The Refills Are Still Available!

I spent a big chunk of the morning going back through four years of posts here on Reason Patch A Day and taking down patches and links. It was a bittersweet process and brought back a bunch of great memories. If you were here for any of the last four years, thanks again for being a part of such a great and strange experiment.

Please note, I did try to leave up posts for Bragware songs, equipment and refill reviews, and other bits that I thought might still be useful. It makes the blog a little disjointed, but I didn't want to erase everything.

The posts and patches are gone, but the refills are still available if you want them. Please see below for details and remember that each refill is "filled" manually. Depending on the time of your order, it may take me an hour or two to get you your download link, but rest assured, you'll get it!

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Reason Patch A Day Archive, Four Year Refill

I merged all of the patches from Reason Patch A Day into one, giant refill that covers all four years of the blog. There are refills that contain more sounds, of course, but the size of this thing still surprises me with well over 1,405 patches and sounds.

• 184 Bass Patches
  
• 64 Combinators: Effects
  
• 33 Combinators: Instruments
  
• 66 Effect Patches
  
• 3 Kong Kits
  
• 322 Pad Patches
  
• 355 Percussion Patches
  
• 67 REX Loops
  
• 142 Synth Patches
  
• 12 Sampler Patches
  
• 157 Samples
  
• 5 Yamaha Drum Machine Kits
  

The Four Year Archive is available to anyone who donates $3 or more to the blog. That's the same price as if you had donated $1 per refill in the past and I'm willing to go back and look through previous purchases to make sure you get caught up, if that makes sense. It wouldn't hurt to remind me if you had purchased previous refills, if you only plan on sending me a dollar or two, but as you already know, I really do appreciate any support I get. Thanks so much!

Kick Toolkit Refill, v1.1

And, if you haven't already purchased it, the Kick Toolkit Refill has been updated recently to include even more analog kick drum samples.

The Kick Toolkit Refill contains:

• Kick Drum WAVs: 400 unique kick drum samples created using the Jomox Mbase 11 Analog Bass Drum Module, a single voice analog synthesizer fine-tuned for producing a variety of bass drum sounds. Each kick was created specifically for this refill and was sampled at 24-bit resolution, with no outside processing, for the cleanest possible signal and sound.
• Effects: The Kick Toolkit Refill contains 38 effect patches, using Reason's Scream, RV7000, Pulverizer, and other effect units.
• Mini-Combis: One or two device Combinators designed specifically for the purpose of manipulating and sculpting kick drum patches and samples. Each Mini-Combi has been programmed with front panel control ranges designed for its limited task to make final tweaks fast and easy. A number of Mini-Combis have also been included to provide presets for devices that do not normally allow for loading and saving patches (ex. BV512 Vocoder). 11 mini-Combis are included, along with 43 additional presets, providing help with compression, equalization, and other general purposes.

The Kick Toolkit Refill costs just $5 and can be purchased using the sidebar link at the top of the page.

Bernard Childcare Trust Refill

And lastly, don't forget that you can still purchase the Bernard Childcare Trust, a collaborative refill from some great sound designers and terrific people. If you didn't already know, proceeds from the refill go to James Bernard's children, so in addition to getting some new sounds for your collection, you're purchase does some good for a valued member of our community.

Reason Patch A Day Is Coming To An End

It's time.

I've written this post a dozen times over the last couple of years, but I think that it's finally time. It's time to end the Reason Patch A Day experiment and move on to other things.

It's been a long, weird, enjoyable, and sometimes frustrating trip. I've shared this a few times, in a few different places, but at its most basic level Patch A Day was a challenge. I had been trying to wrap my brain around synthesis and creating a new patch, every day, seemed like a good way to finally hammer home the concepts I had been learning over the years before. It was a way to force myself to actually work through creating new sounds, rather than just cycling through endless lists of other people's presets, and the blog began as an attempt to share those early, tentative attempts at sound design.

But, over time I learned that Patch A Day was also a distraction. I got stuck, musically, and couldn't seem to move forward, so I thought that time spent creating new tools would be time well spent. Once that musical rut ended, I'd have a collection of new, custom sounds that I could use to start creating again. But, over time, I wasn't creating tools for myself anymore; I was just creating them for the blog.

"Feed the blog," was a phrase I used too much and it was an action that was starting to make me unhappy. It was fleeting, of course. Blogging is often its own reward, and I have certainly found this blog rewarding, but I've come to the conclusion over the last year that as long as I continue to work on Reason Patch A Day, I'll never make any music, which ironically, is why I started all of this in the first place.

So, this is my last post. I hope you've enjoyed this weird experiment as much as I have. It's been outstanding getting to know many of you and listening to the amazing music that you've created. I wish you all the best of luck, in life, and in music, and hope that we can stay in touch.

