The Keyboard

The past 2 weeks we have been working with the keyboards using a Dr. Rex to change the melody of a Dr. Rex Loop. Some of you had an issue with hitting the keyboard and not hearing a sound. That was because of a certain thing on the keyboard called "Octave". Today we are going to make our own melodies using the Keyboard. Almost every "Octave" should play a sound when using a Combinator, NNXT, NN19, Subtractor, or Malstrom. Today, we will be making Redrum drum beats and using the Subtractor to add our own original melody. Lets get started! For a reference, here are pictures of the C Major scale & the C Minor scale.


C Major Scale = pink notes


C Minor Scale

The difference between the 2 scales are the 3rd, 6th and 7th notes.








I want you to make a 2 bar melody using between 3-5 notes with a Redrum drum beat.

1. Open Reason
2. Make sure you have a Mixer 14:2
3. Set Tempo between 70-110 bpm
   
4. Create a Redrum and make a 32 step drum pattern using a Clap or Snap, Bass Drum, Hi Hat, and Percussion. Make sure you put the sounds on appropriate boxes!
5. On the Redrum, Copy Pattern To Track.
6. Now Create a Subtractor: choose Mono Synths: And choose any sound in the Mono Synths folder.
   
7. Move the Right loop point to R3
   
8. Create a melody using notes from the C major scale. Use between 3 and 5 different notes
9. When you have finished making your melody, hit the quantize button and record it.
10. Create a Dr. Rex and load a Percussion Loop.
11. Don't copy it to track! Play the different slices using the keyboard. When you have something cool, record it.
12. When you finish recording the Percussion loop, don't forget to press the quantize button.
    
13. Save your beat as (YOUR NAME) 1108.

Keyboard REX Quiz

The moment is here! Before getting started, download the special sample for today's quiz.

Click HERE to download the sample.

If that link doesn't work, Click HERE.

Once the sample is downloaded proceed to the quiz.


1. Open Reason

2. Create MIXER 14:2

3. Set your tempo between 80-105bpm

4. Create a Redrum

5. Make a 32 step beat using a clap OR snare drum, bass drum, hi hat, and percussion.

6. Move R to 5.

7. Copy your pattern to track AND click the pattern button.

8. Create a Dr. REX Loop Player.

9. Load in the special quiz sample.

10. Use the keyboard to make your own pattern with the special quiz sample. If you hear nothing on the keyboard when you try to hear the sample, click the keyboard OCTAVE down to -1.

11. When you are ready, record your pattern using the keyboard and the special quiz sample.

12. When you are done recording, press STOP or the RECORD button to stop recording.

13*. Click the QUANTIZE button to make sure your new pattern is on beat.

14. Let me know when you have finished your work and I will come by and grade it.

Good work! You may now QUIETLY have some free time at your computer for the rest of the class.

Friday Quiz Practice!

There WILL be a quiz this Friday the 27th. I will be bringing in a special Dr. REX Loop for the quiz.

Click HERE to practice for the upcoming quiz. I highly recommend that you practice!

Halloween: The Curse of Reason

Are you scared yet? Today we're going to be using a sample from the movie Halloween and making our own remixes to it. There is 2 ways this can be done....1) Copying the loop to track or 2) Using the keyboard to make your own melody out of the sample. I recommend using the keyboard with this loop. Okay, with that being said, grab your theoretical knife, grab your theoretical mask, put on your theoretical jumpsuit and KILL (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)...this beat!

1. ) Download your choice of either loop 1, loop 2, or both. To get loop 1 click here: http://www.transferbigfiles.com/Get.aspx?id=e14eb3fe-8a6c-483e-86de-703f9553663f

To get loop 2 click here: http://www.transferbigfiles.com/Get.aspx?id=afabccc6-a65c-4844-bb47-0105b5b58fad

2.) Open Reason

3.) Create Mixer 14:2

4.) Set your tempo between 80-120.

5.) Create a Redrum Drum Computer and make either a 16 step or 32 step beat.

6.) Create a Dr. Rex Loop Player.

7.) Click on the folder to find a sound. In the menu, select "Desktop" to find the Halloween samples. Choose either Halloween1 or Halloween2.

8.) Either copy the pattern to the track or use the keyboard to make your own melody out of the sample. For keyboard instructions continue reading.

9.) Play your Redrum beat and practice your rhythm using the sample on the keyboard. When you are ready, Put your L at 1 and your R at 3.

10.) Press the record button and play in your melody with your keyboard. When you are finished, press the record button again to stop recording.

11.) Press the QUANTIZE button to fix your keyboard melody if you think it is off beat.

12.) Save the beat as (Your Name) Halloween.

Survey Time!

Today we're going to do something a little different. Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) wants to know what you think about your school. They have a survey for you all to take. It is important for you to let them know what you think, and now you have a chance!

