Since the inclusion of VSTs into the Reason universe, the number of options we have available for every task has skyrocketed. Though, as nice as getting new gear is, not every problem needs to begin with ‘buy new plugin’. We show you how you can set up drum replacement in Reason, without getting out your wallet or without doing it manually.
We posted this technique under a different name recently but I’ve recently been asked specifically about replacement. The original post dealt with Snare enhancement, both enhancement and also replacement is done in the same way and with the same devices.
Drum Replacement With Kong And The Pulverizer:
So, you have a multi-track drum recording in Reason and you are struggling to pull out a nice modern-sounding snare from it? What do you do? Well today we will look at how you can replace the snare hits with a one-shot sample of your choosing.
Steps:
- Add a Pulverizer (in Bypass) as an insert in the Snare track.
- Create a new instance of Kong, complete with its own track.
- Pick a sample that you like the sound of.
- Connecting everything together.
- Dialing it in.
Step 1 – Pulverizer
The Pulverizer will be used to detect each of the snare hits. So, the first order of business is to drop one into the snare track as an insert. As we don’t want to process the snare track, pop the Pulverizer into Bypass. We are only interested in its follower section, which continues to do its thing even when the Pulverizer is Bypassed.
Step 2 – Kong
Kong is going to be the device that we load our new sample into. Drag a new instance of Kong into the rack, ensuring that a new track is created for it. If it has a drum kit already loaded into it, be sure to right-click Kong and select reset patch.
Step 3 – The Snare Sample
Using the Reason Browser, locate your snare sample and drop it onto Kong’s pad 1. Click on pad 1 to make sure you got the correct sample.
Step 4 – Wiring Everything Up
We can set this up with a simple, single, CV connection. Hit TAB on your keyboard to flip the rack around. Then, we need to connect Kong’s Gate In to the Follower on the Pulverizer. Hit TAB again to get back to the front.
Step 5 – Dialling it in
Ensuring you have Kong’s pad 1 selected, head down to the Velocity section of the NN-Nano, and adjust the level to 0%. This will ensure a good and constant hit level on each snare hit. You may want to also tweak pitch and/or decay.
Tweaking
If your new snare sample isn’t triggering consistently in time with the snare, adjust the follower’s threshold setting. This can be found on the front of the Pulverizer, as shown above. You can then lower the volume of the original snare unless you are just enhancing it, in which case you can blend the two together.