Reason 13.1 Operation Manual
DAW | Rack Plugin
#Loading and saving patches
Loading and saving patches is done in the same way as with any other internal Reason device, see “Loading patches” and “Saving patches” for details.
#Global output controls
#Age
This controls the “age” of the synthesizer and simulates the “degradation” of the analog components. This degradation could result in pitch and filter fluctuations, for example, and is a little different for each individual voice. Pitch fluctuation was never a desired behavior of course, but has later become kind of a “nostalgic” effect. Use it if you like!
Range: 2024 to 1970
#Volume
This is the main stereo output volume control.
#Global performance and “play” controls
#Pitch
The Pitch bend wheel can be used for bending note pitches up and down. Polytone Dual-Layer Synthesizer also responds to Pitch Bend MIDI data from a connected MIDI master keyboard. You can then set the desired Pitch Bend Range with the “P.Bend Range” control individually for each layer.
#Mod
The Mod wheel can be used for controlling FM Amount, Filter Frequency and LFO Depth individually for each layer in Polytone Dual-Layer Synthesizer.
#Voices
Here you set the desired maximum polyphony of your patch, from 1 to 20 voices. This control is mainly intended for deliberately restricting the polyphony of a sound. If you just want to play a polyphonic patch you can leave the Voices setting at 20 at all times. The DSP Load won’t increase with higher voice number settings - only if you play a lot of notes simultaneously.
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If you want monophonic playback you could use the “Retrig” and “Legato” modes instead of lowering the Voices parameter to 1.
#Key Mode
Here you choose how Polytone Dual-Layer Synthesizer should respond to MIDI Note data:
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Poly
Select this if you want to play Polytone Dual-Layer Synthesizer polyphonically. The maximum number of voices is 20. The number of voices is set in the Voices control at the center right of the Polytone Dual-Layer Synthesizer panel, see “Voices”.
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Retrig
Select this if you want to play Polytone Dual-Layer Synthesizer in monophonic mode and always retrigger the envelopes as soon as you play a new note.
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Legato
The Mono Legato mode is also monophonic. However, if you play a new note without having released the previous one, the envelopes won’t start over.
#Layer controls
Like the name suggests Polytone Dual-Layer Synthesizer consists of two individual layers - Layer A and Layer B. Each layer has the same configuration and features the same parameters.
You can edit Layer A and Layer B separately and then define how you want the layers to play back: individually, mixed together, or by morphing between the layers.
Mixing the layers opens up for really nice and fat sounds, whereas morphing between the layers can generate really complex evolving sounds. The mixing/morphing can be controlled from the Mod Wheel, Keyboard Velocity, Global LFO, or from a fader on the front panel. The mix/morph balance can also be controlled from the “Mix/Morph” CV input on the rear panel.
#A/B
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Click the A or B button to select which layer to edit (or play, depending on the “Mode” setting).
When Layer A is selected, the front panel has a blue background and when Layer B is selected the background is red:
Layer A selected (to the left) and Layer B (to the right)
#Mode
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Select how the layers should play back.
In Single mode each layer plays back individually, depending on if you have clicked the A or B button (see above).
In Mix mode the layers play back mixed together. The mix relation is defined by the “Mix/Morph” setting.
In Morph mode all the settings of the layer-specific parameters in each layer are morphed between, depending on the “Mix/Morph” setting. In practice, morphing means that the parameters continuously move between the values they have in the two layers.
In the picture below the Reso, Freq and Type parameters in the Filter section have different values in Layer A and B. At a Morph value of 50% these parameters have morphed halfway to the values of the other Layer:
Three parameters with different values in Layer A and Layer B, and the (50%) morphed result in the image to the right.
#Mix/Morph
Here you select how the layers should play back when Mix or Morph mode has been selected (see “Mode”).
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Select Wheel to control the layer mix/morph relation from the Mod Wheel.
A low Mod Wheel value will play back more of Layer A and vice versa.
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Select Vel to control the layer mix/morph relation from Keyboard Velocity.
Low Keyboard Velocity values will play back more of Layer A and vice versa.
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Select G. LFO to control the layer mix/morph relation from the Global LFO, see “The Global LFO section”.
When mixing/morphing, the Global LFO always uses the full LFO range, independently of the Global LFO Level.
