mix Chan­nel device.
The Transport Track in the picture features two parameter Automation Lanes (for Time Signature and Tempo) that have been manually created for the track. The audio track features only a single audio lane. The ID8 1 track features four note lanes and has two parameter automation lanes added. The Mix Channel 1 track is associated with the Mix Channel 1 device and has three parameter automation lanes added.
Depending on track type, the elements shown in the Track List can vary. The only common element for all track types is the "Record Enable Parameter Automation" button which should be enabled when you want to record parameter automation for the associated device. This and the other track elements will be described in detail later in this chap­ter.

Creating tracks

Creating an audio track
An audio track can be created as follows:
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
87
1. Hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and press [T]. Alternatively, select “Create Audio Track” from the “Cre-
Audio Track
Audio Track device
Audio Track Channel strip
Control
Audio and mixer automation
ate” menu or from the context menu in the Track List, rack or Main Mixer.
D Alternatively, double click the Audio Track device in the Utilities palette in the Browser.
2. An audio track is created in the sequencer and the associated Audio Track device is created in the rack. The
Audio Track device’s channel strip is created in the Main Mixer.
By default, the audio track is set up in mono. You can easily change to stereo by selecting “Stereo Input” in the “Audio Input” drop-down list - see “Selecting audio input(s) and defining mono or stereo”. If you select “Stereo In- put”, the Audio Track channel strip in the Main Mixer automatically switches to a stereo channel.
88
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
Creating an instrument track
The ID8 Track
Audio
ID8 Mix Channel device
ID8 Mix Channel strip
Control
MIDI and parameter automation
ID8 device
To create an instrument track, you need only create the instrument device. An instrument track is automatically cre­ated when you create a device which can receive MIDI notes:
1. Drag and drop or double click the desired instrument device from the Instruments palette in the Browser.
D Alternatively, select the desired instrument type from the “Create” menu.
Alternatively, to select an Instrument patch and automatically load the patch into the appropriate device type, hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and press [I], or select “Create Instrument” from the “Create” menu to bring up the Patch Browser. Under Windows, you can also press [Insert] to open the Patch Browser. In the Patch Browser you can select and preview patches before loading them into the instrument.
2. An instrument device is created in the rack and the associated track is automatically created in the sequencer.
In addition, a Mix Channel device for the instrument is automatically created in the rack and its channel strip is cre­ated in the Main Mixer. All devices are automatically connected. The Mix Channel device automatically adapts its inputs to the created instrument type - if the instrument is in mono, the Mix Channel device will be in mono, and if the instrument has stereo outputs, the Mix Channel device will be in stereo.
! Note that no automation track is created for the Mix Channel device. This has to be manually created if you
want to automate any of the Mix Channel strip parameters (see “Creating a parameter automation track for a
non-instrument device”).
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
89
Creating a parameter automation track for a non-instrument device
RV7000 device
RV7000 device
TheRV7000 Automation Track
For non-instrument devices, such as effects devices and Mix Channel devices, you need to manually create a track if you want to record parameter automation. You can do that either by following the description below or by following either of the two last descriptions in “Creating/adding parameter automation lanes”.
The track creation procedure described below also applies if you have manually deleted a track for an instrument de­vice or an Audio Track device and want to create a new track for the device:
1. Select the device by clicking on it in the rack.
A border around a device in the Rack indicates that it has been selected.
2. Select ”Create Track for ((patch) name of device)” from the Edit menu or the device context menu.
! Note that if a track already exists for the device, this menu item will not be available - a device can only have
one track.
• The new track will be automatically associated with the device and will get the same name as the device.
D Another way of creating a parameter automation track is by holding [Alt](Win) or [Option](Mac) and clicking
on a parameter on the device panel. Alternatively, select “Edit Automation” from the parameter context menu.
q If you press [Alt](Win) or [Option](Mac) when you create a non-instrument device, this will automatically create
an associated automation track for the device.
90
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
Short-cut for creating a Mix Channel track or Audio track
A faster way of creating a track for a Mix Channel device, or to create a new audio track (if you deleted the original one), is to go via the corresponding mixer channel strips in the Main Mixer:
1. Scroll to the Main Mixer and locate the channel strip you want to create a track for.
2. [Shift]-click the SEQ (Goto Sequencer Track) button at the bottom of the channel strip.
A new track will be automatically created in the sequencer for the selected channel strip.
! If a track should already exist for the selected channel strip, [Shift]-clicking the SEQ (Goto Sequencer Track)
button will only scroll the corresponding sequencer track into view, not create any new track.