I'll leave the blog up and running for a while. I'll continue selling the refills, if you want them, but I'm off to try to find my muse again and explore the explosions of energy and the chilly shadows of doubt that come from creativity.

Thanks again for your interest over the years and your support.

On to the next adventure....

Four Years?!?

It's absolutely shocking to me that, four years ago today, Reason Patch A Day was born. Since that first post I have shared well over 1,000 patches and samples, covering three major versions of Reason, and no doubt, hundreds of hours of work. Thanks for sticking with me and the blog over that incredible amount of time.

The success of the blog isn't just my achievement, of course, and a great deal of what has made Reason Patch A Day work over the years is the terrific readers I have here. Your donations, comments, and exceptional music have given me tremendous encouragement, so thank you for supporting me. The occasional reader patches I've received have been outstanding, as well. Thank you to all of you who have contributed in one way or another.

I was hoping to make a big announcement to celebrate this milestone, but unfortunately there have been a couple of bumps in the road that are keeping me from unveiling a project I've been working on, behind the scenes, for quite a while now. Expect something special from me soon.

Thanks for taking the time to visit, contribute, and breathe life into this weird experiment.

Propellerhead's Figure Is Now Available!

I'm likely the last person to know this, as I'm traveling this week, but the Figure app for iPhone has been approved and released. Get it for $0.99 if you're living in a place where dollars are used.

My first impressions? It is, as many have already complained, a toy. That being said, it's a fun toy. I'm looking forward to my flight home tomorrow, because I know exactly what I'll be doing in the aisle seat in row 24.

For what its worth, it looks amazing on the iPad. Those of you who have tried upscaling iPhone apps on the iPad know what a mess that can be, but the clever Propellerheads have made some wise choices in their design of the app, making it gorgeous on the larger iPad screen. A native version would be terrific (universal, please!), but this might be the first app I've upscaled that doesn't look it.

Thanks to the ever excellent Resonant Filter blog for the speedy heads-up! Thanks, Lewis!

.1000 Thank You

I'm not really one for spending a lot of time patting myself on the back. When it comes to this blog, I view it much like I view a lot of things, feeling it's better to keep my head down and continue moving forward, rather than trying to draw attention to what I've already accomplished. Having said that, the 1000th post is a fairly significant milestone, so I feel like I should say something.

The first thing I should say is that the number 1,000 is actually a bit meaningless. When I first started Reason Patch A Day I would post a couple of patches at a time, and occasionally I still sneak an extra patch into a post here and there. So, I can't really say that I'm celebrating 1,000 patches when the actual number is a little higher.

Nor can I say that I've put up 1,000 posts. Posts where I've highlighted the music of my readers, which are some of the most fun for me, aren't given a number because they aren't patches. I don't number my occasional editorial posts either, so like the number of patches, the number of posts is actually a bit higher than that 1,000 number.

Still, there's something in our brains that seems attracted to large, even numbers like 1,000. So, regardless of what that number should be or what it might actually mean, I guess it is cause for celebration. And, perhaps more importantly, its a cause for thanks.

So, after 1,000-ish posts and 1,000-ish patches, my thanks go out to you, the reader. I would have stopped this strange experiment a long time ago if it wasn't for the emails, comments, reader contribution patches, songs, unsolicited praise on forums, and support I've received along the way. So, thank you everyone for making Reason Patch A Day a destination on your internet travels. Whether or not you realize it, your gentle, sometimes unspoken nudges over the past few years have kept me going, so thank you!

Announcing the Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill, Vol. 2

It is time for me to take my annual, holiday leave of absence, but before I disappear for a couple of weeks I wanted to announce the availability of the Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill, Vol. 2.

As before, the Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill, Vol. 2 collects the patches and samples shared here on the Reason Patch A Day blog. The Volume 2 refill contains patches from September 25, 2010 to today with a total of 513 files, including:

• 54 Bass Patches
  
• 2 Instrument Combinators
  
• 3 Effect Combinators
  
• 10 Effect Patches
  
• 3 Kong Kits
  
• 77 Pad Patches
  
• 141 Percussion Patches
  
• 31 Synth Patches
  
• 33 Samples
  
• 25 Drum Loops
  
• 134 Drum Samples
  

Previous site donors received a handful of additional patches that were not shared on the blog and six months of updates to the Volume 1 refill. To thank site donors for their continued support, the Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill, Vol 2 contains bonus drum samples exported from the Korg iElectribe app loops provided during the last year. As the iElectribe app uses synthesis to create its sound, these samples are unique to the loops provided throughout Reason Patch A Day's last year, and have been provided in the Archive in WAV format for easy use in the NN-19, NN-XT, Redrum, or Kong devices.