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Select Fader to control the layer mix/morph relation from the fader to the right of the buttons.
The center position of the fader represents a 50/50 Mix/Morph of Layer A and B.
#Copy
Here you choose if you want to copy or swap all the layer-specific parameter settings of a layer to/with the other layer.
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Click the desired button to copy or swap the layer(s).
If you should accidentally hit the wrong button, there is always the [Cmd]/[Ctrl]+[Z] (Undo) function to the rescue.
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Note that all sections below that have pictures with blue panel color describe parameters and functions that are individual for each of the two Layers.
#Glide
Glide (portamento) makes note pitches glide from previous notes to new ones, at the time set with the Time knob. Glide can be used in all Key Modes (see “Key Mode”).
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When On in Poly Key Mode, the pitches will glide from any of the available voices.
The results will be unpredictable since there is no way of controlling from which note(s) the glide(s) will commence. The effect is very nice, though.
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When On in Retrig or Legato Key Mode, the pitch will glide between consecutive notes.
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If Auto is selected, the pitch will glide between consecutive monophonic notes only when you play legato. If you have selected Poly Key Mode, Auto will have no effect at all.
If you release the previous key before hitting the new key, there will be no glide effect.
#Wheels
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With the FM AMT knob you control how much the Mod Wheel should affect the “FM Amt” parameter in the Oscillator section.
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With the FILTER FREQ knob you control how much the Mod Wheel should affect the “Freq” parameter of the Filter.
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With the LFO DEPTH knob you control how much the Mod Wheel should scale the MOD parameters - if they are set to a value in the “LFO range”.
The MOD parameters can be found in the Oscillator and Filter sections:
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To have any effect, the MOD knobs have to be set somewhere in the “LFO range”, i.e. turned counter-clockwise from the 12 o’clock position.
If you set the LFO DEPTH knob to maximum and have some other MOD knobs set to an “LFO range” value, the Mod Wheel will gradually introduce the LFO modulation the further you move it. With the Mod Wheel at zero, there will be no LFO modulation at all.
See “The Mod LFO section” for more information about the LFO.
#P.Bend Range
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Set the desired range for the Pitch Bend wheel (see “Pitch”) with the up/down buttons, or by dragging up/down in the display.
Range: +/-24 semitones (+/-2 octaves) in steps of +/-1 semitone.
#The Oscillator section
The Oscillator section consists of two separate Oscillators, plus a Noise oscillator and a Mixer. The two Oscillators can also be cross-modulated (Oscillator 2 frequency modulates Oscillator 1) or synced (Oscillator 1 is synced to Oscillator 2).
The parameter configuration is identical for the two Oscillators.
#KBD
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Set how much the pitch should track incoming MIDI Notes.
Range: 0% (no tracking (constant pitch)) to 100% (1 semitone per note).
#Fine
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Change the pitch in steps of 1 cent.
Range: +/- 50 cents (down or up half a semitone).
#Pitch
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Set the pitch of the respective Oscillator with the Pitch knob.
Range: +/-24 semitones (+/-2 octaves) in steps of 1 semitone.
#Pitch Mod
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Set a desired pitch modulation amount with the Mod knob.
Turning the knob counter-clockwise from the 12 o’clock position will make the MOD LFO modulate the pitch. Turning the knob clockwise from the 12 o’clock position will modulate the pitch from the MOD ENV.
Range: 100-0% LFO modulation and 0-100% MOD ENV modulation.
#Waveform selector
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Click the spin control buttons, or click the display to select the desired oscillator waveform.
You can then change the waveform shape with the “Shape” knob.
The following waveforms are available:
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Saw-Pulse
A sawtooth wave at Shape=0 gradually transformed to a 50% duty cycle square wave at Shape=100%.
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Pulse
A ~5% duty cycle pulse wave at Shape=0 gradually transformed via a 50% duty cycle square wave towards a ~95% duty cycle pule wave at Shape=100%.
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Triangle
A pure triangle (odd partials only) wave at Shape=0 with gradual introduction of even partials up to 50%, then gradual reduction of the odd partials, resulting in only even partials (one octave up) at Shape=100%.
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Sine
A pure sine wave at Shape=0. Increasing the Shape value will sweep through the harmonic overtones, resulting in a pure sine wave 3 octaves above the root note at Shape=100%.
