Antagonist Introduction

Title is a reference to a type of scene in a movie, to which this could form a soundtrack.

I dedicated some time to learning how to use the Chord Sequencer player device in Reason, as I haven't really got to grips with that device. I am not sure I have fully understood what it can do, I have just used it as a guide to pick chords with a single key. They are definitely not chords I would have known to choose. The guidance and immediacy of the access to useful chord progressions was great help. 

I decided to use a 909 kit in Kong rather than my usual 707 Jackbox. This turned out to be more difficult than I expected as Kong did not function in the way I wanted. Pads directed to a specific output did not get removed from the main mix output. I worked around it but it seemed like a major flaw.

## Software
- Reason 13
### Devices
- Drum Sequencer
- Chord Sequencer
- Dual Arpeggio
- Pulsar
- Kong
- Polytone
- VK-2
- Humana / Windowlicker ahhhsss
- Polysix
- The Animus / Banshee
- Europa
- RV7000
- Sweeper



At Best I'm A Maybe, But Likely A No

Title is a snippet of chat during Lockdown Zoom Poker.

File creation date is 31st August, 2021 for the first Reason 12 file. There's a new Reason 12 file created on 5th December, 2022 in a different directory, so I guess that was probably just a reorganisation artifact. At the time of writing I have moved it over to Reason 13. 

Werkstatt must be synced up to MIDI out from Reason as it's definitely playing a sequence rather than a drone. Most likely via a volca as I didn't have the KeystepPro at this point but the track also features the Microbrute so it may have been routed through that. I might also have been patching outs from the Microbrute into the Werkstatt. It's a very plain languid arpeggio over the same three notes throughout with a bit of knob tweaking. There are no edits to the recording.

Europa is playing the same three note arpeggio on the Friendly Keys preset (such a good preset). There are some automation to Amp Decay and Amp Release over the course of the piece.

Microbrute has been triggered by MIDI from Reason and the output recorded as an audio track.

Polysix is playing the same MIDI notes as the Microbrute and using a similar complementary patch.


## Hardware

### Devices

- Moog Werkstatt-01
- Arturia Micro Brute

## Software

- Reason 12/13

### Devices

- RV7000
- Sweeper
- Beat Map
- Pulsar
- Spider Audio
- RV-7
- Redrum
- Europa
- Korg Polysix
- Focusrite Red 3 Compressor


Block Element Modifier


## Hardware

### Devices

-Roland TB-3

## Software

- Reason 13

### Devices

- Quadelectra Jackbox 7R-707


Insufficient Vestiges Of Dread

Title based on a subtitle from the game Destiny 2, attempting to activate something but the player has insufficient vestiges of dread.

This was made around about the time I got access to the Red suite of VSTs, possibly when I got the Focusrite audio interface. There are Red compressors and Red EQs on everything.

Generally whenever I am recording hardware devices that are CV & gate oriented I will use the Arturia KeystepPro to sync up to Reason. Patterns programmed on the Arturia KeystepPro will drive the CV, gate, and curve inputs of the device and the audio of a performance is captured into Reason.

The Moog Werkstatt-01 & CV Expander on this is driven by a pattern on the Arturia KeystepPro which also has a curve value in the pattern affecting the filter. This was recorded into Reason, which is in sync with the Keystep, and I twiddled with the knobs on the werkstatt. I have no record of how the werkstatt was set up. At this point I had nothing else going on, just this little pattern. I recorded about 6 minutes of  it.

I decided to use Reason Studios Redrum for the drums just to create a set of limits. There are no options for step probability or individual track length and timing for instance. However I ended up creating a bit of a nightmare tangle of cables and devices with compressors and EQs so I will have to revisit this and work out what the hell I was thinking at the time

I wanted to put something trancey over the top so I reached for Rob Papen Predator RE. I keep forgetting I own this device, I should use it more often. Turned out the default patch that loaded did exactly what I was imagining so I didn't even bother trying to create an original sound. I used Reason Studio Scales & Chords to derive chords from single notes on the keyboard.

Because it was coming together very quickly and I would have been too much of an interruption to wire up and program a 303 style hardware device I used  Audiorealism abl2 to get an idea down, but also complicated this by adding an Audiorealism abl3.


## Hardware
### Devices
- Moog Werkstatt-01 & CV Expander
- Arturia Keystep Pro
 
## Software
- Reason 12/13

### Devices
- Scales & Chords
- Pulsar
- ReMix 14:2 line mixer
	- Micro Mix 6:2 line mixer
- Redrum
- Subtractor
- Matrix
- abl2
- abl3
- Predator RE
- Red 2 EQ
- Red 3 Compressor

It Never Swam Around Much So What Was The Point


Just something bouncy using a bunch of arpeggiated sounds.

