My Propellerhead Reason Diary.

[original flipper]

Hi

Just got Reason - didn't think I ever would - assumed it was a toy - I am SO EXCITED about using this program that I thought I would keep a little diary on my progress for the amusement of yourselves (or not) and maybe as an example to others just starting out with a new program, that perhaps may want to aproach it in a different way - I am aproaching this in a very different way to how I would normally work with a new program.

I started this process a couple of weeks ago - normally I am either impulsive and just buy what takes my fancy at that moment (can be risky-as you may end up not liking the product) or i take a long time demoing (how lucky we are to be able to demo) and reading up on a product - a process I went through, with that great deal that Native Instruments recently had - for what its worth I did not succumb and felt quite liberated at controlling my credit card - although I then went on to purchase VeraSyn Tera, Cube, ableton live and Reason!

I must say I did get Tera & Cube for £150 s/h!

But more importantly I felt that I would have to learn how to use too many new programs that I already had pretty well covered in my collection already IE Halion, Phatmatik, EVE and Rhino - to name a few !

I started my 'Homework' by listerning to a few demo tunes, putting up a thread here asking for feedback from members and also checking out the Propellerhead's site as well as a couple of highly regarded Reason sites -ReasonFreaks and ReasonStation.

Anyway; I wanted to learn how to use Reason and all its intricacies; rather than 'pile in' hoping to pick bits up - so I bought a book called 'Reason 2.5 ignite' - which is well illustrated and aimed at 'absolute beginers' - just reading through it without yet having Reason has wet my appetite!

Two days later 15 July; I have Reason 2.5 now - cost me almost £200 - I went on ****** to see if I could pick up a second hand copy but all I got offered was Cracks @£30 - I would be lying if I said I was not tempted but I think I have got to the point now; and I can't really put it into words - if you have the money buy it legal if you don't then....well perhaps you have gotta do what you gotta do?

Anyways; 16 July - I installed the program that comes with a pretty impressive array of sounds, also spent half the day downloading a load of FREE REFILLS from the propellerhead site - all of a sudden that £200 is starting to feel no quite as bad a hit on my credit card as I thought - I mean, there is a mass of stuff here ranging from 100meg libraries vol 1-6 of Analogue synths through to 1001 preset's for both the main synths!

There are also loads of FREE Refills, presets ,templates and just about anything else you might need on ReasonFreaks and ReasonStation.

So the good thing is I probably don't (but probably will!) need to worry about having to buy anthing else to get up and running - but I am getting ahead of myself!

July 17; I get my Reason book out and fire up the pc, I have alredy worked through setting up preferences and start to look at how the 'RACK' works, I am pretty taken aback when I realise that at the back of the 'Rack' (you can flip between a front and rear view of the equipment rack with all its animated jack plugs and leads swaying around!)you have a creative workspace of immense possibility here.

I also listerned to most of the demo's and continuing with my Reason book was pushed through a tutorial with the Subtractor synth - the Malestrom follows tonight!

I enjoyed being reminded about the workings of subtractive synthesis in a most easy to digest way - I will not compare the Reason synths with my vst's mind!

In all seriousness I was to busy running through the tutorial to concentrate to any degree on the sound of the Subtractor synth but if that is the 'TOOL' on offer I will use it; rather than bitch about how much
warmer so and so's filters are in comparisson!

To Be Continued!

Flipper.

[atomic_(no)afro]

I've used Reason before in a university music-lab setting, and while it's a good bang for the buck value, the only modules that really impressed me were the Scream 4 distortion unit (which really does have nice tape distortion effects that are the best I've ever heard), and the Malstrom graintable synth (which for dialing up granular type sounds is the fastest, and some of the best sounding out there with Kontakt being the only other software that can do the things Malstrom can do). But really, I would buy Reason myself just for the Scream 4 distortion if Reason had audio inputs via rewire so that I could patch my other synths and audio inputs into it. Unfortunately, that seems to be one of Reason's major drawbacks. I'm not saying that Reason is a bad buy, it's not, just that it can't integrate with my current system enough for it to be worth the cost.

ATA

[DHR53]

I still can't figure out why the NNXT is not considered as good as any other sampler out there? You get out what you put in... I've heard some of the best sounds (I've ever heard) coming from NNXT... Have you heard ambient textures? Hmmm... I have a lot of soft synths that I can't do much with because they kill the cpu on my machine... So what good are they? Reason let's me get any sound I want or need... And the routing possibilities are endless... i.e. with fx you can make any sound... The sequencer can be very capable if you follow a few simple rules... Group, Loop and expand! I can spend more time making music in Reason, than staring at the cpu meter in most other programs...

