REASON - Please Direct Reason questions here

[m1lesteg]

Another question, here.

I want to write an orchestra piece using the Orkester soundbank, but composing with Reason's editing tool is kind of a pain. Is there any way I can write what I want on Finale or some sort of staff paper (or anything easier) and then export it to Reason?

This is very easy, I sometimes transfer stuff form cubase to reason.

here is how.

Once you compose something form Final or Cubase or whatever, be sure to export in midi format.
You need midi. you cant transfer a song form one software into another without midi exporting.

When you have that midi file exported form Final or Cubase...

Start up Reason -
Click on file, Import MIDI file -
choose the file you exported from Final or Cubase -
And thats it! Just attach instruments to the appropriate midi instrument.

Awesome. Thanks a bunch.

[GrayLightning]

Reason 3 beta testing and first info now available! http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1267515#1267515

[m1lesteg]

No luck in the FruityLoops forum, so I'll try my hand here, since my question kind of pertains to Reason...

I've got a FL file I've made that I want to be able to transfer to Reason, but I really don't want to have to write it all out again. I'm fairly certain it's possible to do this, but I don't know how. Any suggestions?

[richter]

FL: Export as MIDI.
Reason: Import MIDI file.

Of course, there won't be any audio data/samples included.. just the note etc data.

[btangel]

hmm. It doesn't seem to work. It should tho. I export midi from FL, import to reason and nothing shows on the tracks. o_O

edit: nevermind. You gotta go first to Fruity loops tools->misc->prepare channels for export. THEN export as midi. After that import into reason and you should get all the tracks :)

[sgx]

gad damn fl!! :D

[Nicole Adams]

ftp://66.221.70.133/yoshi_84/test.mp3

*listen first*

Let's see if I can try to explain this. What I'm trying to do is modulate just the effects (advanced reverb and phaser) of this cello. I don't want the cello's pitch to also be modulated so basically what I want is just that swishy sound of the effects and the constant pitches of the cello. Sorry, not the best explanation.

[sgx]

Sounds like you want to just affect the reverb? So that the reverb trail will be the only thing effected, and the main cello sound will sound normal? You know how to use the mixer and reverb as an aux effect, right? Just stick whatever effects you want in the chain after the reverb and before it returns to the mixer. I effect reverb a lot. Its fun. If that's not what you meant, then I don't understand.

on a side note, can anyone explain the difference between effect and affect? This is some english crap that I need to know :).

[kefakai]

on a side note, can anyone explain the difference between effect and affect? This is some english crap that I need to know :).

effect is a noun, affect is a verb. simple as that.

[Arcana]

I have a technical Reason question!

I often use the mouse in the sequencer to lay out triads. However, when I do this, all of the velocities are the same, and that's really dull and boring, so I want to change them.

But in the velocity lane, it shows the three notes in the one lane, and when you use the Pencil to draw in the velocity, it changes ALL THREE notes. I can't change the velocity of one note at a time unless I drag one note away, change it, and drag it back. This is a total pain and I hate it.

Is there any better way to adjust the individual velocities?

Thanks!

Off-topic P.S. Is anyone here beta-testing Reason 3?

[humanliteshow]

You probably have all three notes selected. Try clicking on the background first, then adjusting the velocity.

[sgx]

I have a technical Reason question!

I often use the mouse in the sequencer to lay out triads. However, when I do this, all of the velocities are the same, and that's really dull and boring, so I want to change them.

But in the velocity lane, it shows the three notes in the one lane, and when you use the Pencil to draw in the velocity, it changes ALL THREE notes. I can't change the velocity of one note at a time unless I drag one note away, change it, and drag it back. This is a total pain and I hate it.

Is there any better way to adjust the individual velocities?

Thanks!

Off-topic P.S. Is anyone here beta-testing Reason 3?

Yea, slightly annoying. The other way you could do it is to have the change events window open all the time. Whenever you need to up the velocity, just select the note, then click the change events button to do so. That window can stay open all the time if you like.

I downloaded the 3.0 demo, but its only 20 minutes and can't save, so I don't think I'm gonna install it since you gotta uninstall 2.5 first. Need to work on some jams.

[tgfoo]

I have the reason 3.0 beta. I didn't mind installing it as I dont' use reason hardly anymore. Technically I'm not really supposed to talk about it, but it isn't too different from 2.5.

[Uncle]

I've been looking for industrial percussion sets for a while, and DarkeSword referred me to an sf2 on his website which was an industrial drumkit. I know Reason doesn't support MIDI, but is there any way I can convert this (and other soundfonts) to a Reason-friendly format?

Also, just wondering: does anybody know of any free software that is compatible with ReWire? Most of the programs I see using it are commercial software.

[Arcana]

The NN-XT (maybe the NN-19?) sampler will load soundfonts.

Remember that accepting MIDI IN and Soundfonts aren't quite the same thing.

[richter]

UncleBob, I've never heard of a free sequencer that supports ReWire.. like Arcana said, NN-XT will load soundfonts. There should be a decent amount of free/downloadable industrial beat samples on da net, specially in VST format. Lotsa free drumkits. Since Reason doesn't support VST, something you could do is open a program that does and export VST beats/samples from there, load them into ReDrum.

Now I've got two questions:

Is there a way to wire two modules to accept the notes from one sequencer track and/or the main MIDI input?

Also, am I crazy or is the ReDrum machine the only module that accepts simple .wav's?

Thanks :D

[Flik]

RedDrum, NN-XT, and NN-19 will accept wave files, aiff files, and sf2 soundfont files.

[btangel]

I have a problem with the volume output by reason. It's lower than say an audio output from a song played on winamp. I have my master volume on 100 and velocity for the instruments are ranged from 70~100. Is there a way to make it louder?

[Flik]

First make sure your audio settings are right in the preferences.

Keep in mind the master output isn't the only main volume control. You still have the volume output on the instrument module itself as well as its input on the mixer. If you have all three of those maxed out and it still is quiet, then you may have a volume level on your sound card too low. If those are maxed out, then maybe you're monitoring your audio too low and it just sounds quiet when it isn't.

If you want to cheat, stick a Scream4 between the mixer and your master outputs, set it to "Tape", adjust compression and drive the output up.

[richter]

RedDrum, NN-XT, and NN-19 will accept wave files, aiff files, and sf2 soundfont files.
So what'm I doing wrong? When I browse for samples, NN-19 is looking for ".smp, .rcy, .rx2 and .rex" and NN-XT is looking for ".sxt, .smp, .sf2, .rcy, .rex and .rx2".

[Flik]

You're browsing for sampler patches, not samples. Open up NN-19 once, right click on the keyboard in the display and select "browse samples" and not "browse sampler patches."

[richter]

Thanks :)

[btangel]

First make sure your audio settings are right in the preferences.

Keep in mind the master output isn't the only main volume control. You still have the volume output on the instrument module itself as well as its input on the mixer. If you have all three of those maxed out and it still is quiet, then you may have a volume level on your sound card too low. If those are maxed out, then maybe you're monitoring your audio too low and it just sounds quiet when it isn't.

If you want to cheat, stick a Scream4 between the mixer and your master outputs, set it to "Tape", adjust compression and drive the output up.

yea I have the sampler's master volume on 100 as well. Hmm well what I'm thinking is, export the song as wave, and when I convert it to mp3 boost the volume? I'll try the scream4 trick. Btw I'm using a SB Live! oh wells I'll figure out something eventually I guess :P If anyone knows anything more to this please tell me!

[btangel]

Oh another question from me.

I've been working with the orkester soundbank for a while. I love it! But I wonder if there's anyway to "multiply" the amount of violins playing a melody so it sounds like a group of violins (duh). Other than making 18 NN-XTs loading them all with VNS Long F and copy+paste the notes in sequencer.

[Flik]

Well, you can always use one NN-XT module and output it to several inputs on the mixer and spread them out. Open an NN-XT. Put a spider audio splitter/merger under it. Flip the rack over and patch the NN-XT into the input for the splitter (should be the right side of the back of the spider module). Then take the four outputs and patch them to four inputs on the mixer. Pan then out seperatly from each other and lower the input volumes a little since it'll overdrive the audio. That should give a fuller sound.

You can try other experiments with that idea as well. Stick a Scream 4 between the NN-XT and the spider module, set it to tape, lower the damage to the next line under half, turn the speed most of the way up, push up the compression a little, and then adjust the EQ as needed (remember to turn it on). This will vastly liven up the sound of the instrument.

Hopefully you'll be able to achieve what you'd like.

EDIT: Also, to avoid taking up space on your main mixer(s), make a seperate mixer for the split NN-XT signals. You could then for example take three NN-XT's, split each of them into four outputs (on up to however many a mixer will handle), put seperate effects on for that mixer, and then take the master output off that mixer and stick it onto a single input on one of your master mixers.

Just an idea, but it would probably help keep things organized more.

[btangel]

wow good idea...I should've thought about that! I'm going to try it asap and I'll post back. THANKS!! :D

[richter]

Is there a way to wire two modules to accept the notes from one sequencer track and/or the main MIDI input?
No ideas on that one? Sorta like the layer channel in FL...

[Arcana]

Is there a way to wire two modules to accept the notes from one sequencer track and/or the main MIDI input?
No ideas on that one? Sorta like the layer channel in FL...

Best one I can think of for now is to Copy and Paste the track.

[Flik]

Wah! I totally overlooked that question. The easiest thing you can do is what Arcana mentioned. Copy and paste can be wierd in Reason at times though. If you copied a sequencer track and then tried to paste it on the track below it'll usually just paste it back to the track you copied it from. I've had to copy the track, drag the original down to the line I wanted to paste to, and then paste the original back on the line I copied from. Retarded? Yes.

As for controlling multiple modules with your MIDI controller I'm still trying to figure that out myself. There may be a way to do it with the extra MIDI busses and possibly remote keyboard/MIDI mapping, but I haven't gotten into that stuff yet. I used to run multiple controllers on single modules though. My main controller for keys, and a MIDI data box to control all of the module settings.

I'll see if I can mess around with things a bit more sometime to try and figure these things out. I was experimenting a little while ago with using a Matrix sequencer to feed a CV splitter which would it turn send control signals to multiple modules. It worked in the sense that the Matrix would operate them when the Matrix itself was programmed, but when I tried to program a keylane for the Matrix it wouldn't trigger. I may mess with that more later.