So, how do you get a copy? As before, it just takes a donation of $1 or more. If you have donated in the past your donation is greatly appreciated, then and now, but I would ask you to send me a dollar or two again, if you'd like a copy of the latest refill. Remember, most of the refill has already been provided here at no cost. You're just paying for the convenience of having it all in one place, as well as getting a few bonus sounds, while also supporting my work over the last three years.

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!

I'll see you all after the holidays! I hope that, regardless of your faith or circumstances, that you find this season warm, joyful, and filled with music.

Huh.

Well, I certainly didn't see that coming.

I've been promising to post my thoughts about the Reason 6 upgrade for a couple of months now, but for some reason, haven't been able to find the time I've needed to sit down and articulate my opinion. I think it boils down to a confusing mix of excitement and disappointment.

On the one hand, I've been wanting an advanced delay unit in Reason for a few years now. The DDL-1 is probably the most used effect unit in my own tracks, but having access to others delay plug-ins via VSTs or AUs in Logic or Renoise, I've found the trusty, half-rack device wanting at times. Of course, with Reasons rack wiring, you should be able to create any sort of delay you want, but I'll still be welcoming The Echo with wide-open arms come September 30th.

The Alligator Triple Filtered Gate looks interesting and profoundly powerful, but looking at the video, I'm confident that I won't truly "get it" until I have it in my rack and I've twisted a few virtual knobs.

The Pulveriser Demolution Unit looks like a lot of fun, so it should be an interesting upgrade, as well.

Still, there are aspects of the upgrade that make me shake my head a little, specifically the merging of Record with Reason, a product that I've enjoyed quite a bit and I feel wasn't really given time to prove itself.

Its a smart decision, of course. The field of music production software is already confusing, so selling two programs that in many ways feel identical probably wasn't the best tactic for increasing brand awareness or possibly even brand loyalty. Many people felt that Record's biggest feature, the ability to record and edit audio, should have just been included in Reason and with Reason 6 they're getting their wish. But, for those of us who bought into Record and its aluminum dongle, it does feel a little bit like I paid money to be a beta tester.

That probably sounds a little more melodramatic than I intend, but in this case, those skeptical few who didn't purchase Record are actually being rewarded for their patience. The upgrade to Reason 6 for non-Record users, while a bit more expensive than the upgrade path for Reason/Record, saves them money over the path I took, which was to purchase Record (for Reason Users) when it was released. Of course, its not a huge amount, but principal often gets stuck in the throat worse than specifics.

I know, I know, I've had more time to enjoy the Record devices, so maybe that was worth the extra few dollars I paid to the folks at Propellerheads. I've paid them money for things I didn't need in the past (the Electro-Mechanical Refill disc is a great example, considering I already downloaded it for free when I purchased it), so I guess this shouldn't be any different, but I'm still somewhat disappointed in the death of Record.

Maybe that's why the recent announcement put a smile on my face. Don't get me wrong, I'll likely pay at least as much as I would have for the physical upgrade, but having the option to change that, to get back those few dollars I lost in chasing them down the tangled path of unsupported software, is a profound act of goodwill on the part of our fearless, Swedish software leaders. It feels a little like an apology, but even more, feels like a thank you, which is why I applaud Propellerheads' Pay What You Want scheme.

I suppose my only real conflict now stems from whether or not I want the box. If I'm going to pay the same price for a download as I would for yet another box, do I actually want the box on my shelf? Given that I have all of my other Reason boxes, volumes 1 through 5, on the shelf, along with Record and Recycle, it almost seems like a shame not to get a box for the latest release, even if it is a little less eco-friendly.

The Countdown Has Begun....

The 2nd Annual PAD Challenge has begun! Start those tracks and get them to me. You have have one week!

The deadline is Sunday, September 25th!

2nd Annual PAD Challenge: 2nd Update

We have a couple of additional participants in this year's PAD Challenge who have volunteered:

• Nikolai
  
• DJ Mad Wax
  
• THP808
  
• robbneu (me)
  

Thanks for joining in on the fun, guys. I'm really looking forward to your songs!

I think what we'll do is set the deadline for signing up for this Friday, September 16th. So, if you're reading this now and think you might be interested, you're still welcome to join in. Drop a note in the comments or send me an email. Following that, you'll have one week to create something new, so get me your completed songs by September 23rd.

As I stated, and Nikolai reiterated in his comment, this should be a low stakes, low stress experience, with some good natured encouragement and hopefully some constructive criticism when its all over. At worst, you'll come away from it with a completed song. At best, you'll come away from it with a completed song you're proud of. The goal is just to jump in with both feet and accomplish something.

The 2nd Annual PAD Challenge... Update

So, I originally said the deadline for the PAD Challenge was the weekend, but that deadline has come and gone, with just Nikolai tossing his hat into the ring. While I have no doubt that Nikolai will manage to create enough songs in a week to fill several challenges, I thought I'd leave the window open for a little while longer.