The drum kit is a Roland 626 kit in NN-XT format from Samples Form Mars. I probably used the Orbis as it's something I have but never use so occasionally I just go for something like that to fill a decision gap.

## Software
- Reason 13 
### Devices
- Drum Sequencer
- Scales & Chords
- Dual Arpeggio
- RV700 MkII 
- Sweeper
- NN-XT
- Orbis
- Polysix



Lacerated Pumpkin

The main line for this came from having an experiment with Lectric Panda Evolution. 
I am a big fan of this type of device. 

The pattern created from the generative device was rendered out to MIDI so that I could chop it up, add or remove notes, or rescale the timing as I saw fit.

At the time I was considering buying either Synapse The Legend or Blamsoft Viking Synthesizer VK-2 as rack extensions so I added them both to my monthly subscription to get a grip with them and make a decision. 

I was able to create many instances of these devices and feed their note input from slightly differing versions of the main line created by the Lectric Panda Evolution. 

This resulted in many variations but in the end there are two Synapse The Legend instances and one Blamsoft Viking Synthesizer VK-2, and they are fed in to a shimmerverb in the form of Jiggery-Pokery Sound The Animus. It's a pretty massive sound altogether.

The drums are from a quick play around on the Korg Volca Beats with a fairly simple set of patterns that were already there chopped up to remove errors and create sensible sections of the same length.

## Hardware:

### Devices

- Korg nu-tekt NTS-1
- Korg Volca Beats

## Software:
Reason 12/13

### Devices

- Blamsoft Viking Synthesizer VK-2
- Synapse The Legend
- Reason Studios Europa
- Lectric Panda Evolution
- Jiggery-Pokery Sound The Animus",


Mesmerising Lipstick


Roland 808 40th anniversary competition entry that never got entered.
TR-808 cloud version was free for the month.

I pulled this together so frantically and still didn't hit the submission deadline.

I can barely remember how it all got constructed.

## Hardware:

### Devices
- Roland Aira TB-3

## Software:
 Reason 13

### Devices
- Roland Cloud TR-808
- Lectric Panda Torsion Texture Lab 1.0
- Reason Studios Grain
- Reason Studios Layers Wave Edition


My Frequency Is


## Hardware

### Devices

-Roland TB-3

## Software

- Reason 13


Rule Of Thirds


Entirely software, The Legend (Hans Zimmer edition) is different to the original rack extension so it was available to trial. I loved the original but it was slightly out of my price range. I made this track with it during the trial and bounced the audio down before the trial ran out.

## Software
- Reason 13 
### Devices
- Drum Sequencer
- RV700 MkII
- Sweeper
- Pulsar
- Kong 
- The Legend HZ



Shawshank/Finch Fugue

Title is a snippet of chat during Lockdown Zoom Poker.

File creation date is 3rd November, 2022 for the first Reason 12 file I can find, but it also has a modified date of 1st November, 2022. It might have been started earlier in a different file that I can't locate.. At the time of writing I have moved it over to Reason 13. 

Something laid back and trippy, going to great extremes with the Drum Map player.

First time use recording the Roland Boutique TB-03, which I picked up reasonably priced second hand from Reverb. I was keen to have another hardware 303 style device to see what it was like using both at the same time but I have only ever used one or the other. This one is supposed to be a bit more like an actual TB-303 compared to the TB-3. Honestly I rarely use it as it feels quite limited compared to the TB-3 and trying to tweak knobs on two machines at once is more difficult than I expected.

First recording of the Moog Mavis as well. Not sure if I ever documented the patch but it's just a drone as far as I can tell. Probably recorded this first.

I think the Europa patch 5th Elemental has been modified so I will have to check this and save it off as a new patch if it is.

## Hardware

### Devices

- Roland TB-03 Boutique
- Moog Mavis

## Software

- Reason 13

### Devices

- Drum Sequencer
- Drum Map
- RV700 MkII
- Sweeper
- Pulsar
- Europa
- Umpf Club Beats
- Umpf Retro Beats



Six And Two Threes


Wanted to play with a variation of the disco bass from 'Ooh, La, La, La' which I am sure is similar to a great many others. I do not use triplets very much at all and it turned out to be a lot of fun.

## Software
- Reason 13 
### Devices
- Drum Sequencer
- RV700 MkII
- Sweeper
- Pulsar
- Jackbox 707
- Polytone
- Polysix
- ABL 2
- LPCV Free



The Queen Of F**cking Everything


Experimenting with a different style.

