Working with Players

If the Pattern function is active (see “Pattern”), the Direction setting only determines in which direction the steps should advance - regardless of the pitches of the notes in the pattern.

#Hold

Click the Hold button to keep the arpeggio running even after you release all keys.

It will continue to arpeggiate the last notes played until a new note-on is received.

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If you continue to hold down at least one key when Hold is on, any new notes will be added to the existing arpeggio as opposed to starting a new arpeggio.

#The Display sections

In the display sections you can design your arpeggios/patterns.

#Normal (Arpeggio) mode

If none of the switches to the left of the display (Steps, Pattern or Velocity) are activated, the display only shows the orange moving step indicator (if you hold down more than one key on your MIDI Control Keyboard). The rest of the display area is dark.

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The step indicator travels the same number of steps as the number of notes you play and hold on your MIDI Control Keyboard.

So, if you hold down a 5-note chord, the step indicator advances five steps before it starts over again.

#Steps

If you want the arpeggio to always play a certain number of steps, regardless of how many keys you hold down, you can activate the Steps function. This is perfect for maintaining a steady “beat” in your song.

Click the Steps switch to activate the Steps function.

The default value is 4 steps.

Click or click-hold and drag on the right side of the orange bar on the area above the step indicator, to increase or decrease the number of steps:

The arpeggio (or Pattern, see below) will restart after the set number of steps, regardless of how many notes you are playing.

Range: 1-16 steps.

#Pattern

In the default “Arpeggio mode” (Pattern switch off), the arpeggiator(s) work in the standard “monophonic” fashion, where the notes are played back one by one according to the settings you have made in the left section of the device.

With Pattern activated, the arpeggiator turns into a combined pattern player + arpeggiator. Pattern mode allows for up to four-note polyphonic “arpeggios”.

Here is how it works:

Click the Pattern switch to activate the Pattern function.

All currently active pattern steps (green boxes) light up in the display.

The four green boxes in the example above represent the playback pattern if you hold a 4-note chord on your MIDI Control Keyboard. The lowest row in the display represents the lowest held note in the chord you play.

Set the Direction to “Up” (see “Direction”), to make the examples below work as described.

If you, for example, hold down the keys C4, E4, G4 and B4, the pattern plays back C4 in step 1, E4 in step 2, G4 in step 3 and B4 in step 4. Then the pattern starts over again:

If you hold down fewer keys, the pattern steps gets equally fewer steps and only plays back the new lowest to the new highest notes in the chord:

Click in any of the matrix boxes to edit the pattern:

Editing the pattern.

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Each step can have a note that can be 1/3, 2/3 or 1/1 of the step’s total length, depending on where in the box you click.

This way you could draw in “staccato” notes for desired steps, if you like. If you click the full 1/1 of a step (click in the right area of the box), and then click another consecutive box on the same row, the notes will be tied together (played in legato).

If you hold down the keys C4, E4, G4 and B4, the pattern above now plays back C4 and B4 in step 1, E4 and B4 in step 2, G4 in step 3 and B4 in step 4. Then the pattern starts over again:

Click anywhere on a filled box to delete the note.

To fill several consecutive boxes on the same row with identical note lengths, click and hold on the desired position in the initial box and then drag to the right:

Adding consecutive notes by click-holding and dragging.

Here are some general rules regarding Pattern Mode:

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A pattern can be up to 16 steps long (if Steps is activated, see “Steps”).

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The notes you play are then mapped to the four note positions for each step.

If you play a four note chord, some steps may play only the lowest note, others may play a higher note or a combination of notes or all four.

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If you hold down more than four notes, note 5 and up are ignored completely in the pattern.

Note that if the Steps function is not active (see “Steps”), note 5 and up will add additional silent steps in the pattern, making the pattern longer.

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If you play fewer notes than the number of rows you have programmed in you pattern, this is what happens:

Let’s take the pattern below (with the Steps function off) as an example:

Pattern Mode with the Steps function off.

If you only hold down key C4, note C4 is repeated (since the pattern length is only one step with one key pressed):

If you hold down C4 and E4, the pattern plays back C4 and E4 alternating (since the pattern length is now two steps with two keys held):

If you hold down C4, E4, and G4 the pattern plays back C4, E4 and G4 alternating (since the pattern length is now three steps with three keys held):

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If we now do the same procedure with the Steps function on - and set the number of steps to 4 - things work a little differently.

This is what happens:

Pattern Mode with the Steps function on.