So, check in if you want to join this year's Challenge!

Announcing The 2011 PAD Challenge

It's time. Actually, if you've taken a few minutes to read the rant I posted well over a month ago, its past time. So, with little fanfare, but much expectation (at least from me), I'm announcing the 2011 PAD Challenge.

If you're new to the blog and wasn't able to follow along with last year's PAD Challenge, the concept is pretty simple. Basically, the challenge piece of the PAD Challenge is to write and finish a new song in just one week. Last year, the stipulation was that you needed to try a song in a genre or style you don't normally work in. For example, I choose to put together a straight up dance track, but I thought we'd keep things a little more open this year. So, the goal is just to create a track. That's it.

So, who is with me? You have until this weekend to decide if you want to participate, then after that, one week to put together a new track. Please use at least one patch from the blog, and send me an email with a link to your track, or the track itself, and I'll share the results here on the blog.

This was a lot of fun last year and I for see this year's Challenge being even more successful, so leave a comment if you plan to join in.

Essential Music Making Gear: AppleTV

Okay, okay, I'll admit it: I can be something of a Luddite in certain respects and have spent years ignoring the phenomenon of YouTube tutorials. I know, it's a little ridiculous, but I've always felt more comfortable following along with tutorials when I'm reading them from a book or a magazine. Its how I originally learned to use Reason almost a decade ago and tends to be the same way I learn the ins-and-outs of any new Reason device following one of the major upgrades.

That said, I've had a 2nd generation AppleTV for a while now, and have slowly been using it to view YouTube more and more, enjoying the opportunity to watch clips online from the comfort of my couch, rather than sitting in front of my computer. The videos posted by Propellerheads have been a blast,from various artist interviews to the slick new promotional commercials, as well as the excellent series of tutorials put together by James Benard as part of his 52 Weeks of Reason campaign.

Of course, Propellerheads Software isn't the only entity posting Reason entertaining and informative tutorials on YouTube. I have subscriptions to videos from a number of the Reason community's big names, such as the always excellent tutorials posted by Reason 101, Ned Rush, Lucky Date Videos, Peff, and Boy In A Band, effectively giving me "Reason TV" at the touch of a remote button.

How is this better than just watching videos on my computer screen? Well, in truth, its not, but I don't really have the patience for watching YouTube on my computer. When I'm sitting at my computer, which isn't as often as I would like, I tend to be focused on putting together patches for this blog, working on music of my own, or doing the day-to-day grunt work that has become necessary in our modern life. With the AppleTV, I can start up a video while folding some laundry, cooking, or doing something else that doesn't always require my full attention. And, if the tutorial is especially good or interesting, I can grab my laptop and "play along" from the comfort of my couch.

Not only have the tutorials I've enjoyed been full of interesting tips and rare glimpses into other people's workflows that I always appreciate, they've been inspirational. Something about seeing other people at work in Reason makes me want to work in Reason, so during my two week break a couple of months ago, I spent a lot of time soaking in wisdom and energy from these videos, picking up the occasional tip, but also excitement.

So, while something like an AppleTV isn't an obvious piece of essential "music making" gear, I've found it to be an excellent addition to my modest "studio." If you have an internet box like the AppleTV, I urge you to set up some subscriptions, and experience Reason away from the computer. I think you'll find it as energizing as I have.

This post isn't meant to be an advertisement for Apple. Regardless of my computer choices, I don't really consider myself a fanboy, nor do I believe that Apple always provides the best product and features. Roku has a line of competing boxes that have many of the advantages of Apple's internet TV box and many more, although YouTube access has been temporarily suspended (there is still Vimeo). Google and Boxee have boxes of their own as well. So, if this is something you're interested in, do a little research and figure out what works best for your setup and needs.

Spring Cleaning

I'm not one of those Reason users that has hundreds of refills crammed into my computer's hard drive. As I've mentioned here a few times, I tend to use my own patches and sounds when I can, so I have just a couple of commercial refills, a couple of select mini-refills from guys like Stompp and Peff, and of course a handful of Propellerheads Software refills.

I will, however, admit that I have a weakness for drum samples. If you post a set of quality samples from an old, somewhat obscure drum machine, you can bet good money that I've downloaded it and filed it away with all of the other drum machine samples I searched out. The problem is, as much as I enjoy testing out the samples when I download them, I rarely go back to them. There's nothing wrong with them, of course, they're almost always excellent quality and have intriguing sonic character, but I'm a creature of habit and tend to reach for the "usual suspects," regardless of whatever else I have stored away somewhere. So, while I've managed to be very careful and judicious about the refills I put on my laptop's hard drive, I have literally thousands of Wav files collecting digital dust in my documents folder.