[atomic_(no)afro]

True DHR, CPU is a big part of it, but it's not the whole ball of wax. Personally, I find Kontakt to be much better for soundesign with its tone & time machine features, plus more extensive routing capacities. NNXT is good, just not the absolute most flexible sampler out there. I put it between Kontakt and Sampletank 2 in features. Not bad if you don't already have a sampler, just not the bar none best for sound design. That said, Kontakt isn't perfect either, as it isn't the easiest sampler to program, and there are issues regarding pitch glide and sample start modulated by velocity that NI has yet to address. However, if Kontakt and NNXT were put side to side I would have to go with Kontakt over NNXT simply for its more extensive sound design capacities.

ATA

[DHR53]

You know, sometimes I think that the incredible sounds coming from the soft synths these days taken by themselves make you think that you'd have to have them for your music... But the sounds are only as good within the context which they are used... Some sounds by themselves are just too thick and complex to blend with other sounds in a mix, to the point they are practically useless! But by themselves sound great! I have purchased a lot of stuff that I later hardly ever use because of that... I find that If I listen to a synth by itself, that is no indication of how useful it will be in my arsenal... Which is why I'm not usually lacking in inspiration when I use Reason... I look for a particular sound that fits... and I don't see the rack as individual instruments, just a big sound making device!

[original flipper]

Hi

Here is my second installment!

By the way; by all means feel free to post here - but I would like to say again, that I am merely feeding back to people a different aproach to how I would normally 'get into' a program, in this case Reason - I am not looking to debate if or wether the program is any good at this point; I would not have spent £200 on it if I did not have a fair idea that it would be GOOD for me!

July 18; It amazes me how Propellerheads have not been sued (for eye damage) by people for such a small GUI!

So I played around with my display settings and reset the screen resolution from 1024*768 to 800*600 which makes things so much clearer and workable - my first gripe in demoing Reason was the fact that I found myself almost hitting my nose on the monitor as I crouched ever foward to see the miniscule controls; but this resolution really opens up the whole program to a mucher more workable space.

Anyway; I looked at all the samplers (3)and worked through tutorials for all of them - I must admit I got a bit stuck but eventually worked out what was being shown - I feel I have a deeper knowledge of their workings which is pretty much required when you consider that these will be life savers for importing loops and sounds from 'outside' the Reason world!

July 19; My son popped over and we set up his Edirol keyboard with Reason - it blew my mind!
I have never used my keyboard (SY85)as anything other than a controller for playing synths, but seing how you could use the Edirol to make real-time changes via its 8 sliders and 8 rotary controlls was awesome!

I worked through all the FX modules and then finally got to look at recording (Midi data) and the sequencing; I was very impressed with what I saw and releived that Reason should be able to give me the timing/resolution that I need to create even very intricate midi passages.

Started to work through some advanced routing possibilities with signal splitter/distributors/fx and can only say that I am taken back at some of the results that I am hearing, Reasons ability via the rear rack view to route signals via audio and CV are just ... well amazing, I have not come across anything like this before and it is starting to feel like the worlds best kept secret!

I will probably finish working through the book Reason 2.5 Ignite today or tomorrow so until then!

Flipper.

[Squids]

Reason's NNXT is a great sample player. I've totally forgotten about the NN19 which really was not so hot in comparison.

NNXT is good at being efficient on the CPU, great for easy and practically limitless layering including multiple velocities, alternating (check out the ALT feature) and even release triggering, it has a respectable multimode filter too. It's easy to use as well.

Drawbacks are that not all paramters are midi controllable, you can't program fx as part of the patch and the modulation routings are fixed to a very basic offering. There are a few other roadblocks I run into when programming on it but then there are so many other things that are super fast. The auto pitch detecting and mapping can get you most of the way there sometimes which is convenient if you want to import your own waves.

My company makes refills. They're not free although if you don't have it already we have a few free refills on www.esoundz.com that give you a taste of what our sounds are like. SR is the main sound company that Propellerhead's distributor M-Audio distributes. We've done programming for all of the modules in Reason and make great native use of the NNXT. If you didn't know (I know flipper knows).