Selecting tracks

D Select a track by clicking on it in the Track List.
A selected track gets a darker gray background color.
q Selecting a track in the sequencer will automatically scroll the corresponding device into view in the rack.
• Selecting an audio track will set Edit Focus to its channel strip in the Main Mixer.
• Selecting another type of track (e.g. an instrument track) will set Edit Focus to the Mix Channel belonging to
that device group.
See “About Device Groups” for information about device groups.
D You can also select the next or previous track in the Track List list by using the up and down arrow keys on the
computer keyboard.
! By default, selecting a track will automatically set Master Keyboard Input to that track. If you’d rather select
tracks independent of the Master Keyboard Input selection, select “Separated” mode in the Preferences menu (“Keyboards and Control Surfaces” page). In “Separated” mode, you can select another track without auto­matically changing Master Keyboard Input. To change Master Keyboard Input, click the device icon on the de­sired track in the Track List.
D It is possible to select several tracks by using standard [Shift], or [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac), selection tech-
niques.
This allows you to e.g. move or delete several tracks in one go.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
91

Moving tracks

D To move a track to another position in the Track List, click on the track handle (the leftmost area of the track)
and drag the track up or down.
A red insertion line is shown, indicating where the track will be placed after releasing the mouse button. All clips on all lanes of the track will be moved along with the track.
You can use the same technique to move several selected tracks at once. Use standard [Shift]-select or use [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) to select non-adjacent tracks.
About sorting devices and channel strips according to the track order
Note that the order of the tracks in the sequencer Track List is totally independent from the device order in the rack
- and from the channel strip order in the Main Mixer. However, it’s possible to re-order devices and channel strips ac­cording to the track order in the Track List:
1. Select the tracks in the Track List you want to re-order devices and channel strips after.
2. Select “Sort Selected Device Groups” from the Edit menu or from the track’s context menu.
The associated devices and channel strips are now re-ordered, in the rack and Main Mixer respectively, according to the order of the selected tracks in the Track List.
! Note that the re-ordering only affects the devices and channel strips of the selected tracks - all other devices
and channel strips will remain unaffected.

Deleting tracks

The most common scenario would probably be to delete a track together with its associated device(s). However, it’s also possible to delete only the track while keeping the associated device(s) in the rack.
Deleting tracks together with their associated devices
D To delete one or several tracks together with their associated devices in the Rack, select the tracks and then
select “Delete Track(s) and Device(s)” from the Edit menu or from the track’s context menu. Alternatively, press [Delete] or [Backspace].
An alert appears which prompts you to confirm or cancel the deletion of the track(s) and device(s).
! If you're deleting the track for the Source Device or Mix Channel, and “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” on the
Options menu is on, you will be asked if you want to delete the whole device group. If you hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) while deleting, the whole device group will be deleted without the alert.
See “About Device Groups” for more information about device groups.
Deleting tracks only
D To delete one or several tracks, select them and then select “Delete Track(s)” from the Edit menu or from the
track’s context menu.
The tracks will be deleted without an alert but you can always use the Undo function. See “Undo and Redo”.
92
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
! If you delete an audio track, all recordings on that track will be removed!
If you have deleted a track for a device and want to create a new track for the device, follow the descriptions in “Cre-
ating a parameter automation track for a non-instrument device” or “Short-cut for creating a Mix Channel track or Au- dio track”.