[sgx]

As for controlling multiple modules with your MIDI controller I'm still trying to figure that out myself. There may be a way to do it with the extra MIDI busses and possibly remote keyboard/MIDI mapping, but I haven't gotten into that stuff yet. I used to run multiple controllers on single modules though. My main controller for keys, and a MIDI data box to control all of the module settings.

This is a new feature of 3.0 I think. I know at least I read that you can split the keyboard in half and control two machines that way. I'm not sure about knob and slider controls though.

With 2.5, you might be able to achieve this by using new midi drivers such as midi yoke or midiOX. They are midi port routing applications. I'm not experienced with them, so don't ask me how to use em :). google them.

[Arcana]

Beta 3: Hush, hush... we're not supposed to talk about it. :) In Reason 3.0, you can assign the Combinator's 4 knobs and 4 buttons to different devices inside it. I think you can also split the keylanes this way, too, but I haven't tried it. Overall it makes doing things live a lot easier.

Why the Combinator lacks faders though totally eludes me. I think it's an artifact of Reason's interface. Ideally, you should be able to make your own combinator interface with as many knobs, sliders, buttons, and key lanes as you wanted!

As for Copy & Paste in Reason - there's also the "Duplicate Track" option if you right-click on a track. A bit easier than drag and drop.

[richter]

Yeah, I figured out the kind of hackish way of basically just duplicating a sequencer track and switching the module. That'll definitely work for sequencing. But the reason I thought of doing this is to get a fatter, more surrounding sound. Usually when I'm doing that I'm just playing with the keyboard a little.... but getting that to work with MIDI sounds pretty complex. Thanks for the input so far.

Speaking of MIDI, is there a way to remove a MIDI map? I map a knob, then want to reassign the assigned knob on my controller to a different knob in Reason, but when I try to do that the knob ends up controlling multiple knobs. That sounds a little confusing.. basically I just want to remove an assigned knob and the option to do that won't let me.

[Flik]

I think I remember how to adjust the mapping issues, but I don't have time to open Reason right now as I gotta make a trip back to my parent's house for tonight and won't have my workstation.

However, if you want a fatter sound, try sticking a Unison module on whatever synth you're using. The results won't always be good, but you can get some real phat sounds with it at times. Just mess with the detune a bit as well as the other settings. Fun stuff. Stick it on a piano patch and you'll have old timey piano fun!

[sgx]

However, if you want a fatter sound, try sticking a Unison module on whatever synth you're using. The results won't always be good, but you can get some real phat sounds with it at times. Just mess with the detune a bit as well as the other settings. Fun stuff. Stick it on a piano patch and you'll have old timey piano fun!

Yea, the Unison is supposed to make whatever going through it sound like several instruments at once. I find usually that it doesn't work so well with acoustic instruments, or stuff you want to sound real. You can make some awesomely phat synths and stuff with it though.

[richter]

Yeah, the acoustic samples are generally good enough (with some reverb of course) in Reason to sound great without much tweaking. What I've been going for (and failing at) recently is getting some good trance leads/pads and some really phat basses. Your tutorials are very green, SGX :D

[Argitoth]

I have a technical Reason question!

I often use the mouse in the sequencer to lay out triads. However, when I do this, all of the velocities are the same, and that's really dull and boring, so I want to change them.

But in the velocity lane, it shows the three notes in the one lane, and when you use the Pencil to draw in the velocity, it changes ALL THREE notes. I can't change the velocity of one note at a time unless I drag one note away, change it, and drag it back. This is a total pain and I hate it.

Is there any better way to adjust the individual velocities?

Thanks!

Off-topic P.S. Is anyone here beta-testing Reason 3?

Dam... I wish I had been here when this was posted. I still can't believe SGX doesn't know this! Here's how you do it:

STEP UNO: Select
STEP DOS: Hold shift
STEP TRAISIAS(sp): Drag with pencil or line tool.

Lets try this again people!
SELECT, HOLD SHIFT, DRAG!

AGAIN!
SELECT, HOLD SHIFT, DRAG!


Edit: You might want to fool around with the alt key. Pretty helpful! :wink:

[Argitoth]

Now I got a question! How do you quantize the LENGTH of a note? Right now the only way I know how to do this is to do one note at a time by lengthening or shortenting it on 1/16th setting or 1/8th setting, etc.

I've tried selecting all the notes at once and trying to get them the same length but it doesn't work. All it does is shortenes each one by the exact same amount so if one note is like longer than the other and you're shortening it down to the closest 16t.. and uhh, yeah. IT DOESN'T WORK!

Would exporting as midi and then quantizing it in a midi program work? Anyone know a midi program that could do that?

[Hy Bound]

As for Argitoth's question, I've been trying to find out how to do that for a while, but in the end, i think its just easier to go in and change the notes individually.

Anyway, I have been trying to do this for so long and cant figure out how the hell i can do it. Does anyone know how to make the effect that BT, Hybrid and OS/2 use where it sounds like the whole song gets filtered and a Fwoosh sound engulfs the whole thing. I dont really know how to explain it, but its used in BTs Godspeed at 3:27. Hybrid does it a few times (I cant really remember in what songs). Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Veilon]

ok this may be a stupid question but since I'm unable to do it, I need help.

I am using my midi keyboard to play the notes with Reason but I can't record what I'm playing. When I press the record button, it doesn't do anything. It doesn't had a new midi to the track I have selected.

I'm confused 8O

[Protricity]

If I remember correctly, each track in the reason tracklist has a midi in option. You have to click that midi in option on the left side of the track to turn it on (select it). At that point, that track should respond with your midi input.

[Argitoth]

QUANTIZE NOTE LENGTH, HERE'S HOW
Note: These steps are only how to make each note the same length. Quantizing note length to the closest #/# is impossible with reason; but quantizing selected notes to the same length *IS* possible.

1. Select every note you want to make the same length
2. Drag their note length until your mouse is behind the note (so that the notes have the smallest possible length)
3. Now choose a time signature and snap it to grid (or not) and drag to any desired length.

[Argitoth]

Totally awesome 25-minute video on Reason 3.0

Check out all the liveness he's got goin on!: http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=2007

[Hy Bound]

Anyway, I have been trying to do this for so long and cant figure out how the hell i can do it. Does anyone know how to make the effect that BT, Hybrid and OS/2 use where it sounds like the whole song gets filtered and a Fwoosh sound engulfs the whole thing. I dont really know how to explain it, but its used in BTs Godspeed at 3:27. Hybrid does it a few times (I cant really remember in what songs). Any help is greatly appreciated.

Can you post a sample?

Not really, thats copyrighted material and I dont even have a place to host it even if I didnt care that it was copyrighted. I also cant show you my mock-up of it because i dont know how to do it. I wish i could explain it better...

Argitoth, why are you linking to a site that has nothing to do with reason? Id like to see the video, but it isnt on that page...

[sgx]

Anyway, I have been trying to do this for so long and cant figure out how the hell i can do it. Does anyone know how to make the effect that BT, Hybrid and OS/2 use where it sounds like the whole song gets filtered and a Fwoosh sound engulfs the whole thing. I dont really know how to explain it, but its used in BTs Godspeed at 3:27. Hybrid does it a few times (I cant really remember in what songs). Any help is greatly appreciated.

Can you post a sample?

Not really, thats copyrighted material and I dont even have a place to host it even if I didnt care that it was copyrighted. I also cant show you my mock-up of it because i dont know how to do it. I wish i could explain it better...

Argitoth, why are you linking to a site that has nothing to do with reason? Id like to see the video, but it isnt on that page...

There's nothing interesting going on at 3:27 in Godspeed in the version (off Movement in Still Life) I have. Maybe you have the radio edit or something.

There is an interesting effect a little before that during a buildup. Sounds like some mostly global phazing and then there's a woosh when the beat comes in. The shit BT does is is so damn complicated and rarely can you attribute an effect to one technique by itself.

The woosh I believe is made mostly of some really modified reverb. I kinda do stuff like this in my song Composer if you want to check it out. What I do in that song is have a reverb as a send effect off of the drums and do stuff like distort and phaze just the reverb. Gives it a real thick sound. Obviously you don't want that continual noise in the mix, just at kewl 'woosh' moments, so I automate the send to the reverb on the mixer. Bring it up right when you want the woosh, keep it down otherwise.

[Argitoth]

Totally awesome 25-minute video on Reason 3.0

Check out all the liveness he's got goin on!: http://www.deviantart.com/view/14980799/

Gah, freaken! Wooooops...... Well, here's the link:

http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=2007

[Uncle]

Since nobody's mentioned it in this thread yet, I guess I'll go ahead and be the first:

Reason 3.0's release date has officially been announced. If things go as planned, it will be out March 10. You can check out the trailer and other such stuff at www.propellerheads.se.

Anybody planning on buying it launch day?

[sgx]

I am. Yay. Good thing my birthday is the 11th...makin my parents pay for it :).

[Arcana]

Happy Birthday :)

I'd like to get it too, but I probably won't leap at the opportunity. I'll bide my time and eventually get it. There are many things that make the whole music process simpler in Reason 3.0 that are really worth getting (like soloing channels on the Device sidebar of the sequencer and assigning your knobs to anything you want in the combinator!)

[Nicole Adams]

I am. Yay. Good thing my birthday is the 11th...makin my parents pay for it :).

Yeah, forget the alcohol. Reason 3.0 is all you need for a 21st birthday! :)

[sgx]

I am. Yay. Good thing my birthday is the 11th...makin my parents pay for it :).

Yeah, forget the alcohol. Reason 3.0 is all you need for a 21st birthday! :)

Well Reason probably won't come for a few days after its release, so the booze will tide me over. :D

[zircon]

A "woooosh" eh? That sounds to me like some sort of high passed white noise with the filter cutoff being automated..

[Uncle]

I am. Yay. Good thing my birthday is the 11th...makin my parents pay for it :).

Yeah, forget the alcohol. Reason 3.0 is all you need for a 21st birthday! :)

Well Reason probably won't come for a few days after its release, so the booze will tide me over. :D

Who knows, maybe it will even give you some inspiration. I can only imagine what putting a drunken sgx in a music studio would churn out.. =P

Anyway, happy birthday sgx. You will certainly be the envy of all of us.

[debeerguy007]

Reason 2.5 has no tempo automation of it's own. It has to be automated by a program which features Rewire. That or scale it by hand in the sequencer, which is tedious.

