I have been working hard on a drum machine emulation for Reason 6.5
The original idea came to me a couple of years ago, when I got my trusty old Yamaha RX-17 Digital Rhythm Programmer out of mothballs and started trying to use it with Reason.
I found a very useful site run by Robbneu “Reason: A Patch A Day” – I downloaded the RX-17 samples from his site so that I could set up my own software version in Reason without going through the hassle of sampling it myself – as I didn’t really know what I was doing at the time!
http://reasonpatchaday.blogspot.com.au/2008/11/44-yamaha-rx17-digital-rhythm.html
As I have become more proficient with Reason, I thought it would be a cool idea to create my own version of the RX-17 in software.
I would start by re-sampling the drum machine myself, and then creating re-programmed versions of the original factory patterns, using the original pattern/songbook that shipped with it as a guide.
The problem with creating an accurate emulation in Reason is that the Redrum has only 10 channels, and is therefore limited to playing 10 drum samples, whereas the RX-17 has 26 sounds.
One way of doing it would be to chain several Redrums or a Kong (16 channels) and a Redrum (10 channels) together. But Kong doesn’t have its own Rhythm programmer or sequencer, so in the end I opted to just use Redrums and put them into that fabulous Propellerhead invention, the “Combinator”.
I soon discovered that the “Combined” factory patterns could be split fairly easily into traditional drum patterns and standalone percussion patterns. So I set up a drums only Redrum and linked it to a Percussion only Redrum. It turned out there were insufficient channels in one Redrum for all the percussion sounds, so I linked two percussion Redrums together.
After doing a bit of combinator setup using Redrums, I figured that it would be fun to mix and match the percussion sounds I had split out from the combined patterns. I needed all the drum units to start at the same time, and they all needed to be (at least initially) playing the same pattern at the same time, and simultaneously switching to a different pattern when required.
So I could take the percussion from pattern 84, and add it to the drums playing pattern 50. Voila! A new combined pattern!
This was a bit of a novelty as I had heard the factory patterns many, many times over the last 25 years (since buying the unit from new in July 1987) but had never heard these new combinations of beats at the same time. Awesome!
Altered Patterns
Then I used Reason’s “alter drum” feature to create some new altered versions of the factory patterns. I set up yet another Redrum with the same sounds as the original, but with 32 new (altered) stored patterns. Some weren’t very good, so I reverted in some cases to the original factory pattern instead.
General Midi and Kong
Redrum does not lend itself to creating a drum kit that plays General Midi (GM). It only has 10 channels and as far as I know, you can’t change the midi notes it uses to trigger its drum samples (not without using a separate triggering device like a Matrix or RPG8, anyway).
So I set up a couple of Kongs with my newly sampled RX-17 sounds, one for drums, and one for percussion. I put those in a Combinator too. I added some effects like Reverb (RV7000 Advanced Reverb) and Tape distortion (Scream 4).
Rack Extensions
I recently discovered Ochen K.’s Probability Drum Trigger (PDT2) and (PCV) Rack Extensions for Reason. These are software units you can buy from the online “Prop Shop” to use in addition to the stuff in the Reason Rack (since Reason Version 6.5 came out). They both function a bit like Redrum with step programming functionality, but add the flexibility of assigning probability to a drum hit, rather then it just being on or off, Hence random variations in both beats and their volumes are now possible. Could this signal the end of unrealistic “Machine gunning” snare drums? Maybe so.
Check out Ochen K’s PDT2 and other gadgets at the “Prop Shop” Here:
http://shop.propellerheads.se/product/probability-drum-trigger/
I used several PDT2’s to randomly trigger various percussion sounds from the Kong. These were based on the original factory patterns. A different approach, with more variation on both pattern and volume.
Loops.
Having re-programmed the original patterns from scratch, it was time to render them as separate audio clips and then use my trusty old “Recycle Lite” to convert them into mono sliced rex (.rcy) files for use with Doctor Octo Rex. This gave rise to a whole new bunch of Loop playing combinators.
I split the different factory patterns up into chunks – until I ran out of programming slots, and then created an identical combinator to play the next batch, and so on. I saved the individual loops in clusters of 8 for easy loading into Dr Octo Rex.
It means you end up with a lot of different combinators, but it increases your chances of getting a “Happy Accident” – one of those magical combinatons of drums and percussion you would never have thought of or programmed yourself in a million years.
Just start off all your combinators together, and mute the bits you don’t want (or solo the bits you do) until you end up with something good.
You can do this with one combinator at a time, and mute or solo various drum and percussion patterns. It’s worth demonstrating in a video. Watch this space.
Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
MIDI File
I couldn’t help but remember “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” by Gloria Estefan, so I downloaded a midi from Electrofresh and started to pick it apart. I noticed a few similarities with the RX-17’s percussion patterns. Right click the link below and select “Save Link As” to download the midi file. You will need a midi player to play the file too.
http://electrofresh.com/midi-9426-download-gloria_estefan-rhythm_is_gonna_get_you.html
YouTube Video
Here’s Gloria performing the song on YouTube:
MP3 – Amazon.co.uk
You can download the MP3 from Amazon here (Affiliate Link):
Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
[content_box_red width=”75%”]
Quick Quiz
Name the year “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You” came out.
a) 1987
b) 1988
c) 1989
Please leave your answer in the comments section below:
[/content_box_red]