Product Reviews

The concept behind ReFill for Reason was to replicate in sampled form the vintage analogue studio hardware of the Lapjockey team. Hence FlatPack: a totally portable version of their setup.

As their studios seem to contain many impossibly rare keyboard and drum machines from names like Roland, Korg, Moog, Fender, Nord and Oberheim, this is an analogue fetishist's delight. Emulated machines include the Prophet 5, MiniMoog, Expander, TB303, TR808 and 909, and Fender Rhodes.

FlatPack contains a wide palette of sounds and beats, captured courtesy of a 24-bit Pro Tools signal path via valve preamps and Apogee A/D converters. The fidelity of the sound is excellent throughout. Be warned, though: some samples are quieter than others, so keep one hand on your volume knob when auditioning them.Look out, Fatboy

In terms of raw numbers, you get 30 ReDrum kits, 650 drum samples, 200 REX loops, 65 NN-XT samples, 65 NN-19 samples, 100 Subtractor patches, 100 Malstrm patches and 200MB of ambient .Wav files. FlatPack also uses a new FX concept using sources patched through Malstrm to cause the effect.

You can either copy the 500Mb ReFill to the Reason folder on your hard drive or you can run the samples off CD, which is no more problematic. Each Reason instrument has its own collection of FlatPack folders, containing numerous presets grouped

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together in sound types. The NN-XT, for instance, has Classic Keys, Electric Keys, Harmonia, Organs, Pads (One-Finger Chords), Percussion and Rhodes Chords and Runs.

Despite this logical system, the right sound occasionally turns up in an unexpected place. Searching for a particular Hammond organ sound, we initially tried the Classic, Electric and Organ folders of the NN-XT patches. Disappointed there, we were delighted to come across the 'Chilled Organ' patch in the Malstrm 'Instruments' folder.

FlatPack's synth and pad sounds are superb. Some very lush and complex sounds are included, featuring detailed yet subtle movement and expansion.

Certainly, there are more electronic tones than naturalistic ones included, but then this is FlatPack's raison d'tre. It excels at those retro space-age, other-worldly tones craved by electronic musicians. It has a wonderful selection of these, a direct result of the original hardware used to create them, and the presets are great jumping-off points. Beats and loops

As for beats, there are plenty of options. A decent batch of REX loops covers every kind of rhythm and texture and Lapjockey has kept the loops fairly simple to allow users to layer them more effectively. Piling up four or five DrREX players in Reason creates deep, rich patterns.

Alternatively, create your own drum loops with the classic drum machines included for ReDrum, including multiple instances of the Roland TR606, 707, 808 and 909. You can also mix and match samples to create your own hybrid kits.

FlatPack is not a replacement for Reason's sounds but an extension of them. It offers a complete analogue studio experience and complements Reason's own patches superbly. Some sound better than others, some are a little disappointing, some are new, and others offer a new shade of a familiar colour. Using these sounds with Reason's own soundbanks, will virtually complete your mobile studio.