b dr - cengage

B Dr.Rex

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No device in Reason can help you put together a song more quickly and effortlessly than Dr.Rex.Load a few instances of Dr.Rex into your Reason song, and before you know it you will have somevery full sounding, grooving rhythmic and bass content in your track, with pretty slick and easilyimplemented filtering to boot (see Figure B.1).

Dr.Rex is designed for the sole purpose of playing and manipulating Rex loops. Dozens of theseRex loops are included in your Reason Factory Sound Bank. Rex loops are audio files that havebeen “sliced up” by using another Propellerhead program called ReCycle. In a Rex file, the audiofile is typically sliced on the attacks, or transients, of the audio waveform. So if a drumbeat ismade into a Rex file, usually a slice will be made of each beat of the rhythm (although you willfind instances where more than one beat is included in a single slice). Slicing up the audio thisway allows the tempo at which the Rex file is played back to be changed without altering pitch orsignificantly changing the audio quality of the loop. It also allows you to change the pitch of theentire loop or of individual slices without changing the tempo. In these respects, a Rex loop issimilar to an Acidized Wave file (as would be used in Sony Acid software), an Apple loop, or aWave file imported into Ableton Live software.

The additional trick that makes Rex loops so useful is that they also contain MIDI information.Each slice in a Rex file is assigned a MIDI note value. This means that the individual slices can be triggered by playing a MIDI keyboard or by drawing in notes in the Reason Sequencer. Likeanything recorded into the Reason Sequencer, you have the opportunity to quantize the MIDInotes, which means you can force their start points to snap to the nearest 1/8 note or 1/4 note (or whatever value you specify). This allows you to make a less-than-rhythmically perfect drumperformance sound right on the money. Having the slices controlled by MIDI also allows you toeasily cut out slices you don’t want or rearrange them any way you like within your MIDI sequence.

APPENDIX B ■ Dr.Rex

Getting into Dr.RexBefore we get very deep into explanations and advanced functionality, I’d like to give you a tasteof how Dr.Rex can help you throw down some music for a TV commercial in five minutes or less.Although this exercise has several steps, it is not at all difficult and should quickly give you anidea of how easy to use and powerful Dr.Rex is.

1. Start with an empty rack. Create an instance of the reMix mixer by selecting Mixer 14:2from the Create menu (see Figure B.2).

2. Create three instances of Dr.Rex, one after the other (see Figure B.3).

3. Open the Rex File Browser of the top Dr.Rex by clicking the folder icon. Browse to ReasonFactory Sound Bank > Dr Rex Instrument Loops > Various Hip Hop Loops. Select the firstRex file, which is Hhp_Basstarr_093_Chronic.rx2 (see Figure B.4), then click OK in the lower-right corner of the Rex File Browser.

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Figure B.1With Dr.Rex, it is quick and easy to do some great-sounding things with your Rex loops.

Figure B.2Create an instance of reMix, which

is listed as Mixer 14:2 in the Create

menu.

3

Getting into Dr.Rex

Figure B.3Create three instances of Dr.Rex.


4. Open the Rex File Browser of the middle Dr.Rex by clicking the folder icon. Browse toReason Factory Sound Bank > Dr Rex Drum Loops > Hip Hop. Select the Rex file namedHhp18_Furios_093_Chronic.rx2, then click OK in the lower-right corner of the Rex FileBrowser.

5. Open the Rex File Browser of the bottom Dr.Rex by clicking the folder icon. Browse toReason Factory Sound Bank > Dr Rex Instrument Loops > Scratch Loops. Select the Rex filenamed Scratch_Sine1_085_MajicM.rx2, then click OK in the lower-right corner of the RexFile Browser. (I am noticing some rather suggestive file names in these Rex file folders!)

6. Select the Dr.REX 1 track in Reason Sequencer by clicking on it once. Set your Left markerat bar 1 and your Right marker at bar 13 (see Figure B.5).

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Figure B.4Select the Rex file named Hhp_Furious_093_Chronic.rx2 from the Rex File Browser.

Getting into Dr.Rex

7. On the top Dr.Rex, click on the To Track button. The MIDI notes controlling each slice ofthe loop will be pasted on the Sequencer track, spanning the bars between the Left andRight markers (see Figure B.6).

8. Select the Dr.REX 2 track in the Reason Sequencer by clicking on it once. Set your Leftmarker at bar 5 and leave the Right marker at bar 13.

9. On the middle Dr.Rex, click on the To Track button. Again, the MIDI notes corresponding toeach slice in the loop will be pasted on the Sequencer track, spanning the distancebetween the Left and Right markers.

10. Select the Dr.REX 3 track in the Reason Sequencer by clicking on it once. Set the Left markerat bar 9 and leave the Right marker at bar 13.

11. On the bottom (third) Dr.Rex, turn the Amp Envelope Level slider down to 70 and then clickon the To Track button.

12. On the Reason Sequencer, turn the tempo down to 105 and set the Left marker to bar 5.Press the Play button on the Reason Transport and listen to what you’ve got (see Figure B.7).

5

Figure B.5Set your Left marker at bar 1 and

your Right marker at bar 13.

Figure B.6The MIDI notes controlling each

slice of the Rex loop have been

copied to the Sequencer track.


I have saved this as a Reason song file called 5 Minutes in the Dr.Rex In Action folder on your CD-ROM.

Now do I have your attention? Dr.Rex can really make music production a modular process, plugging in a guitar part here and a bass part there, quickly culminating in a complete song.

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Figure B.7This Dr.Rex exercise will be delivered in five minutes or less, or your pizza is free!

Getting into Dr.Rex

Your Reason Factory Sound Bank includes plenty of acoustic, electric, and wah-wah guitar Rexloops, as well as keyboard parts and tons of drumbeats.