Here's my case:

I have FL Studio, which is great for any optional mastering work and does well in the syncing area, as long as the tempo is constant. If I try to speed it up or slow it down in places, say over the course of 2 bars, then it gets out of whack. It's like Reason
can't keep up with fl studio's automations.

This clip is an example I made showing you what I mean. It has 2 iterations of the same cue.

http://www.geocities.com/debeerguy007/ed.mp3


The first iteration is with FL studio automating Reason's tempo and has both programs' metronomes playing in sync with the session. When I automate the tempo, they no longer stay in sync. It's almost like Reason is having a hard time transitioning to the new tempo, which produces a strange result.


The second iteration is without FL Studio automation whatsoever and is just me manually pushing the tempo's up/ down button inside Reason, which ironically is producing better results. The only problem with this method is that it's just too random a process, producing different results through each attempt.

So I guess my question is, Is there anything I can do about the the FL studio metronome sync problem?

If not, then which program with Rewire would be better capable of controlling Reason's tempo by automation with no metronome sync problems?

[sgx]

That's weird. That sounds like some kind of FL bug. Maybe you should go ask in that forum. I've had no problems like that while using SONAR3 as Rewire host.

I can only imagine what putting a drunken sgx in a music studio would churn out.. =P
Absolutely nothing. I definitely don't get creative while drunk. Maybe if I was a good keyboard player and was coming up with some crazy solo or something, but otherwise, I need a sharp mind.

[Argitoth]

I'm posting this because I'm so glad I found the answer to my question :D

How do I find out what knob/slider/button uses what controller number?

For example, the controller number for the pitch bend wheel is 144 while the modulation wheel is 001 (which is a standard for all reason devices).

So how do I find out what controller number corresponds to what? Like what is the controller number for the Attack amp envelope on the Subtractor or the Maelstrom?

BTW, a standard midi controller number is referred to as a Midi CC.

There is a PDF called "MIDI Implementation Charts.pdf" in the main reason folder.

[Klay]

Heh, hello people. I've been using Reason for a while now, but up until this point I've mainly just used it for the samples. Anyway, since the synths (and effects to a degree I suppose) seem to the be the main attraction I figure I'll try learning how to use them and maybe be able to do a new genre of music.

Anyway, I checked the Synthesis 101 or whatever its called topic, but when I go into Reason I have trouble applying the knowledge from there to the synths. Are there any synth-specific tutorials that will show what each individual knob does? Sorry for such a stupid question, but I know absolutely nothing about this.

[Argitoth]

Sorry for such a stupid question

I quote for emphasis. :lol:

: Go to HELP --> Contents --> Device Reference READ

: Expiriment

: http://www.propellerheads.se/home/discover/index.cfm?fuseaction=mainframe READ AGAIN

: Ask specific questions

: Don't say your questions are stupid or it will get quoted for emphasis

: Buy Reason 3.0

: Buy a good midi controller

[k u n g f u c h i c k e n]

Besides the mastering, there really isn't anything to go crazy over as far as I see.

[skulkrusha]

A "woooosh" eh? That sounds to me like some sort of high passed white noise with the filter cutoff being automated..

Well, that's part of it. Here's the bit the guy's talking about:

bt_godspeed-sample.mp3 (96kbps, 102k), geoshitties address so right-click and save target (http://www.geocities.com/savethedaves/bt_godspeed-sample.mp3)
sample provided for research purposes

I can't make out everything but I think the effect is mostly from having a phaser with a huuuuge amount of feedback.

[Argitoth]

are you talking about that first sound effect thing that has a large sweep?

Sounds like a flanger to me.

[skulkrusha]

Yep, that's the bit. It could really be either, but then I haven't been experimenting to see what gets a closer result.

[Hadyn]

I'm new to reason.

That said, is there any way to install refills onto the computer so I don't always have to have the disc in there? 'cause yeah... I only have one cd drive, and it's a bit of a pain not being able to use multiple soundbanks at once.

Cheers if you can help.

[Synth]

I'm new to reason.

That said, is there any way to install refills onto the computer so I don't always have to have the disc in there? 'cause yeah... I only have one cd drive, and it's a bit of a pain not being able to use multiple soundbanks at once.

Cheers if you can help.

Go to your cd drive through my computer and copy and paste the refill to your reason folder.

[Hadyn]

I'm new to reason.

That said, is there any way to install refills onto the computer so I don't always have to have the disc in there? 'cause yeah... I only have one cd drive, and it's a bit of a pain not being able to use multiple soundbanks at once.

Cheers if you can help.

Go to your cd drive through my computer and copy and paste the refill to your reason folder.

See, I tried that earlier, and it didn't work... but now it does.. Thanks ^^

[DaevasAsmodeus]

How do I import wave files that are really long into Reason? The NN-19 only plays the first few seconds of any wave I import. I'm trying to get a guitar sample thats like a minute long into Reason's sequencer some how. How can I do this?

[Xaleph]

I've been able to get several minute long samples into nn 19 and into the redrummer.

Make sure that your c3 note is long enough to play it for a minute. The wav only plays for as long as the note is. If it's a whole note, the wave will only play for the duration of a whole note.

Just make sure your c3 note is a minute long =)

[Zeality]

I am very seriously going to begin learning how to mix in the near future, as if these old CD's I'm buying fails, it will be the only way to revive this song that I've had in my head for 1997. I have it note for note, perfect pitch and timbre, but I cannot find it.

Anyway, my question is this: Is Reason 3 better than FL5? So far, I've heard that Reason is like, "hard to learn, but gives you more mastery/better results when you get good."

[Arcana]

The funny thing is that you asked in the Reason thread which is better. What do you think we'd say? If you had posted in the FLStudio thread, what do you think you would have received as a response?

The answer, of course, and any respectable remixer will tell you this, is that there is no "better program".

Go try both. You can download them for free. Come back here if you have specific questions about how to use Reason, and we'll gladly try and answer them for you.

P.S. An NN-XT lets you load samples. Make one, load something from Orkester, and select the track labelled "NN-XT". Hit the three horizontal bars on the top-left corner of the sequencer window to get to the window where you can draw notes. Drag to draw. That should be enough to get you making noise.

[Nicole Adams]

So far, I've heard that Reason is like, "hard to learn, but gives you more mastery/better results when you get good."

I switched from FL Studio to Reason over six months ago and I didn't think it was hard to learn Reason's interface. It's just...different than Fl Studio's. :P Personally, I like Reason's interface more cause it's like your dealing with actual hardware.

[Zeality]

OH OK!1

[Malcos]

I know this might sound kinda silly, but is Reason 3 worth it? I don't really need the mastering tools and whatnot, the only reason I would upgrade to it wou'd be the new sounds. Are they banging?

[Arcana]

There are some new built-in effect presets, like Rotary Speakers, widening of the stereo field, and other neat things that you could have done manually yourself, but would have been a pain to recreate all the time. They're all combi patches, but I don't know what exactly you're looking for in terms of effects.

The workflow is marginally improved, so you can browse patches now while you listen to your song.

There are new mastering tools - Compressor, Equalizer, Stereo-Widener, and Maximizer/Limiter.... a bit better than the existing Reason EQing solution.

If you're looking only for new patches you might want to skip for the moment. I upgraded and I'm happy with it, but it was semi-costly and the program uses more CPU. It's not exactly a cheap upgrade for what you get, if you ask me.

[sgx]

I kinda feel the same. Its a bit pricey, but I definitely like it. Worth it for me. Also, remember, if you have 3.0, the 3.5 revision should be free when that's finally out.

The mastering stuff is pretty good and should be a huge reason for people who use Reason standalone to check out the upgrade. It really can make your stuff sound a lot sweeter.

Its real nice to have a good compressor in there finally. The old one was so crappy. The combi machine is really cool too. Upgraded midi control+combi is great. I was mapping knobs from two synths, and an effects machine to knobs on my keyboard with the combi and playing it all at the same time. Very nice actually. I never really bothered to get my keyboard knobs manipulating paremeters back in 2.5.

The combi also opens up new CV possibilities: since you can route CV curves into the combi which can be set to control any parameter on any machine inside of it.

There are a lot of cool combi presets too. Even if you don't like to use preset patches for things (I usually try to do everything myself), you can learn cool techniques from looking at these.

Man, and being able to preview stuff in the browser (even combi patches) is sooo awesome. The browser really makes things a lot easier and quicker. Seems like something they should have done a while back, but I didn't realize how important this feature would be to me until I started playing with 3.0. If I had to go back to using 2.5's browser now, I'd prolly get all pissy :).

I'm not sure if 3.0 takes more resources compared to 2.5. Maybe the mastering stuff sucks up a bunch of cpu or something. I can tell you that it ran like shit on my parents' 1.8ghz iMac G5 (which should be a decently capable machine). Though I've been reading the props' forums and it seems that there's some bug that makes cpu usage EXTREMELY bad but affects only a small percentage of ocmputers (both win and mac). Props have stated that they are working on a bug fix update. Maybe wait until that happens to get it or something.

Overall, I like the upgrade. It doesn't rox my sox, but I am pleased with it. I'd definitely like a new synth to play with or maybe a subtractor 2.0 (as it is, it sounds a bit thin to me..software synthesizing has gotten better since the subtractor came out way back when and its never been updated). Most of what 3.0 offers is workflow enhancements, and not much that will change the way things sound (other than the mastering).

edit: also, for the new sample content, there isn't a whole crapload more (just like 250 mb or something?), and its all mixed in with the older stuff. I haven't really gotten into checking it all out and i'm not always positive what's old and what's new, so I really can't say how awesome it is or not.

[Arcana]

It does take more resources than 2.5. Look up the Reason + CPU thread somewhere down on this board.

That said, my PowerMac runs Reason just fine. No slowdowns or anything like that. Doesn't touch the second CPU at all.

I should augment what sgx said about the new MIDI interface, which they call Remote. NICE addition and if you ask me, that's probably what took up so much time doing Reason 3.0. But the ability to hook up an arbitrary number of control surfaces and assign the knobs to anything and everything you want without having to change stuff around is awesome. They geared this feature toward live performance, but it certainly has use at home too.

[Malcos]

Thanks for the responses guys. I'll upgrade later on this year, seeing as there's nothing in 3 that I absolutely must have right now.

