Are you just getting started with Reason? Or perhaps you want to hone your skills, pick up some new ideas or learn others’ techniques for using Reason? If so, you should really check out the Reason 6 Sound Design Video Tutorials from Propellerhead!

James Bernard and Mattias Häggström Gerdt, two of the Product Specialists at Propellerhead, have been hard at work on their “Reason Sound Design” series. These video tutorials focus on exploring new ways to make sounds and answer many of those “How do you do that?” moments you might have when you hear a sound and wish you could create it yourself in the Reason rack.

Learn how to drum sounds on your own with Kong. Did you know the “Tone Generator” in Kong can be used to add pitched in-key sub-bass to your kick? It can even be your entire kick sound. In this video, Mattias will show you how to set it up for some ultra deep bass drums. You’ll then have to figure out how to install the lowrider hydraulics on your car yourself.

James Bernard shows you how to make a gated filter sweep using the Alligator. This effect is great for transitions in your music. Next up, James shows people who are new to the Combinator how they can assign a few knobs and buttons to a basic synth patch to start turning the simple sound of Subtractor into a complex and playable sound designer.

Get in there and have some fun…for free!

Traktor Kontrol S4 Setup Guide

This setup guide will help you to get Traktor Pro S4 up and running quickly and without problems.

Step 1: Install Traktor Pro S4 2.0.0

Use the DVD included in the S4 package to install the Traktor Pro S 4 software. The DVD contains software version 2.0.0.

IMPORTANT: Do not plug in the S4 controller during the installation. AGAIN: Do NOT plug in the S4 controller during the installation.

Once the installation has completed do not launch the software yet.

Step 2: Activate Traktor Pro S4

Start the Native Instruments Service Center application. Windows users find it in Start/All Programs/Native Instruments/Service Center. Mac users find it in the folder Programs/Native Instruments/Service Center.

If you already have a NI user account log in. If you do not have a user account yet use the Service Center to create a new account and log on to the Service Center afterwards.

Enter your serial number for Traktor Pro S4 and click Activate.

Step 3: Download and Install Traktor Pro S4 Latest Version

Once Traktor Pro S4 is activated switch to the Update tab in Service Center. Download the Traktor Pro S4 software update. Install the update.

Step 4: Connect the S4 Controller

Now connect the S4 controller with the USB cable to your computer and switch the unit on. Windows detects the new device and installs the drivers. When the driver installation is done the USB indicator on the unit will light up. The LED will be blinking if the controller is on and if no USB connection is detected.

Step 5: Start Traktor Pro S4 Software

Start Traktor Pro S4. If an earlier version of Traktor is detected you see the following message box:

Click on Copy to have the data (collection, stripes, transients, settings etc.) of an earlier version copied into the data folder of Traktor Pro S4. Depending on the size of your collection copying the data may take a while.

Traktor Pro S4 uses its own, new folder so save the settings and track data. This makes it possible to use two Traktor versions side by side on the same machine. However, the content of the collection is not automatically synchronised. This means that the content of both collections is only identical after the initial copying. If you add a new track into the S4 collection and if you want to use it in your “normal” Traktor instance as well, you need to repeat the import.

Step 6: Fix Faulty/Loose Jog Wheel

If one of the jog wheels of the S4 is loose when you unbox your Kontrol S4 follow the steps outlined in the following video to fix that issue.

Video made by Photojojo

Step 7: Check your Jog Wheel Plates

Now check your jog wheel plates to see if they need recalibration.

1. Have a look at the LOAD button on the left side of the S4 controller. The LED in the LOAD button should be off. If the LED is ON continue with step 7 and recalibrate the left jog wheel.
2. Press the plate of the left jog wheel. The LED in the LOAD button should be on while the plate is pressed. If the LED state does not change continue with step 7 and recalibrate the left jog wheel.
3. Have a look at the LOAD button on the right side of the S4 controller. The LED in the LOAD button should be off. If the LED is on continue with step 7.
4. Press the plate of the right jog wheel. The LED in the LOAD button should be on while the plate is pressed. If the LED state does not change continue with step 7.

Step 8. Recalibrate the Jog Wheels

Follow these steps to recalibrate the jog wheel plates on the S4 controller.

1. Open the dialog Preferences/Traktor Kontrol S4.
2. Click the button Recalibrate Left if the result of step 6 was that the left jog wheel needs to be recalibrated. Follow the instructions in the dialog boxes.
3. Click the button Recalibrate Right if the result of step 6 was that the right jog wheel needs to be recalibrated. Follow the instructions in the dialog boxes.
4. Return to step 7 and check again, if pressing the jog wheel plates is correctly detected now.

During the calibration the distance between the wheel housing and the plate when it is not touched is measured. Then the distance is measured again when the plate is pressed. Those values are needed to detect whether the plate is depressed or not.

