Reason Rack Plugin 13.1 Operation Manual
DAW | Rack Plugin | Reason+ Rack Extensions
Routing Audio and CV
As you've seen in the previous chapters, instrument and effect devices are connected automatically when you create them. This means you don't strictly have to do any manual signal routing to use Reason Rack Plugin, at least not for standard instrument and effect functionality.
However, adding some manual routing vastly opens up the possibilities! Here are some of the things you can do:
•
Connecting multiple outputs from instruments.
•
Sidechaining effects.
•
Splitting, merging and mixing signals, creating parallel signal chains, send effect structures and more.
•
Using CV (Control Voltage - see “CV/Gate signals” below!) to modulate or control parameters on one device from another.
•
Playing instruments from CV sequencers and arpeggiators.
•
Using instrument devices with audio input as effects.
All this routing is done on the back side of the rack:
*
Click Flip Rack to get there (or select Flip Rack from the context menu):
All audio and CV connections are represented by cables.
#Hiding cables
Sometimes, there can be quite a lot of cables in view, making the connections hard to follow. Then the Hide Cables function is handy:
*
Click Hide Cables on the Global Panel to toggle this on or off (or select Hide Cables from the context menu).
The result of Hide Cables depends on this setting in the Settings dialog:
 
Option
Result
Hides auto-routed cables.
Only cables you have connected manually will be fully shown. Cables that were connected automatically are drawn semi-transparent.
Shows cables for selected devices only.
Only cables connected to the currently selected device(s) are fully shown. Other cables are drawn semi-transparent.
Hides all cables.
All cable connections are indicated with colored dots in the jacks, and no cables will be shown.
The following signal types are used in Reason Rack Plugin:
#Audio signals
Audio means sound being sent from one device to another (or to/from your DAW host).
•
Audio connectors are shown as large quarter inch jacks and the cables are thick:
•
Audio connectors can be either inputs or outputs, as indicated on the panel.
•
You always route cables between inputs and outputs (it doesn't matter in which order you route).
The special case is the i/o device at the top of the rack, where the "Inputs" represent the inputs from the DAW host and the "Outputs" represent the outputs to the DAW host. Thus, an instrument will have its own Output jacks connected to the "Outputs" on the i/o device, to get the sound back into your DAW host.
•
Many devices have audio jacks in stereo pairs, with one labeled e.g. "Left/Mono" and the other "Right".
When you connect such a Left output, the Right is typically automatically connected too - but you disconnect it to use a mono signal from the device.
#CV/Gate signals
In the early days of synthesizers, before the MIDI protocol was invented, analog synthesizers could be interconnected using Control Voltage (CV) cables. For example, one cable would be used for controlling pitch while another would send a Gate voltage, basically telling a synth when to play a note and when to stop. A third cable might send a modulating signal to some parameter, e.g. varying the filter frequency. Today, this system has become quite common again, thanks to the rise of modular synthesizers.
The CV signal cables in Reason Rack Plugin emulate this analog control system. CV cables send a value, which may be static or changing. They do not carry audio, but are used for modulating parameters and controlling devices.
•
CV connectors are shown as smaller mini jacks, and the cables are thinner than the audio cables:
•
CV connectors can be either inputs or outputs, as indicated on the panel.
You always route cables between inputs and outputs (it doesn't matter in which order you route).
•
Connectors may be labelled "Gate".
A Gate signal is a CV signal that goes from zero to an "on" value and eventually back to zero again. They are used for playing notes, triggering envelopes and more.
•
Instrument devices often have a "Note" CV input, along with a "Gate" input.
These are used in tandem, to play the instrument from a CV source such as the Matrix rack sequencer. The Gate signal will determine when notes start and stop, while the Note CV signal will set the pitch of the played notes.
#About CV Trim knobs
Most CV inputs have an associated Trim knob. This is used to set the CV "sensitivity" when modulating a parameter. The further clockwise a CV trim knob is set, the more pronounced the modulation effect.
•
Turned fully clockwise, the modulation range will be 100% of the parameter range.
•
Turned fully anti-clockwise, no CV modulation will be applied.
#About MIDI routing
MIDI signals (notes and controllers such as pitch bend, mod wheel etc) are not represented by cables in Reason Rack Plugin. Normally, all devices that use MIDI notes and performance controllers will automatically receive them from the DAW host.
•
To decide exactly which devices should receive MIDI notes, put them in a Combinator and use the "Receive Notes" setting in the Combi Programmer section for each device. See “Configuring the Combinator panel”.
•
If a Player is added to an Instrument device, MIDI notes will go to the Player instead of the instrument.
The Player may pass on the notes, transform them or generate new notes, depending on the Player type and settings.
•
You can also control individual parameters with MIDI controller messages (e.g. if you have a MIDI keyboard with knobs and faders).
There are two ways to manually connect an output jack to an input jack (or vice versa):
#Dragging cables
1.
Click the jack, and keep the mouse button pressed.
A cable appears.
2.
Drag the cable to the other jack.
When you're over a jack of the correct type, it lights up.
3.
Release the mouse button.
The cable is connected (replacing the existing connection there, if any). If you dragged from the left jack in a stereo pair, the right will automatically be connected as well.
*
To change a connection, click and hold the jack to grab the cable. Then drag it to another jack.
*
To disconnect a cable, click the jack at either end to grab the cable and drop it away from any jack.
#Using the routing menu
1.
Right-click a jack.
A context menu appears, listing all devices in the rack:
2.
Move the mouse pointer to the device you want to connect to.
A submenu lists all outputs or inputs on that device. An asterisk (*) next to a jack means it's already connected.
3.
Select the desired jack.
The two jacks are connected with a cable. If the jack was already in use, the old connection is replaced.
*
To disconnect a jack, right-click it and select "Disconnect" from the context menu:
#Checking and following cable connections
*
If you point your mouse at a jack that's in use and wait a moment, a tool tip appears, showing both the device name and connector that the cable is connected to:
*
You can also right-click the jack and select "Scroll to Connected Device".
This will scroll to the device in the other end of the cable and highlight the connector briefly.
Reason Rack Plugin will automatically route devices when you create them. If you don't want this, you can hold down [Shift] when you create the device. This will add the device without connections, requiring that you route it manually to use it.
It's also possible to invoke this automatic routing from the context menu, by right-clicking a non-connected device and selecting "Auto-route Device".
To disconnect all cables going to and from a device, instead select "Disconnect Device" from the context menu.
When a device is auto-routed, either at creation or from the context menu, the following rules apply:
•
An audio output will be connected to the first free and auto-routable input above it in the rack.
For example, if you auto-route an instrument and there's a rack mixer device above it in the rack, it will be connected to the first free mixer channel input. If there are no such free, suitable inputs on devices above, it will be routed to the I/O device instead.
•
An audio input will be connected to the first auto-routable output above it in the rack.
If this was already connected, the device will insert itself into the signal chain but preserve the connection.
Auto-routing a non-connected The Echo device below a Thor instrument device.
•
Devices inside a Combinator will not auto-route outside the Combinator device.
•
A few CV devices will auto-route Note CV and Gate cables to the corresponding CV inputs on the first suitable instrument device above in the rack.
For example, if you add a Matrix sequencer below a Thor synth, it will auto-route Note CV and Gate and be ready for immediate playback: