Advanced Polar Techniques - Propellerhead

I've brought a few Rack Extensions since the Reason 6.5 update, but one that didn't make it into my collection was Propellerhead's own Polar pitch shifter device. It's not that it isn't very good (because it is), it's more because I felt that I didn't really need a dedicated pitch shifter in my Reason rack. However, I did end up trying out the demo version of it when it first came out, and I can remember being pretty impressed with what it was capable of.

Anyway, Propellerhead has recently uploaded a new video (below) to their YouTube channel that shows off some of the more advanced and creative ways that polar can be used in your productions. It's got me wanting to try it out again but sadly my 30 day trial period ended quite a while ago. I might actually end up picking up a copy of this device in the future, but saying that there are still a few Rack Extension devices that I want to check out first.



Polar is available in the Propellerhead Rack Extension shop for € 55.00

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Propellerhead reveal Polar harmonizer Rack Extension

Propellerhead software have just revealed their second Rack Extension 'Polar'. Polar is a cool harmonizer effect perfect for injecting a little crazy pitch modulation madness to your tracks. This new Rack Extension isn't only capable of whacked out crazy pitch effects, it can be used to add some subtle modulation effects too. Check out the audio demos below.

"Polar is an old school harmonizer and pitch-shifter effect with a host of modern tricks up its sleeves. Use it for classic harmonizing, stereo-widening, and realtime pitch-shifting, or experiment with buffer looping and audio freezing to create otherworldly effects.

Load up Polar in the rack, and it will instantly make your sounds wider. Introduce slight pitch-shifting to make it even bigger. Turn the Shifters to add harmonics — up to two octaves above — or radically change the pitch down to two octaves below. Finish up your patch by turning on the filter, manipulated by the built-in LFO and envelope.

If you are a singer, producer, guitarist or remixer who is looking for transparent pitch-shifting, creative ways of turning bland recordings into wide, evolving soundscapes — or want to completely mangle a sound into an interesting mess, Polar brings all this and much more to your Reason rack."

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More details of Reason Rack Extensions

If you're like me then you're anxiously waiting for the release of Propellerhead Reason 6.5 along with the Reason store where you can buy Rack Extensions. Well the good folks at Propellerhead software have revealed some more details about the upcoming update.

Pulsar and Polar are two devices that will be available in the Propellerhead store from day one. Pulsar will be a dedicated LFO tool that doubles as a basic synthesiser and Polar will be a harmonizer/pitch-shifter effect.

The idea of Pulsar being a dedicated LFO tool for the Reason rack is big news for someone like me, it means that I will no longer have to load up an instance of Subtractor to use its LFO CV out (which I find myself doing a hell of a lot). A dedicated LFO module has been at the top of my Reason wishlist for years, so depending on its features and price that will be my first purchase that I will make from the Propellerhead store.

I'm not so sure about Polar though, depending on its features it could be pretty cool but to be honest I've never been a fan of pitch-shifting and harmonizing effects. Although creative CV/audio routing options could make this a pretty nice addition for the Rack.

Along with announcing Pulsar and Polar, Propellerhead also uploaded some audio demos of their new "Radical Piano" module. You can listen to them below.



There's a whole list of things that I hope to be seeing from the Rack Extension store, from the obvious new synths to some basic modules that help with productivity, routing and work flow. For example, one thing that I think Propellerhead could have improved is the the audio/CV splitter modules. I use these splitter modules religiously for basic tasks such as duplicating a kick drum signal so that I can send it to various different compressors for side chaining. There's never enough outputs on the splitters so I always find myself linking about 3-4 splitters together. Maybe this could be something that would turn up in the Rack Extension store, an audio/CV splitter with 20-odd outputs.

That is just a basic example of how the Rack Extension store could offer a whole new Reason experience. What else could turn up in the store? What modules are you hoping to come across when the 6.5 update rolls out?

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