[Arcana]

For those of you who might need some ideas on how the combinator works, or what things you can do with it, there's a new article on the Props web site about how to use it. It's a two-parter, so we only get to see part 1 for now.

http://www.propellerheads.se//home/discover/index.cfm?fuseaction=get_article&article=part14

People who hack around and end up making Really Cool Patches should post them here: http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=56356

Take care peeps,

[V___]

Hey, people, first post here... ive gone through quite a bit of this sticky (not all, so sorry if there is already an answer)... one thing i'm wondering...

I'm mostly working with orchestral sounds on Reason 2 at the moment, and that going ok, except for the strings... i cant get them sounding realistic enough. I'm not sure how perfect i can get them in Reason alone (no hardware, no Cubase or other funky programs) At the moment, i use velocity changes and filter cut automation to make the sound flow a bit better, but its just not enough, in my opinion... If anyone has any suggestions at all on how to perfect it, it'd be much appreciated.

Oh, and i'm thinking of another program for notation, but i'd still want to hear a decent sound... At the moment i'm looking at Sebelius, but if anyone has had better experiences with somthing else, give a holla. Cheers!! cya

[sgx]

I suggest always putting reverb on strings. Can make em sound real nice. If you're only using 2.0, go ahead and get the free upgrade to 2.5. Its got a really nice new reverb unit.

[Hy Bound]

You might also want to mess with the attack to keep them sounding more realistic. Having a nice bow in your strings can have great effect.

[V___]

First up, thank you to peeps for the string realism advice, helped out substantially.

**EDIT*** Sorry people, just been reading through other topics/sticky's and will be posting this question somewhere else. Probably not the best place to post this kinda question.... ^^;; Sorry bout that...

I've got a hardware idea ...*DELETED*

---------------
"Wait, Yoshi lays eggs by eating things? Why isnt that island way over populated? I bet Mario harvests them and sells them as large turkeys..."

[Veilon]

How can use the redrum computer to create my drum patterns and then choose which patterns I put where like I can easily with Fruity loop.

[zircon]

How can use the redrum computer to create my drum patterns and then choose which patterns I put where like I can easily with Fruity loop.

You don't. FL has the best and fastest drum sequencer around (the step sequencer) - I don't think it's even up for debate.

[Veilon]

How can use the redrum computer to create my drum patterns and then choose which patterns I put where like I can easily with Fruity loop.

You don't. FL has the best and fastest drum sequencer around (the step sequencer) - I don't think it's even up for debate.

I didn't want a debate. I just found that it was a pain in the ass to sequence the drum using reason. I mean, I can switch pattern when using the redrum computer but to put those patterns on a track... It's quite weird. All I can do is "copy pattern to track" and this copy the patterns to the whole track...

[sgx]

How can use the redrum computer to create my drum patterns and then choose which patterns I put where like I can easily with Fruity loop.

You don't. FL has the best and fastest drum sequencer around (the step sequencer) - I don't think it's even up for debate.

I didn't want a debate. I just found that it was a pain in the ass to sequence the drum using reason. I mean, I can switch pattern when using the redrum computer but to put those patterns on a track... It's quite weird. All I can do is "copy pattern to track" and this copy the patterns to the whole track...

It copies the pattern to the track within the L and R loop points. So if you don't have these set, it will paste to the whole length of the song. You can do this with the Dr. Rex and Matrix also. I usually don't sequence using the ReDrum anyways, I just use the drum lane in the sequencer window.

[zircon]

How can use the redrum computer to create my drum patterns and then choose which patterns I put where like I can easily with Fruity loop.

You don't. FL has the best and fastest drum sequencer around (the step sequencer) - I don't think it's even up for debate.

Don't troll, please. This thread is for Reason help, not for inter-software arguments.

As for your question: To edit the different patterns on the Redrum, use the buttons 1-8 to switch through them, and A-D to change banks. To chain them together, go into edit mode, then select the yellow button in the sequencer toolbar (between the buttons for velocity and automation). Go to the yellow track that appears, and choose a pattern from the drop-down menu. Draw it in with the pencil. Keep going with different patterns until you have things written out the way you want.

I'm not trolling. I'm being completely serious. If this guy is used to the FL step sequencer, he's not going to find anything better, because FL is the only program with such an easy setup like that. I'm not saying FL is better than Reason, just answering the guy's question.

[Arcana]

I'm not trolling. I'm being completely serious. If this guy is used to the FL step sequencer, he's not going to find anything better, because FL is the only program with such an easy setup like that. I'm not saying FL is better than Reason, just answering the guy's question.

But you didn't answer his question, which was "How do I copy the pattern in the Redrum to a track?" It could very well be that the guy used the demo of FLStudio and knows how it works, but decided instead to purchase Reason. I know FLStudio's step sequencer kicks major ass, but nonetheless he wanted to learn how to do something in Reason (and used FL as an example).

In any case, you can automate the Redrum in two ways... you can use the "Copy Pattern To Track" and it will paste the pattern into the sequencer between the L and R indicators. (From here, I usually like to edit things myself to make variations on drum loops).

You can also automate Pattern selection like Robocop Sex described with the pencil (you can also do it live by selecting the banks you want with the mouse).


I may as well extend the question a bit - does anyone know what the effect the Shuffle/Groove/User parameters have on the Redrum's patterns, versus copying to the track? For example, if I copy to track, does that mean I can no longer use the Shuffle feature, and would need to re-copy the track? (I'm presuming that this isn't a problem if you use Pattern-based automation).

[sgx]

You can also sequence the ReDrum with the Matrix....triiiiippy. Could be interesting...for those who like pattern automation. You can see several drum channels at once which you can't while sequencing on the ReDrum. You can also create a matrix curve for some type of drum parameter at the same time.

[Veilon]

But you didn't answer his question, which was "How do I copy the pattern in the Redrum to a track?" It could very well be that the guy used the demo of FLStudio and knows how it works, but decided instead to purchase Reason. I know FLStudio's step sequencer kicks major ass, but nonetheless he wanted to learn how to do something in Reason (and used FL as an example).

Well, this is just what happened. Mostly, I use reason for the sampler and the subtractor. I usually do not need any drum at all! But I wanted to do a techno song... I know it is easier to do so with FL. I don't think he was trolling tought. He's a judge... He knows what he is saying after all but I admit it didn't answered my question!

Thanks to the others for having it answered.

[Nanaki]

I'm having troubles with my Midi-Keyboard being plugged into my computer.

I plug the keyboard in, and everything works fine. But when I go to record in Reason, there is a 32nd note delay from when I hit a key on the piano and when the note is actually played in reason. Since I usually play the Piano through an NN-XT, and turn down my keyboards volume, this makes it really weird to play, since you have to wait about 1/8th of a second before you hear the note play through Reason.

So I have 2 questions.
1. How can I get rid of this delay from Piano to Reason?
2. Is there a way to play the Reason Modules such as the NNXT through my keyboard, so I don't have to turn down my keyboards volume when I am playing through Reason?

[Souliarc]

1. How can I get rid of this delay from Piano to Reason?


I'm not quite sure, since i'm new at this also, but I believe that is an effect from your sound card. The sound card has a certain amount of latency, that amount influences the amount of delay you may experience. Low latency having less delay. I have the same problem, since i'm running a Sound Blaster Audigy LS. It was $50 WITH a copy of Hitman 2, so it is a pretty cheap card.

I'm looking into getting this one. (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/Audiophile2496-main.html)

[sgx]

You need to adjust your driver settings. In Reason, go to edit>preferences>audio. There should be a pulldown menu with a few different driver choices. ASIO is usually the best choice in there for Reason, but you can try the others and see how they work. There's a slider in that tab that says Buffer size. Slide that thing to the left to make the buffer time shorter. I find 10 ms to be somewhat acceptable, 5-7 close to unnoticeable delay.

If you make it too short, you'll get crackles and pops. A faster computer and better soundcard will allow faster latencies.

I run my audigy at around 8 ms in Reason 3.0 with the creative ASIO drivers.

[Xaleph]

Also, you should set your settings for your operating system to "Adjust for best performance".

System Properties>Advanced>Performance Options (in win xp)


Also, reduce your sample rate and buffer size if everything else fails (in reason, edit properties>audio)

And of course all the other things the other posters said.

[mister_pup]

can someone help me make a bassline that sounds like this in reason?

http://s48.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2JYI9CAE9K26M2O9QCI1ZNX6C1

i can't seem to get the crunchiness right. this is the best i could come up with (reason file).

http://s45.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3EK8INGOUS1P22ME7BISJEWZ33

[Souliarc]

You need to adjust your driver settings. In Reason, go to edit>preferences>audio. There should be a pulldown menu with a few different driver choices. ASIO is usually the best choice in there for Reason, but you can try the others and see how they work. There's a slider in that tab that says Buffer size. Slide that thing to the left to make the buffer time shorter. I find 10 ms to be somewhat acceptable, 5-7 close to unnoticeable delay.

If you make it too short, you'll get crackles and pops. A faster computer and better soundcard will allow faster latencies.

I run my audigy at around 8 ms in Reason 3.0 with the creative ASIO drivers.

:D

That helped me a lot. I'm running the ASIO Full Duplex Drivers at about 23 ms. It's not perfect, but it's much better than what the Audigy drivers were at, 180 8O . Was able to bump the sample rate up to 96k also.

[chokst~1.bat]

You can also sequence the ReDrum with the Matrix....triiiiippy. Could be interesting...for those who like pattern automation. You can see several drum channels at once which you can't while sequencing on the ReDrum. You can also create a matrix curve for some type of drum parameter at the same time.
Haha. What a weird idea. Redrum and Matrix are probably my favorite things about Reason. I'm going to have to try this sometime. :)

[sgx]

can someone help me make a bassline that sounds like this in reason?

http://s48.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=2JYI9CAE9K26M2O9QCI1ZNX6C1

i can't seem to get the crunchiness right. this is the best i could come up with (reason file).

http://s45.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=3EK8INGOUS1P22ME7BISJEWZ33

I got something a little closer. I didn't know if you had 3.0 or not so I didn't use any 3.0 machines. This would have been nicer in a combinator. I'm still not sure if this file will be readable by 2.5 even though I didn't use any 3.0 machines. Give it a try.
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~danadler/sgx%20womp.rns

[Malcos]

Damn, it's not readable by 2.5. I really should get 3. Maybe in 6 months...

