Reason 13.1 Operation Manual
DAW | Rack Plugin
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Open the ReGroove Mixer by clicking the Groove button to the left on the Transport Panel.
The ReGroove mixer is divided into three sections. On the left are the Global parameters, in the middle are the Channel parameters, and to the right are the Groove Settings parameters:
#Global parameters
These parameters operate globally, rather than channel-by-channel.
#Channel Banks
The ReGroove mixer consists of 32 channels, grouped into 4 banks (labeled A through D). Click a Channel Bank button to see and edit its corresponding bank of 8 channels.
#Anchor Point
Normally, all groove patterns start at Bar 1 and repeat themselves throughout a song. For example, a 4-bar groove pattern will begin at Bar 1 and repeat its pattern every four bars. Many times, however, songs begin with blank measures, pickup measure or, perhaps, a short introduction. In these cases, you probably don't want the groove pattern to begin at Bar 1, but at some later bar. This is the purpose of the anchor point - it tells Reason at which measure it should begin applying the groove settings.
For example, assume you have a song with a 1-bar pickup. Because the song really begins on bar 2, that's where you want your groove to begin. Setting the anchor point to 2 insures that the groove patterns all begin at measure 2.
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Note: There is one exception to the rule that grooves start playing at their anchor point and repeat indefinitely throughout the song-and that's when they encounter a time-signature change. Grooves always restart at any measure containing a time signature change.
You can use this knowledge if, for example, you have a song section with an odd number of bars-inserting a time signature change will force all your grooves to restart at that measure.
#Global Shuffle
This knob adjusts Reason's global shuffle amount, and is used by any devices that employ patterns, such as the Dual Arpeggiator Player device, Redrum's internal sequencer, the Matrix pattern sequencer, and the RPG-8 arpeggiator. It also defines the shuffle value for any ReGroove channel for which the Global Shuffle option is activated.
Setting the Global Shuffle to a value of 50% results in a “straight” beat, with no swing applied. Setting the Global Shuffle to a value of 66% results in a perfect sixteenth-note triplet shuffle. Values between 50% and 66% have a less pronounced swing feel, and values greater than 66% are more exaggerated.
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If you are quantizing notes and/or audio Slices to “Shuffle” in the “Quantize” sections, these are quantized to the current Global Shuffle value.
#Channel parameters
These parameters operate on a per-channel basis. Each of ReGroove's 32 channels (arranged in 4 banks of eight) contains an identical set of parameters.
#On Button
This is an On/Bypass button for the channel. When the button is lit, the groove channel is active and any note lane assigned to this groove channel will be affected. When the button is not lit, the channel is disabled and any note lanes assigned to this groove channel will play back straight, without being “grooved.”
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This can be used for comparing the groove with the original, ungrooved beat. You can also do this for individual note lanes, by turning off the “Enabled” item on the Groove Select pop-up menu in the track list - see “Applying grooves to your music”.
#Edit Button
Click this button to select the channel for editing in the Groove Settings section to the far right, where you can view and edit additional “Groove Settings” for each channel.
Each ReGroove channel has its own groove settings, so clicking the Edit button in different channels will fill the Groove Settings section with groove settings specific to that channel.
#Channel Number
This is a non-editable channel number label. Channels are numbered 1-8 and are grouped into 4 banks (A-D). Channel numbers are named accordingly. For example, A2 is the second channel in Bank A, and B5 is the fifth channel in Bank B.
#Groove Patch Name
This shows the name of the groove patch currently loaded into the channel. If no groove patch is loaded, then no name appears. Click this area to bring up a list of the patches in the current folder, just as with patch displays on devices in the Reason rack.
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To remove a groove patch assignment and reset the channel to its default values, right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) the Groove Patch name, or anywhere on the ReGroove panel background, and select “Initialize Channel” from the context menu.
#Groove Patch Browser
This allows you to load groove patches and to step between them, just like device patches in the Reason rack. ReGroove patches have a ‘.grov’ file extension. See “ReGroove patches in the Factory Sounds bank”, later in this chapter, to learn more about the types of groove patches included with Reason.
#Slide
Use this knob to slide notes forward or backward in time. Musicians will frequently add energy and urgency to a track by “rushing” a particular beat or instrument a little. Similarly, they may “drag” a note a little in order to create a more laid back, shuffle-like feel. The Slide knob has a range of ±120 ticks, which allows you to slide notes up to a thirty-second note in either direction. Setting negative values makes notes play earlier in time (rushing the feel). Setting positive values makes notes play later in time (lagging the feel).