If you only hold down key C4, note C4 is played back on step 1 and note C5 is played back on step 2. Steps 3 and 4 are silent. In other words, a new note one octave above is automatically generated on the second step:

If you hold down C4 and E4, the pattern plays back note C4 on step 1, note E4 on step 2, note C5 on step 3 and note E5 on step 4. So, the two held notes are played back one octave higher on steps 3 and 4:

If you hold down C4, E4, and G4 the pattern plays back C4 on step 1, E4 on step 2, G4 on step 3 and C5 on step 4. As you can see, the lowest held note is played back one octave higher on step 4:

#Velocity

In default mode, when the Velocity function is off, the velocities of the input notes set the velocity of each generated note in the arpeggio/pattern. If you want to define the velocity values and draw them in manually, you can activate the Velocity function.

Click the Velocity switch:

Click or click-hold and drag the blue Velocity bars to manually set the velocity values.

When you play your chords, the input velocity is disregarded and replaced by the values you drew in the display.

Range: 0-127.

#Shift Step

Change where in the arpeggio/pattern you want the playback to begin.

Range: -16 to + 16 steps.

#Transpose

Transpose all the generated arpeggio/pattern notes equally, in semitone steps.

Range: -24 to + 24 semitones.

#Gate Length

Change the lengths of the generated arpeggio/pattern notes.

Here you can change the “gate/hold” time for the generated arpeggio/pattern notes. 100% means the gate time is exactly one full Step. A Length of 25% results in a gate time of 1/4 of a Step and a Length of 400% means a gate time of four Steps.

Range: 25%-400%.

#Note Echo

Note Echo simulates a MIDI delay effect, by adding repeats of the incoming MIDI notes. The Note Echo device is polyphonic, so you can get repeats of entire chords if you like.

#Step Length

The Step Length knob controls the echo time, and consequently also the time between the repeats. The step length range is 0 to 1000 milliseconds. When Tempo Sync (see below) is enabled, the range is 1/128 notes up to ½ note.

A Step Length of 0 makes it possible to create chords and clusters, since all steps are played back simultaneously. See “Creating parallel chords” for a practical example.

#Tempo Sync

Switch on to sync the Step Length (see above) to the Reason sequencer tempo.

#Repeats

This knob sets the number of repeats, from 1-16. The number of repeats is also shown in the display.

#Velocity

The Velocity knob controls the linear increase or decrease of the Note Velocity value for each step.

The range is from 10% to 200%, where 100% means the velocity value is left unchanged throughout the repeats. Values below 100% means a decrease of the velocity values, and values above 100% means increasing velocity with each repeat.

The velocity values are represented by blue bars in the display. The blue line in the bars indicates the 100% value.

#Pitch

With the Pitch knob you set how many semitones each step should be transposed relative to the previous step. The function is linear for all repeats. The Pitch values are represented by orange bars in the display.

The range is –12 to +12 semitones. 0 is the default value and means no transposition of the input notes.

If you use very high or very low Pitch value settings together with many Repeats, the note range of the associated instrument might be exceeded. If this happens, any remaining repeats will be silent.

#Display

Aside from showing number of Repeats, Velocity and Pitch (transposition) information, the display can also be used if you want to mute individual repeats.

Click the desired green circles in the display, to mute the corresponding repeat.

This way you can create interesting rhythmic repeats. The first green circle (to the left in the display) represents the incoming “dry” MIDI Note. This can be muted as well, if you like. By default, all repeats are on (unmuted).

#Scales & Chords

The Scales & Chords device either transposes incoming notes to fit a set scale, or transposes notes and generates chords that fit the desired scale. Scales & Chords has a number of built-in preset scales, and you can also create your own custom scales!

Here are some examples of how you can use it:

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to get chords from single note inputs.

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to get new chord voicings and progressions that feel fresh and inspires your music making.

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to experiment with existing note lines, by transforming them to different scales.

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to get the notes you play to automatically fit the music.

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to easily be able to play chords without using a MIDI Control Keyboard.

You could write single MIDI notes in a Note clip and have the Scales & Chords Player generate the chords for you.

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to get chords that sound right, without knowledge of tonality/scales.

#Scales

In the Scales section you choose which key and scale you want.

Note that all parameters in the Scales section can be automated, so you could change key and scale anywhere throughout your song if you like!

#Key

Click to select the desired Key from the list that appears.

12 Keys are available, from C to B.

#Scale

Click to select the desired Scale from the list that appears.

