Reese Rack

A reese is two or more detuned saws whose beating is the sound. This rack layers two different unison engines — Analog (two oscillators, the cleanest phasing) and Wavetable (Classic unison up to 8 voices, with a Position Spread option for a wider, less periodic beat) — and sits a mono sine sub underneath so the beating never touches the fundamental. Macros: Detune (both chains’ detune amounts), Notch Sweep (a slow moving notch that gives the classic hollow DnB reese), Width, Dirt, Sub Level and Movement (LFO depth on the notch plus a slow Wavetable unison drift). Use it in DnB, jungle, neurofunk, dubstep and darker halftime; the Variations change the beating rate and the dirt per style. BPM assumption: 174.

Layout

How it's built

1. Instrument Rack with three chains: Analog reese, Wavetable reese, Sub. Key zones C0–C4 on all three. After the rack (outside it, on the track) add Utility with Bass Mono at 120 Hz — this is the safety net for the whole stack.
2. Analog chain: Analog. Osc 1 shape Saw, Octave 0, Level 0 dB. Osc 2 shape Saw, Octave 0, Fine −12 cents, Level 0 dB. Keep Osc 1’s Fine at +0 — asymmetric detune (one osc fixed) keeps the pitch centre stable, which matters when the sub is a separate chain. Quick Routing: both oscillators into Filter 1.
3. Analog Filter 1: type LP, slope 24 dB, Frequency 1.2 kHz, Resonance 10%, Drive 0. Filter envelope amount 0. Amp 1 envelope A 10 ms, D 500 ms, S 1.0, R 200 ms. Voices mono (Unison in Analog’s global section stays off — we want exactly two voices beating, nothing else). Glide 0.
4. After Analog: Roar, Single routing, Soft Sine, Drive 3 dB, Tone slightly dark (−10), post-filter LP 7 kHz. EQ Eight: band 1 low cut 24 dB/oct at 70 Hz; band 4 Notch at 400 Hz, Q 4.0 (the Notch Sweep macro drives this frequency).
5. Wavetable chain: Wavetable, Osc 1 category Basics, table Saw, Position 0. Osc 2 off. Sub off. Unison mode Classic, Voices 6, Amount 20%. Filter 1 LP, circuit OSR, 900 Hz, Res 15%, Drive 0 (Dirt macro opens it). Amp env A 10, D 500, S 1, R 200. Mono/poly: Poly with 1 voice so legato notes retrigger the unison phases — that’s part of the reese grit.
6. Auto Filter after Wavetable: type Notch, slope 24 dB, Frequency 600 Hz, Resonance 30%, Drive 0. LFO: Amount 0% (Movement macro), Rate 0.1 Hz free-running, shape Sine, Phase 0. This free-running LFO means no two bars sound identical, the hallmark of a good reese.
7. Chorus-Ensemble: mode Classic, Rate 0.3 Hz, Amount 20%, Width 50%, Dry/Wet 40%. EQ Eight: low cut 24 dB/oct at 90 Hz, low pass 12 dB/oct at 5 kHz.
8. Sub chain: Operator algorithm 1, sine, Transpose −12, Voices 1, Glide 0, A 2, D 300, S 1, R 150. EQ Eight low pass 24 dB/oct 100 Hz. Utility Mono.
9. End both reese chains with a Utility at Width 100%, Bass Mono off (the track-level Utility handles mono). Chain volumes: Analog −4 dB, Wavetable −6 dB, Sub −1 dB. Macros can only map to devices inside the rack, which is why each chain carries its own Utility.
10. Macro 1 Detune: Analog Osc 2 Fine Min −4 ct, Max −30 ct; Wavetable Unison Amount Min 5%, Max 45%. At 174 BPM a −12 ct detune on a C1 (65 Hz) beats at about 0.45 Hz — one beat every two bars; −30 ct is about 1.1 Hz, roughly a beat per bar. That is the musical range.
11. Macro 2 Notch Sweep: EQ Eight notch frequency Min 150 Hz, Max 2.5 kHz; Auto Filter frequency Min 200 Hz, Max 3 kHz. Both notches move together, so the hollow spot travels through the whole stack.
12. Macro 3 Width: both chain Utilities’ Width Min 0, Max 130%; Chorus-Ensemble Width Min 0, Max 100%. Bass Mono at 120 Hz stays on, so Width never touches the sub.
13. Macro 4 Dirt: Roar Drive Min 0, Max 18 dB; Wavetable Filter 1 Drive Min 0, Max 60%. Macro 5 Sub Level: Sub chain volume Min −inf, Max 0 dB.
14. Macro 6 Movement: Auto Filter LFO Amount Min 0, Max 60%; Chorus-Ensemble Amount Min 0, Max 50%. At max the notch wanders a full octave around its macro position.
15. Exclude Sub Level and Width from randomization. Store Macro Variations: Classic (Detune 35, Notch 30, Width 40, Dirt 15, Sub 100, Movement 30), Neuro (60/70/50/75/90/60), Dubstep (45/25/60/40/100/20), Jungle (30/15/30/10/100/10). Save as Reese Rack.