The jog wheels are calibrated during the production of the controller. Those values are stored as default values inside the controller. If you press Reset in the first calibration dialog the factory measured values are restored rather than the last values detected during the manual calibration.

I have transported the S4 controller several times in the last few weeks, sometimes on my bicycle. It happened now and then that the platters didn’t work after transport and I had to recalibrate the jog wheels again. My advice is to check the platter functionality after each transport and to recalibrate them if necessary before your gig.

Step 9. Clean up your documents folder

Starting with Traktor Pro S4 each Traktor version uses its own Data/Settings folder.

If you started Traktor Pro 2.0.0 before installing the 1.0.1 update, you will have two data folders below your documents folder. You can delete the folder Traktor S 4 2.0.0 now, because it won’t be used after the update to Traktor 2.0.1 is installed.

TRAKTOR KONTROL S4 QUICK START GUIDE

Part 1 of 4

Part 2 of 4

Part 3 of 4

Part 4 of 4

Lets Get Started!!!

Pro Tools Error(s):

If you are getting an error in Pro Tools, the first step would be to search both the DUC and the Answerbase for the error number(s) you’re getting, as a vast majority of errors have solutions already. Make sure to remove the minus sign (-) from in front of the error number during you’re search, as a minus sign in a search field means you want to exclude the following term from the search.

If you are experiencing a particular technical issue that does not include an error number, try searching the Answerbase and DUC by key words that are related to your problem. Try a few different, related terms to see if they produce better search results. Use the Advanced Search on the DUC to narrow or expand your search results. For general ‘assertion’, ‘neoaccess’ or ‘neoassertion’ errors, see below for a possible solution, then do a search for the last few sections of the error if the presented solution does not help.

Other things to check:

1. Reseat cards and cables and/or replace cables. Even new cables are prone to failure and cable failure is one of the major causes for issues.
2. For recording or playback issues, test from a different drive to eliminate the drive as a source for the problem.
3. Remove components of the system to determine if they may be related to the problems – devices such as MIDI controllers, USB drives, etc.
4. If possible, for general hardware issues, try a different port on the computer or testing the questionable hardware on another computer, to see if it follows the hardware or is specific to your system.

By process of elimination, you can narrow down the ultimate cause of your issues and determine the best course of action.

Compatibility

Verify you are using a supported Mac and your system meets all of the minimum requirements. You can find compatibility information in the Support section of the website:
www.digidesign.com/support

Choose from the product list for compatibility information, and click on the links in the compatibility section for each product for additional information.

- Verify that you have the Minimum or Suggested amount of Ram loaded in your system:
For current Pro Tools systems, that is the following:
1 GB (1024 MB) or more highly recommended. The best user experience has been reported using 2 GB or more, especially when using software instruments.
- Verify that your version of the Mac OS is supported with your version of Pro Tools:

Pro Tools LE Version Compatibility Grid for Mac OS X
More Information:
Mac OS X 10.4 Requirements with Pro Tools 6 & 7
Mac OS X 10.2 & 10.3 Requirements with Pro Tools 6

- Make sure all drives are formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with OS X’s Disk Utility. Pro Tools can not use UFS or HFS volumes. If the drive was originally formatted in OS 9 or with any other application, backup the drive and reinitialize it with Disk Utility. More information:
Hard Drive Requirements – Pro Tools LE for Mac OS X
- If you are on a PowerPC (PPC) Mac, you cannot record to a GUID partitioned drive (which is typically the partition type for Intel based Mac boot/OS drives). You must reformat the drive as Apple Partition Map. APM formatted drives can be used for recording with both PPC and Intel based Macs.

IMPORTANT! You MUST use a secondary hard drive (not your main OS drive) for recording and playback of audio in Pro Tools. Recording or playback from the OS drive is known to be problematic and the cause of many different error types. If you are using your system drive and encountering errors, the first thing you should do is get a compatible drive.

Pro Tools supports recording and playback to a secondary drive that meets the following requirements:

7200 rpm or faster
9ms seek time or faster

Firewire drives must have the Oxford 911 (FW400 port), Oxford 912 (FW400 & FW800 ports) or Oxford 924 (FW800 ports) Bridge chip. Other Oxford chipsets, while not fully tested, have not shown any issues and should generally work well with Pro Tools.

USB drives are not supported and are known to be problematic. Avoid using USB drives, as they are known for causing a variety of errors.

Plug-In Compatibility

Make sure that all Plug-Ins are compatible with the version of Pro Tools you’re running. It is extremely important that you have installed only compatible plug-ins. See reply posts below for more info!

-Open MacHD>Library>Application Support>Digidesign>Plug-Ins

You can check the version by selecting the plug-in and go to the “File” menu and choose ‘Get Info’, or hit Command-I and look at the version information under the ‘General’ Section.