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Digital
A selection of very nice and useful wave tables which you could crossfade between with the Shape knob.
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Band Noise (Oscillator 1 only)
Noise, where Shape controls the bandwidth. With Shape at 0% the result is close to a sine wave, while higher Shape settings adds progressively more noise.
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Chaos (Oscillator 2 only)
This produces a wide range of noises and heavily modulated signals, great for adding a bit of chaos to the sound!
#Shape
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Turn the Shape knob to transform the Oscillator waveforms, as described above.
#Shape Mod
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Set a desired Shape modulation amount with the Shape Mod knob. Turning the knob counter-clockwise from the 12 o’clock position will make the MOD LFO modulate the Shape. Turning the knob clockwise from the 12 o’clock position will modulate the Shape from the MOD ENV.
Range: 100-0% LFO modulation and 0-100% MOD ENV modulation.
#FM Amt
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Set the amount of linear frequency modulation of Oscillator 1 by Oscillator 2 with the FM Amt knob.
#FM Amt Mod
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Set a desired FM Amt modulation amount with the FM Amt Mod knob.
Turning the knob counter-clockwise from the 12 o’clock position will make the MOD LFO modulate the FM Amt. Turning the knob clockwise from the 12 o’clock position will modulate the FM Amt from the MOD ENV.
Range: 100-0% LFO modulation and 0-100% MOD ENV modulation.
#Osc Sync
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Click the Osc Sync button to have Oscillator 2 sync the restart of Oscillator 1.
Oscillator sync is when one oscillator will restart the period of another oscillator, so that they will have the same base frequency. In Polytone Oscillator 2 is the syncing oscillator, and thus controls the pitch. If you change or modulate the pitch of the synced oscillator (Oscillator 1 in Polytone) you get that characteristic sound associated with oscillator sync. To hear the sync effect, make sure you listen to Oscillator 1.
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Modulate the pitch of Oscillator 1 to get the characteristic “sync sound”, see “Pitch Mod”.
#The Mixer
The Oscillator Mixer is where you mix and set the signal level from the Oscillator section. You can also add Noise to the signal.
#1-Mix-2
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Set the mix between the Oscillator 1 and 2 signals.
#Level
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Set the level of the mixed oscillator signals.
High level settings will overdrive the Filter input, as indicated by the Drive LED in the Filter section (see “Drive”).
#Noise
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Set the level of white noise you want to add to the mixed oscillator signals.
White noise contains all frequencies at equal energy levels.
#The Filter section
The Filter section features a very advanced (continuous) state variable filter. The filter types are:
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24 dB/Oct Lowpass
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12 dB/Oct Lowpass
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12 dB/Oct Bandpass
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12 dB/Oct Highpass
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24 dB/Oct Highpass
The really clever thing with the Polytone filter is that you can continuously sweep through all filter types, i.e. the filter types “morph” into each other seamlessly from 24 dB LP to 24 dB HP.
#Drive
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The Drive LED lights up when the signal in the Filter is overdriven (e.g. by a high “Level” and/or by a high “Reso” setting).
#Reso
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Set the resonance amount with the Reso knob.
A high Resonance setting will amplify the signal level around the cut-off Frequency, as described in this picture:
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Be careful when using high Resonance values as this could generate quite loud audio levels!
#Freq
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Set the cutoff frequency (or center frequency for the Bandpass filter type) with the Freq knob.
#Filter type
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Select the desired filter type with the knob.
Range: continuous between 24 dB LP and 24 dB HP
#Env
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Set how much you want the Filter Envelope to affect the filter cutoff Frequency.
Range: -100 (inverted modulation) to 100 (positive modulation)
#Vel
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Set how much you want the Filter Envelope Amount to be affected by Keyboard Velocity.
Range: 0-100%
#KBD
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Set how much the cutoff Frequency should track incoming MIDI Notes.
Range: 0% (no tracking (constant Frequency)) to 100% (1 semitone per note).
#Freq Mod
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Set a desired cutoff Frequency modulation amount with the Freq Mod knob.
Turning the knob counter-clockwise from the 12 o’clock position will make the MOD LFO modulate the cutoff Frequency. Turning the knob clockwise from the 12 o’clock position will modulate the cutoff Frequency from the Oscillator 2 signal, resulting in the popular “Filter FM” effect found on some great analog synths from the past.
