using reason for live p.a. by acid42

USING REASON USING REASON

FOR LIVE P.A.FOR LIVE P.A.

By Lionel Zivan S. Valdellon [acid42]http://acid42.bluechronicles.net

http://www.twitter.com/acid42

[email protected]

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About this guide

• Originally created in 2005

• At the time, only Reason 2.5

• Most principles are still valid however

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What is Reason?

• Sequencer

• Virtual synth racks

• Song info: mainly MIDI

• Small song file sizes

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What do you need?

• Laptop

• Good soundcard

• MIDI controller

• Good cables

An example of a live setup I used in 2002.

#1. Use Reason as a

sequencer

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#1. Use Reason as a sequencer

[A] Go Linear. For ultimate control.

– Sequence entire songs.

– Play them from start to finish.

– Problem: Not much variety.

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Add variety by:

A) Playing with loop points

– Loop entire song, or

– Loop certain sections by dragging loop Left

and loop Right markers and clicking

“Loop On.”

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TIP: Changing loop points

1. Manually dragging the loop indicators with your

mouse (HELL!!!)

2. Typing in the loop start and end measures in the

L and R boxes at bottom right of transport panel,

and then pressing ENTER. (PRONE TO

ERROR!!!!)

NOTE: Wait for box to appear before typing the new

measure number and pressing ENTER. I’ve stopped my

set numerous times by pressing ENTER without looking.

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TIP: Changing loop points

3. Positioning your mouse over the measure

numbers and then use these shortcuts

– CTRL + mouse click (for start loop point)

– ALT + mouse click (for end loop point)

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Add variety by:

B) Playing live keyboard on top

– Live playing adds energy, spontaneity

– Hence the need for a USB controller of some

sort

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Add variety by:

C) Randomly replacing rhythm patterns

– Introduce a Dr.Rex module

– Load a random REX pattern

– Mute your regular rhythm tracks

– See what happens next. Sometimes

accidents produce great results.

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[B] Play short repeating grooves.

– Pre-sequence short phrases

(think 16, 32, 64 measures)

– Play with loop points.

Here is an example of a track I made with only two sections, each 16

bars in length. Toggling between sections is the tricky part.

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[C] Build it from scratch

• Most radical method. Most stressful.

• Start with basic drum loop

• Build parts as you go

• Spontaneity results in either pure genius

or massive error

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[D] Mix pre-made songs like a DJ.

– You can have several songs open at a time

(watch your CPU)

– Match the BPMs of your songs

(Beat matching)

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TIP: Beat matching

1. Latency check:

• Make sure your latency settings are optimized, otherwise impossible to match up beats.

• Adjust buffer size till no dropouts

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TIP: Beat matching

2. Visual Beat-matching:

• Watch bottom of transport panel (position meter)

• Get the beat numbers to match.

Here are 2 songs

with the beat

counters next to

each other for

easier monitoring.

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TIP: Beat matching

3. Layered parts: Bonus tip

• Set 2nd song to loop for 8 bars or so

• Use 2nd song's rhythms as a layer over the 1st song's melodic parts, or vice versa.

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TIP: Beat matching3. Layered parts: Bonus tip

Here, the first song’s kick drum is soloed while the 2nd track is playing.

#2. Use Reason as a

tone module

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#2. Use Reason as a tone module

• Harness Reason's power with a MIDI or USB keyboard controller

• Control just one tone module at a time, (default)

• Or layer several instruments for a fat, lush sound

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TIP: Layering synths

1. Go to Preferences >MIDI.Ensure the correct port is linked to your keyboard.

Taken from ReasonStation.com

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2. Go to “Advanced MIDI" Select the same port for both Bus A and B (and C and D, if you want).

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3. Check which MIDI channel your keyboard is set to send MIDI messages from (usually channel 1).

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4. In your MIDI interface (top of Reason rack), select bus A and from the dropdown arrow beside channel 1, select the instrument you want to layer (say a Subtractor 1).

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5. At Bus B, go to channel 1 and select the next instrument you want to layer (say, a Pad ).

• Repeat for as many as 4 busses or layers.

Now all MIDI info from your keyboard is routed through the busses and

through a dedicated channel 1 path to all instruments on that channel.

#3. Changing parameters

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• Beauty of Live P.A.= full control over all your sound parameters

• You have built-in effects units to control your sound.

