Propellerheads Reason

Electronic Music Production // Dark Arts
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ggroove
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Propellerheads Reason

Post by ggroove »

I was really surprised to find there's no topics on Reason on Subsekt (wtf?). I dabbled in Reason many years back, but it's only recently I've understood its power (under the hood) and got really inspired by the workflow. I now use it as my main DAW alongside Live. Reason is my main DAW and Ableton is getting more used as a quick sketchpad or for live use.

To kick things off I'll just list a few of my favourite features and some highly personal reflections:

* Redrum, redrum, redrum. Just a great drum sampler. If Reason would've been only a couple effects and the Redrum instrument I would probably still buy it.

* Of course the modular way of interacting with players, instruments and fx. And now you can load any VSTs into Reason (finally).

* The library instruments is really good and very tweakable.

* I produce on a laptop with a smaller screen. Reason can relatively fast get cluttered by instruments (although you can use combinators ofc) and this leads me to put more time on sound design and keeping it simple instead of clutter a project with more instruments (I tend to do this in Live). It's a subtle difference, but big enough to have had an impact on me regarding finishing projects.

* The timing of the sequencer, I don't know but it just feels right. It has that X-factor that Ableton lacks (ducks). I'm hesitant to write this because I'm sure it probably is an illusion caused by a lot of other subtle variables. But I just find the sequencer whatever it is to be a little more snappy. WOo woO

* Here's a short lecture with Stuart (BSU), sadly there's not a lot of quality videos on Reason on youtube (from a techno-perspective).

youtu.be/mWkPLCiAtcA

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Lost to the Void
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Re: Propellerheads Reason

Post by Lost to the Void »

Can`t stand reason, but a lot of people get good results with it.
Just doesn`t feel intuitive to me and the GUI gets messy way too quickly, it`s too much for me, I like uncluttered visuals so I can just focus clearly on my ideas, which tend to come thick and fast.
Reproducing all the foibles of the hardware environment always seemed silly to me.
But.... It`s results that matter, at least you can EQ properly in reason now.
Mastering Engineer @ Black Monolith Studio
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Techno is dead. Long live Techno.

ggroove
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Re: Propellerheads Reason

Post by ggroove »

Lost to the Void wrote:... at least you can EQ properly in reason now.
Do you mean you didn't like the mixer or the stock MClass EQ? The bands are pretty limited I guess, care to elaborate? :)

The_G
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Re: Propellerheads Reason

Post by The_G »

I've been using Reason since version 1.0. I don't use it exclusively; I also use Logic. The two DAWs have very different workflows, so really it's question of how my brain is tilting. I did my last album exclusively in R8/9, but my next album is being done exclusively in Logic.

Things I like about Reason 9.5 (version I am currently using):

*I used hardware before software, so I like the hardware workflow.
*I like the modular aspects of Reason--being able to wire anything up to anything else via virtual CV and gate. You can get some pretty wild results.
*It's now a fully-fledged DAW with VST support, so I never need to use rewire again
*There are some great plugins in the RE format that I love
*Kong is a lovely drum module, and Thor is still an excellent synth

Things I don't like about Reason 9.5 (version I am currently using):

*Editing audio is annoying in comparison to Logic or Live
*Some old modules could really use an update, like Subtractor, Maelstrom--these were cutting edge in the early 00s. Now, not so much.
*Reason 9.5 is CPU hungry when using third-party plugins, much more than Logic
*Also...why is there still no freeze tracks option??

acesd619
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Re: Propellerheads Reason

Post by acesd619 »

The Lectric Panda PSQ-1684 Rack Extension certainly lends itself to techno functionality. It is relatively easy to come up with some pretty interesting sequences and I've only scratched the surface with this. This is one prime example of why I think the environment is so great.

That said, I've used Reason for years - since version 3.5 and it has been a great journey. The SSL implementation of having the spectrum EQ in the rack had a great impact on my workflow. The Rack Extension format rollout was very exciting as I remember and I have a boatload of the third party plugs in that format. I'm very pleased that D16 jumped on board with Decimort and Devastor just to name a RE developer. The VST integration was great of course and I'm happy to be using Soundtoys in the rack now. :D


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