next »

[rogerlevy]

Hey yall, I'm getting seriouser about Reason and I'm wondering are there any forums on the interwebs that people know of or visit a lot for tips+tricks+examples exchange.

Basically I'm hoping to make friends with other Reason users.

EDIT: topic name!

[Slather]

Hey mcsleepy,
I've been using Reason for about two years now (for fun) and I've learned a lot. Every track I make is an experiment.  Sometimes I mimic sounds I like from other artists, or I have this melody thats stuck in my head AND WONT GET OUT until I make a track.  I use an Oxygen-49, Reason 5 (6 is coming soon!!), and Adobe Audition for actual audio work and mastering.  I play guitar (electric and acoustic) and I record it sometimes.

I also need to find someone to talk with about this stuff..  sometimes I'll start with a chord progression on guitar, then go into Reason and slam out the chords, add beats/drums, add a simple bassline- and then play it back.  As I listen this round, and have my acoustic again, and I improvise some scale patterns and sing a melody and try to get a feel for it.  Once I find a melody I like, I go back into Reason and record.

Recently, I've been add atmospheric textures and ambients to add some depth.

Here's a short jam I imagine being in some sort of robot game: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4775209/music/Jam%201%20final.mp3
Here's the draft before adding the background texture: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4775209/music/Jam%201%20draft.mp3


I just realized I didn't answer your request: No, I don't know of any online resources or anything.  If you're looking for Reason users (and not specifically game-making-reason users, try the Propellerhead Forums )

[ignaciobalbuena]

Hey! I mostly been using Ableton Live, but I started taking a course last week, and got a general overview of the program. Seems really powerful, I hope we can get in touch to share tips and tricks, and productions!

[PostPre]

Here's a short jam I imagine being in some sort of robot game: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4775209/music/Jam%201%20final.mp3
Here's the draft before adding the background texture: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4775209/music/Jam%201%20draft.mp3

Damn, you're talented.

I've been working on reason for about 3 or 4 self-taught years, it's an incredibly fun and hands-on program to work with. I love KONG, it's almost an MPC

Watch this video, see how easy it is to make the fattest synth. And that vocoder trick is awesome! I'm sure this series of videos has a lot more handy tricks like that.





As for my work, I've been working on making giant textured synths myself, like in this track:
http://soundcloud.com/postpre/trisomy

And more melodic/orchestral things as well:
http://soundcloud.com/postpre/postpre-the-black-leaf

It's very worth it to search out some good sample packs for NN-XT.
And feel free to ask questions.

[diablo75]

If you're just getting your feet wet and want to make sure you have ALL the basics covered I'd highly recommend James Bernard's "52 Reason / Record Tips" via Propellerheads Youtube Channel.  Here's the first video.  I've watched them all and reference back on some occasionally.  Very comprehensive and top notch.





Propellerhead's forums are also a great place to ask questions and get helpful replies; the best place being the exclusive Users forum (you have to own the software to get in there).  Feel free to PM me if you have questions; I use Reason 6.

[ZoeBlade]

Hey yall, I'm getting seriouser about Reason and I'm wondering are there any forums on the interwebs that people know of or visit a lot for tips+tricks+examples exchange.

Basically I'm hoping to make friends with other Reason users.

The best Reason forums are the official ones at https://www.propellerheads.se/forum/  They're a friendly bunch over there!

[PostPre]

I got Reason 6 last month, and if you're using Reason 5, I really suggest upgrading. The new mixer's master compressor is a great analog recreation and is almost worth the upgrade price alone for how it can magically make a track sound good. The mixer's EQs also add a wonderful sparkle to things. And finally, proper gates on every channel.

I put Pulverizer on basically every sample I chop because it gives things a warm, cohesive sound. It's also great for adding tone when recording real instruments, and if you experiment a bit, it can make insane experimental sounds with its follower and LFO.

The Bass and Guitar Pods are good but limited recreations of their real counterparts due to a pretty limited selection of amps, but Pulverizer works well on top of these for some more tone control.

The Alligator triple gate is a very welcome new unit, and I've found myself both using its patterns and controlling it manually to pan and effect pads and samples. Throwing it on top of something with an arpeggiator is awesome.

And finally, The Echo, which as they put it, is an echo unit you can play like an instrument. What they mean is, you should be automating its knobs when you use it because it can do filter-sweeped echoes and other fun stuff. It can also do the whole beat-repeating thing like Ableton, so we can finally do cool stutters without jumping through 5 hoops.

