Reason with new eyes...working with the tools you have.

[MrFigg]

The Jazzmaster saga continues. After being told the earliest Fender would have them back on the market was Dec 2022 I was told by Thomann that they'd managed to get a hold of one and that I was first on the list. Phoned last week only to be told that it hadn't arrived. I think someone must have read 22.11.21 instead of 21.11.22.
I sold my only electric guitar last week. Gone are the days when I had 9 lying around...so what to do?!
Synths??? What??? Noooo!!!! How???? And then it struck me...my bass. So...a steady Velvet Underground Moe Tucker driving beat. A bassline Can would be proud of and then a Jupiter Arp and Juno strings layered over the top. 10 minutes in and it's taking shape.
What I'm trying to say is that not having a guitar to hand might be a good thing. It's certainly made me think differently and I'm getting excited about what might come out of it.
If you love something give it away.

[Billy+]

I kinda tried this with plus, I setup a secondary device that only had the tools provided by subscription and for a while found it quite refreshing it forced me to use Europa more and dig into the drums supplied by default.

However after I cancel the subscription I soon installed king of kong and spire but I'm not so worried about the other vst's that my main machine had available.

I think it help me to completely avoid BF sales this year as it's the first time that I have not purchased anything.

I'm happy with what I've got available.

[TritoneAddiction]

I'm happy with what I've got available.

Yes I can relate to this topic. And this sentence in particular.

Sure I still get new stuff occasionally. But overall I've taken a turn towards further exploring and enjoying what I've got already, compared to always looking for the next thing.
In many ways the messy R12 release contibuted to this. I was so ready to dive in and get the R12 upgrade. But once I heard about all the problems I decided to wait. And this wait actually created some time to step back and appreciate all the things I had already. I noticed there were so many things I've gathered that I had only scratched the surface with. Why get more when I hadn't explored all my old stuff enough?
Maybe some of you here saw my Tritone Refill. That was me going back to revisit and learning more about Europa and Grain, rather than looking at new things. I've also noticed you can get pretty thick bass sounds out of Monotone. Had I upgraded I probably hadn't done any of these things.

I find it's good to wait a bit after any new release. After some time has passed you can easier see what was only hype and excitement of something new and what is of actual interest to you.
On the other hand sometimes it's nice to buy something while the motivation to use it and create is strong. There's really not any right or wrong way, just different perspectives. I'm fine with alternating between them.

[Popey]

I am doing something similar now with vsts and rack extensions. Bought the synth rig ages ago and realised other day that I hadn't even downloaded some of the stuff (currently digging into ochen k glitch re). Coupled with various vsts I got from the focusrite and plugin boutique freebies I realised I have lots of unused stuff to take advantage of. Having not upgraded to latest reason version and only buying xo in bf sales I have certainly spent a lot less this year and started to use what I have a lot more.

[Billy+]

I am doing something similar now with vsts and rack extensions. Bought the synth rig ages ago and realised other day that I hadn't even downloaded some of the stuff (currently digging into ochen k glitch re). Coupled with various vsts I got from the focusrite and plugin boutique freebies I realised I have lots of unused stuff to take advantage of. Having not upgraded to latest reason version and only buying xo in bf sales I have certainly spent a lot less this year and started to use what I have a lot more.

How are you getting on with XO....

[EnochLight]

I sold my only electric guitar last week... And then it struck me...my bass. So...a steady Velvet Underground Moe Tucker driving beat. A bassline Can would be proud of and then a Jupiter Arp and Juno strings layered over the top. 10 minutes in and it's taking shape.
What I'm trying to say is that not having a guitar to hand might be a good thing. It's certainly made me think differently and I'm getting excited about what might come out of it.
If you love something give it away.

Had a similar epiphany years ago when I was working on my last single and needed a guitar solo. Hadn't bought my first true electric guitar yet, but had my trusty Yamaha acoustic laying around that had semi-decent pickups on it. Decided to use my Yamaha and run it through some guitar amp sims and effects in Reason instead, and "played it like an electric". Turned out to be a pretty convincing hollow body electric, and it's a sound I wasn't able to replicate with my actual hollow body electric that I would eventually get (Epiphone Emperor Swingster white Royale with Swingbucker pickups).

To this day I still prefer the sound I got out of my Yamaha acoustic for that track, over my Epiphone.

I'm also starting to use my bass guitar (just a cheap Ibanez) as a "guitar" as well, and play the higher notes and add effects chains (in Reason) more akin to a lead electric. Taking a cue from the Simon Raymonde/Peter Hook school of thought.