Compare the version installed against the compatibility grid here and update or uninstall as necessary:

Pro Tools Plug-In Compatibility

General Setup and System Optimizations

- In System Preferences > Display, set your monitor resolution to a minimum of 1024 X 768.

- In System Preferences > Date & Time, verify that the date is set correctly and that you are not using 24 hour time.

- If you are using a 2005 or newer Powerbook G4 with Sudden Motion Sensor, please disable SMS according to the Apple information located here:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300883
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300724

Energy Saver

-Open System Preferences>Energy Saver
-Set the “Sleep Sliders” to Never (Computer Sleep) and Never (Display Sleep)
-Make sure the box next to “Put the hard disk(s) to sleep when possible” is unchecked
-Click on the options tab at the top
-If you have a “Processor Performance” drop down menu select “Highest”

AirPort

-Click on the AirPort Icon in the Menu Bar in the upper right corner of the screen
-Select “Turn AirPort Off” from the menu
-If you don’t see the AirPort Icon in the Menu Bar then:
-Open System Preferences>Network
-Click on the “Show” drop down menu and select “AirPort” (if there is no AirPort option, then AirPort is not installed on your computer)
-Under the “AirPort” tab, towards the bottom of the window, check the box next to “Show AirPort status in menu bar”
-Follow the first two steps after that is done

Bluetooth (Optional – typically you only need to disable this if you’re bluetooth devices are causing problems in Pro Tools)

-Open System Preferences>Bluetooth
-Click on the “Settings” tab and make sure “Bluetooth Power: Off” if not click the “Turn Bluetooth Off” button

Firewire Networking (Definitely disable this if you are using any kind of firewire drive or interface!)

- Open System Prefs>Network
- In the drop-down box next to ‘Show’, select ‘Network Port Configurations’
- Uncheck the box next to ‘Built-in Firewire’
- Click on ‘Apply Now’ button in the lower right hand corner of the window.

Pace Drivers (These are necessary for the proper operation of Pro Tools)

Install the latest PACE drivers available at http://www.paceap.com

Troubleshooting tips

Please download and install the Pro Tools Tech Support Folder , which has tools and utilities to assist in diagnosing and troubleshooting potential problems you may encounter.

Delete Pro Tools preferences.
-Go to Users > “your user name” > Library > Preferences
-Delete ‘com.digidesign.protoolsLE.plist’, ‘DAE Prefs’ (folder), ‘DigiSetup.OSX’ and ‘Pro Tools preferences’.
-Empty trash, then restart the computer.

You can also use the Pro Tools Preference and Database Helper to trash preferences and databases automatically, as well as providing a few other useful tools. (This application is provided by a 3rd party and is not tested or supported by Digidesign)

Repair Permissions
-Quit Pro Tools and launch Apple’s “Disk Utility” application, located in:

MacHD>Applications & Utilities.

-Select your boot drive (the whole drive, not the volume underneath the drive)
-Go to the ‘First Aid’ tab and select “Repair Disk Permissions”

Apple recommends doing this any time you install new software, update your OS or reinstall any software.

Delete Databases and Volumes

This step can be useful when receiving random ‘assertion’ or ‘neoaccess’ errors, especially when recording or saving.

-Delete the “Digidesign Databases” folders on the first level of all mounted hard drives.
-Delete the “Volumes” folder:
Pro Tools versions 7.3 and earlier it’s located in MacHD > Library > Application Support > Digidesign > Databases.
Pro Tools 7.4 and higher will find it in MacHD > Library > Application Support > Digidesign > Databases > Unicode.

-Empty trash, then restart the computer.

Errors when using certain plug-ins, VI’s, software synths or samplers

Try reducing the number of CPU’s in the Playback Engine and see if it helps.

Test RAM

A somewhat frequent cause of general computer problems has been traced to bad RAM. Unfortunately there’s no reliable software test of RAM. The only way to be absolutely sure is to remove and/or swap RAM modules, hopefully with known good ones.

Disable Virus Protection
Disable any Virus Protection Software. Check for evidence of anti-virus software in Library > Startup items. Move these items out of this folder and restart the CPU (do NOT remove the DigidesignLoader or PACESupport folders).

Other Troubleshooting

- Remove any unnecessary USB or Firewire devices or any other extraneous hardware and then restart the computer.

- In the case of possible hardware issues with your Mac the next step is to test the Mac hardware. To do this, boot off of the Apple Hardware Test CD or Software Restore DVD (depending on Mac model) that shipped with your Mac. If you are booting off of the Software Restore DVD, hold the option key while the Mac starts up, then choose Apple Hardware Test. Once Apple Hardware Test loads, press Control+L. This puts Apple Hardware Test in loop mode. Click Extended Test, and let it go (preferably overnight).

