Reason 4.0 CV/Gate Controlling an Oberheim S.E.M.

[naturecollision]

strange, how does this work? the cv output reason gives is by itself enveloped, which does not make sense, if I press a key I have some value, if I release it it goes to zero...which does not make sense, did you do any other processing of the cv signals?

cheers

nature

[PeffTV]

@naturecollision there are two control voltages being generated, one for the gate and one for the note value. I posted up more information on my site. Just follow the link above. There's an example file included.

[Dogboy73]

Kurt, I'm desperate to be able to use Reason's devices to control my MIDI gear. The best solution would be MIDI-out in Record, as I've mentioned before (you may have also seen my 'MIDI-out for Record' thread on the Props forum). As it doesn't look like this is going to happen anytime soon (if ever!) I'm wondering if there might be a solution similar to what you are doing here? There's got to be a way to utilise Reason's brilliant tools in this way without the need to export MIDI to another app.

[PeffTV]

@Dogboy73 your campaign for this feature request is legendary! I've never tried it, but there are hardware CV/Gate to midi converters. You could route a CV/Gate signal through an audio interface, and then into a MIDI converter to drive your gear. I'm not sure how well this works, but in theory it should function. I've heard of a solution that uses reaper scripts that does the conversion via rewire, but at that point, you probably should just sequence in the host app

[rhoggard76]

@Dogboy73 google Relaunch at Deluded software its a co.uk site

[willmasahiro]

Hey peff. There isn't anyway I could use reason to control newer analog modeling synths, like my korg r3 or electribe emx1 which don't have cv/gate (they do have foot

switch I/O's) is there? That would be a big help obviously!

[PeffTV]

@willmasahiro I'm not sure about triggering footswitch controls. I would assume that these inputs short a signal to ground, so it probably wouldn't work without adding a switching circuit or relay. You would still be without a midi clock sync which is probably the most important requirement for synchronizing a device like the electribe.

[WARDISWARD]

May I ask where you have loaded themotu volta ?

Or can you use it as a standalone app ?

[PeffTV]

@WARDISWARD Volta is not being used. I've just applied the technology behind volta to Reason.

[Meteotrance]

this stuff is so cool but a litle bit technichal you using to to convert de CV signal in to the audio output of Reason, and plug in to the Cv of your real analog stuff ?

[PeffTV]

Reason CV signals are being converted to audio using Thor patches. The audio is then routed to alternative audio outputs on the Reason (Record) hardware device. The signal then becomes an analog DC signal coming out of the Motu audio interface.

[Subtronik]

So I could do this same thing with a MOTU 896 HD, my PC and my Moog Voyager?

[PeffTV]

Yes, it works great with a voyager. I posted a video of this on my facebook page. I'll send you a link to that.

[Subtronik]

Thanks for the pm.

Btw, I have a E-MU 1616M card & box, I read somewhere that it's possible to do the same thing. Know anything about that?

[1lilnigga]

Is there any way those cv signals can be converted to MIDI? For newer synths.

[PeffTV]

converting CV/Gates to midi is a bit counterintuitive. It's probably best to use a rewire host application to sequence your midi hardware.

[ovuori]

This is very inspiring and innovative video. Thank you for sharing this!

[javonoUTube]

From 2.20 onwards, this is not just cool, but beautiful. Great trance sounds,  fantastic video Peff!

[TommiX1980]

great sound and a nice job. where is the melody from.

[PeffTV]

oh, that's just a bit of noodling around. That type of octave pattern is pretty common though, so it might sound like something you've heard.

[skyver303]

Peff, your a Genius !

[Thalassa77]

Amazing!!! And the best thing is hat probably you don't need a Motu interface like with Volta. i've posted this video on swithchedonsynthesizer.blogspo­t . com

[PeffTV]

With all due respect. Volta is what inspired this idea. There are features that make things a lot easier than attempting this in Reason, however, unlike volta, you can use do this on a PC.

[Thalassa77]

yes it's the point, volta is limited to mac users and motu users , and with your method everyone with Reason 4 can do the "same".

[PeffTV]

I would be curious to see what results other people have with other interfaces. The outputs must be DC coupled, so not every interface will work. Please post something or drop me a note if you get this going!

Over the last couple of days I created configurations for some of my moog gear. I'll post those videos soon and the patches on my site.

[Dogboy73]

How do you find out if the audio outputs from an interface are DC coupled?

[PeffTV]

you can use a volt meter to test it, but i've found that outside of the motu interfaces, only one or two other devices are DC coupled. One, which i have verified, is the UA-2192; but this is pretty pricey for two channels of cv.

[Dogboy73]

Indeed. MIDI-out in Reason/Record with a Kenton MIDI > CV converter would be preferable. Then you could control anything & you wouldn't have to worry about your audio outputs being DC coupled. It's a great technique all the same but I'm still campainging hard for MIDI-out in Record over on the Props feature suggestion forum. Seing you do this trick has only made me want it more because it shows what a powerful control source Reason can be.

[PeffTV]

Even if Reason/Record had MIDI out, I would still use this technique over a MIDI to CV conversion system. MIDI timing tends to be pretty sloppy to begin with, then the added latency from MIDI to CV conversion creates even more timing issues. This is what makes the MOTU/Volta audio to CV concept so elegant. You simply do away with unnecessary hardware stages.

[Dogboy73]

Sure. But what I really want is to be able to control my MIDI gear from Reason/Record because the control sources in Reason, as you have demonstrated with these videos, are so good. I've never really had a big issue with MIDI timings. The main thing is with MIDI-out I'd be able to use Reason/Record to control my external gear, record back into Record & edit from there. It would great.

[PeffTV]

I do have MIDI gear. - plenty in fact. I agree that I would be nice to have some kind of MIDI out - especially MIDI clock. This would make it easier to slave devices to a central clock, rather than the other way around.

[Dogboy73]

@PeffTV Indeed. For me MIDI-out in Reason/Record is the single most important feature currently missing. Sure I could use another software package to control my external MIDI devices (I mainly use Sony Acid) but for me nothing could be better than using Reason's tools for this purpose. It would be so good.

I'm not a Record user currently. I love the software but for this one feature that I crave so badly. I'd buy Record in a heartbeat if I could use it to control my external MIDI gear.

[jazzliam]

I also have most of this gear and had never thought of it ! Logic Xpress (very cheap) can utilise the environment to control external MIDI gear and has arpegiator, chord memorizer, transformer modules etc. You can also rewire Reason if you like. I play wind synth, so huge amounts of MIDI continuous controller data and have no problem with MIDI to CV timing issues using a Red Square (Tom Carpenter previously of Kenton) analogue. I agree Reason is prettier than Logic though.

[drmsofhv]

that is so uber cool, it makes me want to get ahold of some old synths!