Duplicating/copying tracks and devices

As it is not possible for a specific instance of a device to have more than one track, you cannot copy or duplicate only a track. These operations will instead duplicate/copy both the track (including all clips on the track) and its associ­ated device(s) (with all settings). The duplicated/copied devices are really just like separate devices but with the same name and settings as the original devices, although their names will have the extension “Copy” to differentiate them from the original.
To make copies of tracks and their associated devices, complete with all lanes and recorded clips, use any of the fol­lowing methods:
! Note that if “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” on the Options menu is on, the entire device group(s) associated
with the track(s) will be copied/duplicated when you perform the procedures described below.
See “About Device Groups” for more information about device groups.
D Hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Option](Mac), click on the track handle and drag the selected track(s) to a new posi-
tion in the track list.
D Select the track in the Track List, hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and press [D].
The duplicated track(s) will be inserted below the original track.
D Select “Duplicate Device(s) and Track(s)” from the Edit menu or from the track’s context menu.
To bring up the context menu, right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) on the track in the Track List. The duplicated track(s) will be inserted below the original track.
D Select “Copy Device(s) and Track(s)” from the Edit menu or from the track’s context menu.
This allows you to insert the copied track(s) and device(s) by selecting “Paste” from the Edit menu or from the track’s context menu. The copied track(s) will be pasted below the currently selected track.
! Note that if “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” on the Options menu is off, duplicated/copied devices will not
have auto-routed audio connections. To hear the duplicated devices, select the device and choose “Auto-route Device” on the Edit menu or context menu. Alternatively, flip the rack around and connect the audio outputs to available (or new) Mix Channel devices. You might also want to mute the original track to avoid double notes.
D To duplicate a selected audio track, with all recordings and mixer channel strip parameter settings, including
any Insert FX, click the “New Alt” or New Dub” buttons on the Transport Panel - see “Duplicating audio tracks
using the “Alt” function” and “Overdubbing audio using the “Dub” function”.
q If you hold down [Shift] and select Paste from the Edit menu or context menu, the copied device(s) will be
auto-routed to an available mixer channel. If necessary, an additional Mix Channel will be automatically cre­ated.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
93

Coloring tracks

A track can be assigned a color in the sequencer as follows:
D To assign a new color to a selected track, select “Track Color” from the Edit menu or from the track’s context
menu and then select color from the palette.
The track color is shown in the track background in the Track List. The associated Audio Track device or Mix Channel device in the rack and its corresponding channel strip in the Main Mixer will also be assigned the new color. The selected track color will be reflected in all
! If existing clips have the function “Use Track Color” active on the Clip context menu, these clips will also
change color - otherwise they won’t. To manually change color of previously recorded clips, refer to “Coloring
clips”.
D To automatically set a new color for new tracks, make sure the “Auto-color New Sequencer Tracks” box in the
Options menu is ticked.
The track color will be automatically selected from the palette when you create a new track.
new
clips you record or draw on this track.

Naming tracks

Devices (and tracks) get the name of their loaded patch by default, but you can override this by manually renaming:
D Name, or rename, a track by double-clicking its name tag in the Track List, typing in a name and pressing [Re-
turn].
Note that naming/renaming a track also changes the name of the associated Source Device in the rack (and vice versa). Furthermore, renaming an audio track also changes the name of the associated Audio Track device in the rack as well as its corresponding channel strip in the Main Mixer. If you rename the track of a source device in a device group, its Mix Channel will get the same name. If you want a separate name for the Mix Channel, double­click in the Mix Channel name tag, in the rack or Main Mixer, type in a new name and press [Return].
See “About Device Groups” for more information about device groups.

Folding tracks

To minimize the visible height of the track, and thus allow for a better overview of the tracks in the sequencer, it’s pos­sible to fold tracks.
D To fold/unfold a track, click on the small triangle on the track handle.
An unfolded track.
The same track folded.
A folded track will not show the individual lanes in the Track List, and on the Edit/Arrangement Pane the clips are shown as horizontal strips. If the folded track has several lanes, all the clips on the lanes will be shown as vertically stacked strips on the Arrangement Pane. No events in the clips are shown.
94
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
D Basic clip operations (selecting, moving, copying etc.) are available also for folded tracks, although it is gener-
ally better to unfold a track if you want to edit its contents, as this gives you a better overview.
D To fold/unfold all tracks in the sequencer in one go, press [Alt](Win) or [Option](Mac) and click on a track han-
dle triangle.
q It’s also possible to fold/unfold only the parameter automation lanes on a track by clicking the triangle on the
parameter automation tab. See “Parameter automation lane elements” for more details.

Muting tracks

To mute a track means to silence it, so that no data is sent from the track during playback. This can be useful when you are trying out different versions of an arrangement, for bringing elements in and out of the mix during playback.
D To mute a track, click the corresponding Mute (M) button in the Track List.
Everything present on the track will be muted.
A red “M” button in the Track List indicates that the track is muted.
D To unmute the track, click the “M” button again.
D Several tracks can have Mute active at the same time, in which case you can unmute them all by clicking the
master “M” button at the top of the Track List.
q It’s also possible to mute individual lanes and individual clips on a track. Refer to “Muting lanes” and “Muting
clips”.

Soloing tracks

To solo a track means that all tracks in the sequencer, except for the soloed track, are muted.
D To solo a track, click the corresponding Solo (S) button in the Track List.
This mutes all other (un-soloed) tracks. Soloed tracks have green S buttons.
Here, the “Filmscore Pad” track is soloed (indicated by the green “S” button). All other tracks are automatically muted (indicated by red “M” buttons).
D To turn solo off, click the green “S” button again.
D Several tracks can have Solo active at the same time, in which case you can turn off Solo for all of them by
clicking the master “S” button at the top of the Track List.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
95

Lane details

Audio Lane

A track consists of one (default) or several parallel lanes. Depending on track type, the clips on the lanes can contain various types of events. A lane can also contain clips with performance controller and parameter automation events ­or pattern selection for pattern based devices.
Audio lane
The audio lane is not distinguished by a separate lane tab in the Track List like the other lane types. This is simply be­cause an audio track can only have a single audio lane. Consequently, all audio lane elements reside in the audio track section instead.
Audio lane elements
• Record Enable button
To the right of the Record Enable Parameter Automation button is the Record Enable button. Make sure this but­ton is on (red) before recording audio on the track. By default, this is activated when you select an audio track. If you want to record several audio tracks at the same time you need to click their Record Enable buttons first.
• Monitor button
To the right of the Record Enable button is the Monitor button. Click this button to monitor the input signal of the track. The signal is monitored after the audio track channel strip which means that all channel strip parameters, in­cluding any Insert FXs, will be monitored.
! The Monitor button activation/deactivation depends on the setting in the “Monitoring” section on the “Audio”
page in Preferences. If “Manual” is selected, you will have to manually activate the Monitor button. If “Auto­matic” is selected, the Monitor button is automatically activated when the Record Enable button is on.
• Enable Tuner button
To the left below the Device icon is the Enable Tuner button. Click the button to switch to Tuner mode. The Input Meter to the right will switch to a Tuner.
96
Audio track in Tuner mode.
In Tuner mode, you can tune a connected instrument - an electric guitar, for example. See “Using the Tuner” for more info.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
• Select Audio Input drop-down list

Note Lane

To the right of the Tuner button is the Select Audio Input drop-down list. Here, you select which audio input(s) to use for the track. See “Selecting audio input(s) and defining mono or stereo” for more info.
• Input Meter
The Input Meter shows the level(s) of the input signal(s). If the selected audio input is mono, the Input Meter dis­plays a single LED bar. If the audio input is in stereo, the Input Meter displays two parallel LED bars. See “Setting
input level(s)” for details about setting input levels.
Note lane
As the name implies, the note lane can contain clips that feature note events. Clips on a note lane can also contain performance controller events. One or several note lanes can be present on an instrument track.
Note lane elements
•Name
At the top to the left is the name of the lane. As soon as you create a note lane it will automatically be named “Lane n” where “n” is the number of the lane - in chronological order. You can change the name of the lane by dou­ble-clicking in the name field, typing in a new name and then pressing [Return] on the computer keyboard.
! Note that depending on the current magnification of the Edit/Arrangement Pane, the note lane names could
sometimes be hidden. To make the note lane names visible, increase the vertical magnification of the Edit/Ar­rangement Pane, for example, by clicking the + magnification button below the sequencer Track Navigator.
Increase the vertical magnification by clicking the + magnification button below the Track List.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
97
• Record Enable button
Parameter Automation Lanes
Below the note lane name is the “Record Enable” button. Make sure this button is on (red) before recording on the lane. By default, the “Record Enable” button on the latest created/added note lane is automatically activated when you select an instrument track.
• Groove Select drop-down list
To the right of the “Record Enable” button is the “Groove Select” drop-down list. Here you can select a ReGroove channel for all clips on the lane. See more about ReGroove in “The ReGroove Mixer”.
• M (Mute) button
Clicking the “M” button will mute the playback from the lane.
• Delete (X) button
To the far right is the “Delete Note Lane” (X) button. Clicking this button will delete the lane (and all clips on it). If there are clips on the lane, a dialog appears prompting you to confirm deletion.