I give it a big 

[rogerlevy]

I can't believe this thread is still alive!  That's a good thing.  It's kind of like I dropped a mushroom in a crack and came back months later to find a little patch of shrooms had grown without me.

I've been learning lots of stuff lately and churning out patches and experiments.  Reason has this kind of steep curve while you are just figuring out what you have at your disposal and then it all clicks and you are coming up with tons of sonic ideas.  And by "you" I mean "me", but maybe others have had similar experiences.

Anyway great suggestions PostPre.  Hey!  I followed you on Soundcloud and favorited several of your tracks!  And I saw your comment.  I use Reason 6 as well.  Ah that is great, I am loving Reason even more.  Many people poo-poo it, but I think it's actually ridiculously potent, even while trying other DAW's to see what they have to offer I keep coming back.

[adyo]

I used Reason for years and made some fairly stellar things with it (some of which were released on some fairly popular labels).

The problem is that the audio quality (I could get more in depth, but it's boring) was always lacking. I'm not just saying this, there were several fundamental problems with the way it worked, and some device-specific flaws as well.

When version 5 (I think it was 5) was announced, I approached Propellerhead, asking if they would finally fix certain problems, which I laid out in exquisite detail. A representative contacted me, and seemed to beat around the bush while hyping up a couple of the new devices, but insisted that the problems should be resolved and if not, using the new devices would remedy most of them.

He sent me a copy, which I thought was pretty rad + commital of them. Unfortunately, when I unboxed, installed and tried it, all the same problems persisted.

I think I had then decided to cast Reason into the "closet of things to never be installed again".


Good things I will say about Reason is this: it's a great toolbox for people who want to rapidly develop ideas, and you CAN make some decent tunes with it. It has it's limits though in terms of how nice your final product will sound, but if you enjoy it, you shouldn't let that stop you from continuing to do so. The only advice I'd give you from many years of experience is not to get so attached to your tools that you refuse to use anything else even when it's necessary. But also, I suppose, not to let anyone tell you something can't be done with the tools of your choice

[snares]

It's alright but I prefer Ableton Live (or even just hardware) in all honesty. Live 8 + Max for Live is incredible.

[agersant]

When version 5 (I think it was 5) was announced, I approached Propellerhead, asking if they would finally fix certain problems, which I laid out in exquisite detail. A representative contacted me, and seemed to beat around the bush while hyping up a couple of the new devices, but insisted that the problems should be resolved and if not, using the new devices would remedy most of them.

Could you be a bit more specific regarding those problems ? As a naive hobbyist I have no idea what they could be. I don't mind technical details, I'm an engineer (not esp. audio but I know my trade).

[rogerlevy]

Suppose I'm either a slow learner or just have too many activities competing for time and attention but I'm using Reason pretty exclusively mostly because I definitely can't afford Live Suite (but diving into a pirated version just to tinker around and learn - sue me 30 days isn't enough time, I'm not going to release anything I make with it)

I'm getting so agile in Reason that the common criticism that you have to do so much routing to get a good sound seems moot to me.  I feel like it gives me the opportunity to produce a more unique sound.  I have had my own complaints about some of the things it does sonically but you can do so much custom programming right on the rack that that makes up for it in my mind.

Anyway I'm saddened that this thread is already turning into a DAW comparison.  Other DAW users stop cloggin' mah thread!!!   

Anyway... I'd like to turn the topic of Reason's sound quality into a constructive discussion ... what techniques  for improving the sound of their tracks can people share?

[PostPre]

When version 5 (I think it was 5) was announced, I approached Propellerhead, asking if they would finally fix certain problems, which I laid out in exquisite detail. A representative contacted me, and seemed to beat around the bush while hyping up a couple of the new devices, but insisted that the problems should be resolved and if not, using the new devices would remedy most of them.

I'm very curious about this.

Anyways, I've used pretty much every other DAW, and the fact that Reason doesn't crash + starts up near instantly has earned lots of points with me over the last 5 years. Most routing I do is muscle-memory at this point, and with two screens, there no window juggling to do.

I always tell people to use whatever DAW they have the most fun with, because the problems people have with them are always subjective.

[adyo]

When version 5 (I think it was 5) was announced, I approached Propellerhead, asking if they would finally fix certain problems, which I laid out in exquisite detail. A representative contacted me, and seemed to beat around the bush while hyping up a couple of the new devices, but insisted that the problems should be resolved and if not, using the new devices would remedy most of them.

