Bassline Generator Player

#Introduction to Players

A Player is a special type of device that automatically processes, filters and generates MIDI Notes, based on input MIDI Notes, to an Instrument device in the rack. Players can also play back MIDI on their own, without any MIDI input. The Bassline Generator Player device, described in this manual, can generate monophonic note lines.

The Player devices can be found on the Players palette on the Device Palette:

The Players palette

The basic idea behind Players is that you first create an Instrument device (or instrument track), then hook up one or more Player devices to the Instrument device. If the Player device is a pattern sequencer, like the one described in this manual, you can have it play back patterns automatically by just clicking Run - or by playing single notes on your MIDI Control Keyboard.

For more general information about Player devices, see the “Working with Players” chapter in the Reason Operation Manual/Help, which can be accessed from the Help menu in Reason.

#What’s new in Bassline Generator Player 1.1?

For those of you who are already familiar with Bassline Generator, here’s what’s new in version 1.1:

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More bass!

We've added an additional Bank B of source bass lines. You can select bank A or B independently for Onbeat and Offbeat.

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12 more Variator shapes

These let you add variations to bass lines in new ways. The shapes include 4x versions of the square, pulse and ramp shapes, plus "inverted" versions av all shapes (to vary the source bassline selection in the beginning of the cycle instead of at the end).

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Shift setting

This shifts the bass line to the left or right, up to ±32 steps. Shift can be CV-modulated for wild, weird results.

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Workflow improvements

Press Shift to get higher precision when selecting source basslines in the diamond display.

When you change pitches in the sequencer display, a horizontal pitch line is shown (like in Matrix).

You can press Shift when drawing in the sequencer display to force a straight line (restrict to the same pitch).

You can transpose a "long note" (tied notes with same pitch) by clicking it and dragging up or down. Previously you had to transpose each tied step separately.

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Transpose CV Input

Transpose the bass line from a CV device, e.g. using the Root Note CV Out jack on the Chord Sequencer.

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80+ new patches

#Overview

The Bassline Generator Player device is a monophonic note line generator, ideal for controlling any type of instrument device. You could use it for monophonic bass lines, or for generating and playing back nice monophonic melody lines. You can then transform and edit your note lines - to create anything from subtle variations to totally new and unexpected lines. You could also store your note lines in any of the eight Pattern slots.

The Bassline Generator Player has the following basic features:

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Create monophonic basslines by mixing, matching, and modulating built-in patterns

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Edit and tweak the results in the note display

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Randomize function for fresh, unexpected results

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Trigger and transpose basslines from your MIDI keyboard

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Eight Patterns, which can be automated in the main sequencer using Pattern Automation

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CV inputs and outputs connect to other devices in the Reason rack

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200+ patches included

#Playing and using Bassline Generator

#Loading and saving patches

Loading and saving patches is done in the same way as with any other internal Reason device. See the “Sounds and Patches” chapter in the Reason/ReasonRack Plugin Operation Manual pdf for details.

A Bassline Generator patch contains all the settings for all eight Pattern slots.

#Playing back patterns

#Selecting Pattern

Click the desired Pattern button to select which pattern you want to play back or work with:

#Selecting Playback mode

This switch determines how the Run button is activated.

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SEQ

Activating Play in the main sequencer turns on the Run button.

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SEQ+KEY

Activating Play in the main sequencer turns on the Run button, but no notes are sent out until you play MIDI notes too.

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KEY

Playing a MIDI note triggers the Run button (starting the pattern from the beginning).

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In addition, you can always click Run manually to audition the pattern, regardless of mode.

#Enabling Pitch and Velocity Scaling

You can control the pitch (transposition) as well as scale the velocity of your pattern notes by MIDI notes during playback.

Click the Pitch button to enable transposition of the pattern notes from a MIDI keyboard/On-Screen Piano Keys.

The figure in the Root Note display (see below) shows the current base note. If the figure is orange it means it has been transposed via MIDI.

Click the Velocity button to scale the velocities of the pattern notes based on the keyboard velocity played from your MIDI keyboard/On-Screen Piano Keys.

The velocity of each individual note will be scaled up/down according to how hard you play your MIDI keyboard.

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If neither option is activated, and the Playback mode switch is in SEQ mode, any MIDI notes you play are passed on to the instrument device. This way you can play along with a pattern.

#Setting the Root Note

Click and drag up/down in the Root Note display to set the desired root note in the Pattern.

The root note can be temporarily changed using the Pitch function described above.