The problem is compounded a little bit by this blog. As I've mentioned before, I file my patches by category, with every patch I've created stored in one of them, such as Pad, Bass, Synth, Percussion, Loops, and so on. In addition to these ever-swelling folders, I also have a copy of my Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill, Vol 1 taking up space, and duplicating literally hundreds of files.

Each file is only a few KBs, of course, but it doesn't take long for those KBs to add up and I feel like I'm suffering from a little digital bloat (don't even get me started on my iTunes music and TV show files).

So, this weekend, I'm going to pare things down a little. My goal is, by Monday, to have a lean, clean hard drive, with a svelte backup file copied over to another disc, and maybe even a burnt DVD or two to give me a redundant backup of the important stuff.

What about you? Interested in doing a little spring cleaning of your own? How often do you go through your files and weed out the unnecessary stuff?

Expect an instrument patch tonight. I overslept and didn't have a chance to put one together this morning.

Book Review: Propellerhead Reason 4 Tips And Tricks, by Hollin Jones

If you remember my book review synopsis from the beginning of 2009, the name Hollin Jones might seem familiar, since his other book "Music Projects With Propellerhead Reason" was briefly discussed and rated with a few other Reason-themed books currently sitting on my bookshelf. While I appreciated the conversational tone of "Music Projects With Propellerhead Reason" and its easy to follow tutorials, I felt it was kind of lacking for the seasoned Reason user. Outside of a few interesting tips and reminders that I found useful, the book skewed a little too much toward the beginner, and I remember thinking that while the book's author knew a great deal about Reason, his format, a brief examination of several popular genres, was actually hampering his ability to provide any useful tips or workflow enhancements to those of us who've been using the program for an extended period of time.

With that in mind, I was eagerly anticipating "Propellerhead Reason 4 Tips and Tricks," hoping it would allow Jones to better display his obvious knowledge and provide some new information that would be useful, regardless of genre, about my favorite music making software. So, did Jones succeed in providing a book full of useful tips and tricks, as its title suggests?

Unfortunately, the short answer is no. "Tips and Tricks," like "Music Projects With Propellerhead Reason" before it, seems written with the Reason beginner in mind, tackling very simple topics like program installation, to slightly more tricky issues like exporting your finished tracks. Like a lot of Reason books, it has separate chapters for different pieces of the Reason rack, and talks you through each device, its basic operation, and provides numerous sidebar tips for how you can tweak or use a device. Its pretty basic stuff, really, with the sidebar tips being the most interesting pieces of the book, providing little reminders and ideas for how you can use each device more efficiently or in more interesting ways.

"Propellerhead Reason 4 Tips And Tricks" is a well-written book and maintains the conversational, friendly tone of Jones' other Reason book. If I were just starting out with Reason, rather than celebrating my ninth year of using it, I think this book would be indispensable. Many of its lessons and tips seem very basic, almost frustratingly so, but for someone just starting to dip their toes into the Reason waters, this book would be a great companion to the Reason manual, or perhaps even a good replacement, until a new user feels ready to digest the more technical presentation of the Reason manual.

Using the same rating system I used with the previous books, I'd give Reason 4 Tips and Tricks:

Overall Usefulness: Great for beginners

Patch Design Tips: Poor

Reason Version: 4.0


Hollin Jones also writes for Music Tech magazine. He's a good writer and really seems to know his stuff. I don't know how well it would sell, but if he were to write a "Reason 4 for Masochists" book, I'd be first in line to buy a copy.

Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill, Vol 1: The Two Year Anniversary Edition

Almost a month ago, an important anniversary passed here on Reason Patch A Day without notice or comment. On September 25th, the Reason Patch A Day blog turned two years old.

I've said it before, but putting up a patch every day with a few missed days here or there, especially lately, takes a lot more work than I originally expected. Designing a new patch isn't so bad, nor is writing a blog post, but doing them both seems to take a great deal of effort. Maybe it's that jarring switch between right brain and left brain thinking, or maybe it's just the amount of time that those tasks take when combined, but while some of the posts come easily, some seem to kick and scream their way into the world. Thank you for joining me in this sometimes painful, sometimes joyful, process.

To celebrate this belated anniversary, I decided to do one final update of the Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill. As you may remember the first version of the refill was posted back in March of this year, only to be updated a few months later in June, as a way to thank everyone who supported it.

As I have already said in previous posts, my goal in putting together the Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill was not to provide an endless series of updates. So, this is the last time you'll see me posting about a upgraded version of it. Any other Archive Refills released here on Reason Patch A Day will likely be titled Volume 2 or 3.

The updated Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill, Vol 1 contains over 1,100 files, including:

• 100 Bass Patches
  
• 31 Instrument Combinators
  
• 60 Effect Combinators
  
• 18 Effect Patches
  
• 197 Pad Patches
  
• 155 Percussion Patches
  
• 142 Synth Patches
  
• 14 Sampler Patches
  
• 5 Yamaha Drum Machine Kits (with additional variations)
  
• Misc Samples and Loops
  
• And a couple of other surprises....
  

