Reason 4 News: The mighty Thor is just one major feature of Propellerhead's forthcoming release. To help Reason users get the most out of this instrument, Propellerhead have asked some seasoned synthetists to add their personal touch to the Thor patch collection that will ship with Reason 4 (on release).
With six open slots, Thor brings together six different oscillators with four different filter types plus wave shaping, enveloping and effects. Thor facilitates a plethora of modulation routings enabling users to exchange audio and control signals just like original modular synths. The result is a fantastic, full-sounding software instrument that is extremely light on CPU usage.
It is therefore no surprise that Propellerheads have invited some of the world's leading synthesists and sound developers to add their own Thor patches to the Reason sound bank including Daniel Wang, Morgan Geist, Pascal Gabriel, Plaid, Richard Barbieri, Richard Devine, Sonic Boom, Tipper, Two Lone Swordsmen, Gordon Reid, and Vengeance.
Thor’s sound was tremendously detailed and rich comments Richard Devine. I loved the way you could stack and layer the modules piece by piece to work it one piece at a time. I was able to get some extremely beautiful pads, strings, and ambient sounds. The oscillators had a beautiful range and could go extremely rough or smooth and warm. It’s very versatile and unique.
Insofar as a virtual synth can emulate all these sounds in the digital domain, I found Thor simply wonderful, adds Daniel Wang. Amazingly well programmed and conceived. As for whether Thor—or any virtual synth—can reproduce the nuance of an acoustic guitar or a fuzzy Arp filter… that is a question more for music philosophers than technicians.
Richard Barbieri agrees: I think it knocks the spots off of pretend soft versions of classic synths. I've had a few people refusing to believe the sounds were part of Reason's armory when I used it ReWired to my DAW software.