Look at the little song you just made in the previous exercise. Notice that at the top of eachDr.Rex waveform display, the original loop tempo of the Rex file is listed in beats per minute(bpm). The first two loops have original loop tempos of 93 bpm, while the third has an originalloop tempo of 85 bpm. Yet they are all playing back in perfect sync with each other at your speci-fied song tempo of 105 bpm! See how easy this is? You can grab musical puzzle pieces out of theRex loops box, and Dr.Rex makes them fit! And if you find that the rhythmic content fits perfectlybut some of the loops are in the wrong key, you can easily fix that by adjusting the pitch of theoverall loop or of an individual slice that may be causing a harmonic clash.

Now that you’ve got a feel of what Dr.Rex can do, I will start breaking down its individual func-tions, stopping along the way to try things out when necessary.

Waveform DisplayOnce a Rex loop has been loaded into Dr.Rex, its individual slices are shown on the waveform display (see Figure B.8). In addition to showing the sliced-up waveform of the Rex loop, the waveform display shows the Rex loop’s original tempo, as well as which slice is currently selectedfor editing. It also shows the pitch, pan, volume level, and decay settings for the currently selected slice. Finally, the keyboard display in the lower-left corner of the waveform displayshows the current global Transpose setting for the entire Rex loop.

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I’M A DOCTOR, NOT A MAGICIAN!The ease with which Dr.Rex adapts loop tempo and pitch to the tempo and pitch of the Reason song

is certainly one of the great advantages of working with Dr.Rex and with Rex loops in general. These

changes usually can be made in a way that sounds quite natural and with relatively few noticeable

audio artifacts. However, you will find there are limits to what the good Doctor can do. Wild tempo

adjustments, such as taking a 180 bpm loop and dropping it down to 60 bpm, are likely to sound pretty

bad, and you will hear the spaces between the slices.

Extreme tempo and pitch adjustments may sound especially unnatural in instrument loops and, of

course, will be most obviously strange when applied to vocal loops. Depending on what style of music

you are working on, some of these weird sounds may be to your liking; but if a natural sound is what

you are looking for, extreme variations from the original Rex loop tempo and pitch are to be avoided.


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Figure B.8Dr.Rex’s waveform display.

Auditioning Loops with PreviewTo hear the Rex loop that is currently loaded into Dr.Rex, click the Preview button located abovethe waveform display (see Figure B.9). The loop will continue to play until you click the Previewbutton again. You can also preview the currently loaded Rex loop by playing the D0 key on yourMIDI keyboard. When you preview in this manner, the loop will only play once. With eithermethod, the loop will play back at the song tempo set in the Reason Transport Panel rather thanthe loop’s original tempo.

You can also audition loops before you load them into Dr.Rex. This is done with the Rex FileBrowser, which is opened by clicking on the Browse Loop button (the one with the familiar foldericon) in the upper left of Dr.Rex (see Figure B.10). Note that when the Preview button is engaged,if you open the Rex File Browser and audition a loop within the Browser, Autoplay will be auto-matically (irrevocably) engaged, the currently loaded loop will stop playing, and the loop youselect in the Rex File Browser will begin playing in sync with your track at the Reason song temporather than at its original tempo. However, if the Preview button is not engaged, loops will audi-tion at their original tempo within the Rex File Browser, rather than the song tempo.

Auditioning loops in the Rex File Browser using the synchronized Preview function while yourtrack plays is extremely useful. You can quickly and easily hear which loops fit best in your song.Let’s give it a spin. I have a feeling once you have tried this out, you will be using the featurequite a bit in your music production.

1. Start with an empty rack. Create an instance of the reMix mixer by selecting Mixer 14:2from the Create menu, and then create two instances of Dr.Rex below it (see Figure B.11).

2. Open the Rex File Browser by clicking on the Browse Loop button of the top Dr.Rex.

Figure B.9Click the Preview button to audition the currently loaded Rex loop.

Getting into Dr.Rex

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Figure B.10Click the Browse Loop button

to open the Rex File Browser.

Figure B.11A reMix and two instances of Dr.Rex have been added to the Reason rack.


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3. Browse to Reason Factory Sound Bank > Dr Rex Instrument Loops > Various Hip Hop Loopsand click only once on the file named Hhp_GtrMinor_092_Chronic.rx2. If there is a checkmark next to Autoplay, you will hear the loop play once (see Figure B.12). The 092 in the filename refers, of course, to the original tempo. Even though your song tempo is 120, you hearthe loop audition at its original slower tempo of 92. Click OK to load the loop into Dr.Rex.

4. Set your song tempo to 92 in the Reason Transport Panel (see Figure B.13).

5. Make sure the top Reason Sequencer track is selected and click the To Track button on thetop Dr.Rex. The loop should appear between the Left and Right markers on the top ReasonSequencer track (see Figure B.14). Press Play on the Reason Transport Panel.

6. This is a pretty noisy loop, so on the top Dr.Rex, turn the Filter Frequency slider down to97 and turn the Amp Envelope Level slider down to 80.

7. Click the Preview button on the bottom Dr. Rex so that it lights up, then click the BrowseLoop button on the bottom Dr. Rex to open the Rex File Browser. The guitar loop on thetop Dr. Rex should still be playing.

8. Browse to Reason Factory Sound Bank > Dr Rex Drum Loops > Abstract HipHop.

Figure B.12With Autoplay selected (which it is, by default),

you need only click once on a Rex file to hear it auditioned .

Figure B.13Set the song tempo to 92 in

the Reason Transport Panel.

Figure B.14When you click the To Track

button, the MIDI information that

will trigger the Rex loop is copied

to the corresponding Reason

Sequencer track.

Getting into Dr.Rex

9. Notice that Autoplay is selected and grayed-out (see Figure B.15). Now, one at a time, startclicking once on each file in the Abstract HipHop folder. Notice that all the loops play backin perfect sync with your 92 bpm guitar loop, regardless of their original tempo. Some ofthem fit better than others, but now do you see how easy it is to find the right one? Whenyou find the one you like, just click OK to select it.