[Arcana]

The more I work with it, the more I realise that Reason 3.0 was worth my money. For $160 CAD, it has a lot of nice features that really smooth out the workflow. Best addition is the new browser, where you can play while you're browsing samples. But both SGX and I have already touted why Reason 3.0 is good.

[Argitoth]

Reason 3.0 bugs are being fixed as we speak, is anyone else a beta tester of 3.1?

[sgx]

There's now a 3.0 upgrade at student pricing. $70. Check www.academicsuperstore.com . I'm a bit pissed...I didn't think there was going to be student upgrade pricing....but I don't know if I would have waited had I known anyway...heh.

[Arcana]

I get pissed about my PowerMac - two months after I bought it, Apple bumped all of the Powermac levels down, so that for the same price I could have gotten a 2.0GHz instead of a 1.8 GHz. But then I reassure myself by thinking that, if I had waited, I would have gone two months without my computer and I wouldn't have cranked out something like three remixes in that time frame.

So, if you've cranked out a remix or two or three since March 10 with Reason 3.0, then you're good to go.


If you're a registered Reason 3.0 user, don't forget to grab ElectroMechanical 2.0 refill from the props site.

Also, I'm not a beta tester. I don't like the Props' beta testing scheme with giving you demos and all of that. It makes it really hard to do anything. Everyone's a registered user - it's not like they shouldn't give you the opportunity to save your work.

[Veilon]

How can I reduce the delay between the time I'm playing a note with my midi keyboard and the time I actually hear the sound. I am using the NNXT sampler with the reason's patches and no attack to -64 and still I have a delay.

[Hy Bound]

Its the loss in the computer-synthesizer. The attack isn't what would make the synth lag. Go into "edit"-"preferences" then go to the MIDI output or something like that and it should have a lag between the synth and the computer. It usually is because the computer is slow and needs some more think time to process the information. Personally, I don't use a synth to input the notes, so I could be wrong since its never come up for me, but you could try it.

I have a question of my own... Does anyone know of a good place to find a mastering FAQ. I've looked at the propellerhead site and a few others and haven't found anything. Im having problems with my master coming out too clipped...

[sgx]

How can I reduce the delay between the time I'm playing a note with my midi keyboard and the time I actually hear the sound. I am using the NNXT sampler with the reason's patches and no attack to -64 and still I have a delay.

Preferences > Audio. Fool with the driver selection and buffersize/latency slider.

[Malcos]

Bought the upgrade today. Wow, it really was worth the money! They've really refined it, little touches like actual mute and solo buttons instead of that crossy thing that was always awkward to use. All your sounds seem like they're at your fingertips, and the combinator has some great presets!

I wasn't sure about getting the update, but I have to hand it to propellerheads once again. Excellent. :D

[Xaleph]

One of my old songs, when rendered, produced this nasty screatchy sound. I was curious as to what the issue was.

I finally narrowed down the issue to a combination of 3 devices.

If I put a matrix on a subtractor (gate & cv) and another matrix on the same subtractor (mod & volume) and then I put a scream 4 on the subtractor, when I render I get massive feedback that isn't apparent in the playback (in reason 3.0.3)

I've been able to re-create this in a very simple song, I looked through the first few pages of the forums and didn't see any solution to this issue and was curious if anyone else stumbled accross the same issue.

the result mp3 sounds like this: http://www.animeremix.org/Carbunk1e/download.php?song=Clank2.mp3

[Arcana]

By the way, the Reason 3.0.3 upgrade is well worth it. Lots of problems fixed (at least on Mac). Uses less CPU, fewer audio problems, and it doesn't freeze anymore if I try to load Audacity while Reason's running. Very smooth, very good incremental upgrade.

[Veilon]

How to use Reason with other programs? Is there any way for me to use Reason simultaneously with Cool Edit Pro. I would like to had some vocal to my songs!

[GrayLightning]

How to use Reason with other programs? Is there any way for me to use Reason simultaneously with Cool Edit Pro. I would like to had some vocal to my songs!

Without rewire compatibility there wouldn't be a way to link them, if that's what you're asking. But if you mean using them both at the same time, that should not be a problem depending on what soundcard you have. What most reason users do is import the audio file in reason via NNXT (treat it as a sample) and just hold the note in the reason piano roll for however long the audio file is. It's not the most graceful solution, but it does work quite well.

Edit: I'm using Reason 2.5. I'm not sure how Reason 3 changes any of my above statements, if any.

[Saskrotch]

I have a question of my own... Does anyone know of a good place to find a mastering FAQ. I've looked at the propellerhead site and a few others and haven't found anything. Im having problems with my master coming out too clipped...

is this pre or post rendering?

a lot of the times if clipping is going on you need to take down the bass or if there's not much bass just take the volume down in little bits untill it sounds good

[Xaleph]

How to use Reason with other programs? Is there any way for me to use Reason simultaneously with Cool Edit Pro. I would like to had some vocal to my songs!

Without rewire compatibility there wouldn't be a way to link them, if that's what you're asking. But if you mean using them both at the same time, that should not be a problem depending on what soundcard you have. What most reason users do is import the audio file in reason via NNXT (treat it as a sample) and just hold the note in the reason piano roll for however long the audio file is. It's not the most graceful solution, but it does work quite well.

Edit: I'm using Reason 2.5. I'm not sure how Reason 3 changes any of my above statements, if any.

you could also use recycle to break it up into beats and import into reason as a rex file. This gives you more 'mixing stylistic' possibilities like repeats/stuttering etc.

[Uncle]

How to use Reason with other programs? Is there any way for me to use Reason simultaneously with Cool Edit Pro. I would like to had some vocal to my songs!

Without rewire compatibility there wouldn't be a way to link them, if that's what you're asking. But if you mean using them both at the same time, that should not be a problem depending on what soundcard you have. What most reason users do is import the audio file in reason via NNXT (treat it as a sample) and just hold the note in the reason piano roll for however long the audio file is. It's not the most graceful solution, but it does work quite well.

Edit: I'm using Reason 2.5. I'm not sure how Reason 3 changes any of my above statements, if any.

you could also use recycle to break it up into beats and import into reason as a rex file. This gives you more 'mixing stylistic' possibilities like repeats/stuttering etc.
On the flipside, you could export the audio from Reason and drop it in as a track in whatever recording program you use. Record your vocals on another track WHILE you hear the song! (I am assuming that the program features multi-track recording. For a single-track program, you would probably want to use one of these other approaches instead.)
Of course, the best solution would be to use ReWire. If your recording program supports ReWire, open that program and then open Reason. This way you can not only record vocals, but you can hear the song being played live. No exporting to other programs when you want to make a change.

Also, somebody mentioned that they were looking for some mastering FAQs. While I don't have any, I did discover recently that the BV512 Vocoder can also be used as an EQ unit if the Parametric EQ isn't suiting your needs (BV512 works great for lo-cuts). There's a knob on the BV512 with two options: Vocoder and EQ. Vocoder is the default, so switch it to EQ and you get a 4/8/etc-band EQ similar to those on certain stereos and computer media players.
Some might think this was obvious, but I didn't think it was, so there you go.

[Arcana]

The MClass Equalizer in Reason 3.0 is pretty decent. Kicks the snot out of the little tiny red EQ.

You know how there's that rumoured Rewire limitation - first 16 devices (and only in the order they're created?). I don't know who here uses Reason rewired as a setup, but today I was working with Logic and Reason (on a Mac of course) and I didn't encounter the limitation. However, it takes a bit of forethought.

When you Rewire (in Logic, at least), you specify a Rewire Instrument object and give it a Bus and a Channel. On Mac, Bus 6 corresponds to Reason (for some reason I don't know the details of). When you do this, the channel then ends up listing the devices you have in your rack by name. However, there's only 16 channels (which means 16 devices).

If you need to work with more than 16 devices? When you use a new Rewire object, set it to use Bus 7. The next 16 devices will appear in the channel.

Presumably this'll work all the way to Channel 32 (and maybe even wrap around to Channels 1), which should be WAY more than enough devices.

[Veilon]

Thank you. I think I will just use the song as a sample on reason with the NNTX sampler. It's not hard but I would never have thought that by myself.

[sgx]

When you Rewire (in Logic, at least), you specify a Rewire Instrument object and give it a Bus and a Channel. On Mac, Bus 6 corresponds to Reason (for some reason I don't know the details of). When you do this, the channel then ends up listing the devices you have in your rack by name. However, there's only 16 channels (which means 16 devices).

If you need to work with more than 16 devices? When you use a new Rewire object, set it to use Bus 7. The next 16 devices will appear in the channel.

Presumably this'll work all the way to Channel 32 (and maybe even wrap around to Channels 1), which should be WAY more than enough devices.

Yeah that's sweet. The limitation is in Cakewalk hosts and FL (maybe others that I don't know about too) apparently. Seems like Logic has it right.

[Xaleph]

One of my old songs, when rendered, produced this nasty screatchy sound. I was curious as to what the issue was.

I finally narrowed down the issue to a combination of 3 devices.

If I put a matrix on a subtractor (gate & cv) and another matrix on the same subtractor (mod & volume) and then I put a scream 4 on the subtractor, when I render I get massive feedback that isn't apparent in the playback (in reason 3.0.3)

I've been able to re-create this in a very simple song, I looked through the first few pages of the forums and didn't see any solution to this issue and was curious if anyone else stumbled accross the same issue.

the result mp3 sounds like this: http://www.animeremix.org/Carbunk1e/download.php?song=Clank2.mp3

Anyways, I finally got a response on this.

It is a 3.0.3 problem specifically. Prop is working on fixing this issue amongst other bugs reported. For now, composers must work around this combination of devices (Subtractor->2Matrix->Scream4)

-dj carbunk1e

[zircon]

32 devices is nothing :/ I would use 100+ easy.

But when you say "add a new Rewire object", isn't that just opening up a new instance of Reason?

[sgx]

I'm sure you can keep adding more instances of 16 machines. And I doubt you need to control over 100 devices...

And no, you cannot open another rewired instance of Reason. I don't think any rewire slave application can work that way.

[Arcana]

You can go on a Mac, presumably, from 6 to 32 busses, each of which contains 16 channels. So that's a total of 26 times 16 devices, which is over 400 devices (416 to be exact). Chances are that Logic would wrap around from bus 32 to bus 1 if needed, so you'd have something like 512 devices altogether.