Login Items

Certain items that always start up when you log in to your computer can conflict with Pro Tools operations. The way to check what is starting up every time you log in is:

-Open System Prefs>Accounts
-Select your account from the list on the left hand side of the window
-Click on the “Login Items” tab on the right hand side of the window
-Go through the list and select each item and click the “-” (minus) button below the list to remove the item in question.

StartupItems

Certain items that always start up when turn on your computer can conflict with Pro Tools operations. The way to check what is starting up every time you start your computer is to navigate to:

MacHD>Library>StartupItems

Any Digidesign Files/Folders located in this folder should be okay for use with Pro Tools. Common files/folders to have are:

Digidesign Loader
Digidesign Mbox 2
PACE Support

Any other files/folders should be backed up and removed for optimal Pro Tools operation

FileVault

FileVault is an Apple utility to help protect your files. When FileVault is turned “ON” this can conflict with Pro Tools and the installation of Pro Tools. Make sure FileVault is disabled following these steps:

-Open System Prefs >Security
-In this window look where is says:

FileVault protection is (on/off) for this account

-If FileVault is on click the button to turn off FileVault

Spotlight Indexing

If Spotlight Indexing is running in the background, this can cause errors in Pro Tools. You should make your recording and playback drives ‘private’ which will disable Spotlight indexing on those drives.

To add a drive to the Private list, go to System Preferences>Spotlight, click on the Privacy tab and drag the drive icon on your desktop to the privacy list window or click on the ‘+’ sign under the list and then select the drive you want to make private, adding it to the list.

New Admin Account (Typically only necessary if all other troubleshooting has been tried already)

Try creating a new user with admin privileges in System Preferences > Accounts.
-Click the Lock to authenticate
-Enter password
-Click the “+” (plus sign) under the list of users
-Type In Pro Tools for the Name
-Enter a password and verify (optional)
-Check the box ‘Allow user to administer this computer’
-Click ‘Create Account’

Then login to this new account and run Pro Tools

-Go to the Apple menu and go to ‘Log Out (Username)’
-Login in to Pro Tools
-If there is no icon in the Dock, navigate to MacHD>Applications>Digidesign>Pro Tools
-Double-click on ‘Pro Tools LE’

If the problem goes away after creating a new admin account, it’s likely that there is an OS service preference corruption. Pro Tools uses OS services for many of it’s dialog windows, Quicktime Playback, etc. Unfortunately in these situations it’s very difficult to determine the preference that is causing the problem and your best bet is to migrate over to the new account – unless, of course, you did the smart thing and have a recent backup of your OS drive in which case you can revert to your backup.

General NeoAccess or Assertion errors

If you receive one of these errors, usually after recording or when trying to save a session, it can usually be resolved by following the steps for trashing preference and database files listed above.

How to Remove Expired (Demo) Plug-Ins & Software:

-Uninstall and reinstall Pro Tools
-Run the Pro Tools installer from your CD-ROM or web download.
-Click on the Custom Install menu and choose “Uninstall”.
-Click continue and then choose the option for “Clean” uninstall
-Click OK when it reports that the uninstall was successful and then reinstall Pro Tools.

Digi 002/002R users experiencing any combination of the following symptoms and whose serial number ends in the letter A-F should contact Digidesign Tech Support by phone for information on getting your unit serviced:

The unit keeps on clicking when powering up, or when launching Pro Tools.
“Unable to locate Digidesign Hardware” error message when launching Pro Tools.
Dots or blank scribble strips (002 only)
Firewire light in back is blinking or turned off completely
Sample Rate light is off or blinking
Unit won’t power up, or only powers up intermittently
Only the Mute light is lit when powering up and you are unable to disable Mute

If you’re experiencing noise from the Mbox 2, there are several things to try:

- Make sure you’re using balanced cables on all balanced inputs and outputs. Remember that the Mbox 2 outputs are unbalanced, and should use unbalanced connections.
- Try using a power conditioner for all your electronic gear (Furman, Monster).
- Run your outputs directly to shielded monitors and not through a mixer to see if the noise goes away.
- Some noise complaints arise from noisey power supply units inside computers – try installing and running on another computer (or if you’re using a laptop, unplug the power supply and run off of batteries to see if noise goes away).
- Unplug and turn off all unnecessary gear and run only the computer, the Mbox 2, and monitors.
- Listen through headphones.
- Make sure you’re not running through a USB hub or other device – the Mbox 2 always needs to be plugged directly into the computer.
- Try all USB ports on the computer to see if the noise lessens.
- Trace your cable path for long cable runs, and isolate your cables from possible interference (other gear, florescent lighting, CRT monitors, etc).