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This particular directory of samples, within Reason 8, is a cool little batch of random samples, great for DJ hits, stabs, and little bits of polish for spicing up a track. I'll go into the Chords Phrases Pads Stabs directory, and choose DetroiteLAB.aif, by double-clicking on it, after de-selecting Sample 1. Checkout our example content here, you'll find.nxt graphs demonstrating these same topics. If you're not quite sure how nxt fits into your workflow checkout our workflow and transition map here. Over there we explain nxt from different vantage points to help illuminate how nxt can work for you. Getting started YouTube Playlist.
Published: 2016-10-12The NN-XT advanced sampler is pretty versatile in Reason 6.5. Even while it has been there since Reason 2.5. Still till this day there are moments that I prefer the NN-XT to layer samples. However, the NN-XT isn't the only sampler tool in Reason. Let us recap:
- The Redrum drum-computer is a 10 channel sampler player. Mostly ideal for drums and triggering monophonic sound effects
- The NN-19, the digital sampler is another unit that is meant for playing samples on a midi keyboard. These samples are single layered
- The NN-XT advanced sampler
- Kong -> NN-XT Nano. Probably ideal for playing sampled percussions using the 16 pads
I think I have enlisted most of them. I will not mention the Dr OctoRex in this one, since the Dr OctoRex isn't a real sampler. It plays loops (RX2 files only!).
I haven't enlisted the ID-8 either since the ID-8 houses pre-fixed 24bit samples and can't be altered at the source.
At this point I can add that each sampler has its own unique usage. There will always be a tiny bit of a discussion point when to choose the NN-19 vs the NN-XT.
The NN-19 is a sample single layered sampler player. This one works best when the samples aren't layered and when there are certain controls that need to be altered during play back.
The NN-XT advanced sampler looks rather simple compared to the NN-19. There is one main advantage the NN-XT has above the NN-19: Layers and Zones!
Knobs for automation
There is one really solid point I want to make regarding the NN-XT: There aren't that many knobs for automation. You can however automate a lot of different settings inside the NN-XT. Not directly but using the X- W- and Pitch-wheel.
By default the following automation is possible:
- Pitch wheel
- Mod Wheel (W)
- External Controller (X)
- Filter settings (Frequency / Resonance)
- Amplitude Envelope (Attack / Decay / Release)
- Modulate envelope Decay amount
There are a lot of settings inside the Remote Editor. The settings in the Remote Editor need to be set once.. After that they are fixed. Sometimes careful planning needs to be done before throwing in samples.
Getting to know the Zones and Samples
To display the Zones and Samples in the NN-XT the Remote programmer needs to be opened.
Before getting the NN-XT in to play and practice, there is another topic I would like to address: Zones and Samples. These 2 are the fundamantals on how samples are defined.
In a nut shell, a Zone consists of multiple samples. A Zone can therefor be seen as a series of samples 'grouped' together. A sample by itself can still be adjusted. By adjusting a zone all samples in the zone are adjusted.
The difference between a zone and a sample inside the NN-XT advanced sampler
To define a zone we can 'right click' on an empty space in the blue display and click on 'Add Zone'. Within the Zone multiple samples can be loaded. When loading up patches from the Factory Sound bank, one might notice that most of the Zones have multiple samples with small key ranges. This is done by design. Since some 'wav' files will sound terrible on low ends or high ends. The sound turns in to an unrecognizable mess.
In most cases a sample recorded on C-3 will still be use-able at key ranges from C-2 till C-4. It depends on how 'wide' the sound is being used. A piano for instance is an instrument that is well to trigger on low ends or high ends. A voice sample is usually for the mid ranges. Flute kind of instruments are good for high end key ranges (unless it is an Bassoon).
Best practices about zones and samples
Zones are often handy for grouping sounds together. In case there is a percussion set being made, all these percussions can be placed with in one zone.
Zones can be copied from one NN-XT to another. Use this to your advantage!
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Samples are often defined once. Each sample is usually defined with in a small key range. When using Percussion sets, samples usually have a key range of 1 key only!
Zones can alter all the samples inside the same zone. In case the Envelopes or filters need to be modified then selecting the Zone will change all those samples inside the Zone. Thus this can be a time saver when modifying parameters inside the remote programmer.
Zones can be used for multiple purposes. For instance a Zone can be created using an LP12 filter (multiple samples use the LP12 filter). A different zone can be set to Band Pass.
Merging Zones
To finish up this little intro about Zones and Samples, I will give an example on how to merge zones from one NN-XT to another. Lets start with a basic Preset from the Factory Soundbank. This time I will load up a sound called 'Vibes II' and is located under
'Reason Factory Soundbank' -> 'NN-XT Sampler Patches' -> 'Mallet' -> 'Vibes II'
Next to this I will create a second NN-XT. Little snitch 4 voucherfairpotent. In this NN-XT I will load up the Monk Choir located under:
'Reason Factory Soundbank' -> 'NN-XT Sampler Patches' -> 'Voice' -> 'Monk Choir'
When done, I have the following setup:
At this point the 'combinator' could be used to join these 2 patches together. However, in this case I will take one Zone from the Monk Choir and throw that inside the vibes II section.
Open up the Remote Editor of the second NN-XT (Monk Choir). Select the first Zone
When done, right click on the zone and select 'Copy Zone'
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Next, open the Remote programmer of the first NN-XT (the Vibes II patch). Right click in the left area of the blue screen of the remote editor and select 'Paste Zone'.
When done, the first Monks zone will now be a part of the Vibes II patch.
The cool thing about this method is that certain elements can be stripped from one NN-XT patch and move it to another patch. Without having to combine all the different NN-XT patches together (thus solving the issue of running out of memory really fast).
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Also another benefit from this method: it is less CPU intense this way rather then using multiple instances of NN-XT patches to begin with.
Anyways, this was just a short intro about the NN-XT and layering zones. I will go more in depth later on about the different settings of the NN-XT remote editor.
Written by hydlide
Published: 2016-10-12