Refill: 1985
1985 is a Thor-based refill for Reason version 4.0, and the first refill available
in the Historical Refill Series, a set based on the instruments used to top the charts
over the last 30 years.
109 Foundation instrument patches - Each of the instruments used in combinators are
also saved separately in order to make it easier for you to customize and use them
in entirely different ways.
146 fully programmed combinator patches: 106 tweaked to match the sounds of the time
period, and 40 “experiment” patches that expand upon these instruments.
27 Effects - RV7000 and Scream
End User Agreement:
All material available on this page is copyrighted, unless otherwise indicated. Redistribution
of these files is prohibited without prior written consent. End user is granted non-exclusive
license to use the samples and patches for original works of music.
Historical Refill Series
You see people on the internet trying to find out what instrument was used in a particular song and asking how to reproduce it. This series of refills is the answer to those questions: if the song made it on the top 40 charts and uses interesting instruments that can be synthesized, you’ll likely find it in the refill for the corresponding year.
One thing you’ll come across in using commercial refills is that you must be careful about volume while auditioning patches. This is because some companies don’t take clipping into account, while others seem to watch their gain too closely and mix everything at low volumes. Due to this, I’ve included a limiter as a safety net in many of the combinator patches - you won’t have to worry about hurting your speakers and you’ll still be able to hear what you’re playing. Beyond that, the basic patches are constructed as simply as possible in order to maintain
minimum CPU usage while still attaining the intended sound. Also in each refill is an “Experiments” folder where you’ll find instruments you won’t recognize from the Top 40, but that use the basic instruments as their starting points.
These are Thor-based refills with the exception of a few patches, useable with reason version 4.0 and higher.
As seen on Reason Patch-A-Day: