Chapter 6. Working With Samplers

Now that you've been introduced to Reason's synths, it's time to start exploring the many instruments in Reason's sound banks and using Reason's samplers to play them in your tracks.

A sampler is an empty synth that you put your own sounds in. It then maps those sounds to keys so you can play them from your keyboard or from Reason's Sequencer. From there the sampler uses the same types of filters, envelopes, LFOs, and modulation as a typical synth.

This chapter teaches you how to use Reason's NN-19, NN-XT, and Dr. Rex samplers and gives you practice in controlling them by automating knob and fader movements in your Sequencer tracks.

Creating an NN-19 Sampler

The simplest of Reason's samplers is the NN-19, which is designed to handle standard MIDI instrumentation. (If you aren't sure what counts as a basic MIDI instrument , look in the NN-19 Instrument folders in the Reason Factory Sound Bank to get an idea.) The NN-19 is also a good starting place for making your own sounds.

To create an NN-19 sampler

1.	If you're starting with an empty Rack, create a Mixer first (see Chapter 4, "Getting Started," if you need a refresher).
2.	Select Create > NN-19 Digital Sampler. An NN-19 sampler appears in the Rack ( Figure 6.1 ). Figure 6.1. The NN-19 digital sampler's front panel
3.	Check the back panel to make sure the L and R audio outputs are cabled to an open Mixer channel ( Figure 6.2 ). Figure 6.2. The NN-19 back panel, showing its connection to the Mixer
4.	Return to the front panel.

Writing Your First Sampler Track

All the NN-19 instruments are stored in your Factory Sound Bank (the Reason Orkester bank does not contain NN-19 patches). Let's start by writing a piano part.

To load a sampler patch

Click the patch browser icon on your NN-19 front panel ( Figure 6.3 ) to bring up the Reason patch browser.

Figure 6.3. Click Browse Patch to bring up the NN-19 patch browser.

From the Locations window of your browser, open the Factory Sound Bank ( Figure 6.4 )

Figure 6.4. The Locations window is the quickest way to navigate to the Factory Sound Bank.

Go to the NN-19 Patches/Piano folder, select the GRANDPIANO patch ( Figure 6.5 ), and click OK.

Figure 6.5. Select the GRANDPIANO patch.

The NN-19 patch display should indicate that the GRANDPIANO instrument is loaded ( Figure 6.6 ).

Figure 6.6. The patch display shows the loaded patch.

To write a piano part

If you are using a master keyboard, check your interface to make sure your keyboard's MIDI channel is routed to the NN-19 ( Figure 6.7 ) and that the current Sequencer track is set to record ( Figure 6.8 ).

Figure 6.7. Set MIDI input from an external keyboard using the Reason hardware interface.

Figure 6.8. Set the Sequencer track to record note input.

Go to the NN-19 1 track in the Sequencer, open up Edit mode, and record or input some notes.

In this example, I wrote a part for each hand: a "right hand" melody (selected) and a "left hand" bass part ( Figure 6.9 ).

Figure 6.9. A piano part in the NN19 1 Sequencer track, with the melodic voice highlighted

Click play, or press the spacebar to hear your track played on the NN-19's grand piano.

Tip

When a part is finished, save Rack space by clicking the fold arrow on devices that won't need further adjustment ( Figure 6.10 ).

Figure 6.10. To conserve space, fold up Rack devices that you're done with.