Approaching Reason - Video Course - Free

[Benedict]

I watched more of your Reason videos.

I am not speaking about the content here but about how this is all made. Clear, concise, focused, and eloquent. No hyperbole, no bull**** just straight to the chase. Very very good and informative. It's much better than most of the nonsense "tutorials" on YouTube. And this is coming from someone who had you on the "ignore list" for whatever reason (no wonder since I am an idiot at a time so I guess I went into fight mode with you sometimes in the past).

Anyway, good job. I don't think people realize the time and effort needed to make quality videos happen.

I'll recommend your videos to anyone new to Reason anytime. Once again thank you for your time.

Thanks Mr Monkey

And very much for your apology. TBH I do not recall any issue we had so there deffo can't be any hard feelings.

I know that I am different form most, I try to make that a feature but I know some find that hard to accept.

I love that you are now eager to share my trainings.

[Benedict]

Do you have any tipps how to structure effects in a way that you can save presets? So for example a subtractor with a reverb and a phaser and a LFO. If you add effects in the mixer channel's effect slot you can't save presets that include subtractor, reverb, phaser and LFO, can you?

Combinator is the simple answer. But won't/can't save w whole Track with external (but perhaps related) extras.

Benedict answer is: Do not do this. Music is not made when lists of approved gear, meet lists of approved loops, meet lists of approved presets. That can only be dull.

I talk of two concepts:
a) Music can only be come at sideways. Saving chains etc is the essence of being head on and while it seems perfectly clever, it makes you miss the sideways moments where the magic is. This ties in with the concept of
b) The Song Gods (Muses) who feed the music to us when we are ready for it. It is our job to listen and translate.

Formulas mean you are trying to be the god yourself. We aren't big enough for that so stop trying with the front brain (head-on) and listen instead to the ideas and happenings that come in sideways. It is a quieter voice so you have to be quiet in yourself (Flow State). Fear kills that quiet faster than anything else. Fear is encouraged in most of what happens in DAWville now

[Benedict]

They really hate everything that is related to topics like organisation / structure at RS headquarters, don't they?

In this case I disagree, they are just staying true to the hardware paradigm that is at the center of Reason. Loading an instrument in the insert section of a mixer (like in Reaper and most other DAWs) is actually counterintuitive from a hardware perspective. In a hardware-based studio, you won't plug all the guitar stomp boxes into inserts either, you have them directly after the guitar and before you hit the mixer channel. From this perspective, it makes perfect sense. I tend to have FX that are part of the sound-design directly after/under the instrument, and use the channel insert for mix-FX. For that reason, most of my insert FX are on buses and parallel channels and not on instrument channels.

A great answer Mr Warlock

That says exactly what I show in one of the videos in the series. In a (real) studio effect/process devices are placed in different places for different purposes to achieve different outcomes.

I hadn't realized you had come to the light (GUI) side. All Hail Reason lol

[Benedict]

Reason in shot

[crimsonwarlock]

I hadn't realized you had come to the light (GUI) side. All Hail Reason lol

That happened kinda by accident. During the lockdowns, I didn't have easy access to my studio (which was then located in my company's building), so I was looking for an easy music setup on a laptop that I could use at home on the couch. At that time RS had discounted R11 suite, so that seemed a nice all-in-one package to get up and running fast and easy. However, playing around with Reason made me completely lose any joy in using Reaper, so it didn't take long for Reason to replace Reaper as my main DAW in the studio. Reason basically made me realize how much I hate all the floating VST windows, which is the main reason I use Rack Extensions exclusively these days (with one notable exception: a physical modelled e-guitar).

[Benedict]

Indeed, for all Reaper's capabilities, it is very hard to use. I d'loaded a new improved theme yesterday but still, sooooooo much that just flows in Reason has to be done to get started. Once gets used to things but all that time in VSTland was always a chore, in Reason it is always instantly smoother.

[LaLivre]

Indeed, for all Reaper's capabilities, it is very hard to use. I d'loaded a new improved theme yesterday but still, sooooooo much that just flows in Reason has to be done to get started. Once gets used to things but all that time in VSTland was always a chore, in Reason it is always instantly smoother.