There was a time when SR might have done the original Reason factory sound set. This was before Reason was even called Reason. This was many years ago and of course there was no NNXT yet. I know the CEO of the Props and at a trade show when he saw how many refills we made with multisampled instruments he made this face Of course he was very happy to have the third party sound support in a direction OTHER than just more rex loops.

[Rabid]

Spend some time browsing the Reason forum at Propellerheads. Look there for places to get free refills. There is some good stuff out there. A lot of manufacturers who sell refills also provide limited free sets. There are also some private developers selling budget refills that are NOT cracks, copies or rip-offs. Quality can vary and the best are based on VA’s. It is amazing what a good analog sample set can do for Reason and there are a few on the market. My favorite, as I have stated before, is SonicRefill which turns Reason into a major ROMpler. I understand it has been broken up into smaller offerings so you can get just what you need. It really helps to have the basic ROMpler sounds inside.

I also recommend the “Producing Music with Reason” CD tutorial to new users. If you have already made it through the Reason Ignite book then you probably do not need it, but I found it easy to absorb when watching things being done on the computer screen as someone told my the “what” and “why”.

Robert

[DHR53]

Here is a list of must-haves for Reason:

1. Ambient Textures (sounds, drums)
2. Lapjockey (drums, sounds)
3. Kazhawanna (drums)
3. Orange 2 (sounds)
4. Sonic Synth (sounds, drums)
5. Quadrasynth Story
6. Punch ERM (drums)
7. Extended Waves (sounds)
8. Useful Noiz (sounds)

These are products that really show the capabilities of Reason's instruments!

[original flipper]

Hi

I have downloaded a fair amount of the free refills from the Propellerhead site - although I have not checked them out - I also have a few refills coming my way this week.

I could have been knocking up tunes from the moment I got Reason but I am determind to get all the basics covered and learn how to use it finer 'hidden' depth - rather than stumble across them!

I see this as an opportunity to get a really good grounding in what the program can do - I will finish working through the Reason Ignite by tomorrow and have a couple of other books coming through - Reason 2.5 Power and Power Tools for Reason 2.5; I intend to work through 'Reason 2.5 Power' the same way I am doing with Ignite and probably start auditioning sounds, refills and getting to know the sampler and Matrix, possibly then aproach the 'Power Tools' book for a baptism of fire!

I think the problem that many of us find ourselves in these days is we (well the older ones!)come with a lot of experience - normally enough to figure things out by trial and error - but I have found this a bit haphazzard and ultimately time consuming but more importantly you simply miss a lot of the tools and techniques that seasoned 'Pro' users take for granted.

I have a vested interest in learning this (and a few other) programs inside out as some commercial opportunities have opened up for me and as we all know, in the music business other than lots of luck cutting edge use of production techniques can make all the difference (along with a good musical idea to boot!).

So that is my motivation for doing the 'driving lessons' - the moral being you might over time develop into a reasonable driver but if you take yer lessons you might well get there a bit quicker and with a little more insight!

flipper.

[Bassballjg]

True DHR, CPU is a big part of it, but it's not the whole ball of wax. Personally, I find Kontakt to be much better for soundesign with its tone & time machine features, plus more extensive routing capacities. NNXT is good, just not the absolute most flexible sampler out there. I put it between Kontakt and Sampletank 2 in features. Not bad if you don't already have a sampler, just not the bar none best for sound design. That said, Kontakt isn't perfect either, as it isn't the easiest sampler to program, and there are issues regarding pitch glide and sample start modulated by velocity that NI has yet to address. However, if Kontakt and NNXT were put side to side I would have to go with Kontakt over NNXT simply for its more extensive sound design capacities.

ATA

I would concur about the relative strengths and weakneses of Kontakt v. NNXT.Kontakt is on a plateau with Emulator X and VSampler as a sound-design/mangling tool,whereas NNXT is more comparable with Kompakt or Sampletank as an efficient instrument player.Considering the Reason efects,including audio input to Malstrom,its ease of use and simplicity are strengths,it is very inviting to program whereas Kontakt can be overwhelming in its depth.One should have one from each column,a sound design monster a la Kontakt and a basic instrument player like NNXT.

[Amberience]

The NNXT is perfectly suited to both multisampling real instruments to provide a quality recreation, as well as sample mangling.

Reason is too under appreciated by the "pro's" of the world

[original flipper]

Hi

19/20 July; I finished working through Reason Ignite with some interesting tutorials on CV and Gate control and splitting and merging effect sends with 'THE SPIDER' - I then started to look at a book called Reason 2.5 Power; which covers some similar ground but goes into greater detail.