Thank you to everyone who has helped make the site a success by visiting it daily. And, thank you especially to those of you who provided financial donations and patches to support what I've been doing for the last two years. I'm not sure I can express how much I appreciate your donations.

As before, I urge you to go back and check out the Reader Contribution patches, which are not included in the Refill. Reason Patch A Day has hosted some excellent work from readers (and sometimes fellow bloggers) DJ Mad Wax, Ruurd Huizenga, Lewis.72, Rob Anselmi, Ghostly, Dan Reneer, Darryl Miller, Navi Retlav, and Meowsqueak, and I think you'll enjoy their contributions as much as I have. So, check them out!

Thanks again!

Any Denver-area Reason Users?

Fellow Denver Reason user and blogger DJ Mad Wax and I attended the Robert Henke/Monolake concert last night at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. It was a neat evening with intriguing sounds provided by Robert Henke and visuals provided by a local "space doctor," as he was called, running the planetarium controls (if anyone can provide me with his name, please do, I'd like to credit the fine work he did).

The event was heavily attended by visual arts and music students from DU and CU, as well as a huge collection of folks from the local Ableton Live Users Group, so the crowd definitely skewed towards "geeky." In a lot of ways, I think the make-up of the crowd added another layer to the evening, as many folks were interested in the experience as well as the methods.

This got me thinking back to an older "project" of mine that I dreamed up around the same time I started this blog and that's forming a local Reason Users Group. It might be nice to meet up from time to time, grab a cup of coffee or a beer, swap some ideas, and if we're lucky, inspire each other a little. Any readers from Reason Patch A Day interested in joining the Rocky Mountain Reason Users Group? Let me know in the comments or via email at patchaday (at) earthlink (dot) net.

Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill, Vol 1 Updated!

Just over three months ago, I released the "Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill, Vol 1" which collected patches posted here between September 25, 2008 to March 6, 2010. It was made available to anyone who supported the site with either a financial donation or anyone who had contributed their own patches to the site to be shared with their fellow readers.

It was an experiment more than a means to raise any serious money and I'll admit the results have been surprising. I was essentially asking you to pay for something I've already given you for free here on the site, but many of you stepped up and sent in donations anyway. Rob's wonderful video review of the refill over on Reason 101 has brought in a few new donors in the past few weeks and so I would have to say that despite my predictions, the PAD refill has been a moderate success. Thank you everyone who has contributed in some way towards this site's growth for almost two years. Your donations, whether in form of patches for financial contributions, are sincerely appreciated.

My goal when I first put together the refill was not to keep endlessly updating it. It's called "Vol 1" for a reason, as I intended to eventually release a Volume 2, maybe a Volume 3, and so on, but I wanted to thank everyone who has donated to the site at least one more time. So, I have expanded the PAD refill to include patches posted between March 6th and today.

The updated "Reason Patch A Day Archive Refill, Vol 1" contains over 1,000 files, including:

• 74 Bass Patches
  
• 28 Instrument Combinators
  
• 52 Effect Combinators
  
• 16 Effect Patches
  
• 180 Pad Patches
  
• 136 Percussion Patches
  
• 131 Synth Patches
  
• 12 Sampler Patches
  
• 5 Yamaha Drum Machine Kits (with additional variations)
  
• Misc Samples
  

As before, the refill does not contain any of the reader contribution patches that have been posted here. That's not to say they're not amazing patches, worthy of inclusion, because many of them are, but I do feel a little uncomfortable adding them to the refill without permission. I urge you to dig back through the posts here and check out the amazing contributions made by DJ Mad Wax, Ruurd Huizenga, Lewis.72,
Ghostly, Dan Reneer, Darryl Miller, Navi Retlav, Meowsqueak, and Rob Anselmi. All submitted patches are listed with the post tag "Reader Contribution" so they should be easy to find.

Thanks again to anyone who has donated to the site. Your contributions have been appreciated more than you know.

Reason 5 Announcement... Updates

Have you been checking in with the Propellerhead website to see what else is coming for Reason?

I'm not a Reason apologist, nor am I a frothing fanboy. I see the warts in Propellerhead software just as well and as easily as other people, but given that I have a blog dedicated to posting new Reason patches, obviously I've found enough things in the software that appeal to me and make sense for my workflow. That isn't to say that I think Reason or Record are the end-all, be-all software solutions for making music. If I felt that way, I wouldn't spend so much time with Logic, Renoise, or the strange collection of hardware and noise-makers I've amassed. However, even after admitting that I see Reason's warts and that I do use other software, when I have some free time on my hands and a desire to make music, I usually reach for Reason.

