Reason from PropellerHeads


Reason from PropellerHeads
by Tom Hensley
	Go To Music Biz Magazine Directory

Reason is a new product from the Swedish software company Propellerheads and, after playing with it for a while, I'm ready to build a statue to honor these crafty Swedes.

Reason is a sequencer and virtual rack of outboard gear--synths, samplers, plug-in effects, drum machines and much more--a virtual studio in which you can do everything but record vocals. For that you'll need to use your favorite audio sequencer application, but the good news is that Reason integrates smoothly and transparently with most major sequencing software. A brilliant technology called Rewire handles locking things together, freeing the user from worrying about all that old-fashioned sync stuff.

Everything about Reason is elegant, from the programming to the packaging. Start with a mixer console and add as many modules as your muse requires. Each is automatically patched into the mixer. Too many modules for the mixer? Add another mixer. The number of modules is limited only by your processor and unlike some other virtual synths I've tried, Reason doesn't run out of gas quickly. I stacked up a mighty rack of gear on my 233mHz MAC G3 without the processor meter topping out. Soon you have a full rack of gear. Screen cluttered? Shrink each module to teeny size until you need to adjust it. Want to repatch a cables? Press a key and the rack flips around, showing you the back, with all the cables neatly in place, ready for any repatching.

There are 16 cleverly designed sound and effects modules and the included huge selection of sound patches are exemplary. Refills, their term for future add-on files, are also promised.

Redrum is a pattern-based drumbox of the type familiar to users of Rebirth or the early Roland drum machines, except you can choose each sample and tweak it in innumerable ways. The Matrix pattern generator, the only rack module which isn't modeled after a real-world unit, teams with a sound module to create monophonic patterns, pitched or non-pitched, chained like Redrum's. It's simple to create an infinite variety of rhythmic bleeps and blarps which once required hours of sweating over tiny knobs.

The Dr. Rex loop player loads loop files, only one at a time, but like all modules you can create as many as you need for your project. It automatically plays your chosen loop at the tempo of your sequence, while a small keyboard on the module allows you to alter the loop's pitch. You can audition other loops on disk while your sequence is playing, a great time-saver. When you're satisfied, one click will place the loop on your sequencer track wherever you wish, for as long as you want. That's it. If you've paid your dues dealing with loops in the past, you'll appreciate the absurd ease of the whole process. If you have Propellerheads' Recycle you can process your own loops for Dr. Rex. Recycle 2.0 (due imminently) was used to create the loops provided. 2.0 will now allow you to work with stereo loops, overcoming Recycle's only previous fault. Any Dr. Rex, Redrum or Matrix patterns can be easily converted to MIDI tracks for further tweaking.

The analog synth module is fun as well as educational, and teams well with the Matrix. You can also plug in Rebirth modules (sold separately) and use your Rebirth files in Reason. The sampler is downright usable, and this comes from a guy who kicked Unity off his computer because of latency and crashing woes. You can import .wav or .aiff files and quickly create instruments from them ˆ la SampleCell. The reverb and delay may not have all the capabilities of more expensive plug in units, but the choices available sound fine. The equalizer is only two-band, but you can add as many as you need. You can also season with foldback distortion, envelope controlled filter, chorus/flanger, phaser, and/or compressor.

Playing in MIDI parts could have been problematic for me because I use an antiquated Audiomedia III soundcard, but switching temporarily to Sound Manager audio solved any MIDI latency problems. Actually, I would use Reason even if I couldn't get MIDI into it at all, because it provides so many other useful tools. The ultimate compliment I can pay Reason is to note that everyone who has played with it in my studio has begun talking about dumping some of their "real" rack gear.

For the beginner, I can't imagine a better way to learn the nuts and bolts of modern sequencing and sound manipulation than working with Reason and its manual, which is straightforward and well-written. The operation manual is a PDF file, so you'll want to either keep it on disk or sacrifice an ink cartridge to a 200 page printout. By the time you've fully worked your way through the chapters on each of the modules, you'll have a grasp on principles that pioneers shed blood and tears to obtain.

For the more experienced, Reason is a vital tool to use in tandem with your sequencer, if for no other reason (ahem) than to add an optimum environment for working with loops and patterns...a challenge for many venerable sequencers. And if you have a high-end audio card, Reason provides as many audio outs as you can handle, meaning you can use your sequencer's expensive plug-ins on individual Reason modules.

The absolute best part: when you save your file, EVERYTHING about it is saved--the modules, the sounds, the sequence, the real-time automation of all modules. Reason is a masterpiece of programming, rock solid even in version 1.0, an indispensable tool and a bargain at only $399 MSRP--an incredible value in an era when audio plug-ins routinely sell for more than a used car. MAC and Windows versions are provided on one CD with the sound library filling a up second. A printed startup manual is provided, with further info in PDF files. OMS (provided) is required for MIDI.

Propellerheads is located in faraway Stockholm, but you can learn more about Reason and download a demo version from their web page, www.propellerheads.se. Reason is distributed in the United States by Midiman Inc. at 626-445-2842.

Tom Hensley, an LA session stalwart in the 1970s, spent the last 25 years playing keyboards in the Neil Diamond band. He composes and records multimedia music in his cluttered garage retreat, piled high with Macs and "gear of all ages."

Edited by: Barry Rudolph

Back To Home Page