The Combinator v2 Thread

[scotward57]

Oh I wish Reason Studios Inc. could divulge even just a little info on what type of CV/audio connections are going to be possible with the new combinator.

I want to be able to create combinator templates for each hardware controller that I own.

From there I can either roll my own patch or make preset patches conform to my hardware controller setup without having to use Reason Remote.

I can't wait to see how this all works and how other Reason users will do sound design and create patches!

[raymondh]

Oh I wish Reason Studios Inc. could divulge even just a little info on what type of CV/audio connections are going to be possible with the new combinator.

I want to be able to create combinator templates for each hardware controller that I own.

From there I can either roll my own patch or make preset patches conform to my hardware controller setup without having to use Reason Remote.

I can't wait to see how this all works and how other Reason users will do sound design and create patches!

Yes - that would be my main use case too! Fingers crossed!

[deeplink]

Here's to hoping the overhaul won't forego the possibility of Remote Mapping and Automation.

Also... will it sit within the Insert section?

[RoryM0]

Also... will it sit within the Insert section?

Very interesting point. Right now mix channels double up as combinators... will the mix channels be getting a feature upgrade I wonder. Or will the new one - which we know will replace the existing one - now be able to sit inside a mix channel meaning we can put a combinator 2 inside a combinator 1? INTERESTING.

[Yonatan]

I hope new combinator will soon be available for R+ so we can start see youtube demonstrations of it. But I would bet on that the sampler would be added before the combi.

[Ottostrom]

Also... will it sit within the Insert section?

Very interesting point. Right now mix channels double up as combinators... will the mix channels be getting a feature upgrade I wonder. Or will the new one - which we know will replace the existing one - now be able to sit inside a mix channel meaning we can put a combinator 2 inside a combinator 1? INTERESTING.

I really hope the new combinator will let you stack combinators inside each other!
I have a lot of FX combis that I wish I could save as part of the patch itself, which is not possible right now.

[mcatalao]

Very interesting point. Right now mix channels double up as combinators... will the mix channels be getting a feature upgrade I wonder. Or will the new one - which we know will replace the existing one - now be able to sit inside a mix channel meaning we can put a combinator 2 inside a combinator 1? INTERESTING.

I really hope the new combinator will let you stack combinators inside each other!
I have a lot of FX combis that I wish I could save as part of the patch itself, which is not possible right now.

Come on, really???? You're that lazy? You just have to combine the two combinators and connect 2 cables.

[Ottostrom]

I really hope the new combinator will let you stack combinators inside each other!
I have a lot of FX combis that I wish I could save as part of the patch itself, which is not possible right now.

Come on, really???? You're that lazy? You just have to combine the two combinators and connect 2 cables.

I'm talking about saving a patch with multiple FX combinators connected which all have individual rotary and button bindings so you can't just move the devices themselves out from the combinator..

[mcatalao]

I'm talking about saving a patch with multiple FX combinators connected which all have individual rotary and button bindings so you can't just move the devices themselves out from the combinator..

You can't have combis inside of combis. But combine the combis and the resulting combinator has the effects and devices from the 2 combis. Do this as many times as you want to and then save your patch.

[Ottostrom]

I'm talking about saving a patch with multiple FX combinators connected which all have individual rotary and button bindings so you can't just move the devices themselves out from the combinator..

You can't have combis inside of combis. But combine the combis and the resulting combinator has the effects and devices from the 2 combis. Do this as many times as you want to and then save your patch.

Yes I know, that's why I specifically mentioned that each FX combi also have individual rotary and button bindings which is what makes them manageable to use and I don't want to lose that functionality.

[Timmy Crowne]

I hope the mix channels and the mixer are updated to allow for more macro controls in v2 patches. I also hope modulation routings can be copied and pasted across identical devices.

I am excited by this announcement. Combinators are the backbone of my workflow and increased CV routing and processing would definitely be welcome. CV outputs on the new Combinator would be great to be able to really treat these things like new devices.

If RS gave users the ability to lock the Combinator, hide the contents and monetize it this could be a visual RE-programming environment in its own right.

[deeplink]

It'll be interesting to see how deep the customizable interface goes.

I've always been of the opinion that I can recreate any VST on the market - at least the idea of any VST - with a certain Character - but I have always been limited by the usabability of such device given the limites macro controls.

[QVprod]

You can't have combis inside of combis. But combine the combis and the resulting combinator has the effects and devices from the 2 combis. Do this as many times as you want to and then save your patch.

Yes I know, that's why I specifically mentioned that each FX combi also have individual rotary and button bindings which is what makes them manageable to use and I don't want to lose that functionality.

Agreed the combining Combinators thing is cool when you don’t intend to tweak. Cool thing about 2.0 is that it’s configurable, but then that’s manual reassigning required.

I have doubts of this changing though.

[zoidkirb]

Yes I know, that's why I specifically mentioned that each FX combi also have individual rotary and button bindings which is what makes them manageable to use and I don't want to lose that functionality.

Agreed the combining Combinators thing is cool when you don’t intend to tweak. Cool thing about 2.0 is that it’s configurable, but then that’s manual reassigning required.