For example, if you wanted to create a slightly “in the pocket” groove, you could create a snare lane and assign it to a ReGroove channel with a small amount of positive slide. This would delay the snare track slightly, giving your music a relaxed, laid back feel.
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If you have a track that you want to rush (set to a negative slide value), you should put an empty bar at the beginning of your sequence, making sure to set the Anchor Point to “2” (see “Anchor Point”). This insures that any notes assigned to Bar 1/Beat 1 will indeed play ahead of the beat (since you created an empty measure into which the early note can shift).
#Shuffle
At its most basic level, this knob adds a sixteenth note “swing” feel to the ReGroove channel. A value of 50% results in a straight (no shuffle) feel, and a value of 66% creates a perfect triplet feel.
You can also use this knob to “de-shuffle” a beat by dialing in values below 50%. For example, if you had a recording that was played with a perfect triplet feel, setting the Shuffle value to 34% will make the beat straight again!
#Groove Amount
Use this fader to adjust how intensely the selected groove patch should modify your notes. At 0%, the groove patch will have no effect. At 100%, the groove patch will have its maximum effect. Obviously, values between these extremes will produce some amount of groove effect, but less than maximum.
As discussed in “Groove Settings”, later in this chapter, several additional parameters are associated with groove patches and how they modify your notes. Specifically, the Groove Settings section contains four “impact” settings (timing, velocity, note length, and randomness), and the Groove Amount fader acts like a “master” fader that scales these four parameters proportionally.
#Pre-Align
Enabling this button causes any incoming notes to be quantized to a rigid, sixteenth note grid prior to having any additional groove modifications applied to them. This quantization, which occurs in real time and is non-destructive, is an easy way to align all incoming notes to a “straight” grid, so that any shuffle, slide, or groove modifications have the expected effect on the notes.
#Global Shuffle
Enabling this button causes the ReGroove channel to use the “Global Shuffle” setting, rather than the channel's own shuffle setting. The channel's Shuffle knob will have no effect when a channel uses global shuffle. Using global shuffle is a good way to synchronize notes in a particular channel with those in pattern-based devices, such as Redrum’s internal sequencer, the Matrix pattern sequencer, and the RPG-8 arpeggiator, all of which get their shuffle values from the Global Shuffle value.
#Copy, Paste and Initialize ReGroove channels
To copy one ReGroove channel configuration into another:
1.
Decide which ReGroove channel you want to copy from, then right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) on the Groove Patch Name (or anywhere else in that channel, except directly on a parameter).
2.
Select “Copy Channel” from the context menu.
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Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) on the destination channel's Groove Patch Name, then select “Paste Channel” from the context menu.
Reason copies all the ReGroove channel settings to this channel.
To initialize a ReGroove channel:
1.
Right-click (Win) or [Ctrl]-click (Mac) on the Groove Patch Name (or anywhere else in that channel, except directly on a parameter) to open a context menu.
2.
Select “Initialize Channel” from the context menu.
Reason resets all channel parameters to their default values.
A groove patch consists of a groove template, which contains timing and dynamics information extracted from a performance, plus a collection of Impact parameters, which determine how strongly the groove patch applies the template settings. This section discusses the settings in the Groove Settings section to the right of the ReGroove Mixer panel, where all the Groove Patch settings can be viewed and edited.
#Groove channel
The Groove Settings display one ReGroove Channel at a time. To select which ReGroove channel is currently displayed, select it by dragging up/down in the Edit Channel display (or click the Edit button for the channel in the ReGroove Mixer).
#Groove Patch name
This shows the name of the groove patch currently loaded into the channel. If no groove patch is loaded, then no name appears. Click this area to bring up a list of the patches in the current folder, just as with device patches in the Reason rack. This area duplicates the functionality of the Groove Patch Name area in each channel of the ReGroove Mixer.
#Groove patch Load/Save
These buttons allow you to load and/or save groove patches, just like device patches in the Reason rack. ReGroove patches have a ‘.grov’ extension. To learn more about the types of groove patches included with Reason, see “ReGroove patches in the Factory Sounds bank”.
#Groove patch Length
This displays the groove's length, which is import for determining how often the groove repeats.
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In general, if you apply different groove patches to different note lanes, you'll want their lengths to be multiples of one another.
For example, if one ReGroove channel uses a 4-bar groove, you might want to use 4-bar grooves on other channels or, perhaps, a multiple (such as 1-bar, 2-bar, or 8-bar grooves).