13 scales are available, plus a Custom scale that you can create yourself (see below). The preset Scales are:

Major, Minor, Lydian, Mixolydian, Spanish, Dorian, Phrygian, Harmonic Minor, Melodic Minor, Major Pentatonic,
Minor Pentatonic, Hemi Pentatonic and Chromatic.

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The notes that fit the selected Key and Scale are displayed in light blue in the keyboard display in the Scales section:

The Dorian scale in the key of E.

The notes in the selected Key and Scale are then automatically repeated throughout all octaves of the entire MIDI Note range.

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Notes you play on your MIDI Control Keyboard/On-screen Piano Keys are indicated in orange in the Scales keyboard display.

#Creating a Custom Scale

Create a custom Scale by clicking the desired keys in the keyboard display in the Scale section:

Selected notes are colored light blue. The selected notes are then automatically repeated throughout all octaves of the entire MIDI Note range.

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You can easily switch between your Custom Scale and any of the preset Scales whenever you want, by clicking the “Scale” display and selecting the desired scale from the list that appears.

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Your Custom Scale is automatically saved with the song.

Your Custom Scale is also saved in the Scales & Chords patch, should you choose to save your settings as a patch.

#Filter Notes

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When the Filter Notes switch is off (default), incoming notes outside the set Scale (see “Scales”) are transposed to fit the scale.

Wrong notes are automatically transposed to the closest correct note. If the wrong note is equally near two correct notes, the wrong note is transposed to the lowest of the correct notes.

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When the Filter Notes switch is on, incoming notes that are outside the set scale will be filtered out (silent) instead of transposed.

The display below shows a hand symbol whenever wrong input notes are filtered out (silent).

#Chords

Switch on the Chords function to generate chords out of single notes.

When you play a note, you will get a chord that fits the set Scale (see “Scales”), and contains the number of notes set with the “Notes” knob. The generated notes are shown in real-time in the keyboard display at the bottom of the Chords section:

If you play several notes at the same time you will get several chords, which might be cool or just weird. If notes in the generated chords should coincide, only one instance of the notes are played back (to avoid doubled/layered notes).

If you want to create “parallel chords”, i.e. chords that contain notes with the same relative intervals, the Note Echo device is better suited for this, see “Creating parallel chords”.

#Notes

Set the desired number of notes in the generated chords.

Range: 1-5 notes.

#Inversion

The Inversion knob defines which note in the generated chord should be the lowest. The function tries to keep the lowest generated note in the chord as close to the played root note as possible. Below is an example of inversions of a generated 4-note chord in the Scale C Major, played from a C note of the MIDI Control Keyboard:

Inversions of a generated 4-note chord played from the (orange) C note.

Note that the Inversion function is only relevant if the Inversion number is less than the selected “Notes” value. So, if the Notes value is 4, only a maximum Inversion value of 3 is useful.

#Open Chords

When the Open Chords function is active, some notes in the generated chords are transposed in octave steps, so that the notes are not so close to each other. The transposition is different depending on the “Inversion” and the “Notes” settings.

#Add

The Add functions can be used for adding notes to the generated chords:

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The Add Oct Up function adds a note one octave above the root note.

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The Add Oct Down function adds a note one octave below the root note.

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The Add Color function adds a note two thirds above the highest note in the tertian chord structure.

If the Notes value in the Chord section is 3, you will get a regular triad (e.g. a C major). Adding a sixth above top will mean adding a 9 (e.g. the note D). Similarly, if the Notes value in the Chord section is 4, this will add an 11; if the Notes value in the Chord section is 5, this will add a 13.

All three Add functions can be used together, simultaneously.

If the added note is already used in the chord (due to inversions, open chord etc), the note is transposed up another octave (or down, in case of Oct Down).

#Alter

The Alter button is a momentary button that turns off as soon as you release the mouse button (like the Trig button on The Echo, for example). It alters the chord slightly so that it goes outside the current scale. The result depends on the Key (as set in the Scale section), whether the current scale is major or minor and what note you play (relative to the Scale Key).

The chord is altered by having one of the chord notes changed. For example, a major chord may be changed to a minor chord, or vice versa.

#Beat Map

The Beat Map Algorhythmic Drummer is a Player that generates drum patterns based on built-in beats, algorithms and simple but powerful controls. It's normally used with a drum instrument such as Kong, Rytmik or Umpf, but can also be used with melodic instruments for interesting results.

#Included content

To browse the content of Beat Map, click "Rack Extensions" in the Browser and then double click the Beat Map folder:

Beat Map comes with a number of patches, both for the Player itself and for several different drum devices. The drum device patches are tailored to work well with Beat Map, but you can of course use any patch from the Factory Sound Bank, or make your own.