• Effects, filters, envelopes, panning, EQ, anything with a knob or slider!

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[A] TWEAK EFFECTS

• Easiest way to "play" with your sound

• Effects in Reason are built-in, thus stable

• Play around. Experiment.

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[B] ALTER NOTES

• Highlight some sequenced notes, right-click, and pick Change Events> Alter Notes. Choose %

• Randomly changes note position. New melodies and rhythms from old.

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[C] TWEAK THOSE KNOBS

• Parameters such as: filter, resonance, attack, decay, sustain, release.

• Find out what each can do to a sound. And then play with your sound.

• Some examples…

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TIP: Knobs and Filters

Frequency sweeps

• Set the Matrix going with a cool rhythm pattern on a Subtractor

• Grab the filter FREQUENCY knobs as the pattern plays.

• Min: gurgle Max: wide full sound

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Envelope decay variations

• Get a pattern going on a Subtractor

• Grab DECAY slider. (“D”)

• Min: notes are cut short, Max: wall of echoing sound.

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Resonance boost

• Grab RESONANCE slider (“R”)

• High resonance w/ short decay: quick rhythmic blips

• Low resonance: filter will woof.

• Turn down resonance for a more even sound.

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Oscillator sync sweeps

• Subtractor:2 oscillators

• Lower the pitch of less dominant oscillator by a couple of octaves: metallic sweep of the overtones.

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Waveform crossfades

• Set up an oscillator tuned an octave or two below the first

• Fade it in and out with Mix knob.

If your synth has a Distortion

effect, tune the second

oscillator to some other

interval (a fifth above the

first oscillator, for instance)

and bring it in with a knob

for a great thickening of the

tone.

#4. Personalized settings

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[A] KEYBOARD MAPPING

• Allows you to activate something without using

mouse.

• Options > Edit Keyboard Remote

• Assign QWERTY keys to buttons you’ll need

• Personally, I have set it up so that each mixer

channel mute button, each Redrum pattern

and each Matrix pattern is mapped to a

QWERTY key.

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#4. Personalized settings[A] KEYBOARD MAPPING

ACID42's Keyboard Map:

Mixer Channel mute buttons: 1: Q. 2: W. 3: E 4: R 5: T 6: Y 7: U 8: I 9: O 10: P

Redrum Pattern enable buttons: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Redrum Bank A enable: shift + 1

Redrum Bank B enable: shift + 2

Redrum Bank C enable: shift + 3

Redrum Bank D enable: shift + 4

Matrix Pattern enable buttons: 1: A 2:S 3: D 4: F 5: G 6: H 7: J 8: K

Matrix Bank A enable: shift + A

Matrix Bank B enable: shift + S

Matrix Bank C enable: shift + D

Matrix Bank D enable: shift + F

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[B] YOUR OWN DEFAULT SONG

• Save your keyboard

mappings and all

shortcuts as your

"Default Song.rns"

• Start every new song

with "Default Song.rns"

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[C] SONG INFO = USEFUL INFO

• Pressing CTRL+I >

Song Information

window

• Place useful

info for your

performance:

a.) Chords (in “Text in window title”)

b.) List relevant measure numbers where

sections change (in “Text in window title”)

c.) Lyrics even! (in “More information”)

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[D] MAKE FILENAMES USEFUL

• Make it is easy to find songs which can be beat-matched.

• Put BPM before song title.

• Put genre after BPM.

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END

Hope this tutorial has been useful. If you have any

questions or comments or even your own tips,

I’d love to hear them. Email me at

[email protected].

Thanks for reading!Lionel Zivan S. Valdellon [acid42]

web: http:/ / acid42.bluechronicles.net

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/acid42

Email: [email protected]

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About the Author

• Acid42 = Lionel Valdellon

• Live P.A. since 2002

[Japan, Brunei, Malaysia, USA]

• Originally from Philippines,

now based in California

• Member of ElectronicaManila

• All Acid42 music = Creative Commons

• Netlabel releases on QED Records

• Web: http://acid42.bluechronicles.net

• Email: [email protected]

using reason for live p.a. by acid42

Self Improvement

end loop

loop points loop entire

loop indicators

bonus tip

midi channel

sound parameters

loop certain sections

loop right markers