To take the survey in English click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=E_2fdR_2fJDoNQaXv0olRZ8VOA_3d_3d

To take the survey in Spanish click here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pa7yNBGk_2f71y2uYWySHWQg_3d_3d

When you are finished with the survey, I want you to open Reason and make a new beat that has a 32-Step Redrum Beat, a Dr. REX Percussion Loop, and a Dr. Rex Music/Instrument Loop with a keyboard.

The Keyboard

Today we are going to introduce a new instrument: The Keyboard

1. Open Reason
2. Make sure you have a Mixer 14:2
3. Set Tempo to 95 bpm
4. For this exercise, let's make a 32 step beat!
   
5. Create Redrum
6. In Sound 1 on the Redrum, load a Clap and put it on 5 and 13.
7. In Sound 2 on the Redrum, load a Bass Drum and put it on 1, and a few other boxes (except 5 and 13).
   
8. In Sound 3 on the Redrum, load a Hi Hat and put it on boxes that sound good.
9. In Sound 4 on the Redrum, load a Percussion sound and put it anywhere.
10. Now, we want to edit steps 17-32.
11. Change the steps of the Redrum from 16 to 32.
12. Move the Edit Steps from 1-16 to 17-32.
13. Repeat steps 6 through 9.
14. Now that you've finished making your pattern, it's time to Copy Pattern To Track.
15. Right click on the Redrum and select Copy Pattern to Track.
16. Click on the PATTERN button on the Redrum so that they don't play at the same time.
17. Move your Right Loop point to R3
    
18. Now we want to Create a Dr. Rex instrument loop.
19. Go to the Create menu and Create a Dr. Rex Loop Player.
20. We need to load a loop, so click on the folder in the upper left hand corner of the loop player.
21. Choose one of your favorite loops.
22. Now, we're going to play the loop using the keyboard. Hear how when you play the keyboard it plays different slices of your Dr. Rex?
23. Push play and try making a new melody using the keyboard.
    
24. When you find a melody that you like, push record, wait for the cursor to get back to the L and start playing!
25. When you are done, push stop.
26. Save your beat as Keyboard Rex.

Monday Quiz: 03/16/2009

Welcome to the quiz. I found you guys a sample that NONE of you will know, but if you do know who the sample is by, send me an email with the name of the artist(s) for extra credit. Let's get started!


1. http://www.transferbigfiles.com/Get.aspx?id=c4406140-9ffb-4d1f-93be-65346562f1e1 Click this link to download the sample. If that doesn't work, try this link: http://www.transferbigfiles.com/Get.aspx?id=5727505f-92ae-4ffa-b87a-e5df9d6de8d7. The file should save to your desktop.

2. Open Reason

3. Create a Mixer 14:2

4. Create a Dr. REX Loop Player

5. Load in the quiz sample and put it to track.

6. Put your tempo at the same tempo of the sample. Now work on changing the pitch and tempo until you find something that sounds good to you.

7. Create a Redrum and make a 32 step beat using a clap OR snare, a bass drum, a hi hat, and a percussion. Make sure all your sounds are on the right boxes! Copy your pattern to track when you're finished with the beat.

8. Create a Dr. REX Loop Player. Load in a Dr. REX Percussion Loop and put it To Track.

9. Let me know when you're finished with your assignment so that I can check & grade it.

10. Save your beat as (your name) sampling quiz.

Great Work!

Friday Quiz Practice

This quiz is happening this Friday! I have a special sample prepared for you guys to turn into some classic beats! Lets get some practice in today.

1. Open Reason
2. Make sure you have a Mixer 14:2
3. Create a Dr. Rex
4. Click on the "Folder" in the upper left hand corner.
5. Pick a Dr. Rex Instrument Loop or a Music Loop.
   
6. On the Dr. Rex click TO TRACK
   
7. Now we want to adjust the PITCH and Time of the sample.
8. To do this, you will need to do two things. Change your tempo. And transpose the sample on the Dr. Rex keyboard. To have a high pitch, click to the right. To have a low pitch, click to the left.
9. If you choose a high tempo you might want to transpose the sample to a higher note.
10. If you have a slow tempo you might want to transpose the sample to a lower note.
11. After you get your sample sounding the way you want it, it's time to add some drums that goes with the sample.
    
12. Create a Redrum and make a 32 step drum pattern using a Clap, Bass Drum, Hi Hat, and Percussion. Make sure you put the sounds on the correct boxes!
13. On the Redrum, Copy Pattern To Track.
14. Create a Dr. Rex. Load a Percussion Loop and adjust the PITCH. Put it "To Track."
15. Save your beat in your folder, name it (your name) sample practice.

Sampling...What is it?