Range: 100-0% LFO modulation and 0-100% Oscillator 2 modulation.
#The Filter Envelope section
The Filter Envelope can be used for modulating the Filter cutoff frequency over time. You set the modulation amount with the “Env” knob in the Filter section. It features the standard Attack, Decay, Sustain and Release parameters of an ADSR envelope.
The various envelope stages work exactly like those of the Amp Envelope, see “The Amp Envelope section”.
The ADSR envelope stages.
#A(ttack)
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Set the time it should take to reach from the set “Freq” value to the maximum Filter Frequency value.
#D(ecay)
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Set the time it should take to go from maximum Filter Frequency value to the Sustain value (see below).
#S(ustain)
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Set the Filter Frequency value the envelope should rest at, after the Decay stage (see above).
#R(elease)
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Set the time it should take to go from the Sustain level back to the set “Freq” value, after you have released the key.
#The Amp section
The Amp section is where you control the output gain of the signal, as well as any Keyboard Velocity and stereo Spread.
#Gain
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Set the desired maximum level for the Amplifier with the Gain knob.
This is the maximum level the Amp Envelope will reach after the Attack stage is completed (see Amp Envelope).
#Vel
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If you want the Gain level to be controlled from Keyboard Velocity, turn up the Vel knob.
#Spread
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Set the desired stereo spread of the output signal from the Amplifier.
Spread pans each alternate voice left-right (with Spread controlling the amount of panning). This means that if you play a chord, the individual notes in the chord will be panned differently.
In Mix mode, the Spread panning will be mirrored for Layer A and B. By mixing two detuned or slightly different layers with Spread, you can create a really wide stereo sound.
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Note that the Spread function doesn’t work in Legato mode, see “Legato”.
#The Amp Envelope section
The Amp Envelope section contains a standard ADSR envelope, which controls the amplitude of the signal.
The picture below shows the various stages of the ADSR envelope:
The ADSR envelope stages.
#A(ttack)
When you play a note on your keyboard, the envelope is triggered. This means it starts rising from zero to the value set with the “Gain” knob in the Amp section. How long this should take, depends on the Attack setting. If the Attack is set to “0”, the Gain level is reached instantly. If the Attack value is raised, it will take longer time before the Gain level is reached.
#D(ecay)
After the Gain level has been reached, the level starts to drop. How long this should take is governed by the Decay parameter.
If you want to emulate the volume envelope of a note played on a piano for example, the Attack should be set to “0”, the Decay parameter should be set to a medium value and the Sustain level should be set to “0”, so that the volume gradually decreases down to silence, even if you keep holding the key down. Should you want the decay to drop to some other value than zero, you raise the Sustain parameter.
#S(ustain)
The Sustain parameter determines the level the envelope should rest at, after the Decay stage. If you set Sustain to full level, the Decay setting is of no importance since the volume of the sound is never lowered.
If you want to emulate the volume envelope of an organ, you theoretically only really need to use the Sustain parameter set to full level, as a basic organ volume envelope instantly goes to the maximum level (Attack “0”) and stays there (Decay “0”), until the key is released and the sound instantly stops (Release “0”).
But often a combination of Decay and Sustain is used to generate envelopes that rise up to the Gain level, then gradually decreases to finally land to rest on a level somewhere in-between zero and the Gain level. Note that Sustain
represents a level, whereas the other envelope parameters represent times.
#R(elease)
The Release parameter works just like the Decay parameter, except it determines the time it takes for the volume to drop back to zero after you release the key.
#The Mod LFO section
An LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) is used for generating cyclic modulation. A typical example is to have an LFO modulate the pitch of a signal to produce vibrato, but there are also other applications for LFOs.
The Mod LFO is used for modulating parameters in the selected Layer that feature MOD knobs with an LFO sector, i.e. the Oscillator and Filter sections. Here is also where you set the desired modulation amount for the parameters, by turning the MOD knobs counter-clockwise from the 12 o’clock positions:
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You can also gradually introduce the LFO modulation amount by using the Mod Wheel, see “Wheels”.