Parameter automation lane

An instrument track with two parameter automation lanes.
Parameter automation is used for controlling changes of device parameter values in a song. You could, for example, automate a filter cutoff parameter and record filter sweeps at various positions in your song. These kind of parameter value changes are recorded on parameter automation lanes.
Parameter automation lanes can exist in all track types and can contain clips with device and/or channel strip param­eter automation. A track can have as many automation lanes as its device has automatable parameters. For Mix Channel and Audio Track devices, parameter automation could be used for any of their corresponding channel strip controls.
Parameter automation lane elements
• Fold/Unfold button
Parameter automation lanes in a track can be folded/unfolded, as a group, by clicking the small triangle on the handle to the far left on the parameter automation lane tab.
D To fold/unfold all parameter automation lanes on all tracks in the sequencer, hold down [Alt](Win) or
[Option](Mac) and click on the triangle on a parameter automation lane tab.
•Name
The name of the automated parameter is displayed on the parameter automation lane tab. Since the name reflects the original device/channel strip parameter name, this cannot be changed.
98
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
• M (Mute) button

Pattern Lane

Clicking the “M” button will mute the parameter automation playback from the lane. Muting a parameter automa­tion lane will freeze whatever value the parameter had when you muted the lane. Deactivating the Mute button re­activates the automation.
• Delete Automation Lane (X) button
To the far right is the “Delete Automation Lane” (X) button. Clicking this button will delete the lane (and all clips on it). If there are clips on the lane, a dialog appears prompting you to confirm deletion. See “Deleting parameter au-
tomation lanes” for alternative ways of deleting parameter automation lanes.
Pattern lane
A Redrum track featuring a pattern lane.
A pattern lane can only exist in a track featuring a pattern based device, such as the Redrum Drum Module or the Matrix Analog Pattern Sequencer. A pattern lane can only contain clips with pattern Bank and pattern Number auto­mation data. There can only be a single pattern lane per track.
Pattern lane elements
•Name
The name of the automated parameter is displayed on the pattern automation lane tab. Since the name reflects the original device parameter name, this cannot be changed.
• M (Mute) button
Clicking the “M” button will mute the pattern automation playback from the lane. Muting a pattern automation lane will freeze whatever value the parameter had when you muted the lane. Deactivating the Mute button reactivates the pattern automation.
• Delete Pattern Lane (X) button
To the far right is the “Delete Pattern Lane” (X) button. Clicking this button will delete the lane (and all clips on it). If there are clips on the lane, a dialog appears prompting you to confirm deletion. See “Deleting pattern lanes” for alternative ways of deleting pattern lanes.
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
99

Creating/adding lanes

Adding note lanes
You can add additional note lanes on an instrument track. This can be useful under the following circumstances:
• If you want to overdub notes or performance automation but don’t want to record in existing clips.
• If you want to record a series of takes on separate note lanes, to later decide which take is the “best” (or to
edit together a composite).
• If you want to apply different ReGroove grooves to different parts of a track, or want different grooves on sep-
arate drums on a drum track.
You can create new note lanes for selected instrument tracks in the following ways:
D Select “New Note Lane” from the Edit menu or from the context menu.
A new note lane will be created and automatically record enabled.
D Click on the “New Note Lane” (Lanes +) button at the top of the Track List.
A new Note Lane will be created and automatically record enabled.
D Click on the “Dub” button on the Transport Panel.
A new note lane will be created and automatically record enabled. See “Recording notes using the “Dub” and “Alt”
functions” for more details.
D Click on the “Alt” button on the Transport Panel.
A new note lane will be created and automatically record enabled. At the same time, the previous note lane, or (if loop is activated and the Song Position Pointer is between the Left and Right Locators) the clips between the Left and Right Locators, will be muted. See “Recording notes using the “Dub” and “Alt” functions” for more details.
q Note that the “Dub” and “Alt” functions can also be used on-the-fly during recording without stopping the se-
quencer.
100
SEQUENCER FUNCTIONS
Loading...
Buy Points How it Works FAQ Contact Us Questions and Suggestions Privacy Policy Cookie Policy Terms of Use