Hands on: Combine your instruments

There have been times when we’ve found Reason to be a bit of a chore to use. Don’t get us wrong, we love the software, but when you’ve got certain groups of instruments and effects that are used all the time, it can become a bit tedious to have to set them up every time you start a new project.

Thankfully the folks at Propellerhead Software recognised this problem and addressed it in version 3 of the software. The solution comes in the form of a new module known as the Combinator. What’s special about the Combinator is that it acts as a rack within a rack.

You can call up the module and place other modules, such as synths and effects, inside it and then wire them up exactly as you want. So far so good, but the really special thing about the Combinator is that once you’ve wired up all the modules, you can then save the current state of the Combinator as a preset.

To recall the modules you just add a Combinator into your rack and call up the preset again. Like magic all the modules will appear in the Combinator with the correct settings and signal routings.

Essentially, the Combinator is Propellerhead’s way of letting you create macros, which means you can recall complicated module configurations with a few clicks of the mouse. But there’s more to the Combinator than just grouping instruments together.

The module also has a line of knobs and buttons across the front. These controls can be assigned to the modules within the Combinator so you can tweak the important settings quickly without having to open up the Combinator to see what’s inside.

The Combinator can be a real time saver, especially for those who like to jump quickly from project to project. So in this column we’re going to show you how to set up the Combinator, how to assign the controllers to the modules held inside and how to save your patches for use in other projects.

Naturally as the Combinator is only available in version 3 of the software you’ll need that version to follow the walkthrough. However, there is a free demo of version 3 available on the Propellerhead website, should you wish to try out the Combinator.

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