In Reason, the Combinator counts as an object, as does the Hardware Interface. Also, I don't think you can can have more than 64 audio connections in the Hardware Interface (as far as I know), which means that you can't send more 16 audio channels to the host sequencer for mixing. There's room for 64 connections... and then because you need a stereo L/R, that means there's potential for 32 stereo audio devices that you'd mix down in Logic.

It's worth noting that in Logic, the audio channels count up way past 64 (but are shaded out), suggesting that the Rewire protocol has support for something like 256 devices at least.

I'm not sure about the instances of Reason. On MacOS X, you can't explicitly tell it to open more than one instance of an application (but you can open as many windows of that app as you want). Based on my experiments, if you have one Reason song open in Rewire, then open another one, Logic will take the Rewire settings from the one that was the most recently opened.

In any case, the point is that Rewire isn't really that limiting at all if your host is properly designed. I'm using Logic as a host and Reason as my massive sound module right now. For $350 I don't think you can get a more complete set of sounds to start out with.

[Shael Riley]

How would one launch Madtracker 2.5.0 as a Reason ReWire slave in Reason 2.5?

[Arcana]

As far as I know, you can't. Reason can only operate as a Rewire Slave. It cannot operate as a Rewire host.

[Shael Riley]

As far as I know, you can't. Reason can only operate as a Rewire Slave. It cannot operate as a Rewire host.

How would one launch Reason 2.5 as a ReWire slave in Madtracker 2.5.0?

[GrayLightning]

As far as I know, you can't. Reason can only operate as a Rewire Slave. It cannot operate as a Rewire host.

How would one launch Reason 2.5 as a ReWire slave in Madtracker 2.5.0?

The first thing to determine is if Madtracker can act as a rewire host. Based on what it says on their page "Hook it up inside any ReWire host, and use MadTracker as an expansion with your current musical projects!" I can only assume by this that Madtracker, like reason acts as rewire slaves. You'd need a rewire host, like the free tracktion (or at least, it used to be).

[Shael Riley]

As far as I know, you can't. Reason can only operate as a Rewire Slave. It cannot operate as a Rewire host.

How would one launch Reason 2.5 as a ReWire slave in Madtracker 2.5.0?

The first thing to determine is if Madtracker can act as a rewire host. Based on what it says on their page "Hook it up inside any ReWire host, and use MadTracker as an expansion with your current musical projects!" I can only assume by this that Madtracker, like reason acts as rewire slaves. You'd need a rewire host, like the free tracktion (or at least, it used to be).

Shit. My hopes of hooking Reason up to a tracker are dashed. Thanks for the info, regardless.

[GrayLightning]

Well, I'm not sure how tracktion works, but most rewire hosts can run more than 1 slave at a time. You should be able to run both madtracker, reason under tracktion at the same time. See if this works for you...Granted I'm sure it's not the same as using reason within madtracker.

[Faustt]

hey guys. been fooling around with reason lately and like it a lot, I can see it has huge potential. only problem is its really overwhelming.... was wondering if there was a guide or tutorial for the various devices you can put into the stack. some of those things have a *lot* of nobs. lol. the help file has a crap load of info, but its a little over my head. I play a few instruments but dont have any really experience with synths or mixers so its kinda greek to me.

if you guys could point me to a site or give any advice that would be great.

thanks!

[sgx]

The getting started manual that came with Reason is good. (Does it still come with it? I bought mine back when it was 2.0)

I'm thinking about doing some video tutorials for Reason newbs at some point. Not for at least a month though. We shall see.

[Arcana]

Did you buy Reason or are you playing with the demo? The demo does not come with the help files (for some reason).

Maybe I'll write up a short summary of the devices some time, but until then, here's a slight tip:

From top to bottom you have:

-----

Combinator (doesn't make sound, combines other devices)

-----

Mixers: a big one, and a small one.

Mixer 14:2. Contains 14 channels and contains room for up to 4 send effects. Use this for your main mixer.

Line Mixer 6:2. Contains 6 channels and contains room for up to 1 send effect. Usually used in a combinator when you want to save some space.

-----

Things that make sound:

Subtractor Analog Synthesizer: A substractive synthesizer.
Malstrom "Graintable" Synthesizer: A "graintable synthesizer" (the oscillators use "grains" or little samples).
NN19 Digital Sampler: A simple sampler (I think this is deprecated, use the NN-XT instead.)
NN-XT Advanced Sampler: Advanced Sampler.
Dr.REX Loop Player: A loop machine, good for drum loops.
Redrum Drum Computer: A drum machine with step sequencer.

-----

The MClass Mastering tools

MClass Mastering Suite: Your big combinator comtaining everything. Usually you put this between your mixer and the hardware interface.
MClass Equalizer: Parametric EQ.
MClass Stereo Imager: Stereo Expander/Imager.
MClass Compressor: A pretty standard compressor.
MClass Maximizer: A limiter/maximizer. Great for preventing clipping.

------

Advanced effects:

RV-7000: An advanted reverb unit.
Scream 4: a distortion unit.
BF512: a vocoder.

-----

Simple Effects. The names are acronyms, which should help when you look at them.

RV-7: Reverb (it's crappy, use the RV-7000 instead)
DDL-1: Digital Delay Line for delay
D-11: Distortion (it's also crappy, use the Scream 4 instead)
ECF-42: Envelope controlled filter
CF-101: Chorus/Flanger
PF-90: Phaser
UN-16: Unison
COMP-01: Compressor (Crappy, use the MClass Compressor instead)
PEQ-2L Parametric EQ (crappy, use the MClass EQ instead)

-----

The Spider units can combine and split signals into one line... great for making automated CV effects and cool audio sonds.

Spider Audio Merger/Splitter: Used to merge and split audio signals.
Spider CV Merger/Splitter: Used to merge and split CV signals.

-----

This is kind of the miscellaneous section.

Matrix Pattern Sequencer: Really cool sequencer. Control things with CV using it. You can also use the Dr.REX and the Redrum for other ways to control using CV (most synths with an LFO also have a CV out for that).
Rebirth Input Machine: Used if you have Rebirth and want to plug it into Reason, chances are it doesn't apply to you.


Other basic Reason functions:

To make a sequencer track: create a device that makes sound.

To start drawing notes: select a track and hit Shift-TAB (or click on the Red/Yellow/Blue bars on the toolbar). This is called Edit Mode. Draw stuff in on the piano roll.

Switch-switch Pencil and Arrow: Press and hold ALT to toggle between the two tools.

To use automation: Right-click on what you want to automate and select "Edit Automation". (There are other ways to automate too, but that's the simplest one).

To edit note velocity: Click on the notes with the pencil at the velocity you want. To edit only some notes at the same time, select them with the arrow and Shift-click on the notes. Only selected notes will be edited.


If you want to learn more about knobs and stuff, the most complex devices are the sound generation devices. However zircon wrote an introduction to synthesis that applies to the Subtractor in Reason (and a bunch of its other devices, too). http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=62065


Hope that helps.


Edit: There's also a realyl good book out there called "Reason 2.5 Power!" that I learned a bunch of Reason from. Very nice way to learn and it's meant for beginners. Zircon recommended this to me a while back and it was really good. There might be a 3.0 version out now, not sure. Anyway keep an eye out for that.

[Faustt]

been playing with the demo and thinking about getting the full version

that little run down was great. nice simple terms :D. will need to read through that link this it this afternoon looks very informative. thanks Arcana =)

[Xaleph]

Great Reason tutorial on Combinators.

Although I already figured most of this out, I think it's very important to understand when dealing with Combinators.

http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/pub/a/oreilly/digitalmedia/2005/08/03/combinator.html?page=1

[Arcana]

THere's a good Propellerheads tutorial on Combinators (and other Reason devices) as well, with example songs.

http://www.propellerheads.se/home/discover/index.cfm?fuseaction=displaymain

There is actually a rather large lack of Reason tutorials on the Internet. I was working on writing a Reason tutorial for n00bs, but never finished it.

[sgx]

www.combinatorhq.com has video combinator tutorials. I dunno why they would be needed though...I thought combi's were extremely simple to figure out.

[Malcos]

This has probably got to be the dumbest question on earth, ever, but I just have to ask. How do you use that favourites thing on the browser?

Yes yes, let the ridicule commence...

[sgx]

Here is how you use favorites: RTFM LOLZ.

Actually I haven't used it yet; it was weird and I haven't bothered to find out how to work it. I have made several folder shortcuts in the browser though. That is usefull enough for me.

[Arcana]

I think you just drag and drop patches into the list.

You have to do it one patch at a time, so it doesn't make it very useful to me. I usually use the folders too.

[Faustt]

There's also a realyl good book out there called "Reason 2.5 Power!" that I learned a bunch of Reason from. Very nice way to learn and it's meant for beginners. Zircon recommended this to me a while back and it was really good. There might be a 3.0 version out now, not sure. Anyway keep an eye out for that.

just bought the 3.0 version on amazon. should be a good read. thanks again.

[Nivi]

This has probably been asked before, but I'm too lazy/stupid/tired to look for it:
CAN you change tempo? I thought I heard ParagonX9 usi it in Alternate Route, but he's left everywhere now, so I can't ask him.
Did he just make the notes longer or what?
PS: Noobish questions suck.

[Hy Bound]

You can't change tempo in reason. However, if you use an alternate program and rewire it into Reason you can change tempo.

On a separate note, the most I've ever learned from reason is by looking at .rps. You can go in and look how to do a certain effect that someone has used in their song. SGX has rps and rsn files for download on his site (how about updates, eh SGX? :D ). I can also contribute my rps files if anyone wants them. I have done some pretty crazy stuff that I would be willing to share (Not to toot my own horn :wink: ). Good luck.

[Arcana]

Post your Reason song files here. (http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=62578)

That thread should grow and grow and you all should contribute to it and make it awesome.

As for tempo changes, you can't in Reason unless it's automated using Rewire.

However, a lot of people get around this by cutting and pasting wave files together and various other techniques.

[Xaleph]

Reason 3.0.4 has been released and fixes some serious issues that prevented many songs to be rendered properly as well as other pretty serious issues. I highly suggest you upgrade to 3.0.4.

[sgx]

This has probably been asked before, but I'm too lazy/stupid/tired to look for it:
CAN you change tempo? I thought I heard ParagonX9 usi it in Alternate Route, but he's left everywhere now, so I can't ask him.
Did he just make the notes longer or what?
PS: Noobish questions suck.