Why? Well, Reason was my first software tool. I got Logic shortly after I wrapped my brain around Reason, but as intrigued as I was with Logic's possibilities, there was something about Reason that made sense to me. I liked getting my hands dirty, even if only virtually, by messing with routing and I liked the fact that for every limitation I found, there was usually a handful of creative solutions or workarounds if I just looked hard enough. That tinkering, experimental spirit has stayed with Reason from the first version I loaded onto my computer up through version 4, and I think what has me most excited about what we've seen about version 5, is that none of that has changed. Reason, to me, seems to reward creativity. Its software that dares you to be clever and then rewards you when you are.

I don't usually use loops, so Dr. OctoRex isn't very appealing. Blocks? The video on the Propellerhead website says that musicians think in terms of intro, chorus, and fill, but I don't. It's a neat way to arrange things, but again, doesn't look that appealing to me. Neptune? Now we're talking. I don't record vocals, rarely use more than a few spoken word samples, but like other very specific instruments or effects in Reason, such as the BV512 Digital Vocoder and the Redrum Drum Computer, I suspect there will be aspects about Neptune that make it something more than it first appears to be. Using that same spirit of creativity and experimentation, Neptune could be a game changing addition to Record.

So, what about today's announcement explaining that all of Reason's samplers are now... samplers? It seems pretty obvious. It's been talked about and suggested since Reason 1, if my memory serves me, so its a change that makes a lot of sense. Do I support this change? Absolutely. I'd say "it's about time," but the truth is, Propellerheads have always done things by their own timetable, and the users are usually rewarded for their patience.

There's still one more announcement to be made and so it looks like some of my predictions earlier in the week are looking less and less likely. I don't think we'll see a grid sequencer. If you've signed up for the beta, you saw that multi-core support is coming. Also, the brief shots of the screen seem to show a Record-ized sequencer, so those predictions, which weren't exactly going out on a limb, look like they're accurate. Tomorrow? I think tomorrow will be a new instrument, but we'll see... in less than 24 hours.

Given what we've already seen, I have to say my enthusiasm for Reason 5 is building. No individual addition has me drooling into my computer keyboard, but taken as a whole, I think 5 is going to be a nice upgrade. There's still time for that drool-inducing announcement. Tomorrow might be it. But, it looks like Propellerheads are going to continue to allow for and reward creativity. No matter how many new gadgets we get and features get rolled into the software, that core of experimentation remains. That's probably what has me the most excited.

Reason 5 Is Coming!

It seems that I am forever behind the curve on these sorts of announcements, but if you haven't already seen the videos and pages, Propellerhead Software have finally announced Reason 5 and an upgrade to Record, announcing version 1.5. The announcement is coming in daily releases and started yesterday with a short video introducing the new Dr. Octo Rex loop player. No word if all of Reasons other new modules will be named after Spider-Man villains, but I am hopeful we'll see the Green Gobverb, Mysteremixer, and a Vulturemetrix EQ in the next few days.

Okay, okay, jokes aside, I think we'll see a handful of new devices, like the Dr. Octo Rex. I think the odds are good that we'll see a new synth, but it's just as likely we won't. It's hard to think of anything that Thor doesn't already cover, except for maybe a physical modeling synth, a la Logic's Sculpture.

If you're a fan of Record's arrangement and editing tools, which I certainly am, I suspect you'll see those tweaks and enhancements making their way over to Reason (which I predicted back in October). Some of those tweaks that Reason users should be excited about are the "Explode" option, the ability to easily move notes between clips, a virtual keyboard, and a number of other tiny tweaks that add up to a better, faster experience. I think multi-core support is almost a given, which for many of us, will make Reason easier to use. As I said, Record is our roadmap toward where Reason is going, and given the time I've spent with Record, I think we're in for some nice, tasty treats.

One aspect of Reason that usually gets overlooked is its hardware integration and stability for playing live. I think using Reason as a live instrument is pretty high on the programmer's priority list, so I suspect we'll see additional upgrades in using Reason in a live setting. Will we see new Reason-specific hardware, a la Live's Launchpad and APC40? I don't know. They may have worked something out, like they did with Line6 in Record, but given how hot grid controllers have been the last year or two, it wouldn't surprise me if we saw a new kind of Matrix device.

I don't know. I'm not much for reading tea leaves or gazing into crystal balls. I will say that Reason 4 didn't initially impress me and it took a few months of use before I grew to appreciate all of the little tweaks that made it such a powerful tool. I don't think I was alone in that experience, so I predict that Propellerheads have been busy creating additions that will really surprise us and make Reason seem as innovative and intriguing as it has always been. Only time will tell.

I'll probably post updates, but they'll be slow coming, so if you're dying for news about the latest version of Reason, you should probably check in with the Propellerheads website and get details from them directly.