To Track: Copying Rex Loops to the SequencerThe only way to actually hear your loop play automatically in your song when you press Play onthe Reason Transport Panel is to copy the Rex loop to the corresponding Reason Sequencer track.The easiest way to do this is to click the To Track button located above the waveform display (seeFigure B.16). Then the MIDI notes corresponding to each slice in the loop will be pasted on theSequencer track assigned to Dr.Rex. If you wish, instead of using the To Track button, you couldinstead select Copy REX Loop to Track from the Edit menu or from the pop-up menu that appearswhen you right-click (Ctrl-click, Mac) on Dr.Rex. Whichever method you choose, if you have acci-dentally selected the wrong Sequencer track (one that is not routed to the instance of Dr.Rex youare using), you will receive a warning message alerting you of this (see Figure B.17). It is importantto note that once you have copied your loop to a Sequencer track, if you subsequently load a different loop into the same Dr.Rex, it will not play back properly with your sequence because the information copied to your Sequencer track only applied to the loop loaded at the time youclicked To Track, and it will not match perfectly with the newly loaded loop. You may come upwith some novel rhythms this way, however.

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Figure B.15When Dr.Rex’s Preview

button is engaged,

Autoplay is automati-

cally activated in the

Rex File Browser, and

loops in the Browser

will play in sync with

the Reason song.

Figure B.16Clicking the To Track button copies the MIDI information required

for playing your Rex loop to a track on the Reason Sequencer.


Global Pitch ControlsThe following controls are global, meaning that they affect the entire Rex loop (as opposed to onlyaffecting an individually selected slice from the loop).

TransposeDr.Rex allows you to transpose a Rex loop by up to 12 semitones up or down. This can be doneeither with the Transpose knob or by clicking directly on the keyboard display (see Figure B.18).Either way, the root key will be highlighted on the keyboard display. Note that just because aloop’s root key is C does not necessarily mean that its pitch is actually C.

Oscillator Pitch ControlsAside from its LFO (low-frequency oscillator), Dr.Rex does not really have an oscillator in the traditional sense, but the sound generator (which is the loop player) is being considered as theoscillator. The following three Oscillator Pitch controls affect the entire Rex loop (see Figure B.19).

■ Octave—Adjusts the overall pitch of the Rex loop in octave increments, by up to fouroctaves up or down.

■ Fine—Used to fine-tune the pitch of the entire Rex loop by up to 50 cents up or down.

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Figure B.17If you try to send your Rex loop to the wrong Sequencer track, Reason will tell you about it!

Figure B.18To transpose your Rex loop by semitones, use the

Transpose knob or click directly on the keyboard display.

Figure B.19Dr.Rex’s global Oscillator Pitch controls.

Getting into Dr.Rex

■ Envelope Amount—This bipolar control determines to what extent the pitch of the Rexloop will be affected by the Filter Envelope. Positive settings (knob turned right of center)will result in the Filter Envelope raising the pitch of the Rex loop, while negative settingswill cause the pitch of the Rex loop to be lowered by the Filter Envelope.

Selecting and Editing SlicesSlices can be selected for editing in three ways. The first way is to use the Slice knob locatedunder the waveform display (see Figure B.20). Using your mouse to drag this knob to the left orright will scroll back and forth through the individual slices in the Rex loop. Alternatively, youmay click directly on a specific slice in the waveform display to select it. Finally, you can activatethe Select Slice via MIDI button located above the waveform display, and the slice will be selectedwhen you play its corresponding key on your MIDI keyboard (see Figure B.21). This is very usefulwhen editing slices, since you will hear the selected slice each time you play that key on your MIDIkeyboard, and you can keep playing it as you make your changes (to pitch, pan, level, or decay).

Besides using Select Slice via MIDI and playing the slices on your MIDI keyboard, there is anotherway to hear and identify each slice in the loop. You can hold down the Alt key (Windows) orOption key (Mac) and click directly on any individual slice on the waveform display. The cursorwill turn into a little speaker, and you will be able to hear each individual slice (see Figure B.22).

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Figure B.20Use the Slice knob to select a specific slice, or click

directly on the desired slice in the waveform display.

Figure B.21When Select Slice via MIDI is activated, a slice will be selected when

you play its corresponding key on your MIDI keyboard.

Figure B.22To hear an individual slice, hold down the Alt key (Windows) or

Option key (Mac) and click directly on the slice in the waveform display.


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The following four controls (located under the waveform display) only affect the currently selectedslice, not the entire loop (see Figure B.23).

■ Pitch—Used to tune the pitch of the currently selected slice by up to 50 semitones up ordown. That is a range of over eight octaves.

■ Pan—Controls the position of the selected slice in the stereo image. The default value ofzero sets the pan in the center. Negative values move the pan toward the left channel, andpositive values set the pan to the right.

■ Level—Sets the volume level of the selected slice.

■ Decay—Used to shorten the decay (duration) of an individual slice. The default setting of127 means the selected slice will play in its entirety.

Let’s play with some of these parameters.

1. Start with an empty rack, and then create an instance of Dr.Rex. You can add reMix or theLine mixer before adding Dr.Rex, if you like (in case you want to add more instrumentslater). Otherwise, it’s fine just to connect Dr.Rex directly to the Reason hardware interface.

2. Open the Rex File Browser by clicking the folder icon. Browse to Reason Factory SoundBank > Dr Rex Instrument Loops > Guitar Loops > Telecaster Rhythm 085 bpm. Select theRex file named ElGt_DiscoUp_D7_085.rx2 (see Figure B.24). Then click OK in the lower rightcorner of the Rex File Browser.