Macro map

Signal flow notes

Analog reese chain

Wavetable reese chain

Variations

• Classic DnB / jungle: as built, Dirt 10–15%, Notch Sweep automated over 16 bars from 20% to 70%. Add a Compressor on the track sidechained from the kick (ratio 4:1, attack 1 ms, release 60 ms) — at 174 BPM the sub has to clear the kick on every hit. See DnB and jungle.
• Neurofunk: Dirt 75%, insert Roar in Multiband routing instead of Single (low band clean, mid band Fold 8 dB, high band Hard 4 dB), Movement 60%. Resample the Wavetable chain through Spectral Resonator (Mode MIDI, a chord clip) for the metallic neuro layer. See neurofunk and neuro bass.
• Dubstep / 140: Detune 45%, Width 60%, swap the Auto Filter notch for a Phaser-Flanger (Phaser mode, 4 notches, Rate 0.2 Hz) for the wider hollow sweep. See dubstep.
• Dark halftime / trip-hop: Detune 25%, Dirt 30%, add Echo on a return at 1/4 dotted with 30% feedback and throw the Wavetable chain into it. Pull Sub Level to 80% so a separate 808 can sit underneath. See halftime.
• Hardware reese: send the MIDI to the TD-3 (saw, resonance low) via External Instrument on a fourth chain and detune it with the Fine knob against the Analog chain; the TD-3’s slide becomes a free glide layer. See hardware integration.

Performance notes

• Push: Notch Sweep and Movement on encoders 2 and 6 are the performance knobs; Detune on encoder 1 is set per track and left alone — changing it live changes the beating phase and can produce a dip exactly on a drop.
• Automation vs macro: Notch Sweep as a 16- or 32-bar arrangement ramp is standard; Movement is better as a macro you nudge during a long note. Never automate Sub Level inside a phrase — use a clip gain or a separate sub-drop sample.
• Resampling: the real reese workflow is resample → Simpler → re-pitch. Bounce in place (12.2) on the track with the rack, then slice the result. The bounced file keeps the free-running LFO’s random phase, which you can’t recreate by re-rendering. See resampling workflow.
• CPU: Wavetable at 6 unison voices is the main cost; drop to 4 voices in a live set — the difference is inaudible on a system, and the Analog chain carries the beating anyway.
• Mono check: a reese collapses badly in mono if Width is above 100% and Bass Mono is off. Keep the track Utility’s Bass Mono on and check the whole bass stack in mono before a show. See mid/side and stereo.

Related

• Reese bass · Neuro bass · Sub bass
• Drum and bass · Neurofunk · Jungle and breakbeat
• Analog and Drift · Wavetable · Sub bass rack · Wobble bass rack