3/24_Dr. REX pt.1/Song 2

Basic
Today we're going to start working with a new instrument called the Dr. REX loop player.

Basically, the Dr. REX is a sampler like the NN19 that you've been working with. Both of these instruments let you load sounds into them and play them back. There are some important differences that we'll get into next time, but for now you will see that the Dr. REX plays pre-made loops of music.

A loop is a short piece of music that is played over and over. Usually, the goal is to make your loop sound really smooth, meaning that it doesn't cut off or sound choppy. You actually have already been learning how to make your own loops in this class!

The Dr. REX comes with a whole bunch of loops that you can load into it the same way you load a sound into any of the other instrument. There are three main types of loops that you can load:

• Drum Loops
• Instrument Loops
• Percussion Loops

Once you've loaded a loop, there are two main buttons on the Dr. REX that you need to know so that you can work with it in an actual song. The first one is the Preview button, which lets you listen to the loop.

The second one is the To Track button, which will actually put the loop into the Sequencer Window. The To Track button is basically like Copy Pattern to Track in the Redrum. When you press this button, Reason will put the loop in between the L and R Markers as many times as will fit.

Assignment:

1. Open Reason and create a new file.
2. Set the Tempo to 100 BPMs.
3. Create a Dr. REX loop player.
4. Load the following loop: Reason Factory Sound Bank>Dr. REX Instrument Loops>Various Hip Hop Loops>Hhp_Basstarr_093_Chronic.rx2
5. Set the L marker to Bar 1 and the R marker to Bar 9.
6. Click the To Track button.
7. Hit Play and listen to the loop.
8. Create 2 more Dr. REX players .
9. While the first loop is still playing, go to one of the new Dr REXs and load a sound from the Dr Rex Drum Loops folder that sounds good with the melody.
10. Hit To Track and put it into your Sequencer Window.
    
11. Now in the last Dr. REX, look in the Dr Rex Percussion Loops folder and find a sound that adds more rhythm to the song.
12. Hit To Track and put it into your Sequencer Window.
13. Copy and paste the Dr. REX loops to extend your song out to at least 16 bars. Try having the Percussion loop only come in at certain parts (e.g. Bar 5-9, 13-17).
14. Save the file to your folder as your name_DrRex1 and turn it in to the Dropoff folder.
15. If you have time, do the following:
    

• Add a Redrum and make your own drum beat from Bar 17-25.
• Try adding the Dr. REX Percussion Loop to your Redrum.
  
• Add a Subtractor/Malstrom/NN19/NNXT and come up with an original bassline or melody.
  

Advanced
Almost all you have turned in your full song  from last week. Today and for the rest of the week, I want you to start working on a new song. However, before you start, I want you to open up your last song and listen to it from beginning to end. As you are listening, keep these things in mind:

• What do you like/not like about it?
• What is the overall feel or emotion of this song.
• What kinds of instruments are you using?

So now, you're going to start a new song. I want it to have the following elements:

1. Structure (Intro, 2 Verses, 2 Choruses, Outro/Fade Out)
2. Some basic mixing (volume and panning).
3. I want it to sound completely different from your last beat (different emotion, different instruments).