3. Hold down the Alt key (Windows) or Option key (Mac) and drag your mouse across thewaveform display while also holding down your left mouse button. The cursor should turninto a little speaker, and you should be able to hear each individual slice. Rather thandragging the mouse, you can also click on each individual slice while holding down the Altkey (Option key, Mac).

4. Click the Preview button located above the waveform display. You will hear the Rex loopplaying.

5. Practice with the global Oscillator Pitch controls. Above the waveform display, try turningthe Octave knob one tick right of center, and then one tick left of center. You will hear thewhole loop change pitch, though it will not sound very natural. Also try the Fine knob andthe Envelope Amount knob. The Envelope Amount knob will produce a wacky effectbecause the Filter Envelope will be affecting the pitch of the loop. When you are done,return these three knobs to their center positions.

Figure B.23These four controls are used to edit parameters for the

selected slice, but not for the whole Rex loop.

Getting into Dr.Rex

6. In the waveform display, click on the last slice, which will be displayed as Slice 11 (seeFigure B.25). You may also want to practice scrolling with the Slice knob to select Slice 11.

7. With Slice 11 selected and the loop playing, turn the Pitch knob to the left so it is set at a value of –2. This should sound quite natural, as though you asked the guitarist on thesession to play a different chord!

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Figure B.24Select the Rex file

named

ElGt_DiscoUp_D7_085.rx2

from the Rex File

Browser.

Figure B.25Click on Slice 11, which is the last

slice on the right of the waveform display.


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8. Select Slice 1 by clicking on it. It is the first large slice on the left. Set the Pan knob to avalue of –25.

9. Use the Slice knob to select Slice 5. Set the Pan knob to a value of 25. Then select Slice 6and also set its Pan to a value of 25.

10. Select Slice 7 and set the Pan knob to a value of –25.

11. Select Slice 11 (the last slice) and set the Pan knob to a value of 25.

This setup is saved as Stereo Funk Gtr in the Dr.Rex In Action folder on your CD-ROM. I clicked theTo Track button before saving the Reason song file so that you could hit Play on the ReasonSequencer instead of the Preview button to hear the loop in the example.

Before moving on, you may want to experiment (while the loop is playing) with the Transposefunction, which is global (it affects the whole loop). You can either use the Transpose knob orclick directly on the keyboard in the lower left of the waveform display. Of course, the loopsounds best close to its original key. For fun, you can turn off Preview so that the loop stops play-ing, and then play the slices on your MIDI keyboard. They are mapped chromatically in ascendingorder starting on C1. Once you get the rhythm, you can fire your guitarist. (Just kidding.)

Filter SectionDr.Rex has a single filter, which includes five filter modes (see Figure B.26). This is very similar tothe filters found in other Reason instruments with which you are already acquainted. Dr.Rex’sFilter section has the following controls.

CANNOT SAVE PATCH OR INITIALIZE DEVICEIf you are looking in the area of Dr.Rex’s Browse Loop button and its accompanying display window,

you may be thinking, “Hey, Dr.Rex is not anatomically correct, and seems to be missing an important

part!” It is indeed missing the Save Patch button that is present on all the other Reason instruments.

Any Dr.Rex information, including which loop is loaded, filter settings, pitch, and the whole shebang

will be saved in your Reason song file. You can use Copy Device from the Edit menu to copy an

instance of Dr.Rex from one song, and then use Paste Device to paste it into another song, as we will

find out in the “Mixing and Matching Dr.Rex” section near the end of this chapter. You could also

choose to combine an instance of Dr.Rex and then save it as a Combinator patch.

On a related note, there is also no Initialize Patch function available for Dr.Rex. If you want to start

fresh, it’s easier just to load another instance of Dr.Rex into your song. You can still Ctrl-click on

most of the Dr.Rex controls, and they will snap back to their default positions. I understand why the

Save Patch function was left out of the device, but I must admit it would be a little more convenient

if Propellerheads would include an Initialize Patch function for Dr.Rex.

Getting into Dr.Rex

■ Freq—The Filter Frequency slider (also known as the cutoff filter) specifies where in theaudio frequency spectrum the filter’s effect will be focused. It determines the cutoff fre-quency. The cutoff frequency (in the case of a High Pass or Low Pass filter) is the frequencyat which the filter begins to take effect. In a High Pass filter, the cutoff frequency will bethe frequency at which the filter begins cutting off (or filtering out) low frequencies, whileallowing high frequencies to pass through. In the case of a Notch or Band Pass filter, thevalue of the Filter Frequency slider sets the frequency at which the filter has the greatesteffect, even though the filter will still be affecting a range of frequencies immediatelyabove and below the cutoff frequency.

■ Res—The Resonance slider is used to emphasize the frequencies specified by the FilterFrequency slider when using High Pass and Low Pass filters. In the case of the Band Passand Notch filters, the Resonance slider determines the bandwidth. High Resonance settingswill result in a narrower bandwidth (fewer frequencies above and below the cutoff frequency are affected), and low Resonance settings will result in a wider bandwidth (more frequencies above and below the cutoff frequency are affected).

■ Mode—The Filter Mode button selects from among the following five filters:

• Notch—The Notch filter rejects mid-frequencies (determined by the Freq slider) andallows frequencies above and below that “notch” to pass through. The specific frequencyat which the Notch filter’s affect is concentrated is determined by the Filter Frequencyslider, and the size (or bandwidth) of the Notch is determined by the value of theResonance slider.

• HP 12—The 12-Decibel High Pass filter allows high frequencies to pass through, but attenu-ates (by 12 decibels per octave) frequencies below the frequency determined by the FilterFrequency (or cutoff filter) slider.

• BP 12—The Band Pass filter is the opposite of the Notch filter. While the Notch filterselects a band (or group of frequencies) to filter out while allowing all other frequenciesto pass through, the Band Pass filter selects a band (or group of frequencies) to passthrough, while filtering out (attenuating by 12 decibels per octave) frequencies above andbelow that band. As with the Notch filter, the specific frequency at which the Band Passfilter’s affect is concentrated is determined by the value of the Filter Frequency slider,while the size of the frequency band (or bandwidth) is determined by the value of theResonance slider.

