Hi. I always thought that it was possible to layer instruments in Reason, thereby allowing you to to play on your midi controller and trigger multiple instruments all at the same time.

I've tried a few things, but I can only get one instrument to play at a time.

If anyone is familiar with it, I was hoping that Reason operated similar to the Digidesign Xpand instrument.

I like the way that Xpand allows you to stack a string patch, then a pad, then a something else etc. etc. This allows you to make your own hybrid patch so to speak. I can play on my midi controller and I hear one cohesive sound that is a melding of all of the instruments I've layered.

Can't Reason do this?

yes you can. You just stick devices into a combinator along with a mixer and anything else you want and voila!

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How does one "stick devices into the combinator"?

I've tried a few things and nothing seems to be working.

Here's some youtube videos of how to use the combinator

Here's the most basic one I found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B95GDJeN1UM

This one's a little more advanced:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48oQmNlN818

And this one shows how to go real overboard with the combinator:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcKwFgXFZ28

Hope these videos help you. Try to really study them, you should get all the information you need.

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To put a device into a combinator,go to the combinator and press the "show devices" button, and you'll see the empty internal rack. Now, create a device, or use an already created device, and drag it (you have to drag it in between the edge of the screen and the screws at the side) into the empty internalrack of the combinator. It has the same physics as the normal rack.

Still, you sold watch those videos, they look good

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