This week we present a classic analog brass sound. It uses the State Variable Filter in Thor to get that classic Oberheim sound. It gets more 'brassy' with higher breath pressure by mapping Breath to the detune amount of a Multi-Oscillator Filter. You can experiment with the detune amount and the amount of Breath applied to the detune parameter to make this sound all yours.

This is just one way to make a synth brass sound with Thor. Like all things in Reason, there are many, many other techniques you could use. Enjoy.

I'm working on a tutorial on using the Wavetable oscillator in Thor with wind controllers, and this is a patch that really demonstrates how it works.

I've mapped the Wavetable Oscillator from Thor to Breath. When you blow softly, you get a square wave, when you blow with more strength, you get a saw wave. You can experiment with the different waveforms in the Wavetable Oscillator and create some sounds of your own. Enjoy.

This week we present a Thor patch that is kind of mellow, but has a lot of expressiveness. Its timbre is reminiscent of a harmonica. I thought one could use it on a ballad. It is a saw wave the opens up with some high harmonics with more breath pressure. Enjoy.

This patch actually surprised me. I love flute-like sounds and somehow I stumbled across this sound. This sound uses the Wavetable Oscillator in Thor to add a harmonic to the tone with Breath. It sounds like overblowing on a flute. The Wavetable Oscillator is really cool, you can find out more than you ever want to know about it at Propellerhead's web site here and here.

Basically, there are a bunch of waveforms stuck together (in a table - get it?) and you can pick which one you want to hear with the Position parameter. The really cool thing is that it will cross fade between them if you want, so the transition is smooth. I like to map breath to Position so I can use my breath to sweep through the various waveforms. That's what this patch does.

I added some breath noise with the Noise Oscillator. It doesn't sound like a real flute, but the idea is there, and I really like it. Hopefully, you will to.

A Thor patch inspired by a Brecker lead from 'Beirut' by Steps Ahead. I added a little bit of breath noise, which I think gives it a little more life. Hope you like it!

Quick tip this week. 


I find it quite helpful when practicing to have a visual indicator of the breath pressure that I am sending from my wind controller into Reason. I can learn if I am blowing too hard or too soft and adjust either my playing or adjust the sensitivity on the instrument itself.


There are two simple ways to do this that I would like to share.

1. Use NN-XT
If you are playing an NN-XT patch, you have the breath indicator built-in. I'm sure you've seen the 'X' wheel moving when you play a sound set up like the picture, with the X controller set to breath. This is pretty handy, but I find that there are other knobs that are easier to read - like the giant rotary knobs on the Thor synthesizer...

2. Use Thor inside a Combinator

I like the giant dials on the front panel of Thor, because they are big and easy to see. I prefer this method because I like to see a big, honkin’ dial move. This works for any Thor patch that does not use the front Rotary controls, or for any Combinator patch. This takes advantage of the fact that any control mapped in a combinator is animated when it is controlled - so it will move when it is activated. Here's how to do it:

1. Load up a Combinator patch that you like to play
2. Add Thor to it while holding the Shift key. Don’t route the outputs anywhere – we don’t care about the sound it makes, only making the dial move.
3. Go into the Combinator and route Breath to 'Rotary1' on the Thor. You'll find Breath as a Source in the 'Performance' sub menu, in the combinator Modulation Routing pane.
4. Watch the Thor dial move as you blow into your wind controller.

What I Learned
When I first did this, I realized I was ‘maxing out’ the breath pressure when I was only blowing at a moderate level. I turned down the sensitivity on the EWI to compensate and I can now blow normally and get a wide range of breath sensitivity.

That's it until next time. Have fun playing your wind controller!