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Figure B.26The Filter ection of Dr.Rex.


• LP 12—The 12-Decibel Low Pass filter allows low frequencies to pass through, but filtershigh frequencies with a roll-off curve of 12 decibels per octave.

• LP 24—The 24-Decibel Low Pass filter allows low frequencies to pass through, but filtershigh frequencies with a more extreme roll-off curve of 24 decibels per octave.

Dr.Rex EnvelopesDr.Rex has one Filter Envelope and one Amp Envelope, both of which are described below (seeFigure B.27).

■ Filter Envelope—The Filter Envelope features standard ADSR sliders (Attack, Decay,Sustain, and Release), as well as a Filter Envelope Amount knob.

■ Amp Envelope—Dr.Rex’s Amp Envelope also features standard ADSR sliders, as well as aMaster Level slider that controls the overall volume level for Dr.Rex. For more informationon ADSR envelopes, please refer to Chapter 1, “The Subtractor.”

Let’s have some fun with the Filter Envelope.

1. Start with an empty rack and then create an instance of Dr.Rex. You can add reMix or aLine mixer before adding Dr.Rex if you like.

2. Open the Rex File Browser by clicking the folder icon. Browse to Reason Factory SoundBank > Dr Rex Instrument Loops > Guitar Loops > Telecaster Rhythm 085 bpm. Select theRex file named ElGt_Up_D7_085.rx2, then click OK in the lower-right corner of the Rex File Browser.

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Figure B.27The Envelope section of Dr.Rex.

Getting into Dr.Rex

3. Below the Reason Sequencer (in the Transport Panel), set the tempo to 85 (see Figure B.28).Then click the Preview button above Dr.Rex’s waveform display to hear the loop. The funkcontinues.

4. Set the Filter Frequency slider to 14 and the Resonance slider to 87. Set the Filter Mode toBP 12 (12-dB Band Pass filter).

5. Set the Filter Envelope Amount slider to 79. Set the Filter Envelope so that Attack = 24,Decay = 70, Sustain = zero, and Release = 64 (see Figure B.29). Now it should sound like theguitar is being played through a classic Envelope Filter pedal (also known as Auto-wah).

I have saved this exercise in the Dr.Rex In Action folder under the name Funk Filter Gtr.

LFODr.Rex has one LFO (low-frequency oscillator), which can be used to modulate the overall pitch of the Rex loop, the Filter cutoff frequency, or the pan (stereo position) of the Rex loop (see Figure B.30). The LFO has the following controls:

■ Sync—When this is activated, the rate of the LFO is automatically synchronized to yourReason song.

■ Rate—When Sync is not active, this sets the speed of the LFO at any value between zeroand 127. When Sync is active, the Rate knob values are note/time divisions, ranging from1/64 to 1/32.

■ Amount—The LFO Amount knob sets the amount (or depth) of LFO that will be applied.

■ Destination (Dest)—The LFO Dest button selects what will be modulated by the LFO. Thedestination choices are as follows: Osc (oscillator pitch is modulated), Filter (Filter cutofffrequency is modulated), and Pan.

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Figure B.28Set your Reason song tempo to 85.

Figure B.29Set the Filter and the Filter Envelope to create an Auto-wah effect.


■ Waveform Selector—Selects between the following six waveforms:

• Triangle—With each cycle, the amplitude of the Triangle wave rises gradually as itapproaches its maximum (the peak of the triangle), and then falls gradually at the samerate and to the same degree, making it ideal for vibrato and smooth tremolo effects.

• Inverse Sawtooth—The Inverse Sawtooth “ramps up,” just like the picture.

• Sawtooth—The Sawtooth wave starts at the maximum amplitude and then “ramps down.”

• Square—Unlike the smooth undulation of the Triangle wave, the Square wave alternatessharply between two values.

• Random—Produces a series of random steps.

• Soft Random—Same as Random, but with smooth transitions between the steps.

The following exercises demonstrate how useful (and fun) Dr.Rex’s LFO can be.

1. Start with an empty rack, and then create a Dr.Rex instance. You can add reMix or a Linemixer before adding Dr.Rex if you like.

2. Open the Rex File Browser by clicking the folder icon. Browse to Reason Factory SoundBank > Dr Rex Drum Loops > Chemical Beats and select the Rex file namedChm19_Funkiest_130_eLAB.rx2. Then click OK in the lower-right corner of the Rex File Browser.

3. Click the Preview button to hear the loop.

4. Set the Filter Frequency slider to 74 and the Resonance slider to 99, then set the FilterMode to BP 12 (12-dB Bandpass filter).

5. Click the LFO Sync button so it lights up red. Select the Random waveform (second from the bottom).

6. Set the LFO Destination to Filter (see Figure B.31). Then set the LFO Rate to 1/8, and the LFOAmount to 37 (see Figure B.32).

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Figure B.30Dr.Rex has one LFO, which is capable of producing six waveforms.

Getting into Dr.Rex

This exercise is saved as Step Filter LFO Drums in the Dr.Rex In Action folder. Now, start fromwhere you left off in the previous exercise and follow these steps:

1. Turn the LFO Rate knob all the way to the left and turn the LFO Amount knob up to 65(about 12 o’clock).

2. Set the LFO waveform to Triangle (the topmost waveform).

3. Change the Filter Mode to HP 12 (12-dB High Pass filter).

4. Set the Filter Frequency slider at 58 and set the Resonance slider at 77 (see Figure B.33).

I have saved this as Filter Sweep LFO Drums in the Dr.Rex In Action folder.

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Figure B.31Set the LFO Destination to Filter.

Figure B.32Set the LFO Rate to 1/8, and the LFO Amount to 37, and now

a synced Random Step filter is applied to your drum loop.