Do you know maybe how I can trigger a constantly running device (e. g. Noise Injector or an audio mix channel) by notes? I have the problem that this great sounding noise sound of the Noise Injector is sending audio all the time but i want to "play it" that it fits to Subtractors envelope. I want to trigger Noise Injectors audio signal only if I play a key or paint a note in Reasons sequencer.

Conclusion: I want to have a bit of noise (from e. g. Noise Injector or from an noisy audio file in a mix channel) behind Subtractors sound that is not running all time and fits to subtractors envelope perfectly.

Any ideas? (Yes I know subtractor has it's own noise generator .. the question is about the technique in general)

Unbenannt-2.png

[bjm4tt]

Indeed, for all Reaper's capabilities, it is very hard to use. I d'loaded a new improved theme yesterday but still, sooooooo much that just flows in Reason has to be done to get started. Once gets used to things but all that time in VSTland was always a chore, in Reason it is always instantly smoother.

Do you know maybe how I can trigger a constantly running device (e. g. Noise Injector or an audio mix channel) by notes? I have the problem that this great sounding noise sound of the Noise Injector is sending audio all the time but i want to "play it" that it fits to Subtractors envelope. I want to trigger Noise Injectors audio signal only if I play a key or paint a note in Reasons sequencer.

Conclusion: I want to have a bit of noise (from e. g. Noise Injector or from an noisy audio file in a mix channel) behind Subtractors sound that is not running all time and fits to subtractors envelope perfectly.

Any ideas? (Yes I know subtractor has it's own noise generator .. the question is about the technique in general)

Unbenannt-2.png

Since the Subtractor's Amp Envelope is not available as an output CV, you could use an MClass Compressor as an envelope follower to generate a CV signal and use that to control the level of a Gain Tool or Mix Channel. Split the Subtractor's audio output with a spider and use one of the splitted signal for this envelope follower, so you don't affect the original audio output.

But this is only in case you'd like to stick to Subtractor. Thor's or Europa's Amp envelopes can be routed to their CV outs and you don't have to rely on the audio env follower "trick".

[bjm4tt]

[liquidsound]

^^^or just put the Noise Injector in a Combinator to control the Noise Injector Mix and use the Subtractor Mod Env or Filter Env out to the Combinator.
Unfortunately, there is no Amp Env out of Subtractor but depending on your needs, the Mod Env could do the job.

Or like bjm4tt suggested, use Thor, Europa etc.

[crimsonwarlock]

Conclusion: I want to have a bit of noise (from e. g. Noise Injector or from an noisy audio file in a mix channel) behind Subtractors sound that is not running all time and fits to subtractors envelope perfectly.

There is also this often overlooked envelope-follower RE, and it is free:





https://www.reasonstudios.com/shop/rack ... generator/

[LaLivre]

Awesome, thank you all, I will try it out as soon as possible.

Have a nice day!

[Benedict]

Bearing in mind that RE is designed to insert solid state noise like noise in a console that is always there. There are great reasons for that.

If I needed it enveloped, I would simply use Thor. If you must have exactly that noise flavor and don't know how to recreate it in Thor, sample it into an NN sampler (19 or XT).

-OR-

Have your Sub doing through DIRT and then use a Noise Gate (RE or on the SSL) to give that open/close feel of a noisy synth in a 70s mix. Listen to Kraftwerk's "The Man Machine" album
I show that SSL Gate in the new video.

[Benedict]

09 - Mixing & Mastering



I love Mixing in Reason. That is a personal choice but Reason works well for me because of the workflow. A lot of that comes from the real-world paradigm (not spreadsheety) and the clarity of the tools, esp the EQ window that follows track choice (F2).

[Benedict]

10 - Project Walkthrough: Jane Is Not Afraid - "This Is How It Ends"



All of the previous videos are rather technical and therefore a bit irrelevant. This final video in the Approaching Reason series puts everything into perspective with a real live one: Jane Is Not Afraid - "This Is How It Ends". I work through all of what was done and a lot of the whys in taking this song from idea to publication (now on an EP with a video).

There is a certain amount of repetition in this as I cover the tracks from the perspective of the three views (Sequencer, Rack, Mixer). It is not entertainment as such but a learning thing.