You can, of course, mix and match grooves with non-standard lengths, but you need to be aware of how these grooves will interact. For example, if one channel used a 3-bar groove and another used a 4-bar groove, the groove pattern would actually repeat every 12 bars (3-bars times 4-bars).
#Groove patch Time signature
This displays the groove's time signature and should, in most cases, match the time signature of your sequence.
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In general, if you apply different groove patches to different note lanes, you'll want them to share a common time signature.
You can, of course, mix and match time signatures to create polyrhythmic grooves, but you need to be aware of how these grooves interact. For example a 6/8 groove will shift notes in a radically different way than a 4/4 groove, so applying them simultaneously may or may not sound the way you expect.
#Get Grove from Clip
This button converts the notes in a selected clip into a groove patch. The patch can then be used right away in the active ReGroove Mixer Channel or saved to disk as a new groove patch. Clicking this button has the same effect as selecting a clip and choosing “Get Groove From Clip” from the Edit (or context) menu. See “Creating your own ReGroove patches”.
#Timing Impact
This determines the extent to which timing information embedded in the groove template affects the position of your notes. A 50% setting means that notes are moved halfway to the positions defined in the groove template. 100% means they are moved exactly to the positions in the groove, and 200% means they are moved just as far past the groove template positions.
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This parameter works in conjunction with the ReGroove Mixer's Groove Amount fader, which can scale back the groove's timing impact.
For example, if the Groove Amount fader is set to 100%, then notes are moved by the indicated Timing Impact amount, but if the Groove Amount fader is set to 50%, then notes are moved by only half the Timing Impact amount.
#Velocity Impact
This determines the extent to which velocity information embedded in the groove template affects the velocity of your notes. Grooves modify only the relative differences between note velocities, not their absolute values. This way, soft passages remain soft and loud passages remain loud-the groove simply accents the notes differently. A 100% setting means that the feel is more or less exactly transferred from the template to your music. Values below this mean that less of the groove's dynamics affect your notes, and values above 100% dramatically increase the dynamic effect of the groove patch.
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This parameter works in conjunction with the ReGroove Mixer's Groove Amount fader, which can scale back the groove's velocity impact.
For example, if the Groove Amount fader is set to 100%, then velocities are modified by the indicated Velocity Impact amount, but if the Groove Amount fader is set to 50%, then velocities are modified by only half the Velocity Impact amount.
#Note Length Impact
This determines the extent to which note length information embedded in the groove template affects the length of your notes. This setting is not always relevant (such as with drum samples, which always play at their full length) and, consequently, most grooves in the Factory Sounds bank do not contain any length information (with the exception of the “Bass-Comp” category).
That said, when working with sustaining instruments, note length can have a dramatic impact on the performance's feel. Grooves modify only the relative differences between note lengths, not their absolute values. This way, legato or staccato passages retain some of their original intent when modified with a groove patch.
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This parameter works in conjunction with the ReGroove Mixer's Groove Amount fader, which can scale back the groove's note length impact.
For example, if the Groove Amount fader is set to 100%, then note lengths are modified by the indicated Note Length Impact amount, but if the Groove Amount fader is set to 50%, then note lengths are modified by only half the Note Length Impact amount.
#Random Timing
This determines the extent to which note positions are randomized. This value defines the maximum distance that a note can be randomly shifted (in either a positive or negative direction). You may set an amount between 0 ticks (no randomization occurs) and 120 ticks, which allows notes to shift as much as a thirty-second note in either direction.
The effect is “polyphonic,” meaning that any notes originally beginning at the same position will still be moved by different amounts. It is also “semi-deterministic,” meaning that if you play a clip several times, without editing anything, all notes will play back at exactly the same positions each time. However, as soon as you edit the clip in any way, all random positions are recalculated.
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This parameter works in conjunction with the ReGroove Mixer's Groove Amount fader, which can scale back the randomization.
For example, if the Groove Amount fader is set to 100%, then notes are randomized by the indicated Random Timing amount, but if the Groove Amount fader is set to 50%, then notes are randomized by only half the Random Timing amount.
#Applying grooves to your music
Follow this example to learn basic ReGroove mixing techniques and hear the effect that various groove parameters have on your music.
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If it's not already visible in either the Sequencer or Rack, open the ReGroove Mixer by clicking the Groove button to the left on the Transport Panel in the Sequencer.
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Decide which note lane you are going to apply the groove to.