Could you be a bit more specific regarding those problems ? As a naive hobbyist I have no idea what they could be. I don't mind technical details, I'm an engineer (not esp. audio but I know my trade).

It's been awhile, It might be useful for me to see if I still have my old emails archived so I can refresh my own memory.

Off the top of my head though, there were severe aliasing issues for some of the synthesizers, all sorts of weird clicks and pops that didn't belong when performing certain operations and anything rendered from Reason itself just generally lacked the definition you want from a good recording because of how it's engine handled things. Everything sounded "muddy" compared to performing the same operations elsewhere.

Some had much better results busing it out into a host through rewire as opposed to trying to mix internally, but it kind of defeats the purpose of using Reason IMO (it's rapid workflow and so forth)

It's also worth noting that some of these bugs collaborators and I used in creative ways to make weird sounds and stuff, but it kind of sucked when we weren't able to squeeze what we wanted to out of it.

[adyo]

When version 5 (I think it was 5) was announced, I approached Propellerhead, asking if they would finally fix certain problems, which I laid out in exquisite detail. A representative contacted me, and seemed to beat around the bush while hyping up a couple of the new devices, but insisted that the problems should be resolved and if not, using the new devices would remedy most of them.

I'm very curious about this.

Anyways, I've used pretty much every other DAW, and the fact that Reason doesn't crash + starts up near instantly has earned lots of points with me over the last 5 years. Most routing I do is muscle-memory at this point, and with two screens, there no window juggling to do.

I always tell people to use whatever DAW they have the most fun with, because the problems people have with them are always subjective.

From a creative standpoint, I agree. If I just did what everyone advised me to do immediately (pitch Reason!) then I wouldn't have had the fun I did at the time nor would have I made the progress I did. When I finally did make a change, I was happy I had did so though. The difference was like night and day. It did set me back a bit in workflow though which messed with my creative process, but it was worth it.

See my previous reply to the other gent on the matters for more "specifics" (even though I didn't get real specific).

[Poya]

I used Reason many years ago (I think it was version 2 or 3). I'm no audiophile so I can't talk about the sound quality, but all I can say is that Reason moved me forward creatively leaps and bounds. Something about the interface is so approachable and conducive to experimentation, and it has different levels of depth. You can do fun stuff without having to get into the whole complexity of routing (which is fun itself once you figure it out).

Just an interesting fact: The Prodigy apparently did their album "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned" with Reason. Admittedly it was one of their weaker albums in my opinion, but nevertheless, it tells you something about Reason's potential.

[adyo]

I used Reason many years ago (I think it was version 2 or 3). I'm no audiophile so I can't talk about the sound quality, but all I can say is that Reason moved me forward creatively leaps and bounds. Something about the interface is so approachable and conducive to experimentation, and it has different levels of depth. You can do fun stuff without having to get into the whole complexity of routing (which is fun itself once you figure it out).

Just an interesting fact: The Prodigy apparently did their album "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned" with Reason. Admittedly it was one of their weaker albums in my opinion, but nevertheless, it tells you something about Reason's potential.

Yes, don't take my commentary as discouragement. Reason helped me a lot for years, and I don't want to imply that it's an expected "graduation" you have to make out of it. For all I know, new versions are better anyway.

I always enjoyed writing things in Reason back in the day. My approach with it might have been different than most but it was a fun platform.

If anyone was into the "minimal techno" thing at all, the first Tractile record and much of the live show material was originally written in Reason. (on Minus / Hawtin's label)

[PostPre]

Yes, don't take my commentary as discouragement. Reason helped me a lot for years, and I don't want to imply that it's an expected "graduation" you have to make out of it. For all I know, new versions are better anyway.

I always enjoyed writing things in Reason back in the day. My approach with it might have been different than most but it was a fun platform.

If anyone was into the "minimal techno" thing at all, the first Tractile record and much of the live show material was originally written in Reason. (on Minus / Hawtin's label)

I encountered those pops and clicks back in Reason 4 and 5, but after adopting Record's new engine, Reason 6 doesn't have those problems anymore. I used to rewire into Ableton to use mastering VSTs, but I haven't had to do that since upgrading. One of the first things I said to a friend after messing around in the new version was "It just sounds better in general."

It feels good not to rewire at all now.

[rogerlevy]

Props are adding VST-support this summer      

d'oh.  i've been rickroll'd.  move along...

[PostPre]

Props are adding VST-support this summer      

d'oh.  i've been rickroll'd.  move along...

Well, that was cruel.