Sunday, March 14, 2010

Ned Rush's video: Thor Patch I Made

Resonant Filter is a great blog to check for the latest and greatest videos about music production, but I just watched this myself, thanks to my YouTube "subscription" to Ned Rush's videos, and thought I would put it up for the rest of you, if you haven't seen it already. It's a great display of the kind of interesting sounds you can coax from Thor.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

52 Reason and Record Tips - Week 3 & 4

I'm getting behind on watching these videos and certainly getting behind on posting them. If you haven't been keeping up to date on James Bernard's tip videos yourself, you can view Week 3 (Part Two - Advanced Dub Step Wobble Bass Sound Design) and Week 4 (Unlocking the Secrets of CV & Gate) below:





Definitely worth a few minutes of your time!

Saturday, March 6, 2010

The Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill, Vol. 1

I started Reason Patch A Day over a year and a half ago, which doesn't seem like very long when you look at it from the perspective of a lump sum, but somehow feels a lot longer. The result has been interesting, with literally hundreds of new patches, as well as a shocking number of visitors, since those first few pad patches were posted on September 25, 2008.

I've resisted doing anything to "monetize" the site. I've done this for a couple of reasons. First, I can't see that adding ads to the site would really generating much money. You're a niche audience; dedicated, but niche, and its hard to sell to a relatively small group. And second, Patch A Day has always been an experiment for me, a challenge for myself, and I've tried to share that challenge and its results because I think there are other people out there, like me, that are interested in patch design, but not always successful at it. Some of the patches here have been good, others complete dogs, and while I hope you've come across a few that you've found very helpful, I've never really thought that every single patch posted here was worth a fee.

So, where am I going with this long-winded explanation? The basic set-up of Patch A Day won't be changing. If you drop by every day, you'll still find a patch waiting for you, completely free, just as you've been able to do for the past year and a half. But, if you're a recent reader and haven't gone back through the archives to download all of the patches... and if you're lazy... I'm now offering the Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill Vol. 1. However, unlike the site, the refill will not be free.

Here's how it works....


  1. The Patch A Day Archive Refill contains all of the patches posted here on PAD, with the exception of reader contribution patches. The few readers that were kind enough to submit patches to the site didn't agree to this, so I wouldn't feel right including their patches in this refill.
  2. The Patch A Day Archive Refill costs as much as you want to donate to the site (with a minimum of $1). Drop me a payment I'll use the Paypal information I receive to email you the refill file. There's not going to be a Reason Patch A Day store and it might take me several hours to get the refill to you, so don't expect a traditional "buying" experience. After all, you're not really buying anything (it's already all posted here for free), you're just providing a well-appreciated tip.
  3. Readers who have contributed a patch to Reason Patch A Day will be getting this refill as thanks for their contributions to the site's success. You're free to toss in a donation if you like, but please accept this tiny token as yet another thank you from me for your help with the site.






The Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill contains....


  • 70 Bass Patches
  • 49 Effect Combinators
  • 20 Instrument Combinators
  • 15 Effect Patches
  • 177 Pad Patches
  • 72 Percussion Patches
  • 130 Synth Patches
  • 12 Sampler Patches
  • 4 Yamaha Drum Machine Kits (with additional variations)
  • Misc samples


In addition to the patches you've already seen, there are just a few extra patches that haven't been shared here, as well as a sneak peak at a new patch series/project that I'll be unveiling within the next week. In addition, while the patches provided in the refill are basically the same as the ones posted here on PAD, I have made a few usability tweaks to some of them, primarily with regards to their combinator controls.

That's it. You might be asking yourself, "What's to stop me from going back through the archives and turning these patches into a refill myself?" The answer is... nothing. Go ahead! Don't sell it or claim it as your own, that's not allowed, but you're free to make your own refill just like you've always been able to do. You're not missing much by not getting the Refill.

So, if you want to donate a few dollars and get completely caught up on Reason Patch A Day, just click the link below. Its not very often when you get something in return for dropping a few bucks in a tip jar.

Donations can be made using the sidebar "Donate" button! Check the upper right side of the block to toss a few dollars in to support the site!

Special thanks for Lewis.72 and DJ Mad Wax for their help in testing the refill and making sure all of it works! Thanks, guys! The refill is definitely better because of your thoughtful help.