[MrFigg]

I sold my only electric guitar last week... And then it struck me...my bass. So...a steady Velvet Underground Moe Tucker driving beat. A bassline Can would be proud of and then a Jupiter Arp and Juno strings layered over the top. 10 minutes in and it's taking shape.
What I'm trying to say is that not having a guitar to hand might be a good thing. It's certainly made me think differently and I'm getting excited about what might come out of it.
If you love something give it away.

Had a similar epiphany years ago when I was working on my last single and needed a guitar solo. Hadn't bought my first true electric guitar yet, but had my trusty Yamaha acoustic laying around that had semi-decent pickups on it. Decided to use my Yamaha and run it through some guitar amp sims and effects in Reason instead, and "played it like an electric". Turned out to be a pretty convincing hollow body electric, and it's a sound I wasn't able to replicate with my actual hollow body electric that I would eventually get (Epiphone Emperor Swingster white Royale with Swingbucker pickups).

To this day I still prefer the sound I got out of my Yamaha acoustic for that track, over my Epiphone.

I'm also starting to use my bass guitar (just a cheap Ibanez) as a "guitar" as well, and play the higher notes and add effects chains (in Reason) more akin to a lead electric. Taking a cue from the Simon Raymonde/Peter Hook school of thought.

Hahaha. Funny you should say that. I was trying to work out if the tune I’m making was more Cocteaus or JD. Hahaha . Put a flanger in it and suddenly I was Steve Severin .

[EnochLight]

Hahaha. Funny you should say that. I was trying to work out if the tune I’m making was more Cocteaus or JD. Hahaha . Put a flanger in it and suddenly I was Steve Severin .

Totally off topic, but I just saw the most incredible Siouxsie & the Banshees tribute band a couple of weeks ago. They're called "Playground Twist" and they sounded SOOOOOO damn good. Lead singer was a pretty convincing Siouxsie, but their guitarist totally nailed Severin's sound. It was magical!

Not sure if YT's copyright nazis will take this down, but here's a snippet of their take on "The Killing Jar" (though it's hard to make out the Severin stuff):

[Popey]

I am doing something similar now with vsts and rack extensions. Bought the synth rig ages ago and realised other day that I hadn't even downloaded some of the stuff (currently digging into ochen k glitch re). Coupled with various vsts I got from the focusrite and plugin boutique freebies I realised I have lots of unused stuff to take advantage of. Having not upgraded to latest reason version and only buying xo in bf sales I have certainly spent a lot less this year and started to use what I have a lot more.

How are you getting on with XO....

So far really good. I like the way the samples are arranged across the frequency spectrum horizontally by pitch and the vertical plucky to longer sample as well means it is very quick to be in the ballpark of the type you need.

[QVprod]

Having contributed to the R12 soundbank, I gained an appreciation for the old devices. Making patches for Malstrom, Subtractor, and Thor reminded me that those are still fairly capable synths. Even the new Combi 2 patches all use the old devices, so aside from customizable controls, sonically those sounds were always possible.

[Billy+]

Having contributed to the R12 soundbank, I gained an appreciation for the old devices. Making patches for Malstrom, Subtractor, and Thor reminded me that those are still fairly capable synths. Even the new Combi 2 patches all use the old devices, so aside from customizable controls, sonically those sounds were always possible.

For me that was the biggest disappointment with CMBv2 - apart from more front panel controls for controls that are accessible via automation the CMBv2 is nothing more than a designable interface which is cool but actually it's that impressive.

I was hoping that it would have better access to all controls but I get that it isn't the way it works and requires a different approach.

[PhillipOrdonez]

That's the right mindset, MrFigg. I'm happy to see you and others have come a long way in the gas recovery. Kudos.

[EnochLight]

I'm happy to see you and others have come a long way in the gas recovery.

I wouldn't quite say that (for me, at least).. I ended up picking up an Akai MPK mini III, Ableton Live 11 Suite and XO during the BF sales.

[Benedict]

I have been saying this for ten years at least. Happy to see others echo it.

New tools may make you think that they are better but more often than not, it is just a different sound from the one that you usually dial up from habit. If you take that new sound you found, you can use the usual suspects and dial it right on in, often with more options for better things.

The music game is dying under a flood of unisoned drippy monkey-pack sound-good-ifiers that often sound really bad. But because they sound different (sometimes only just louder) people think they are getting something better and waste time and money on them (whilst the sellers chortle to themselves). Time that could/should have gone to making real music.

