Methods! Stuff I heard...
Here's some cool things/updates being done
with the Reflex LiveLoop
You may also check through the ever growing thread at
Muff Wiggler
Here
BTW: These are in reverse chronological order, top is newest
Echo in a Sequence | While a clocked Echo can be
started remotely anywhere in a MIDI Sequence to echo the present sounds
feeding into the Reflex, the echo size is limited by the ClockDiv setting
(also settable in MIDI). This means it can be 1/4 of a "beat" up to bar
long. There may be a time you want to create an irregular echo, or a very
long one. A looping section of infinite echo also applies. The easy way to echo is just as you would from the panel. Send a note A1 (#21) to start Record, then another to set echo size. To end an echo / infinite echo in progress just send the note on for > 1 second (2 beats at 120BPM). It should be noted that at this time (Dec 2016) the Rate can't be swung down to create a Karplus echo (2 very close taps on REC button) via MIDI as the initial Record will set the Rate to default center position. If you have the timing perfect you can shift the Rate down between the first record note and the second, at which point Karplus echo can be created. I am trying to resolve this. If you wish to attempt it anyway, setting a ST/End PlayFX on the "just recorded" Karplus echo in reverse is very cool! ======= |
Auto-Musik II | With the MIDI interface on the
new Flash-8 expansion board, a whole lot of sequence-able control becomes
an easy way to do some pretty amazing stuff on the Reflex. Recording a
sound with a DAW that is specifically started and stopped in a MIDI
sequence is basically impossible without interaction by the user, i.e. it
can't be automated at all as far as I've seen. Using the Reflex this can
be accomplished easily. For example, the newly dubbed "Auto-Musik II" (Auto-Musik I -was just recording during an SGS sequence). I did it in FL Studio and the zipped loops/.flp is on the flash-8 page if you have FL Studio, or Reaper.
This example uses the Record/Play notes aka DJ Mode.
I'll reference to FL Studio, but will work anywhere. Mix some canned music with the output from FL Studio
(however you usually do that) and hit MIDI Play. To further the "automation" experience, add CC
control automation to only allow Blend Input Levels to be heard during
Record notes, then fades out to hear only samples. The .zip file has this
feature. ====== |
G-Move on X-Y! | A week back, BrandonLogic (on
muffs) posted a short video on X-Y controlling PlayFX, something I hadn't
really considered, while in G-Move. The results were astounding! I was
reminded of this now as pZoot (on muffs) has made an iOS MIDI control
(through the Flash-8 Expansion board) with PlayFX coarse & fine MIDI
control via X-Y pads in touchOSC!
Thread Link
I have yet to try this still as I just don't have
the hardware, although I do have a bamboo pad I could rig for this. Can't
wait for video on this. |
PlayFX on 1-Shot Slices | As a result of the new 1-Shot
mode, there was a quick evolution of PlayFX to act accordingly when
activated during 1-Shot Slice Play. The result has been a PlayFX "arm" for
next Slice. This feature will keep things in sync when Slices are being
played via a trigger/gate, but if the Slices are just being played by hand
(using SLICE button) PlayFX will trigger each time the PLAY button is
pressed. This is the best of both worlds as a playing Slice sequence may
want the occasional PlayFX enacted, like reverse, or just shortening the
length of some steps.
PlayFX can be used with a CV patched into it's End/Size jack to control the length of Slices in a sequence. This is especially wonderful with an LFO controlling the length of the Slices proportionately! |
Slice 1-Shot Play | At the bequest of more than one
RLL user, I saw the light and added a new way to Play Slices. Instead of
just looping a Slice that has been selected, there is the option to create
the Slices as 1-Shot Slices, meaning they only play once when triggered.
Originally (V1.02G) only a Slice that has been triggered would play as a
1-Shot, but this was rather confusing and took some of the fun out of
playing Slices (especially using the SLICE button!) So the definition of
two types of Slices came into useful being: Any Slice created during an initial Record (before echoing, Playing) or during an R/P mode Play, will be considered "sequential" and will from then on Play as 1-Shot Slices as long as Slice LOOP is on. 1-Shot plays once then stops/exits to RP Sample. If the recording/Playing has been stopped, then the 1-Shot plays will end in silence. At first I thought of it as abruptly chopping off a sample, but most of the time a sample/recording being sliced will intentionally have gaps (such as drums or stabs etc) and to be truthful, even songs that have been sequentially sliced 1-Shot softly into silence thanks to the muting abilities of the Reflex sound pretty good! Now I wouldn't dream of ever going back. BTW, Slices created during an Echo or Layer
record/Play are still Looping Slices, each looping at the Echo Size, or
Layer Size. PlayFX created Slices (Slices made from PlayFX Loops) are also
standard Looping Slices. |
Stutter Mode! | Even though the Stutter
feature was added to the original sampler I designed for a project in 2015
called "Show-In-A-Box" I had decided to leave it out of the production of
the Reflex, that is until I found out how many people out there simply
love quirky FX and unpredictable carryings-on! It was fairly easy to
implement but became a bit complex when programming to control it from
with-in PlayFX as Stutter uses the PlayFX knobs to control Left and Right
channel stutter. What Stutter does is simply
masks certain bits in the sample's addresses, causing it to skip and/or
repeat small areas of the progression of the sample playing. At different
sample Rates, therefore, Stutter will produce different results tonally.
