R2.5 -rewire to VST host- what of reason is best to learn???

[womoma]

Hey.

Ive been using Sonar for less than a year now so relatively speaking Im quite new. At the moment Im using Battery for most of my drum stuff and the occassional drum loop. For synths and strings etc Ive been using Mini Moog/Synth1 quite a bit aswell as some of my favourite indespensable soundfonts.

Bowing to pressure, and the fact that my favourite magazine [CM which I subscribe to] always features Reason tutorials, aswell as a curious compulsion, I bought Reason 2.5 second hand.

As a Sonar user the whole thing seems very alien and the sequencer is a pig.

I thought I had wasted my money until I read somewhere "Sonar and Reason work well together". So Im now thinking about spending some quality time getting to know Reason. Id be interested to hear how people who use Reason as a rewire device get along with it, and what features they use most.

Bare in mind that at the moment a lot of my time is spent learning Sonar aswell as some VSTs. I would be particulary interested to know what things in Reason are most worth looking at further.
Any advice here or general tips for using Reason 2.5 as a reqire device much appreciated.


TIA
womoma

[Mr. Tunes]

if you are using Sonar as your sequencer, i would take the time to learn the backside of Reason the most(hitting Tab and seeing the cables). learn about patching the devices. are you familiar with analog synths? you should be comfortable with what "CV" is(control voltage) and learn how you can use this feature of the Reason modules.

Learn about how ReDrum and NNXT have multiple outputs.
Learn NNXT in depth it is very powerful
Learn how to use the Matrix step sequencer into a synth like Subtractor- it's a lot of fun.
figure out how Rex files load into other machines other than Dr. Rex(like ReDrum!)

there is a great book called Reason 2.5 Powertools check it out

[Warmonger]

Whoever said "Sonar and Reason work well together" is, quite simply, full of shit. They're both nice programs on their own, and Sonar generally is pretty good with Rewire, but you're limited to MIDI control of a maximum of 16 devices with this specific combination. And it's not any 16 that you choose; it's the first 16 devices in your Reason rack.

[womoma]

Thanks for the replies. Mr Tunes- that sounds like an awefull lot for a beginner like me but Ill do my best.

The more I think about it the more I feel its probably a good idea in general to learn Reason as much as possible, especially for a electronic/chill enthusiast like myself.

Warmonger, I thought that when people used Reason with Sonar they would probably just use one or two of Reasons modules anyway?

Im curious to know where Reason can be particulary usefull, eg. in doing things that VSTs cant.

[Mr. Tunes]

ha yeah im sorry for all the details but if i were to go back in time as a Reason beginner that's what i would've wanted to know. For a long time i didnt know what was unique about Reason until I found those features.

The thing that Reason can do that VSTs cant is what i mentioned with "CV". you can take the LFO of one synth and have it do things to an effect box for example, like sweep a filter on the Envelope Filter. just a lot of random connections that VSTs cant do.

[womoma]

Thank you Mr Tunes- I dont really know what youre talking about now- but will endevour to find out! Much appreiciated.

[Mr. Tunes]

uhhh yeah again im sorry... but just be assured that you did a good thing by grabbing reason. that's all i can say for now and in time you will be a master of it!
it is one of the best programs for doing electronic music specifically and i also love it for some orchestral stuff too.

[womoma]

Thanks for the encouragment Mr Tunes, Ive a frog in my throat now, oh you.


lol

[Warmonger]

Warmonger, I thought that when people used Reason with Sonar they would probably just use one or two of Reasons modules anyway?

That's one type of Rewire user, yes. The other is the type who starts a song in Reason, and then needs features (audio, VST, MIDI Out, tempo automation, or whatever) that simply can't be done in Reason. At that point, I usually have at least 20 devices loaded.

For me, it's not that Reason can do anything that really is impossible to do elsewhere. It's just that I like using it more than sequencing VSTi's in a full-blown host. I only use Rewire as a workaround for a few features that I'm missing.

[womoma]

Dont you find the sequencer a little sucky in Reason?

[Warmonger]

Not for my purposes, no. Of course, I can easily come up with 100 small improvements that would make it nicer to use (note preview and note-off quantization being the two biggies), but it works very well for me. It's definitely a minimal sequencer, but that's what I want.

What exactly do you find lacking in it?

[womoma]

i dont know- its prob just that im used to sonars sequencer. Ill probably love it in a couple of months!

Argh- Im already having trouble- once Reason is rewired my MIDI keyboard controls Reason even if I select a VST synth in Sonar sorry.. any ideas?

[Warmonger]

In the Reason sequencer, click on the little keyboard icon to the left of the track. Or actually, in 2.5, it looked like a little MIDI 5-pin connector. Either way, just make sure it's not selected for any tracks.

[womoma]

I love when things are straight forward like that- thanks a million war

[Dimuthu_DeeJay]

I love when things are straight forward like that- thanks a million war

Keep on moving. Now u r on it. Try to open a new project in sonar and rewire it with reason. Then start a new midi track, try to assign different samplers(NN XT, Subtractor, etc) and find out instruments they have.
U'll would be think this is heaven.