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By connecting the Root Note CV In on the rear panel you can control the Root Note from an external device, e.g. from the Root Note CV Out jack on the Chord Sequencer Player (see “Transposing basslines using the Root Note CV In”).

The eight Patterns can have their own individual Root Note values.

#Octave shifting the notes

Octave shift all the notes in Bassline Generator with the Octave selector:

The Octave Shift is global and affects all Patterns.

#Basic preparations for pattern generation

First there are a couple of basic parameters that should be set up:

#Setting the number of Steps

Click and drag up/down in the Steps display to set the number of steps in the pattern.

Range: 16-64 steps.

The Note Display automatically adjusts horizontally to fit in the set number of steps.

The eight Patterns can have their own individual Steps values.

#Setting the Rate

Click and drag up/down in the Rate display to select the desired rate.

Values: 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 3/16, 1/4T, 1/8, 1/8T, 1/16, 1/16T, 1/32, 1/64

The eight Patterns can have their own individual Rate values.

#Shuffle

A Shuffle value can be set to introduce a “swing” in the playback.

Click and drag up/down in the Shuffle display to set the desired Shuffle amount.

Values: Off, 50-75%, Global.

“Global” locks to the Global Shuffle value in the ReGroove Mixer, see the “Global Shuffle” function in the ReGroove chapter in the Operation Manual/Help.

The eight Patterns can have their own individual Shuffle values.

#Generating patterns

The center part of the panel - the Generator section - contains the controls for generating the bassline. This is done by combining built-in Onbeat and Offbeat note patterns. In this case, "Onbeat" means "straight" lines with notes on step 1, 3, 5, 7 and so on. "Offbeat" means lines with notes on the steps in-between, or syncopes.

With the Rate set to the default 1/16, Onbeat notes (green) are on exact 1/8 note positions. Offbeat notes (blue) are on the 1/16 note positions in-between, as illustrated in the picture below:

Illustration of OnBeat notes (green) and OffBeat notes (blue).

#Selecting Onbeat and Offbeat patterns

The Bassline Generator Player features two Banks of 64 OnBeat and 64 OffBeat source patterns each, for a total of 128 OnBeat and 128 OffBeat patterns.

Click the Bank buttons to select the desired Pattern Bank - A or B - for the OnBeat and OffBeat patterns respectively.

Select OnBeat patterns by clicking/dragging the green slider and OffBeat patterns by clicking/dragging the blue slider.

You can also click/drag in the “diamond” display to select combinations of OnBeat and OffBeat patterns.

Hold down [Shift] while dragging the sliders/display to increase the precision.

The currently selected OnBeat and OffBeat patterns are indicated by numbers in the “diamond” display. Low values will create sparse patterns with few notes. Higher values will create more busy and complex lines.

The Note Display below shows the currently selected OnBeat and OffBeat notes in the note line:

Green dots represent OnBeat notes and blue dots indicate OffBeat notes.

It’s also possible to edit notes and modify the note line in the note display, see “Editing Patterns manually”.

#Shifting the pattern left/right

A very nice feature is that you can shift the entire pattern left/right in the Note Display.

Click and drag up/down (or left/right) in the Shift display to shift the bassline pattern left/right in the time line.

Range: +/- 32 steps.

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The Shift value can also be modulated from the “Shift Sequence < >” CV input on the rear panel (see “Shift Sequence < >”).

The Note Display automatically adjusts horizontally to show the current pattern “offset”.

The eight Patterns can have their own individual Shift values.

#Velocity

Turn the respective Velocity knobs to set the overall velocity of the OnBeat and OffBeat notes lines.

Turning Velocity all the way down for Onbeat or Offbeat will turn off the respective note generation.

Turn the OffBeat Velocity to “Off” to only hear the OnBeat notes, to make the pattern less “busy”.

#Note Length

Turn the respective Note Length knobs to set the overall length of the OnBeat and OffBeat notes.

The Bassline Generator is monophonic, i.e. it outputs one note at a time. Overlapping Onbeat and Offbeat notes (or high Note Length settings) can result in tied notes (no space between the notes).

To create classic bass synth slides when notes are tied, choose a monophonic sound set to Legato and Auto Portamento.

#Variators

The Variators introduce repeating variations in the note line pattern. Basically they make the OnBeat and OffBeat patterns change at certain positions in the bassline sequence, briefly selecting other Generator source patterns. The waveform control sets both the "shape" and the rate of change. The Variators include 4x versions of the square, pulse and ramp shapes, plus "inverted" versions av all shapes (to vary the source bassline selection in the beginning of the cycle instead of at the end):

This also means the Variator rate will be relative to the current pattern length (the Steps parameter - see “Setting the number of Steps”). It will run once or twice over the whole pattern.