|
PlayFX Created Slices - precision! |
With the pending release
of V.1.01g and many updates, including 7 new permanent user options, comes
some modifications to make PlayFX run more smoothly and more predictably.
One of these updates is to make a slice from a very tight PlayFX loop.
If you've played around with PlayFX, you
may have tried to adjust the Start/End together and switched to Fine mode
to create "notes" for Slices, only to be discouraged when the notes come
up different when played as a Slice. This is no longer an issue as the
Slice is precisely identical to the tiny loop from which is was created. |
Sample Sample Sample! | The somewhat omitted R/P
Mode is coming to maturity in it's functional capacity. R/P (Record/Play)
mode was originally to simply record a sample, then play it back by
pressing the record button to record, then again to play. Unfortunately,
this can be rather limiting, and seems to be a waste of a spot on the
panel! R/P mode has been a fence sitting issue since the first sample of
audio burst forth from the prototype Audio output jacks, so no video or
coverage has been made for this mode at all.
What if you could record a sample, then when playing it back overdub or
punch-in to it with additional audio without there being any loop or
limit/size restrictions like there is in Echo & Layer modes? What if you
could append a sample already playing to a larger size? PlayFX can be used to "index" long samples,
or play in reverse, without loosing place in the playing sample. It can
also be used to speed up / slow down / loop and then be recorded as a
replacement or append. |
Karplus Tunnel Syndrome | Although the Reflex wasn't
designed for such tight little delays such as exist in a Karplus Strong
overlaying of sound, he does a pretty good job at it! Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-flLd1bN7O0 A really tight delay can be accomplished in Echo Mode by swinging the Rate all the way down, then double clicking the Record button as fast as you can! Once the Rate is brought back up to full speed (center) that space between taps is divided by 32, which is well within the delay time required. Careful adjustment of the Eq and Feedback controls offers some great resonances and overlapping. If you want faster, then use a clock input on the Rec trigger instead of your finger; although the top end is so tight it just becomes feedback ringing. |
Self triggering Slices!
|
After adding the Auto-Slicer
modification to create a slice on every echo/delay cycle, and playing with
the resulting slices (which makes them valid or they'll be erased in lieu
of a "real" slice made by user) I came to realize the loop clock output
could be patched back into the Slice Play input. This will trigger a new
slice to play at the end of the last slice. This works very well if a set of notes is
built upon from the start, but with the feedback turned down some to allow
old notes to decay away. So as long as the original melody isn't drifted
away from too much, it all fits together very well! |
Peak Slice Record Trigger | Peak Slicing is a very useful and quick way of
making a lot of slices without having to manually key them in or sync a
trigger input. Of course it creates a lot of slices, but can yield happy
unexpected results that are pretty inspirational. Slices can be made during playback, or live, during record. I found it inconvenient to hit the record and run to whatever is going to be played to get the sample in. That's why there's now a peak record trigger! Select Peak Mode,
then press record. The Record LED will flash until a sound is heard, at
which point it begins recording. This has no affect on any other step of
operation, and you don't even have to use the slices, it's just a great
way to start record remotely. |
Slice Over-Dubbing | The thing with Slices is that once they are
created, there they are. Sure the length and direction can be modified and
saved, or they can all be played "under the influence" of a playFX,
reversed etc., but how about overdubbing, punching in, or ersing a slice
entirely? It can now be done as a constant record started and stopped at will. This means the slice itself will act as a delay if the feedback is up, or replace the slice area altogether. If using with echo length slices, whole series of slices can be edited (on purpose or by accident!) or modified as below first, then over-dubbed. This all sounds complicated but
it's as easy as playing a slice, then tapping the Record button where/when
you want to overdub or replace the Slice. Tap Record again to stop and
leave the Slice play. |
Slice Modification | Modifying a slice is as important in a sampler as
modifying a slice of bread with some butter and jam! That's why the Reflex
can do it! As of the time of this blog, two PlayFX modes can be used to
modify a slice: Start/End and Position/Size. G-Move works on a slice, but you can't save it as a single slice modification because it's constantly changing. ( If you really want to save a G-Move, it can always be recorded as a sample by tapping record while G-Move is running)
To modify a
Slice, select the Slice using Slice Sel (1-16) or that + a CV offset.
