.406 Heft Effect Combinator

Reason instruments are, with the exception of Thor, provided entirely clean. If you want a particular effect to color a Subtractor's sound, for example, you have to add it yourself, unlike many VST or AU instruments which provide chorus, distortion, unison, or delay effects built into their editor window.

Its an interesting design decision from Propellerhead Software, one which I'm sure has caused them tons of grief over the years, mostly from critics who don't really understand how Reason works. Often, some blowhard on the internet will criticize Reason, claiming its instruments sound terrible without any additional processing, while rambling on and on about how incredible Synth 1 sounds in comparison. Of course, what that blowhard either doesn't realize or doesn't want to acknowledge is that Synth 1 contains its own EQ, delay, chorus, flanger, and arpeggiator, effects that are all possible with Subtractor, Malstrom, and even Thor, but are not "standard." The comparisons they are so desperate to make aren't equitable, or even honest, and have unfortunately fed countless flame wars about how Reason is just a toy and its impossible to get "decent sounds" from it.

Of course, those of us who are more familiar with Reason understand that the Reason rack is basically a virtual modular system, allowing you to create the kinds of connections and paths you might need, while a VST or AU with built-in effects must always be used in the same way, every time. Once you understand this simple fact (its more elusive than you might think), Reason's true power starts to become more and more apparent, and the possibilities held by its wobbling cables becomes a little more clear.

This isn't to say that the the VST/AU method is bad, necessarily, and I don't mean to pick on Synth 1. If you're looking for something quick and easy in Reason, the kind of one-click results you can get from something like Synth 1, your options are limited to an instrument Combinator or some of the more advanced Thor patches. There just isn't a one-click preset in Subtractor or Malstrom that can compare to even the most basic VST, simply because they're not intended to work the same way as those VST plug-ins.

So, what can you do? As I've mentioned before, I see Reason and its devices as the same sort of building blocks my son plays with, the concepts surrounding their use being almost identical to the way my five year old plays with his Legos. It's why Patch A Day is focused more on providing basic tools versus complex instruments, and I continue to stand by that philosophical viewpoint, but what do you do if you just want a patch to sound a little more... more?

You probably get what I mean by that. A Subtractor, by itself, might produce an interesting sound, but its cleanliness is sometimes a little too harsh or a little too clean. Sometimes you want just the faintest bit of delay or chorus to give it a little more weight or presence. That's where the Heft Combinator comes in, providing just a "pinch" of delay, reverb, and chorus. Each effect, on its own, provides a very subtle change in sound, and together they're not very pronounced either, but I think you'll agree that they do provide an overall improvement.

Of course, the Combinator's front panel provides you with easy adjustments to the Combinator's included effects, turning subtle changes in sound into more obvious ones, so Heft can be quickly fine-tuned to suit your specific needs. If you find a series of settings that works for you beyond the subtle default ones provided, I encourage you to save them, creating as many "Heft" patches as you might need in your toolbox to beef-up your Subtractor, Malstrom, NN19, Thor, and NN-XT patches.

You'll notice I'm posting two versions of Heft, one for stereo signals and another for mono signals. Don't be afraid to try Mono Heft with a stereo instrument, like Malstrom or Thor, as the results can be interesting, even if they simply drop the right channel output of the instrument.

• Heft (Stereo) ( Combinator | RNS File )
  
• Heft (Mono) ( Combinator )
  

Heft doesn't necessarily provide you with that same one-click preset output you might get from a VST, but it's a step toward that, without sacrificing any of Reason's flexibility.