If you want immediate results, start by loading one of the patches in the Combinator Style Patches folder! These combine Beat Map with drum devices and effects for instant rhythmic goodness.

If you want a taste of what can be done with multiple Beat Maps in combination with other devices, check out the Demos and Song Starters folder.

Note that some of the combi patches use Rack Extensions included with Reason Suite.

Finally, the Template Key Mappings folder contains Beat Map patches where the keys (note numbers) have been adapted for other drum configurations such as GM, Reason Drum Kits and various 3rd party drummers.

#The front panel

The central item on Beat Map's panel is the Map display. This is where you select a basic rhythm, by clicking and dragging the cross-hair.

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The cross-hair position is also indicated with the X and Y position parameters, which you can edit directly if you like.

Each integer XY position corresponds to a different beat. The map graphics are there for visual reference and for the nice looks – there is no particular rhythmic significance to the elements on the map. However, as a general rule, moving the position to the right will make the bass drum pattern more syncopated and moving the position upwards will make the snare pattern more syncopated.

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Clicking the Spawn XY button drops you at a random position:

#Map Select

Click the Map Select button to show the four included maps:

They contain beats in different styles – click on a map to see some info about it in the display.

To select a map for use, either double click it or select it and click Map Select again.

#Density

The beats consists of four different rhythmic patterns, for kick, snare, hi-hat and percussion. Once you've found a beat that you like, you can adjust the Density of each drum. This means reducing or increasing the number of notes. Turning Density down to zero will mute that drum. The Density parameters can be automated or CV controlled, for continuous variations.

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Clicking the Random Density button to the left will change all four Density controls to random values, useful for live variations:

#Lock Position

You may find a beat where for example the kick is perfect, but not the other drums. Then you can click Lock Pos for the kick. This will put a "pin" on the map – the kick beat will stay at this position but you can continue exploring the map for the other instruments.

This can be done independently for all four drums, locking them to different map positions. This way you can combine rhythms from different basic beats, for infinite variations.

You can still adjust Density for locked drums.

#Mirror notes

Each of the four drums has a "Mirror" function, which plays a note in between two note positions from it's main drum. For example, if the kick beat plays like this:

... then its Mirror notes (dark red) will play like this:

This means that the Mirror notes will be affected by the Density of the main drum, creating interesting counter-rhythms or ghost notes.

Use the Mirror knobs to set the velocity (typically level) of the Mirror notes. Turning the knob down completely will turn off the Mirror note.

#Setting MIDI note numbers

Each drum and Mirror function sends out notes on a separate MIDI note number, meaning that Beat Map can control eight different drum sounds.

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Clicking the red signal LED for a drum will send out that note, for quick auditioning of drum sounds:

The Perc drum sends out MIDI Note F#1

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You can set which note a drum should send by clicking and dragging the note number on the panel:

Alternatively, use the Learn function:

Click Learn Key:

Click the note number value for a drum or Mirror to highlight it.

Play the desired note on your MIDI controller.

Repeat for the other notes.

Click the Learn Key again to exit Learn mode.

This is required for the changes to stick when you save the patch or song.

#Global settings

To the right are three settings that affect the overall playback:

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Rate is the note value of each step. Normally this is set to 1/16th notes.

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Shuffle allows you to add a swing feel to the beats by delaying the offbeat 1/16th notes.

You can set it manually from 50-75% or select “Global” to use the Global Shuffle setting (found in the Groove mixer in Reason).

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Reset Step determines the number of steps before the beat starts over from the beginning.

The default is 64, but it can be useful to lower this to make a beat less varying or to impose some structure on a chaotic rhythm.

#Beat Map and the sequencer

You can click the Run button manually for auditioning the beat, but the Run function is normally controlled by the Play function in the main sequencer.

However, if you want Beat Map to play in certain parts of your song but not in others, it's also possible to control this using Pattern automation. Here's how to do this in Reason:

Right-click Beat Map and select “Create Track”.

This creates a sequencer track for the Beat Map device.

With the Beat Map track selected, click the Create Pattern Lane button above the track list

This creates a Pattern lane on the Beat Map track. Since there are no pattern clips on the lane, Beat Map will be stopped. This will be indicated in the map display:

Draw pattern clips in the sections where you want Beat Map to play:

Unlike other pattern devices, there is only one pattern to select from here – Pattern 1. This is just a nifty way to control playback – you can also use pattern offset to start playback with an upbeat or in the middle of a bar.