A way to sorta get around this is to arrange at one tempo, then select the area you want to change tempo, right click, go to change events, then scales the velocity. It makes it tough to go back and edit since note snapping will most likely be off with the new tempo, but it gets the job done. We did Frame of Mind (Beyond Good and Evil) all in Reason and its got tempo changes.

[TraderJack]

I have an issue. Every time I try to open Reason or a Reason Demo version, I get an error message immediately saying "Failed to set up ReWire System properly, exiting".

I'm sure someone knows why this is happening...?

-IV

[sgx]

Maybe if you have both Reason and the demo installed, its screwing up rewire? Whenever I have rewire issues, I just go reinstalling any rewire compatible programs I have until the rewire issue is fixed.

[zircon]

No, I said 100+ machines. I tend to make very complex setups very fast.

[sgx]

Zircon needs more than 100 machines (which happens to me quite often too..congrats to me), but its not like you need to control 100 machines, so I'm not sure what the problem is. We were talking about controlling machines, not having machines.

[Arcana]

I have an issue. Every time I try to open Reason or a Reason Demo version, I get an error message immediately saying "Failed to set up ReWire System properly, exiting".

I'm sure someone knows why this is happening...?

1. Reboot.

2. Don't start Reason before starting any other rewire host, and then try to use both programs at the same time. Reason gets confused.

3. If you use a host, and the open Reason, quit Reason completely before exiting the Rewire host. Not shutting down your Rewire Slave before the host is the main cause of this problem.

[zircon]

The way Rewire works, every MACHINE will take up another MIDI channel on the list. That's the problem, at least with FLStudio. It doesn't matter how many 'audio tracks' you do or don't have.

[Arcana]

I posted about Logic and rewiring Reason a while ago, which you've already read about, Zircon... I can get 100+ devices rewired into Logic with no problem.

http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=23605&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=374

So the problem would seem to be with the host, not with Rewire.

One thing that is limiting with Rewire, though (at least in Logic) is that it doesn't seem to do automation data in the host sequencer, as far as I've tried (which hasn't been very much and was at least two months ago).

Even then, you can still sequence in Reason itself, and then route all of the audio to the hardware interface, which gets sent to FLStudio so you can do the mixdown. You won't be able to use FLStudio's sequencer to control all of the instruments, but you can still use Reason's sounds. Not nearly as good of a setup, though.

[zircon]

Right, I'm not saying its a Rewire problem, I even said "that's the problem, with FLStudio anyway". Here's how FL treats rewire.

1. You add a "Rewired" channel.

2. You select the Rewire client.. in this case Reason.

3. You hit "Show Panel". This actually loads Reason alongside FL so you can go and edit stuff.

4. To access Reason's sounds, you click on "MIDI Options" in the Rewired settings. There is a list of MIDI channels, each ONE being a Machine. So #1 is "Hardware Interface". To actually use one, you select Output from the "Map" menu, select a MIDI port, and then click "Add" (there is a "To" menu as well, but all it says is Reason 6.. no other options). So by doing that, you set an Output port to 'bus 6', and then use FLStudio's MIDI outs to actually send the MIDI data.

[TraderJack]

Haha... I always get anxious and fail to restart when I install new software. I actually hadn't restarted my system in three weeks.

One more question... I think I should be hearing sound coming from Reason... but I'm not. Is there anyway to test if I'm getting sound or not? It may be an issue with having chosen the wrong sound card driver, but I tried a few and nothing works. Thanks again.

-IV

[Arcana]

Check if the "Note On" lights are triggering in your instruments. If they are and you still hear no sound, then double check your audio settings and ensure your driver is selected.

If that's all good, then you probably need to do the whole sound driver debugging thing, and if that's the case you will want to try posting more system information.

[TraderJack]

Well, for example... to test the sound I created a ReDrum machine, right? I clicked "Run" and the lights just run right down without producing sound. Maybe I'm doing something correctly? I'm very new to the Reason interface... I'm used to ACID Pro. I just can't really find any good resources for actually using Reason, like tutorials or anything, so I'm just kind of playing with it.

-IV

[sgx]

You need to load samples into the redrum first :P

[TraderJack]

... See, now that just makes me feel stupid.

I actaully only think I have one more questions. The more time I spend with Reason the more I seem to learn about how it works. I've really started to make progress on how to lay down some good beats and effects. I'm still trying to figure out, however, what the best method is to load your own samples, such as pre-recorded beats, vocals, and other such tracks.

-IV

[Arcana]

... See, now that just makes me feel stupid.

I actaully only think I have one more questions. The more time I spend with Reason the more I seem to learn about how it works. I've really started to make progress on how to lay down some good beats and effects. I'm still trying to figure out, however, what the best method is to load your own samples, such as pre-recorded beats, vocals, and other such tracks.

Reason's not really geared toward importing and slicing audio samples. I've never done it myself for a real song, but if I do load up a sample, I prefer using the NN-XT sampler and triggering them in the sequencer. You can use Redrum as well.

I prefer the sampler because then you can control for how long the sample goes on for in the sequencer, whereas in the Redrum, when you trigger it the entire sample will play out. Good for short hits, not so good with yor 1-minute vocal track.

[sgx]

If you're wanting Reason to act like acid and bring in premade loops and whatnot, then you'll want to use Dr. Rex and load in .rex loops. Dr. Rex only loads the rex files though, so if you wanted to use a library of .wav loops or something, you'd either have to buy ReCycle and convert those loops into rex loops, or load them in nnxt or nn19 as Arcana explained. However, loading them in those will lose their sliced time-stretching abilities.

[TraderJack]

So what do you think the best way to record my guitars/insturments/vocals? Looking at the Reaosn interface, it's hard to tell what's best for those things. I was using external software to record insturmentals and vocals, but does Reason offer a better alternative?

I'm not looking so much along the lines of pre-recorded loops, but more at my own samples and recorded tracks.

-IV

[sgx]

Reason can't record any audio at all. You'd have to use another program and then import the wav as we were saying before. Something like www.goldwave.com Goldwave or Audacity (google it) is free and can do the job, but its much easier to record straight into your sequencer program. Reason may not be for you. Or maybe if you have Acid 5, you can use Acid for that audio stuff and rewire Reason into Acid (that's what I do). Works well.

[TraderJack]

I didn't think Reason had featurs to record audio... hmmm, oh well. I think what I may be looking for is the best way to import pre-recorded audio in a .wav for implementation into reason.

And besides, if I'm doing something like recording most of my tracks, what is the best software? Really what I need is a program that will allow me to record vocals as well as insterments, implement effects (what I really like about Reason), create some digital tracks (drum loops, some of that bass), and then put it all together.

Perhaps what is best is using Soundforge to record, Reason to implement effects and create tracks digitaly, and use ACID to put it all together?

-IV

[Veilon]

How can I create a good lead sound using the subtractor? I managed to do some decent stuff using the subtractor but I'm looking for some kinda guitar sounding lead. Perhaps if I join my subtractor with a compressor or distortion device.

[zircon]

Veilon, I suggest you read my ReMixing Tips Part 3, which covers Synthesis. The techniques I write about apply to Subtractor.

[sgx]

Really what I need is a program that will allow me to record vocals as well as insterments, implement effects (what I really like about Reason), create some digital tracks (drum loops, some of that bass), and then put it all together.

Not sure what you mean by 'digital tracks.' You mean like writing out the notes yourself? ACID can do all you mention. Acid comes with effects, you can get plenty of free vst effects online, Acid can run vst instruments (which you can get for free online also), Acid can record audio. Seems like it can do all you need it to (though you might have to grab yourself a bunch of vst's to get there). However, Acid's midi editing isn't too great. It works, just isn't great to work with.

If you're looking for other programs that do this stuff check out Project5 (which actually looks and operates somewhat similarly to Acid, so you might like it if that's what you're used to), FLStudio, Abelton Live. Stuff like that might be what you are looking for.

[TraderJack]

I really love using ACID, and really feel comfortable in it too. The only problem is the interface, like you said, is not that great, and I can't find any good resources/tutorials. Even simple things like envelopes and adding effects all seem almost tedious, or else I'm just having difficulty learning to use it.

Alright, well, it looks like it's back to ACID. I think I might end up just using Reason for things like a drum machine.

So I guess the next step is learning what exactly VST insturments are good for.

-IV

[Arcana]

I really love using ACID, and really feel comfortable in it too. The only problem is the interface, like you said, is not that great, and I can't find any good resources/tutorials. Even simple things like envelopes and adding effects all seem almost tedious, or else I'm just having difficulty learning to use it.

Alright, well, it looks like it's back to ACID. I think I might end up just using Reason for things like a drum machine.

I hope you were using the demo for Reason if you're going to be abandoning it...

If you bought Reason, learn how to use Rewire. That's what SGX does, and everyone wants to be like SGX. ;)

[TraderJack]

And as a final note, I was wondering how I can use the Reason effects as effects in ACID. I have no problem with Reaon-ACID synths, but I can't figure out how to move the effects.

-IV

[sgx]

You can't.

[TraderJack]

Damn

[GaMeBoX]

Im interested in inverting a cv-signal.. The one way i have come up with is to set a malström's modulator at on-note and then record or print out notes that controll when it will start each loop, so if you got the square waveform for example, and you have it synced to the rythm, you can have it inverted by triggering it with notes.. But im wondering if there's an easier way to do it. Did i miss something ?

[Arcana]

Im interested in inverting a cv-signal.. The one way i have come up with is to set a malström's modulator at on-note and then record or print out notes that controll when it will start each loop, so if you got the square waveform for example, and you have it synced to the rythm, you can have it inverted by triggering it with notes.. But im wondering if there's an easier way to do it. Did i miss something ?

See "Spider CV Merger/Splitter".

[btangel]

nvm

[Sinewav]

Ok, so I have Reason 3.0 on my laptop, and I use Reason 2.5 in my school's lab pretty often.

Is there a way that I can program a redrum in 6/8 time (or compound time in general)? I'm working on a song that starts out in 4/4 time, and I wan't it to switch to 6/8, and eventually back to 4/4. Is there a way to do this?

[sgx]

Not really. Reason's sequencer doesn't do time sig changes. You'd pretty much just have to continue sequencing in a set time sig but just keep track in your head where the REAL 6/8 measures would be.