Lately we've been making beats where we use what's called "samples", but what exactly are samples? What is sampling? Lets find out! Today, I want you to do a search on Google on "the history of sampling music". When you find the information that you think is right, email me (ian@ccpaedu.com) 2 paragraphs on what you learned about the history of sampling music. If you don't have email, write 2 paragraphs on paper about what you learned and turn it in at the end of class.


GO!!!

Swiper No Swiping!

In today's assignment you will be remixing a sample from the Dora the Explorer Theme Song.

This will help you pryour ability to change Dr. Rex sample loops using both PITCH and TIME. And then creating a 32 step Redrum drum beat that goes with the sample.

1. http://www.transferbigfiles.com/Get.aspx?id=0e8ca5c2-bb6c-496f-a100-3ef649f34980 Click this link & download the Dr. Rex Sample to the Computer. Save it in your folder or on the desktop.
   
2. Open Reason
3. Make sure you have a Mixer 14:2
4. Create a Dr. Rex
5. Click on the "Folder" in the upper left hand corner.
6. Find and Select the Dora sample, it should be on your desktop or your folder
   
7. Click "TO TRACK"
8. Now we want to adjust the PITCH and TIME of the sample.
9. To do this we need to change two things.
   
10. To change the Time, change your Tempo. Set it to anything except what it says on the Dr. Rex.
11. To change the Pitch, use the keyboard on the Dr. Rex to transpose your sample up or down.
12. After you get your sample sounding the way you want it, it's time to add some drums that go with the sample.
13. Create a Redrum and make a 32 step drum pattern using a Clap, Bass Drum, Hi Hat, and Percussion. Make sure you put the sounds on the correct boxes!
14. On the Redrum, Copy Pattern To Track and Click on the Pattern button.
15. Create a Dr. Rex. Load a Percussion Loop and adjust the PITCH. Put it "TO TRACK."
16. Save your beat as (your name) dora practice
    
17. 

The Good Life....and Michael Jackson?!

Today we're going to remix Kanye West's song The Good Life. But before we get started let's listen to the song.

Do you recognize the sample? It comes from the Michael Jackson song PYT.

What did Kanye do with the sample?

So, like Kanye I want you to change the PITCH and TIME of the PYT sample and make it your own.

1. Open Reason
2. Make sure you have a Mixer 14:2
3. Create a Dr. Rex
4. Go to this link to download the dr. rex sample
   https://www.yousendit.com/download/U0d6YUlpVnNZY1N4dnc9PQ or download it from http://www.transferbigfiles.com/Get.aspx?id=ca698270-b20b-4d77-9d84-a7d6a6504276. Save the sample in your folder.
   
5. Click on the "Folder" in the upper left hand corner.
6. Select the PYT sample in your folder.
   
7. On the Dr. Rex click TO TRACK
   
8. Now we want to adjust the PITCH and Time of the sample.
9. To do this, you will need to do two things. Change your tempo. And transpose the sample on the Dr. Rex keyboard.
10. If you choose a high tempo you might want to transpose the sample to a higher note.
11. If you have a slow tempo you might want to transpose the sample to a lower note.
12. After you get your sample sounding the way you want it, it's time to add some drums that goes with the sample.
    
13. Create a Redrum and make a 32 step drum pattern using a Clap, Bass Drum, Hi Hat, and Percussion. Make sure you put the sounds on appropriate boxes!
14. On the Redrum, Copy Pattern To Track.
15. Create a Dr. Rex. Load a Percussion Loop and adjust the PITCH. Put it "To Track."
16. Save your beat as The Good Life

Changing the Pitch with the Dr. REX

1. Open Reason
2. Make sure you have a Mixer 14:2
3. Create a Dr. Rex
4. Click on the "Folder" in the upper left hand corner.
5. Pick a Dr. Rex Instrument Loop or a Music Loop.
   
6. On the Dr. Rex click TO TRACK
   
7. Now we want to adjust the PITCH and Time of the sample.
8. To do this, you will need to do two things. Change your tempo. And transpose the sample on the Dr. Rex keyboard. To have a high pitch, click to the right. To have a low pitch, click to the left.
9. If you choose a high tempo you might want to transpose the sample to a higher note.
10. If you have a slow tempo you might want to transpose the sample to a lower note.
11. After you get your sample sounding the way you want it, it's time to add some drums that goes with the sample.
    
12. Create a Redrum and make a 32 step drum pattern using a Clap, Bass Drum, Hi Hat, and Percussion. Make sure you put the sounds on the correct boxes!
13. On the Redrum, Copy Pattern To Track.
14. Create a Dr. Rex. Load a Percussion Loop and adjust the PITCH. Put it "To Track."
15. Save your beat in your folder, give it any name you want.
    
16. Start a new beat.