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Alternatively, you could automate the On button to automate the Beat Map playback:

In addition, most Beat Map parameters can be automated. For example, you can record map movements or Density changes.

A couple of special features:

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The Locked XY positions can be automated for each drum.

This allows you to lock a single drum to a rhythm but change it with automation:

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The Map selection ("Beat Map" parameter) can be automated or controlled from a Combinator.

Switching to another map can be useful as a break or fill.

#Editing the drum notes

To manually edit the beats from Beat Map, you need to send the MIDI notes to a sequencer track. You do this with the Send To Track function on the Player top panel, see “Common Player device parameters”.

#Using CV

On the back of Beat Map, you'll find a comprehensive selection of CV inputs and outputs.

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Density CV in and Mirror Velocity CV in for each drum.

Using these with a Pulsar CV LFO can create longer, varying rhythmic patterns or random variations. There are plenty of examples of this among the Combinator Style Patches.

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Gate Out from main drums and Mirror sections, allowing you to trigger other sounds or effects in parallel.

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Reset Step Trig In.

Whenever this receives a positive CV value, the beat will start over from the first step.

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Map XY CV Inputs, for automatically modulating the map position during playback.

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Map XY CV Outputs.

These send out the X/Y coordinates as CV values, letting you use the Map display as an XY controller for other devices in Reason.

#Tips & Tricks

#Generating scale-correct arpeggios from single notes

By chaining a Scales & Chords device with a Dual Arpeggio device you will be able to generate scale-correct arpeggios by playing single notes.

Create an Instrument device.

In this example we create an ID8.

Select the ID8 device in the rack and double-click a Scales & Chords device.

The Scales and Chords device is automatically attached to the ID8.

Select the ID8 device in the rack and double-click a Dual Arpeggio device.

The Dual Arpeggio device is attached between the Scales & Chords device and the ID8 device:

On the Scales & Chords device, select Key and Scale, then switch on the Chords function set the Notes knob to 4.

Play single notes on your MIDI Control Keyboard (or On-screen Piano Keys) and hear how four-note scale-correct arpeggios are now generated.

#Generating chord arpeggios

By chaining a Dual Arpeggio device with a Scales & Chords device you will be able to generate arpeggiated chords.

Create an Instrument device.

In this example we create an ID8.

Select the ID8 device in the rack and double-click a Dual Arpeggio device.

The Dual Arpeggio device is automatically attached to the ID8.

Select the ID8 device in the rack and double-click a Scales & Chords device.

The Scales and Chords device is attached between the Dual Arpeggio device and the ID8 device:

On the Scales & Chords device, select Key and Scale, then switch on the Chords function set the Notes knob to 3.

Play chords on your MIDI Control Keyboard (or On-screen Piano Keys) and hear how arpeggiated three-note chords are now generated.

#Creating parallel chords

The Scales & Chords Player is great for generating chords that stay within a set scale, but sometimes you may want chords that keep their form when you play different notes. For example, you might want a minor 9th chord that is transposed with the notes you play, but stays a minor 9th chords (like with the Chord Memory function of some synthesizers, for example). This can be called “parallel chords”, and is actually best done with the Note Echo device:

Set Step Length to 0.

Raise the Repeats value to maximum.

Set the Pitch to +1 semitone.

This means that each repeat is 1 semitone higher than the previous - and since Step Length is 0, they are all played at the same time. If you play a note now, you get a dense cluster of notes - not very musical or useful, but let’s continue:

Click the Repeat circles in the display to turn off the notes you don't want.

This is how you would set up a minor 9th chord for example:

Play different (single) notes on your MIDI Control Keyboard/On-screen Piano Keys to get parallel, transposed chords.

You could also add a Dual Arpeggio Player after the Note Echo for cool arpeggios!

The Note Echo device comes with a number of ready-made chord patches. You find them by clicking the Browse Patch button on the Note Echo device and opening the “Chords” sub-folder in the browser.

#Using a Scales & Chords device as a “MIDI Note monitor”

Sometimes it might be interesting to see in real-time what notes/chords a Player or “Player chain” actually generates.

Add a Chords & Scales device last (at the bottom) in the Player chain.

Make sure Scale is set to “Chromatic” and that Filter Notes and Chords are Off.

When you play through your Player(s) the generated notes/chords are now displayed in the Scales & Chords keyboard display:

The “Creating parallel chords” example monitored in a Scales & Chords device when playing the note C.