For the most obvious effect the track should contain a drumbeat based on straight (as opposed to shuffled) sixteenth notes. A hi-hat lane, for example, might be a good source for experimentation.
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Use the Groove Select pop-up on the chosen note lane to route those notes to a specific ReGroove mixer channel.
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The “Enabled” item at the top of the pop-up menu allows you to turn ReGroove off for individual note lanes.
This is useful for comparing with the original, ungrooved beat. If you want to do this for several note lanes set to a particular ReGroove channel, use the “On” button for the channel in the ReGroove mixer instead (see “On Button”).
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To turn ReGroove off for a note lane, select “No Channel”.
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In the ReGroove Mixer, make sure the channel you are using is activated - the On button should be lit.
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To hear some of the different possibilities, start by turning up the channel's Shuffle knob while you play the sequence.
The music on that note lane (and any other note lane assigned to the same ReGroove channel) will start playing with a shuffle feel.
6.
Turn down Shuffle to its middle position (50%), and turn up the channel's Slide knob to hear its effect.
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Note that, because slide shifts all notes by the same amount, you won't hear the results unless you play the track in conjunction with another track whose notes are not being slid (or with Click activated in the sequencer).
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Turn the Slide knob back to its middle position (0 Ticks),
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Click the channel's Browse button to set Browse focus to ReGroove Patches in the Factory Sounds bank.
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Navigate to the “Reason Library > Reason Factory Sound Bank > ReGroove Patches” folder:
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Unfold the Vinyl folder, select the first groove patch in the list and click OK to load the groove patch.
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Pull up the Groove Amount fader on the channel, to about 80%.
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Click the Next Patch button to step through the groove patches in the folder and hear what they do to your music.
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On the ReGroove Mixer channel, click the Edit button to enable that channel's groove settings in the Groove Settings section.
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Edit the various parameters and listen for their effects.
Note that none of the patches in the Vinyl folder make use of Note Length, so the Note Length Impact parameter will have no effect.
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There are all sorts of creative and useful ways to apply grooves to your music. See “Groovy tips & tricks”, later in this chapter, for some suggested techniques.
#Commit to Groove - making the grooves “permanent”
When you assign a ReGroove channel to a note lane, this will only affect how the notes play back. The notes will still be shown with their original, ungrooved positions if you open the note clip.
If you want to edit grooved notes (e.g. adjust timing and velocity manually), it’s useful to first actually move the notes to the grooved positions, permanently. This is done with the “Commit to Groove” function:
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Select the track with the grooved note lane(s).
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Select “Commit to Groove” from the Edit menu or the track context menu.
All notes on all lanes on the track will be moved to their grooved positions, and the Groove Select pop-up will be reset to “No Channel”.
If you play back the track, it will sound exactly the same as before. If you look at the notes in Edit mode, their positions, length and velocity will now match what you hear.
#Using Commit to Groove on some lanes only
“Commit to Groove” affects entire tracks, including all note lanes if there are several. If you only want to make the groove permanent for one of the lanes, here’s a workaround:
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Click the Groove Select pop-up for the note lanes that should remain ReGrooved, and turn off “Enabled”.
This bypasses the ReGroove channel for those note lanes, but retains the channel selection.
2.
Select “Commit to Groove”.
Only the note lanes with ReGroove Enabled will be affected.
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Select “Enabled” again for the note lanes that should remain ReGrooved.
#Creating your own ReGroove patches
To create your own ReGroove Patch, proceed as follows.
1.
Create a clip containing notes with the desired timing and dynamics (­velocity).
Alternatively, you could import a MIDI File with the desired effect, or use the “Copy Loop To Track” function on a Dr. Octo Rex device to extract the notes from a REX loop.
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Note that some MIDI clips will make better grooves than others.
To learn some of the characteristics of a good groove-making clip, see “Tips for selecting the best Groove-Making Clips” below.
2.
Select the clip.
3.
Select an unused Groove Channel in the Track List.
4.
Select “Get from clip” from the clip context menu.
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In the Groove Settings section, set the various impact parameters as desired.
For a good starting point, you can simply leave them at their default settings.
6.
Click the Save Patch button in the Groove Settings section and specify a name and location.
Your ReGroove patch is now ready to use. As discussed in “Applying grooves to your music”, simply route one or more note lanes to the ReGroove channel assigned to your new groove, and pull up the Groove Amount fader on that channel.