Start playFX and do your modifications. When ready to to save, tap playFX
button, then immediately tap the Record button. The PlayFX LED will go out
and the slice you've just modified will be playing. Done! |
New Layer Mode: Layer II | The old Layer Mode ( luckily before the release so
no one had to experience it but yours truly) had to go. It created
pressure on the performer in that the fist footswitch tap would start
recording, the second would add a new layer, but recording. So if the
performer forgot to add the second tap to switch to play, right away
things are amiss! Layer II is much more intelligent and
forgiving. The same rules apply, i.e. A layer must be at least 2 seconds
long, and the 2nd tap defines the initial size of a Layer, but that's
where similarities end. The footswitch (or Record button) can be tapped anywhere between
loops or at loop time following the simple rules: An extra, and much desired feature, is the Layer Back function.
This allows you to "peel back" layers to reach the previous layer
recorded, and continue all the way back to the very first layer. This can
be accomplished by triple tapping, and this really should be done in
between loops to avoid confusion. |
Slice Groove Sequencer |
Can the Reflex sequence slices based on what you tap / trigger / CV
/ select in? Yep! This cool little feature has become a staple around the studio during the Reflex development. If I find a great sounding bunch of slices, I switch to Slice Sequencer, then tap in a groove while hand selecting slices on the rate knob. More fun is hooking a sequencer to the CV input, then manually tapping them in, or also hook the Slice Play trigger to the sequencer and add in little taps as well! The Slice Groove idea
has existed since the beginning of the Reflex, and after having it
actually working, the Reflex would be a far lesser machine without it. As usual, the Slice CV acts as a divided range to access all
slices. So if there's 50 slices, then the 0 - 5V will access 10 in every
Volt. The Rate Knob as Slice Select acts as a slice# offset 1-16 (not a a
voltage offset) so that the LED Circle can display easily how many slices
a sequence CV might be offset etc. |
Rate Range | The Rate Range has always been meant to be 4
octaves, but there's been more squeezed out on each end making it a harsh
5 Octaves each way. This is really pretty ridiculous for range, but has it
benifits. +5 Octaves can cue you up to any spot in memory in a second or
2, and -5 Octaves is good for setting the echo/delay to fly back up to
48KHz and get that Karplus Strong 'verb. Rate CV input has a full range attenuvertor to invert and attenuate -5V to +5V, and at each end will play samples as 1V/Oct. The Rate CV speed is approximately 150Hz, but may be more as the scan rate is many times that. It depends on what kind of resolution you are looking for, the swing, and the audio that's going in. The Sample Rate is completely variable from 1.5KHz up to 48KHz where it "holds". Lower sample rates give more time than the 174 seconds, and is almost not noticeable at half speed (just when the first LED in the circle illuminates) unless there's lots of highs like cymbals etc. So effectively, the time can be almost 6 minutes, which seems
excessive, but isn't when you're in Layering mode with a long progression!
Lower rates only become noticeable after 1.7 octaves (18KHz) down. By 2
octaves (12KHz), you must adjust down the high band on the EQ to get rid
of the Nyquist ring...which may be desirable too... |
MIDI from Sequarallel! | Recently I have been experimenting with the Reflex via
Flash-8 / MIDI from our newest module the Accord Sequarallel. As any of
you with a Flash-8 expansion know MIDI controlling the Reflex's extended
features via MIDI (i.e. a control surface or computer sequencer) is a lot
of fun and can precisely control loops of samples, record and play them
back at any time, and apply echo or granular FX. As the Sequarallel module
can send MIDI from it's sequencers and recordings I just had to give it a
go! The first experiment was to simply record a pre-made sequence (the Flash-8 demo initially) and the sounds into the Reflex to test it out. It worked exactly as it did with the computer sequencer, yay! Next I used those samples and triggered them from the TRAX trackers in the Sequarallel and had a great time with it sending notes / pitch / G-Move and Slice data with various methods. This made the Reflex a sample player via MIDI to go along with the MIDI synth I had patched in also. Unfortunately I didn't record these sessions but plan to once I decide to use it in a cohesive song attempt. Stay tuned! |
SDS Digital
Fresh Nelly Musik