Years back I bought a Moog Slim Phatty for that Moog thing. I released the first track with Moog and Thor. Oddly despite the supposed uberallesness of the Moogfulness, no person has ever picked the real Moog sound in the track. They always pick Thor patches instead. To be fair the real Moog sound is less dramatic than the Thor sounds but if there were really some sort of superpower to a Moog, or Jupiter, or 1176 that sound would/should have stood out like monkey butts. But...

Before someone feels they must misquote me: No, I am not saying that Moogs are not special or that Thor is better, or any such stupidity, merely that we rarely need new tools (toys) as we have great options already (esp as Reason users). We are really just looking for a Story to tell and the courage to tell it properly (instead of the way we think others will demand).

[QVprod]

Having contributed to the R12 soundbank, I gained an appreciation for the old devices. Making patches for Malstrom, Subtractor, and Thor reminded me that those are still fairly capable synths. Even the new Combi 2 patches all use the old devices, so aside from customizable controls, sonically those sounds were always possible.

For me that was the biggest disappointment with CMBv2 - apart from more front panel controls for controls that are accessible via automation the CMBv2 is nothing more than a designable interface which is cool but actually it's that impressive.

I was hoping that it would have better access to all controls but I get that it isn't the way it works and requires a different approach.

That’s actually all many of us wanted with an updated combinator. More controls because the old one wasn’t enough. But this request was long before REs so we’re weren’t thinking about trying to create full on interfaces. By that standard, they knocked it out the park with the flexibility that it now offers imo. I think what makes it seem underwhelming is that it’s one of the main features of R12. It’s like CV devices. They’re nice, but it’s never going to be as attractive as a new synth. Similar to Reaktor, Combi 2 is only going to intrigue you if you’re really into sound designing.

[Benedict]

I was asking for a Synth Edit style ability to make working GUIs that meant the Combi could stay closed. Like you, I think RS delivered rather well on that.

While a new synth like Spire or Diva can indeed seem fun, in the moment, making Combi II devices that I can drag in like a Rack native RE combining things like Scream & Echo (in ways that otherwise one might blow coin on for some sort of pretty VST claiming Tube & Tape fripperies) is a strong thing. But I do acknowledge that my depth of years and in-born mindset does make that a more natural thing for me than for say a "born guitarist" (more reason for people to work together than apart).

[Billy+]

For me that was the biggest disappointment with CMBv2 - apart from more front panel controls for controls that are accessible via automation the CMBv2 is nothing more than a designable interface which is cool but actually it's that impressive.

I was hoping that it would have better access to all controls but I get that it isn't the way it works and requires a different approach.

That’s actually all many of us wanted with an updated combinator. More controls because the old one wasn’t enough. But this request was long before REs so we’re weren’t thinking about trying to create full on interfaces. By that standard, they knocked it out the park with the flexibility that it now offers imo. I think what makes it seem underwhelming is that it’s one of the main features of R12. It’s like CV devices. They’re nice, but it’s never going to be as attractive as a new synth. Similar to Reaktor, Combi 2 is only going to intrigue you if you’re really into sound designing.

Possibly

I would normally use a combinator for combining controls into a knob or routing cv to multiple devices via the programmer so maybe I'm not really the most interested person and I'm always removing the background image so that I can see labels more clearly.

It definitely an improvement but I was kinda expecting more but as I found out that is really down to the developers to make device controls available.

[MrFigg]

Hahaha. Funny you should say that. I was trying to work out if the tune I’m making was more Cocteaus or JD. Hahaha . Put a flanger in it and suddenly I was Steve Severin .

Totally off topic, but I just saw the most incredible Siouxsie & the Banshees tribute band a couple of weeks ago. They're called "Playground Twist" and they sounded SOOOOOO damn good. Lead singer was a pretty convincing Siouxsie, but their guitarist totally nailed Severin's sound. It was magical!

Not sure if YT's copyright nazis will take this down, but here's a snippet of their take on "The Killing Jar" (though it's hard to make out the Severin stuff):

Where was that?
I googled Steve Severin to see what he’s doing now and he’s on Bandcamp with loads of own releases. Kind of ambient. Apparently he’s living in Edinburgh.

[EnochLight]

Where was that?
I googled Steve Severin to see what he’s doing now and he’s on Bandcamp with loads of own releases. Kind of ambient. Apparently he’s living in Edinburgh.

That was the Magic Bag in Ferndale, MI. They do a retro-themed tribute band once a year before Thanksgiving. This year’s line-up was a Siouxsie tribute, a Smiths tribute, and a Depeche tribute (the Depeche Mode tribute was lame).