The Variator Amount knobs determine how much the OnBeat and OffBeat patterns will move from the current patterns, and in which direction. Positive Amount values will make the pattern more complex and negative Amount values will make the pattern less complex. The Amount settings are indicated by darker areas on the Generator Pattern sliders:

Positive OnBeat Variator Amount and negative OffBeat Variator Amount

In the picture above the OnBeat pattern will change towards a more complex pattern and the OffBeat pattern will change towards a less complex pattern during the Variator cycles.

You can also see the pattern variations directly in the Note Display, as described in the example below.

In this example we have selected the “Pulse x2” Variator Shape for the OnBeat notes in a “root note” pattern (all notes have the same pitch). In the first picture the Amount is set to “0%” (Off) and in the second picture the Amount is set to “100%”. The green dashed lines indicate the "Pulse x2” shape throughout the pattern length:

“Pulse x2” at 0% Amount = no pattern variations.

“Pulse x2” at 100% Amount = more complex pattern during the Variation cycles.

When the Amount knob is adjusted above, the OnBeat note pattern variation is toggled twice in the pattern cycle. The principle is the same for the other Variator Shapes.

If you have a bassline pattern with Variators affecting the result, and want to double the pattern length, you need to select a Variator shape with the double amount of changes to keep the pattern similar. For example, if you have a 32 step pattern with the "Square x2" Variator active, and raise the number of steps to 64, you need to select the "Square x4" Variator to have the pattern sound the same in the first half. Similarly, when halving the length (going from 32 to 16) you would select the single "Square" Variator in this example.

There is also a Variator for the OffBeat notes, which works in the same way but for the offbeat notes.

#Note Range and Minorness

The whole bassline can be transposed by changing the Root Note or by using MIDI transpose (see “Enabling Pitch and Velocity Scaling”), but the individual note pitches come from the Onbeat/Offbeat pattern selection. Some lines stay close to the root note, while others have more varying pitches. You can adjust this with the Note Range and Minorness controls.

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Raising the Note Range setting will "stretch" the pitch intervals so that notes play further away from the root note.

What was originally an octave becomes an octave+a third, or an octave+fifth when the Note Range knob is raised. Similarly, lowering the Note Range setting will shrink the pitch span.

The root note will not be affected, so if the bassline plays root notes only, the Note Range setting won't do anything.

As described above, changing the Note Range will affect the intervals. However, if that should make the bassline sound too "happy", you can turn up the Minorness control. It forces some intervals to their minor versions (relative to the root note):

Minorness value

Result

Major sevenths forced to minor sevenths.

Also, major thirds forced to minor thirds.

Also, major sixths forced to minor sixths.

Also, major seconds forced to minor seconds.

The display between the controls illustrates what the Minorness parameter does (sort of). Mainly it just looks cool:

#Randomizing Patterns

A very nice feature is the Randomize function, which randomizes all parameters in the Generator section. Perfect for unexpected results!

Click the Randomize button to randomize all the Generator parameters:

#Editing Patterns manually

#The Note Display

The Note Display at the bottom of the panel shows the current bassline and allows you to do manual adjustments if desired. The Note Display has three sections:

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Pitch curve

The pitch curve reflects the pitch for each step, relative to the Root Note (see “Setting the Root Note”). Green dots represent OnBeat notes and blue represent OffBeat notes.

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Note row

The note row shows for each step if there is a note there (indicated by a green OnBeat or blue OffBeat circle).

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Tie row

The tie row indicates which steps are tied. If two notes of the same pitch are tied together, the result is one longer note. If the tied notes have different pitches, they will be played legato so that one note slides into the next (if the instrument is set to Legato mode or Auto Portamento).

#Editing note pitches

Click and drag up or down to change the pitch for a step.

The resulting note pitch - and interval from the Root Note - are shown in text together with a horizontal pitch line while you drag.

Hold [Shift] while dragging up/down for a higher precision.

This makes it easier to set a note to a specific pitch.

Hold [Shift] while dragging left/right to set multiple notes to the same pitch.

This will lock the movement to horizontal only when you start dragging and will make it easier to set multiple notes to the same pitch.

Hold [Command](Mac) or [Ctrl](Win) and click to reset the pitch to the root note.

You could also drag sideways in the display to reset the pitches of multiple adjacent notes to the root note.

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If several notes of the same pitch are tied (see “Tying notes”) changing the pitch of one of the tied notes will automatically change the pitches of all tied notes.

#Editing note steps and velocity