#Tips for selecting the best Groove-Making Clips
The following tips will help insure that your custom grooves work their best:
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Include as many sixteenths notes as possible in the source clip.
If there are any sixteenth note gaps in your source material, there will be corresponding gaps in your groove patch. This means, when you apply the groove to a note lane, some notes will be grooved and some (those that fall in the gaps) will not.
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Grooves use the relative differences between note velocities, not their absolute values.
If you don't want dramatic shifts in dynamics, avoid having widely varying velocities in your source clip.
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Groove patches are always an exact number of bars, so if your source clip has an uneven length, the groove will be extended to the next bar.
We recommend that you adjust your source clip to an exact number of bars before creating a groove patch.
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In general, you should use source clips whose length is an even multiple of 2 (for example, 1-bar, 2-bars, 4-bars, etc.)
You can create and use grooves that are an odd number in length (3, 7, 13, etc.), but unless you're well organized and plan to use these grooves in specific polyrhythmic pieces, their general effect on most tracks will be somewhat unpredictable.
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Because you can route each note lane to any of the 32 ReGroove channels, the key to creating really dynamic grooves is to spread your instrumentation across multiple note lanes.
For instance, where you might normally create a Redrum sequence with kick, snare, and hi-hat all on the same track, putting these elements into different lanes will let you apply different grooves to them. For example, you might have a kick lane routed to a ReGroove channel with a slight shuffle feel, and you might send the snare to a ReGroove channel that slides the notes earlier in time to “push” the backbeat a little. Breaking things into lanes will definitely enable you to create beats that are more loaded with feel and personality than if you simply apply one groove setting to everything.
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See “Extract Notes to Lanes” for tips on how to automatically distribute notes from one note lane to several additional note lanes.
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When building a groove, start simple. Experiment with adjusting the slide parameter to move just the snare or hi-hat forward or backward in time.
Try applying slightly different amounts of shuffle to different percussion instruments. Small changes can sometimes have a big visceral effect, so use your ears (and not your eyes) when adjusting the various groove settings.
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Try applying the same groove patch to multiple lanes, but by varying amounts.
You are, of course, free to apply different groove patches to different lanes. Though, more often than not, your results might result in something that sounds more clumsy than groovy. The hottest grooves often have the most subtle of humanization.
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Don't forget to try sending sequenced REX files through the ReGroove mixer.
Depending on the material in the file and how it's sliced up, this can create all types of results-ranging from unusable to downright inspiring.
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If you're doubling instruments - that is two instruments play the exact same part - try sending one of the instruments to a ReGroove channel that has a small amount of random timing applied.
Random Timing (which is accessible in the Groove Settings section to the right) will put some separation between the two instruments, making their performance sound more human. For example, if you have a clap doubling a snare, apply a little bit of random timing to the clap track, and it'll stand out more clearly in the mix.
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As described under the “Anchor Point” heading above, grooves restart whenever a new time signature appears.
You can use this knowledge to force a groove to restart, which might be required if your music contains sections of odd lengths. Simply add in a time signature event, with the same type of time signature as you already have in the song. The groove will restart where the event starts.
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Remember that groove patches have separate timing and velocity impacts and, as such, you can apply them independently.
For example, if you already have a track that has just the right groove timing, but you want to experiment with different dynamic feels, you can apply just the velocity portion of a groove by setting its Timing Impact parameter to 0. A groove's timing and velocity impact parameters can be accessed by clicking a ReGroove channel's Edit button, which enables the Groove Settings section.
Reason ships with a ready-made assortment of groove patches, arranged in a number of different folders:
#Bass-Comp, Drummer, and Percussion
Grooves in these categories were created by session musicians. Their performances were captured and analyzed, and the timing and velocity information was then extracted from the performances. The Bass-Comp patches also contain note length information, though the other categories do not.
#MPC-60
These grooves were created by analyzing the audio output of an Akai MPC-60. Use these patches to get the same shuffle feeling as an original MPC-60. Note that these patches do not contain any velocity or note length information. There are some additional patches that use the Random Timing feature, which emulates the original MPC-60's behavior when loaded with a lot of information.
#Programmed
These grooves were created by a session drum groove programmer. They were hand-crafted to emulate the feel of certain styles, and are divided into two genres: Hiphop and Pop-Rock. These grooves do not contain any note length information.
#Vinyl
These grooves were created by sampling snippets from classic groove records, analyzing them with a special signal processing tool, then extracting both timing and velocity information from the samples. These grooves do not contain any note length information.