Reason 6: Pulveriser – Digging In The Dirt

Pulveriser is a newly modeled multi purpose effect device in the Reason 6.5. It is wholly original in its design technology with nothing borrowed from previous Propellerheads effects. Loosely summarised, Pulveriser is a Compressor with distortion and filtering. In practice it is a very flexible multi effect with an extensive sound design repetoire.

Squash and Dirt: Signal processing begins from left to right across the Pulveriser interface beginning with the Squash and Dirt controls of the effect’s Compression and Distortion section. Although the original hardware sources remain un-named – The Pulveriser compressor is said to be stylised on ‘characterised’ compressors similar to the vintage Pultec or the 1176. Adjusting the Squash dial increases the variable amounts of compression with a fast attack and controls the threshold, ratio and output gain of the Pulveriser compressor. Release values for the compressor are adjusted seperately using the dedicated ‘Release’ dial.

The distortion sound of the Dirt stage is modeled on the classic sound of ‘specific’ guitar distortion pedals. Dialing in different values achieves a wide range of distortion effects. There is a dedicated ‘Tone‘ dial in the Dirt section which functions similar to the cut-off of a Low Pass filter to roll off the upper harmonics introduced through the saturated distortions of a sound source.

Parallel compression: The Pulveriser effect is the first device manufactured by Propellerheads software that offers Parallel Compression as an internal feature within a single effect. The Dry/Wet control in the final output section to the right of Pulveriser’s interface lets you blend and mix the original signal of a sound source with the wet processed signal to create Parallel compression. Parallel compression is great for creating body and punch to drums, awesome for adding grit and movement to any sound.

Multi-mode filter: The next stage in Pulveriser’s processing chain is the Filter section. Pulveriser provides a flexible multi-mode filter section with a selectable Low Pass, Low Pass + Notch, Band Pass, High Pass, and Comb Filter. Via a simple selector – Pulveriser lets you change the routing of the filter signal either before or after the Squash & Dirt processor section. Filter settings are dialed in using the Frequency & Peak dials, however, when using the Comb filter the frequency & peak dials become the Size & Delay dials for the filter respectively.

Modulation – Follower: Pulveriser has a powerful modulation engine which includes an Envelope Follower, an LFO and a Tremor (tremelo) section. The Envelope follower analyses the envelope of an incoming audio signal, and, when the signal exceeds the Follower’s threshold, it produces a CV (control voltage) output to modulate whatever effect parameter it is controlling. The Envelope Attack and Release dials control the amount and speed of the Follower’s modulation output.

Modulation – Tremor: Pulveriser’s Tremor section features an LFO which provides a selection of different waveforms with tempo synch options to modulate the filter or the volume of the processed/wet signal. There is also a dedicated Rate dial to control the organic speed of the LFO modulation. When used in combination with the Spread and Lag (off set) buttons of the Tremor section, the LFO can be used as a stereo auto-panner, or modulate the main output level for a classic tremolo effect.

Pulveriser is a relentless ‘High Yield Demolition’ unit with serious attitude. It is a sonically refreshing multi effects unit which offers a huge dynamic range capable of subtle colouration, phat compression to total annihilation of a sound source. Digging in the dirt with Pulveriser becomes addictive, the deeper you dig – the more you want to use it! It is easy to program and sounds great.