.480 Using The Yamaha DD-5 As A MIDI Controller In Reason

This post will probably help exactly none of you, but if any of you are experimenting with incorporating older MIDI gear into your setups, the process might at least be interesting.

As you might remember, a week ago I posted samples from my "new" Yamaha Digital Drums DD-5, explaining that while its built-in sounds may have a fun, cheesy vibe to them, what truly makes the DD-5 intriguing is setting it up to be used as a MIDI controller in Reason/Record. What I didn't get into was that its default MIDI output data is, in a word, strange. Its four pads output to A1, E2, A2, and D#3, making it the very opposite of "plug and play."

There are a couple of things you can do to change this. The first, and most obvious, is to use Reason's "Remote Override Edit Mode" which is what I experimented with to get it working in Redrum. It doesn't take much time and the results are what you would expect, giving you the "hit-here-get-sound-there" effect that you're probably looking for. The problem is that once you have these maps set up, tying each drum pad on the DD-5 to its appropriate Redrum channel, you'll quickly learn that those remote overrides aren't saved as global settings in Reason, instead being settings just for that one song or project. You can work around that, of course, by setting up a Reason or Record song with these settings and saving it as a template file, which you would then load every time you want to use the DD-5 as an instrument controller in a song.

That is, unfortunately, not very practical. I rarely know what devices I'll be using when I start up a new song. Part of the fun in making music is working through that process, picking up gear and blowing the dust off, as you encounter the different needs and inspirations of your latest song. Needing to know which devices you will use, before you start, might not be practical.

The other issue is that your MIDI interface, which accepts the MIDI data from the DD-5 and makes it into something Reason can understand, might not be dedicated solely to your DD-5. As is the case with my own setup, the MIDI interface you use might be more "universal" and sees use with a variety of gear, so mapping the DD-5's drum pads to specific Note Numbers might make it useless for other MIDI gear that require default note assignments, if you unplug devices and plug in new ones, working through your song.

The second option to you is using the DD-5's controls to set its output Note Numbers to match what you need Reason to "hear." The process for this involves several button presses on the DD-5, sometimes done while turning the unit on, but how this is actually done is a mystery to me. The DD-5 Owner's Guide is surprisingly vague on the steps and since the unit doesn't have a screen to provide any kind of useful feedback, its literally a case of fumbling in the dark. Plus, any tweaks or changes you make are erased when the unit is powered off, requiring you to do this every time you use it. Again, not very practical.

So, what can you do? Well, the solution I finally decided upon, which might be useful to you in your own MIDI experiments, is using Reason's NN-XT to map samples to the specific notes being sent from the Yamaha DD-5 (or whatever piece of outdated gear you might be using).

• Yamaha DD-5: Preset Pad Assignments ( NN-XT Patch )
  

If you open up the NN-XT's Remote Editor you'll see that the instrument contains four samples, each one mapped to either A1, E2, A2, or D#3, the MIDI Note Outputs of the DD-5. The specific samples and assignments match the four preset pad assignments that load into the DD-5 when you first power it on, but they can easily be replaced with whatever sounds you might want to trigger using the device's drum pads by selecting the appropriate sample and clicking "Load Sample" to assign a new sample. The mapping stays the same, but keep in mind that the Root resets to C3 whenever a new sample is loaded. You'll need to manually change this whenever you load a new sample if you want to keep its tone intact.

While this isn't quite "plug and play" its a bit faster than using the Remote Override Edit Mode, and if you take the time to set up a series of NN-XT patches with samples mapped to the appropriate pad assignments, you can achieve the kind of quick, flexible access you might need.

So, as I said at the beginning of this tutorial, this long-winded explanation of how I setup my DD-5 probably isn't useful for anyone out there. The odds that any one of you have a setup (or needs) identical to mine are fairly slim, but using Reason's NN-XT to accept specific MIDI notes, especially from old gear, might be a useful tool or technique for you.

A few random tidbits if you are one of the strange few using a DD-5 with Reason:

1. The Yamaha DD-5 continues to make sound through its built-in speaker even while sending MIDI data. This can be hugely annoying, especially if you're using it to trigger sounds the DD-5 isn't making while you're playing it. Turning the volume on the DD-5 down doesn't work, because even at its lowest setting, the Yamaha machine continues to make noise. Just plug a 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch adapter into the DD-5's Audio Out and it'll stop making noise.
   
2. As stated above, remember to adjust the Root note for each sample, if you load new sounds into the NN-XT patch provided. If you create a particular kit that you like, save it for quick access later.
   
3. Also remember that you'll need to adjust the Amp Envelope's Release setting to account for samples that are longer in length than the NN-XT's default setting of only 60 ms. Forgetting to do this will create abbreviated sounds when you play them.