So this has taken me 3 or 4 days to work through a whole tutorial book and delve into a second - I knocked up a couple of tunes last night whilst working through 'Power' and Reason is starting to feel quite intuitive, now.

I am going to spend about another week working through 'power' and possibly look at a third 'advanced' book called 'power tools' - I am starting to think that the investment of two weeks will reap rewards, yes I could be playing around with the synths and dropping countless loops into Dr Rex without any direction - but what I will do in a week or two time, will be to sit down and plan an EP of say 4 tunes that I want to work on and the good thing about it will be that I will not have to stop every so oftern because I don't know how to achieve a certain operation - I will know the basics very well and have a pretty good idea of the more advanced options, or at least where to look to quickly get the info to carry them out.

I might have fared better with Logic audio had I aproached it like this - although how many good books are there avalible that will 'tutor' you through 'that' minefield!

I am not advocating people rush out to get tutorial/help type books but certainly with new programs that offer a depth that is not amediately apparent the pdf manuals can be quite limited, although you could still give them a try - I tend to print out manuals on 'obscure' programs - unless it is something like a 2osc va synth!

Unfortunately there probably are not tutorial/instruction books for much of the programs out there - but what this experience has shown me is that if music making goes beyond being something you do for fun and intend or in fact do make a living from it then time is priceless and I feel the time has been more than justified - I expect to use Reason (in part) on a 'paying' project within the next 2/4 weeks, so for me stopping to learn about the potential of the program has been worthwhile.

Flipper.

[vtx]

Thanx to Reason some of the guys around here who wouldn't normally know much about cabling or signal routing now have an idea just from playin around with this thing,,worth every nickel..
I'm trying to make a collection of my guitarists licks for playback in the rex player.I bring his wave file into Recycle and loop the passage,,then save to a rex file.
When I bring it into Reason the tempo has to be in the 40 or 50 bpm range to play back properly in the rex player,,which is no good..
I can't figure out where the tempo info is cummin from,,so I can get it up to 120 or something.
I hope you get around to tryin this flipper ,so's to shed a little lite on this situation..
thanx

[Squids]

Here is a list of must-haves for Reason:

1. Ambient Textures (sounds, drums)
2. Lapjockey (drums, sounds)
3. Kazhawanna (drums)
3. Orange 2 (sounds)
4. Sonic Synth (sounds, drums)
5. Quadrasynth Story
6. Punch ERM (drums)
7. Extended Waves (sounds)
8. Useful Noiz (sounds)

These are products that really show the capabilities of Reason's instruments!

Thanks for including us in this list. Although, to be clear, the product for Reason is called "Sonic Refill". "Sonic Synth" is a VST/RTAS/MAS/AU plug-in that doesn't work within Reason.

It is a bummer that Reason can't host VSTis. That would have been cool. But, on the other hand, they are able to keep it consistently efficient on the processor. This is perhaps Reason's strongest point for the "masses".

By the way, the "Sonic Refill" box set that has volume 1-5 in one refill is recommended over getting the individual Vol. 1-5. We split it up to fit it into the low price product line for the stores. But, to me the combination of the 5 together is more exciting because, as Rabid pointed out, it makes Reason like a workstation with 2,000 diverse sounds (like a Triton or a JV...). Only get the individual 1-5 if you are on a tight budget. But, considering that if you were to get all 5 @ $49 that = $245. you get a better deal buying the Sonic Refill box for $179. (or less discounted from a store). Also, if you did own Sonic Synth, then you could get the crossgrade discount which I think is still available on www.esoundz.com The crossgrade is less than a hundred bucks.

It's nice to see some Reason lovers around here. I think it is a great program and even if you have more advanced VSTis and hosts, Reason is still a fun creative tool to have.

Hey just for fun... here is an audio demo of our upcoming Sonic Refill volume called "Vocal Textures". Check it out: www.sonicreality.com/squidscorner/VocalTexDemo.mp3

This is the first time anyone would have heard about this. It is another $49 refill from Sonic Reality but this one is like vocal sample libraries that cost big bucks. It even features some famous singers like Roger Manning from Jellyfish and Beck, Jason Scheff lead singer for Chicago and others doing multilayered oohs, ahhs etc. Plus there are consonant attacks and all kinds of cool stuff. I'll post this in that other Sonic Refill query thread where it belongs more but... in case you were interested...