#Waveform selector
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Select an LFO waveform by clicking the spin controls to the right of the waveform display, or by click-holding in the display and dragging up or down.
Besides the standard waveforms (sine, triangle, pulse, etc.) there are stepped and smooth random waveforms. The shape of the waveforms are shown in the display.
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Note that the MOD LFO waveforms are switched between - not continuously morphed between - in Morph Mode.
#Rate
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Set the LFO frequency with the Rate knob.
Range: 0.16-57.0 Hz
#Delay
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Turn the Delay knob to introduce a delay before the LFO modulation kicks in after you play a note.
Range: 0-2.0 s
#The Mod Envelope section
The Mod Envelope section consists of a simple AR (Attack, Release) envelope, which can be used for modulating parameters in the selected Layer that feature MOD knobs with an ENV sector, i.e. the Oscillator section. Here is also where you set the desired modulation amount for the parameters, by turning the MOD knobs clockwise from the 12 o’clock positions:
The Mod Envelope has two stages - Attack and Release, according to the following principle:
The ADSR envelope stages.
As you can see in the picture above, Key Down triggers the envelope, but the Key Up doesn’t matter if it happens after the envelope has finished its two stages.
If Key Up happens before the Attack stage has finished, the Release stage takes over at the current Level.
#Attack
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Set the time it should take to reach from zero to the maximum modulation value.
#Release
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Set the time it should take to go from maximum modulation value back to zero.
if Release if set to max, it will be infinite, acting as sustain.
#Vel
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Turn up the Vel knob if you want the Mod Envelope level to be controlled from Keyboard Velocity.
#The Global LFO section
The Global LFO affects parameters in both Layers globally. It can also be used for modulating the Mix or Morph between the Layers. Note that the Global LFO is also global for all voices, meaning it modulates all voices equally and simultaneously.
#Waveform selector
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Select an LFO waveform by clicking the spin controls to the right of the waveform display, or by clicking the display and dragging up or down.
Besides the standard waveforms (sine, triangle, pulse, etc.) there are random, slope and stepped waveforms. The shape of the waveforms are shown in the display.
#Rate
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Set the LFO frequency with the Rate knob.
Range: 0.16-57.0 Hz
#Sync
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Click the Sync button to have the Rate synced to time divisions of the main sequencer tempo.
#1-Shot
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Click the 1-Shot button to have the LFO only run one single cycle of the waveform.
This is useful if you want the LFO to work as kind of an “extra” envelope generator for controlling a desired target parameter.
When Polytone is in Retrig Mode (see “Key Mode”), the LFO will retrigger with each new note, regardless of how you play. In all other Key Modes, the LFO will require that you release all notes before it can retrigger (it will not retrigger if you play legato).
#Level
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Set the desired modulation amount with the Level knob.
#Target selector
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Select the desired target (destination) parameter for the LFO modulation, by clicking the spin controls to the right of the waveform display, or by clicking the display and selecting from the pop-up menu.
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Note that you can also control the Morph “position” from the Global LFO. You can set this up by clicking the G. LFO button in the “Mix/Morph” section.
#The Chorus section
The Chorus section features a stereo chorus effect with two selectable speeds, and a fixed-speed stereo flanger effect.
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Set the effect level with the Amount knob.
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Click one of the buttons for the desired effect.
#The Reverb section
The Reverb section features a stereo echo effect and two types of stereo reverbs.
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Set the echo/reverb level with the Amount knob.
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Set the echo/reverb decay time with the Decay knob.
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Click one of the buttons to select the desired effect type.
#Sequencer Control
The Sequencer Control CV and Gate inputs allow you to play Polytone Dual-Layer Synthesizer from another CV/Gate device (typically a Matrix or an RPG-8). The signal to the CV input controls the note pitch, while the signal to the Gate input delivers note on/off along with velocity.
#Mix/Morph
This CV input allows for control of the Mix/Morph balance.
#CV Modulation inputs
These control voltage (CV) inputs and can be used for modulating the corresponding parameters from external modulations sources. All inputs also have a corresponding attenuation knob for adjusting the input CV level.
#Audio Output
These are the main audio outputs.
#Wheels
These are CV inputs for modulating the Pitch Bend and Mod Wheel parameters. The inputs also have a corresponding attenuation knob for adjusting the input CV signal level.