I have doubts of this changing though.

The idea of combining Combinators is already a thing with the way Ableton let's you nest as many racks/groups as you want into one mega rack. You can even have macro knobs from higher levels controllIng knobs from lower levels.
It's really not that much to ask for and I'll be surprised if it's not implemented.

[loopeydoug]

I want to be able to create combinator templates for each hardware controller that I own.

If you told me I could have per-patch, hardware-specific remote mappings(without any coding) in the Combinator, I think I would die of relief before I ever got to use the thing.

[QVprod]

Agreed the combining Combinators thing is cool when you don’t intend to tweak. Cool thing about 2.0 is that it’s configurable, but then that’s manual reassigning required.

I have doubts of this changing though.

The idea of combining Combinators is already a thing with the way Ableton let's you nest as many racks/groups as you want into one mega rack. You can even have macro knobs from higher levels controllIng knobs from lower levels.
It's really not that much to ask for and I'll be surprised if it's not implemented.

I'm aware the concept isn't new. The only thing promised is the customizability. If it were a separate device, I might expect different. I'm happy to be wrong though.

[zoidkirb]

The idea of combining Combinators is already a thing with the way Ableton let's you nest as many racks/groups as you want into one mega rack. You can even have macro knobs from higher levels controllIng knobs from lower levels.
It's really not that much to ask for and I'll be surprised if it's not implemented.

I'm aware the concept isn't new. The only thing promised is the customizability. If it were a separate device, I might expect different. I'm happy to be wrong though.

Yes hopefully the decision to built upon the old Combinator doesn't limit the new functionality.

[Ottostrom]

Agreed the combining Combinators thing is cool when you don’t intend to tweak. Cool thing about 2.0 is that it’s configurable, but then that’s manual reassigning required.

I have doubts of this changing though.

The idea of combining Combinators is already a thing with the way Ableton let's you nest as many racks/groups as you want into one mega rack. You can even have macro knobs from higher levels controllIng knobs from lower levels.
It's really not that much to ask for and I'll be surprised if it's not implemented.

Exactly!
It's like having a bunch of smaller scripts inside a bigger one to make the code more readable.
But even if it shouldn't be too much to ask for I'm still fairly certain that this will not be implemented.

[Ermitage]

I would hope they leverage the fact that it's a closed environment so that if you macro a stepped control it'll give you a stepped knob and show the actual values. And for said knobs to be colour coded and with different knob types that correspond to different functions (fx, tone generation, filter etc.)

I would also hope that they've taken cues from Bitwig and implemented a built-in modulation tab with LFOs, MSEGS and so on.

[madmacman]

Exactly!
It's like having a bunch of smaller scripts inside a bigger one to make the code more readable.
But even if it shouldn't be too much to ask for I'm still fairly certain that this will not be implemented.

I can already hear the outrage in this forum when the PDC no longer works as expected.

[electrofux]

I dont know about the Combinator within a Combinator thing. As cool as it would be, things would get pretty complicated quickly. And how would it be done graphically. As it is every nested Combinator would cut out some space at the edges.
If the make the new Combinator very dynamical in terms of CV ins and Controlls, i dont think we would need the nesting option that much.

I wonder how they implement the Remote side of things when the number of items is dynamic and of course what the max number of controls is.

[sdst]

be able to put skin on the knobs

or at least different knob designs

you can't make a cute design with the same ugly knobs

[Loque]

be able to put skin on the knobs

or at least different knob designs

you can't make a cute design with the same ugly knobs

This is something i am hoping for too. It wont take long until we see some knob and fader libs here... And/Or maybe there will be some kind of build-in lib to chose controller designs.

[scotward57]

I dont know about the Combinator within a Combinator thing. As cool as it would be, things would get pretty complicated quickly. And how would it be done graphically. As it is every nested Combinator would cut out some space at the edges.
If the make the new Combinator very dynamical in terms of CV ins and Controlls, i dont think we would need the nesting option that much.

I wonder how they implement the Remote side of things when the number of items is dynamic and of course what the max number of controls is.

I agree. I remember when I obsessed over trying to build super combis and doing the drag and drop thing or daisy-chaining through the use of the RPG-8 midi to cv converter. Later on I found quite a few combi presets already setup and wired pretty much the way I wanted. I just needed to change device patches within the combi or do minimal programming tweaks.
Nesting became something I rarely ever do or think about.

What I ultimately want is to have one rack host my hardware controller combis, locked to my controllers, then be able to wire or connect to other devices as I see fit. The whole song file, in effect, becomes the super combi.

[scotward57]

I would hope they leverage the fact that it's a closed environment so that if you macro a stepped control it'll give you a stepped knob and show the actual values. And for said knobs to be colour coded and with different knob types that correspond to different functions (fx, tone generation, filter etc.)

I would also hope that they've taken cues from Bitwig and implemented a built-in modulation tab with LFOs, MSEGS and so on.

That's a good point about the knobs. The video makes it look like there will be different objects and colors. I'm also interested to see what additional sources and destinations become possible. Remaining on my wishlist is to be able to trigger Blocks.