Figure B.33A nice, slow High Pass filter sweep has been applied to the drum loop.


Before moving out of the Envelope section, let’s take a quick look at the Amp Envelope.

1. Start with a fresh Dr.Rex instance. Open the Rex File Browser by clicking the folder icon.Browse to Reason Factory Sound Bank > Dr Rex Drum Loops > Acoustic > Hip Hop. Open the Rex file named Ahp07_Live_089_Chronic.rx2.

2. Click the Preview button so you can hear the loop.

3. While the loop is playing, turn the Amp Envelope Decay slider down to about 36. Hearthose drums tighten up! (See Figure B.34.)

PolyphonyThe Polyphony setting determines how many voices can be played simultaneously (see Figure B.35).Although it may not be obvious, a bit of polyphony is often required for Rex loops to play backsmoothly. Often this is because at least one slice is still finishing its decay cycle even after thenext slice has been triggered. Keep in mind that you can set the polyphony as high as you want,and it will not use any extra CPU or RAM while it’s just sitting there. Only when you actually usethose voices by playing several keys at the same time will this setting affect your system’s performance in any way. With Dr.Rex, I always leave this at the default setting (6 voices).

Sound QualityThe sound quality, or sonic fidelity, of your Rex loops will be affected by the following two Dr.Rexsettings (see Figure B.36).

22

Figure B.34Turn the Amp Envelope Decay slider down to

36 to hear the drums tighten up.

Figure B.35Dr.Rex’s Polyphony control.

Figure B.36For maximum sound quality, turn High Quality

Interpolation on and leave Low Bandwidth off.

Getting into Dr.Rex

■ High Quality Interpolation—When High Quality Interpolation is activated, a moreadvanced interpolation algorithm is used to calculate the loop playback. This uses a fewmore CPU cycles (it puts a little extra load on your computer), but improves audio quality,especially when using samples containing a lot of high-frequency content. This differencemay become more apparent when changing the pitch of the Rex loop. I always engage thisfeature on my own tracks, although in some cases, it is hard to hear the difference.

■ Low BW—The Low Bandwidth button is designed to save you a few CPU cycles at thenoticeable expense of a little sound quality. Although I generally steer clear of this button,it can add a “lo-fi” element to a drum loop that you may like in certain cases, though usuallyit just makes things sound plain worse!

VelocityThere are three Dr.Rex parameters that can be affected by velocity. These parameters are bipolar,so each control knob setting determines the extent to which the parameter is positively or nega-tively affected by velocity (see Figure B.37).

■ Filter Envelope Amount—Turning this knob to the right results in higher Filter EnvelopeAmount values the harder you play. Turning it to the left results in lower Filter EnvelopeAmount values the harder you play.

■ Filter Envelope Decay—Turning this knob to the right means that the harder you play, thelonger the Filter Envelope Decay will be. Turning it to the left means that the harder youplay, the shorter the Filter Envelope Decay will be.

■ Amp Level—This allows velocity to control the output volume of Dr.Rex. When turned off(knob at 12 o’clock), every note (slice) plays at the same volume, no matter how hard youstrike the keyboard. Turning the knob to the right of center means the harder you play, the louder it sounds. Turning it to the left of center will result in the opposite, with highvelocities producing quieter sounds.

Pitch Bend Wheel and Modulation WheelThe Pitch Bend wheel (see Figure B.38) corresponds to the pitch bend on your MIDI keyboard, or itcan be controlled with your mouse or with automation in the Reason Sequencer. Above the PitchBend wheel is the Pitch Bend Range control, with which you can select a bend range of up to+/–24 steps (two octaves).

23

Figure B.37The Velocity section of Dr.Rex.


24

Figure B.38Dr.Rex’s Pitch Bend wheel and Pitch Bend Range control.

The Modulation wheel (see Figure B.39) can be routed to control the following three Dr.Rexparameters:

■ Filter Frequency—Modulates the cutoff frequency of Dr.Rex’s Filter.

■ Filter Resonance—Modulates the Resonance value of the Dr.Rex’s Filter.

■ Filter Decay—Modulates the Decay portion of the Filter Envelope.

The following exercise makes use of both Velocity routing and Modulation wheel routing.

1. Start with a fresh Dr.Rex instance. Open the Rex File Browser by clicking the folder icon.Browse to Reason Factory Sound Bank > Dr Rex Drum Loops > Drum N Bass. Open the Rexfile named Drb11_GeeRider_160_eLAB.rx2.

2. Set the Song Tempo in the Reason Transport Panel to 165 bpm.

3. Move the right locater in the Reason Sequencer to bar 5 and click the To Track button onDr.Rex. Now press Play on the Reason Transport Panel to hear the loop.

4. Set the Filter mode to BP 12 (12-dB Band Pass). Set the Filter Frequency slider to 26 and theResonance slider to 83. Then raise the Filter Envelope Decay slider all the way up to thetop (see Figure B.40).

5. In the Velocity section of Dr.Rex, turn the Filter Envelope knob all the way to the right (see Figure B.41).

6. Click the Switch to Edit Mode button in the upper-left corner of the Reason Sequencer (seeFigure B.42). This will open up the Rex Lane Editor and Velocity Lane Editor underneath it.

Figure B.39Dr. Rex’s Modulation wheel and associated routing controls.

Getting into Dr.Rex

7. In the lower-left, click on the left magnifying glass icon to increase the horizontal zoom inthe Reason Sequencer so that you can see each individual Velocity value. They will all beset at the same default value of 64 (see Figure B.43).

8. Use the Pencil tool to randomly change the individual Velocity values (see Figure B.44). You will immediately hear the effect as the different Velocity values modulate the FilterEnvelope Amount.

25

Figure B.40Set Filter mode to BP 12, Filter Freq to 26, Resonance

to 83, and turn Filter Envelope Decay all the way up.