## Software:
- Reason 13

###Devices
- Drum Sequencer
- RV700 MkII
- Sweeper
- Pulsar
- Jackbox 707
- Polytone
- Polysix
- ABL 3

Timber Porn


## Hardware 
### Devices
- Roland TB-03
## Software
- Reason 13 
### Devices
- Quadelectra Jackbox 7R-707\\n


Training Montage

Not sure where this came from or why it ended up being 'Training Montage'
## Software
- Reason 13 
### Devices
- Drum Sequencer
- RV700 MkII 
- Sweeper
- Pulsar 
- Jackbox 707
- Polytone
- Polysix
- ABL 3
- RV-7
- The Legend HZ
- Line Mixer



Turbulent Berry


This was the first track I recorded using the Korg Volca Beats. 
After buying it I had played around with it, taking it on buses and trains and enjoying playing around with beats on the move without having to think about fitting them to anything else. 
I recorded about 15 minutes of performance with the Korg Volca Beats as a base for the track.

I forget now whether the pattern on the Roland Aira TB-3 is one the stock patterns or one I programmed, but that came second. 
I chopped up the best bits of the drums and with a bit of copying and pasting created a large amount of space to record into. 
I recorded one take of Roland Aira TB-3, after several practice runs, and ended up using it in its entirety.

There were a few experiments after that trying to find something that worked over the top, settling on a very simple set of notes (root, minor third, fifth) on the Blamsoft Viking Synthesizer using a suitably resonant sweeping boing sound.

Feeling that it lacked enough low frequencies I copied the note track from the Blamsoft Viking Synthesizer and fed them into New Fangled Audio's Pendulate and created a nasty, deep, throaty growl kind of a drone.

## Hardware:

### Devices
 
- Korg Volca Beats
- Roland Aira TB-3

## Software

Reason 13

### Devices

- Blamsoft Viking Synthesizer
- New Fangled Audio Pendulate


Why The Soft Focus

Title is a snippet of chat during Lockdown Zoom Poker.

File creation date is 19th November 2021 for the first Reason 12 file. There's a new Reason 12 file created on 8th December, 2021 in a different directory, so I guess that was probably just a reorganisation artifact. At the time of writing I have moved it over to Reason 13. 

I can't remember if the Moog Werkstatt was gate triggered by a device that could receive MIDI and output Gate, or if it is just a freeform VCA LFO in square mode. This was the starting point though. I had not long had the Werkstatt and was spending a lot of time playing with it to learn how to use it.

I also can't really remember much about the TB-3 pattern or voice, but the track laid down is not being sent to anything else in Reason so the effects are all direct from the TB-3.

All the other voices come Native Instruments Twenty Five instrument for Kontakt (7). I guess this had just been released at the time I was making the track so it was something new to play with.

At this point in time I was using Umpf drum machines in reason quite a bit. The drum samples are probably from Sample From Mars. 909 kicks and 606 hats is all that there is, quite sparse. There are some polymeters on individual hi hat voices in the pattern, some variance of looping and pendulum, and quite a bit of randomness as well.

Dual Arpeggio must have been on trial as the MIDI is printed. I currently have access it to the device through the Reason+ subscription service.

Revisiting it 3 years later it is quite badly mixed and the project is a bit of a mess as well so I have tidied it up and I will try and give it a better mix and master. 

I had a bit of a problem with the Kontakt plug-in as there are now three of these: Kontakt, Kontakt 7 & Kontakt 8. I had to replace the Kontakt plugins and I chose Kontakt 7 plugins to get access to Twenty Five. The pack does however also appear in Kontakt 8 so maybe I will change them again at a future date. If I had adjusted parameters on any of the Twenty Five voices than that information has been lost. 

## Hardware

### Devices

- Roland TB-3
- Moog Werkstatt

## Software

- Reason 12/13

### Devices

- Drum Sequencer
- Dual Arpeggio
- Sweeper
- RV7000
- Quartet
- The Echo
- MicroMIX
- Umpf Club Drums
- Focusrite Red 3 Compressor
- Cakewalk RE-2A Levelling Amplifier
- Native Instruments Kontakt 7/Twenty Five


You Can't Not Be Gay Hot For Magnum

Just a little bit of a play around with the Mavis. 
I looked for something to sample from an episode of magnum but discovered that the whole soundtrack of an 8 minute pilot on YouTube fitted in well in its entirety

## Hardware

### Devices

- Moog Mavis

## Software
- Reason 13 