Figure B.41Turn the Filter Envelope Velocity Amount knob all the way up.

Figure B.42Click on the Switch to Edit Mode button to open up

the Rex Lane Editor and Velocity Lane Editor.

Figure B.43Click on the left magnifying glass

icon to increase the horizontal

zoom in the Reason Sequencer

so that you can see each

individual Velocity value.


9. In the Modulation wheel routing section of Dr. Rex, set the Filter Frequency knob to 12o’clock and the Decay knob to a value of –48 (almost all the way to the left).

10. Using your mouse or the Mod wheel on your MIDI keyboard, slowly move the Mod wheel tohear the effect of the Filter Envelope closing more quickly as the Filter Envelope Decay isdecreased in response to the Modulation wheel (see Figure B.45).

Figure B.44Use the Pencil tool to

change the individual

Velocity values.

Figure B.45Dr.Rex should look like this when you are done with your Velocity Filter exercise.

26

Dr.Rex in Surgery: Removal of Unwanted Slices

I have saved this exercise with the name Velocity Filter in the Dr.Rex In Action folder on your CD-ROM.

Rear PanelDr.Rex’s rear panel has the following features, from right to left (see Figure B.46).

■ Audio Outputs—The main audio outputs of Dr.Rex.

■ Gate Inputs—These inputs allow you to trigger the Amp Envelope and Filter Envelope withCV signals. Connecting these inputs will override the normal triggering of the envelopes(from playing your keyboard or MIDI sequence).

■ Modulation Outputs—These outputs allow you to modulate parameters of another device(or certain parameters of Dr.Rex) with control voltage signals from Dr.Rex’s Filter Envelopeor from its LFO.

■ Modulation Inputs—These inputs allow you to control the following five Dr.Rex parameterswith control voltage signals: Osc (sample) Pitch, Filter Cutoff, Filter Resonance, Amp Level,and Mod Wheel. Each of these five control voltage inputs has a voltage trim knob to boostor attenuate the incoming CV signal.

■ Slice Gate Output—Outputs a gate signal for each triggered slices in the Rex loop. This out-put could be used to trigger the Amp Envelope or Filter Envelope of another Reason device.

■ Sample Memory Display—This display tells you how many megabytes of RAM (RandomAccess Memory) the current Rex loop is taking up.

Dr.Rex in Surgery: Removal of Unwanted SlicesAs you use Dr.Rex in your Reason projects, no doubt you will find many creative ways of rese-quencing the Rex loops. One of the easiest and most useful ways to add variety and life to yourRex loops (especially drum loops) is by removing specific slices from the loop using the ReasonSequencer.

27

Figure B.46The rear panel of

Dr.Rex.

1. Start with an empty rack. Create an instance of the reMix mixer by selecting Mixer 14:2from the Create menu, and then create an instance of Dr.Rex below that.

2. Click the Browse Loop button on Dr.Rex. Browse to Reason Factory Sound Bank > Dr.RexDrum Loops > Acoustic > Hip Hop and load Ahp02_Live_078_Chronic.rx2.

3. This loop has a bit more sizzle than I am in the mood for at the moment, so please turn theFilter Frequency slider down to a value of 99. Then, in the Reason Transport Panel, turnthe Tempo down to 85.

4. Click on the left magnifying glass icon to increase the horizontal zoom in the ReasonSequencer so that you can see the 1/4 note markers on each bar (see Figure B.47).

5. Move the right locator to bar 3, and then click the To Track button on Dr.Rex. 6. The loopis automatically grouped (it’s a solid color instead of just a bunch of little free-floatingMIDI note marks). Use the Pencil tool to split it into two groups at bar 2 (see Figure B.48).Switch back to the Selection tool (looks like a cursor arrow); click on the group on theright and drag it to the right two bars so that it starts on bar 4 (see Figure B.49).

6. Double-click on the group at bar 4. This will open up the blue Rex Lane Editor and the red-dish Velocity Lane Editor below that (see Figure B.50).


28

Figure B.47Click on the left magnifying glass icon to increase the horizontal zoom.

Figure B.48Use the Pencil tool to split one group into two.

Figure B.49Drag the group to the right two bars

so that it starts on bar 4.

Dr.Rex in Surgery: Removal of Unwanted Slices

7. Drag the top of the Sequencer window up and use the scroll bar as necessary so you cansee all the active slices. Then click the left magnifying glass until you have increased thehorizontal zoom to the point that the active slices fill up the whole window (see Figure B.51).

8. Use the Erase tool to delete alternating slices so that the pattern looks exactly like FigureB.52. Slices 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, and 28 should be erased.

29

Figure B.50The Rex Lane Editor

above and the

Velocity Lane Editor

below.

Figure B.51Click on the left mag-

nifying glass icon

until you have

increased the

horizontal zoom to

the point that the

active slices fill up

the whole Rex Lane

Editor window.


9. Click the Switch to Edit Mode button, then drag the first group over to the right so that itstarts on bar 3 (see Figure B.53).

10. Click the To Track button on Dr.Rex, then move the right locator to bar 5 (see Figure B.54).Press Play on the Reason Transport Panel to hear what you’ve got. This example is savedunder the name Surgical Slice in the Dr.Rex In Action folder on your CD-ROM.

30

Figure B.52Use the Erase tool to

delete alternating

slices so that the

pattern looks exactly

like the one in the

figure. Slices 17, 19,

21, 23, 25, and 27

should be erased.

Figure B.53Drag the first group over to the

right so that it starts on bar 3.

Alter NotesA really cool and easy trick you can do with Rex loops is to use the Alter Notes feature of theReason Sequencer to mix up your loop. The Change Events dialog box has a feature called AlterNotes that allows you to randomize (to a specified percentage) the pitch, length, and velocity of aselected group of MIDI notes. It will only work with values that already exist within the selection,so it will not add any new notes or new velocities. It merely shuffles the existing values. In thecase of most Rex loops, the velocities are all the same by default, so no shuffling of velocity willoccur. Note length, and more noticeably, note pitch will be shuffled. This is easy to do, so let’sjust do it!

1. Start with a fresh Dr.Rex instance. Open the Rex File Browser by clicking the folder icon.Browse to Reason Factory Sound Bank > Dr Rex Drum Loops > Drum N Bass. Open the Rexfile named Drb06_FullCycle_165_eLAB.rx2.

2. Set the Song Tempo in the Reason Transport Panel to 165 bpm.

3. Move the right locater to bar 5 and click the To Track button on Dr.Rex. Now press Play onthe Reason Transport Panel to hear the loop.

4. Right-click (Ctrl-click, Mac) on the grouped MIDI information and select Change Events fromthe pop-up menu (see Figure B.55).

5. The Alter Notes section at the bottom of the Change Events window has a default random-ization percentage of 40%. This is fine. Click the Alter Notes Apply button and listen to howthe loop changes. Keep pressing the Apply button every so often to hear the change.Experiment with turning up the randomization percentage if you like (see Figure B.56).

As you can see, Alter Notes can be very useful for adding variety to Rex files and for creating fillsand transitions to your beats.

31

Alter Notes

Figure B.54Move the right locator to bar 5, and

press Play to hear what you’ve got.


Mixing and Matching Dr.RexAs I noted previously in this chapter, Dr.Rex does not have an internal mechanism with which tosave patches. Perhaps this is because the designers thought the Dr.Rex settings would be so specificto the song in which they were used; and because there are already scads of Rex files includedwith Reason, separate Dr.Rex patches would be superfluous. However, as you produce songs inReason, you will probably come up with some pretty sweet Dr.Rex setups. These setups will be

32

Figure B.55Right-click (Ctrl-click, Mac) on the grouped MIDI

information and select Change Events from the pop-up menu.

Figure B.56Use Alter Notes to add variety to your Rex loops.

Mixing and Matching Dr.Rex

saved with the Reason song files. If you are working on a song and realize that one of your othersongs has a great Dr.Rex setup that you think would fit perfectly in the new song, it is quite easyto copy the Dr.Rex from the old song and paste it into the new song.

1. Start with an empty rack. Create an instance of the reMix mixer by selecting Mixer 14:2from the Create menu.

2. From the Dr.Rex In Action folder on your CD-ROM, open Filter Sweep LFO Drums.rns andStereo Funk Gtr.rns. The fact that Reason allows several songs to be open at once is quiteconvenient for what we are doing here.

3. In the Filter Sweep LFO Drums song, right-click (Ctrl-click, Mac) on Dr.Rex and select CopyDevice (see Figure B.57).

4. In the new Reason song, click once on reMix to highlight it, and then from the Edit menu,select Paste Device. There should now be a Dr.Rex under reMix in the new Reason song.

5. In the Stereo Funk Gtr Reason song, right-click (Ctrl-click, Mac) on Dr.Rex and select CopyDevice.

6. In the new Reason song, right-click (Ctrl-click, Mac) on Dr.Rex, and then select Paste Devicefrom the pop-up menu. There should now be a second Dr.Rex in the new Reason songplaced below the first Dr.Rex (see Figure B.58).

33

Figure B.57Right-click (Ctrl-click, Mac) on Dr.Rex and select Copy Device.

Figure B.58There should now be a second

Dr.Rex in the new Reason song

placed below the first Dr.Rex.


7. Close Filter Sweep LFO Drums.rns and Stereo Funk Gtr.rns to get those songs out of your way.

8. Since these Dr.Rexes were pasted into your song instead of being created, they are notauto-routed. Use the Tab key on your computer keyboard to flip your Reason rack around.Click on the top Dr.Rex’s Left Audio Output, keep holding your mouse button down, anddrag a cable to the top input on Channel 1 of reMix. Then connect the audio outputs of thebottom Dr.Rex to Channel 2 of reMix in the same way (see Figure B.59). Use your Tab key toflip the Reason rack back around facing front.

Figure B.59Connect the Audio outputs of each Dr.Rex to reMix.

34

Mixing and Matching Dr.Rex

9. Right-click (Ctrl-click, Mac) on the top Dr. Rex, mouse over Create in the pop-up menu, andthen select Sequencer Track for Filter Sweep LFO from the second pop-up menu (see FigureB.60). The new track will appear in the Reason Sequencer, MIDI-routed to the top Dr.Rex.

10. Select Copy Rex Loop to Track from the Edit menu. This does the same thing as clicking theTo Track button on Dr.Rex. MIDI data will appear on the Sequencer track between the leftand right locators.

11. Right-click (Ctrl-click, Mac) on the bottom Dr. Rex, mouse over Create in the pop-up menu,and then select Sequencer Track for Stereo Funk Gtr from the second pop-up menu. Thenew track will appear in the Reason Sequencer, MIDI-routed to the bottom Dr.Rex.

12. Click the To Track button on the bottom Dr.Rex. MIDI data will appear on the bottomSequencer track between the left and right locators (see Figure B.61). Click the Play buttonon the Reason Transport Panel to hear what you’ve got. This example is saved under thename Mix and Match in the Dr.Rex In Action folder on your CD-ROM.

35

Figure B.60Right-click (Ctrl-click, Mac) on the top Dr. Rex,

mouse over Create in the pop-up menu, and then

select Sequencer Track for Filter Sweep LFO from

the second pop-up menu.


You should be pretty much ready to rock with Dr.Rex by this point. Be sure to check out Reason’sother rhythmic wonder: Redrum!

36

Figure B.61Click the To Track button on the bottom

Dr.Rex, and MIDI data will appear on the

bottom Sequencer track between the left

and right locators.

b dr - cengage

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