Oh be careful: if you bring a 2.5 file into 3.0 and save it (even without any 3.0 exclusive machines in the file), the file won't work on 2.5 Reason anymore.

[Sinewav]

Ok, that does help a bit. I can't change the time sig in the middle of the song.

But I've been told that there is a way (supposedly a very tricky way) to program the ReDrum machine to play a loop in compound meter, even with the sequencer going in simple meter. Something having to do with changing the resolution and the number of steps. Specifically I'm going for 6/8 here. Any ideas?

[sgx]

Yeah just do like 12 steps at the normal 16th note division. Some multiple of 6 should do it.

[Arcana]

Yeah just do like 12 steps at the normal 16th note division. Some multiple of 6 should do it.

In addition you probably want to change the Resolution dial to like 3/8 or 3/16 or something to get the compound feel.

[Sinewav]

Yeah just do like 12 steps at the normal 16th note division. Some multiple of 6 should do it.

In addition you probably want to change the Resolution dial to like 3/8 or 3/16 or something to get the compound feel.

How do you do that? The only ones I see are 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/8T, 1/16, 1/16T, etc.

[Arcana]

Yeah just do like 12 steps at the normal 16th note division. Some multiple of 6 should do it.

In addition you probably want to change the Resolution dial to like 3/8 or 3/16 or something to get the compound feel.

How do you do that? The only ones I see are 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/8T, 1/16, 1/16T, etc.

Oh oops, use 1/8T or 1/16T.

[sgx]

It might just be easier to sequence your drums in the track sequencer and not in the redrum's pattern thing. That's how I usually do it anyway. It will keep things simpler.

[Sinewav]

It might just be easier to sequence your drums in the track sequencer and not in the redrum's pattern thing. That's how I usually do it anyway. It will keep things simpler.

That might be the best move... dang this is gunna be more work than I thought.

Ok then. I've got another question revolving around the same project. When the song is in 4/4, I've got the tempo at 120 bpm (which is right where I want it). But when I go into 6/8 time, the song feels way too slow at 120. I'm thinkin' 135 or 140 might do the trick, but is there any way to change the tempo in the middle of the song?

[Hy Bound]

It might just be easier to sequence your drums in the track sequencer and not in the redrum's pattern thing. That's how I usually do it anyway. It will keep things simpler.

That might be the best move... dang this is gunna be more work than I thought.

Ok then. I've got another question revolving around the same project. When the song is in 4/4, I've got the tempo at 120 bpm (which is right where I want it). But when I go into 6/8 time, the song feels way too slow at 120. I'm thinkin' 135 or 140 might do the trick, but is there any way to change the tempo in the middle of the song?

Nope. Not unless you have another host program such as ACID or something that can do it. Thats one of the biggest hits in Reason is the lack of an automated tempo change.

[sgx]

You can select a bunch of your song, right click, change events, and time stretch a bunch of the midi by a percent. This will sound fine, but everything will be off of the note grid lines, making editing it really irritating and innaccurate.

You could just write your whole song, changing the tempo yourself to where it sounds good when you're working on the different sections, and then when you're done editing, time shift the midi. Irritating, but it will get the job done.

[Sinewav]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaangit.

Oh well. I'll try out that time shifting thing, but I'll probably end up just making two separate songs and sticking them together in Audacity or something.

What is the best way to set up a song in 6/8 time from the beginning (i.e. without ever intending to go into 4/4)?

[Arcana]

Uuuuhhhhh... there's a time signature thingy in the Transport. Use that.

[Sinewav]

Oh, yeah. Right. :oops:

[Snooper_1989]

Hey just a general question about a ReFill that aparently you used to be able to get - but can't anymore. I believe it was the AKAI clear mountain drums, aparently it was really good - just wondering if there is somewhere where you can still get it from that would be appreciated.

Also i've been mucking around with Reason 3 for a bit and started to use the synths which I had previously not used in 2.5 and i'm just wondering the pro's and con's or differences between using a Malstrom and a Subtractor, I find using Malstrom to be easy but my synths all sound basically the same no matter how much I alter them.

[Hy Bound]

I would also like to know if I can get the AKAI drums from someone.

As for whether a malstrom or subtractor is better:
They are basically two different kinds of synthesis, which, just as any other synthesizer, makes them have a similar sound, no matter what oscillators you use. However, Malstroms are better than subtractors for making complex sounds with crazy modulations going on. It also (to me) has a more processed, guitar amp-sound on average. However, you can make just about any kind of sound with the malstrom; it just depends on how well you use the parameters.
Subtractors use a simpler way to make sounds and are therefore good at bass and other kinds of relatively simple, but strong sounds. But it all depends on how you use the different LFOs and such to give you a completely different sound and you can still make some pretty complex sounds with it. FX modules also change a lot of what makes both of them sound all alike, which is my main way of changing their sound.

EDIT: wow, I really didn't write that well... My bad. :oops:

[Veilon]

I have a problem. Whenever I import a midi in reason, I lose all my tempo track (or conductor track). The only parameter remaining is the first tempo that appears to be the tempo for the whole song. How can I make the tempo change for some parts only?

[Argitoth]

Reason = nono tempo change

Reason can't do tempo changes. But, you could time warp the midi.

Select notes --> RIGHT CLICK in sequencer --> Change Events --> Scale Tempo --> Apply

Make sure you have the notes selected correctly and only use this process in your final stage of composition, it will be impossible to correctly quantize after you scale the tempo. Create backup files just in case.

[sgx]

This question I've answered like 4 times now.

[Argitoth]

This question I've answered like 4 times now.
I know this.

[Veilon]

Actually, I thought there was a simpler, smarter and more efficient way to do it... This is just pain in the ass and really hard if you have a lot of tempo changes on several tracks. :(

[Arcana]

Actually, I thought there was a simpler, smarter and more efficient way to do it... This is just pain in the ass and really hard if you have a lot of tempo changes on several tracks. :(

You can also:

1) use different song files. Export to different wavs and concatenate the wavs together.
2) Use Rewire into a host that supports automated tempo changes.

[Argitoth]

and concatenate the wavs
concatenate?

wha...

eh?

concatenate?...

What are you talking about? The guy is using midi signals; you have a good idea though, just use a rewire host to do tempo changes. What's with the concatenating of the wavs mumbo jumbo? THAT WORD DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 :x

[sgx]

and concatenate the wavs
concatenate?

wha...

eh?

concatenate?...


Get a dictionary?

[Malcos]

http://www.answers.com/concatenate&r=67

You know the word 'join' would have simply done the trick. Then again, I learnt a new word, so thanks! :D

[Arcana]

http://www.answers.com/concatenate&r=67

You know the word 'join' would have simply done the trick. Then again, I learnt a new word, so thanks! :D

Malcos is a man of action!

[btangel]

can you load those free SF2 samples (say squidfont orchestra) into the NN-XT of reason 3.0? I read earlier in the thread that VSTs wouldn't work in reason, or are they the same thing? :|

[sgx]

Yeah, the nnxt loads soundfonts. VST's are something different.

[k u n g f u c h i c k e n]

Someone really needs to put all these tips toghether so people wont keep asking.

[Bren]

Someone really needs to put all these tips toghether so people wont keep asking.

I agree. I also think it would make more sense to have a Reason 101 forum, as well as one for FLStudio. With the way things are set up here, I think its simpler just to do a google search for "Reason Tutorial"

[btangel]

We should just compile this into a guide or something.

[prophetik music]

so...

i can't get Reason to run on my computer. it's asking for the Orkester sound bank cd...so i put it in and it just sat there saying 'waiting for cd'. what can i do to actually get the program to load?

[sgx]

If you have another disc drive in your computer, try that one.

or

Try exploring the CD and copying the orkester.rfl into your Reason program folder.

or

Contact propellerhead tech support.

[prophetik music]

If you have another disc drive in your computer, try that one.

or

Try exploring the CD and copying the orkester.rfl into your Reason program folder.

or

Contact propellerhead tech support.

this is the first time i've ever used reason, so according to the getting started thing i need to use the disc even if i copied it to the hard drive.

i can't contact customer support cause this isn't my copy of reason.

[Arcana]

i can't contact customer support cause this isn't my copy of reason.

*coughcough* Try the demo first (or Reason Adapted) and buy it if you like it. *cough*

If the other person uninstalled it and transferred the copy of the license to you then you should be able to contact tech support.

[Awksijek]

Yay, more Reason freaks!

I've been experimenting with "tempo automation" by changing the tempo based on percentages. If I wanted to go from 120 to 100 I'd tell the Change Event dialog to changed the notes by about 83%. Is there another way that you do it?

By the way, I'm on 3.0 Thanks a lot!

[Awksijek]

i can't get Reason to run on my computer. it's asking for the Orkester sound bank cd...so i put it in and it just sat there saying 'waiting for cd'. what can i do to actually get the program to load?

1) It may take a while to load them up. It took me like two minutes. ><
2) If they are burnt copies (yeah, i'm blunt) you may have labeled them wrong.
3) Reinstall?

Hope that helps.

[Navi]

Pardon if this has been answered already - it's a very basic question - but I'm just learning Reason at school and I'm used to FL. How do I do automation of Effects? I can right click and automate stuff in SubTractor or Maelstrom but when I try and right click, say the Filter frequency in the ECF-42, it won't let me do automation. Thanks!

[Arcana]

Pardon if this has been answered already - it's a very basic question - but I'm just learning Reason at school and I'm used to FL. How do I do automation of Effects? I can right click and automate stuff in SubTractor or Maelstrom but when I try and right click, say the Filter frequency in the ECF-42, it won't let me do automation. Thanks!

On my Mac, it's Option-Click. It'll give you an automation lane. I think that's Alt-Click on the PC. If you alt-click a parameter, it'll give you the appropriate lane.

Don't forget to create a sequencer track for the module first, though.

A really awesome trick with the Combinator though is that you can assign pretty much every single parameter to the knobs in the programmer, and then automate the combinator knobs and buttons. If you do this, you can start automating things that you normally wouldn't be able to automate, like the Malstrom Modulation wave shapes or the DDL delay steps.

[Hy Bound]

Just an FYI, you can automate both of those without the combinator... I've done both quite a few times.

[Awksijek]

DJ Zenith: You mean by hooking up the CVs?

[Arcana]

No, just by using an automation lane.

[DDRage]

I have a question: Is there any way to change the tempo of a Reason project in several different places? Cuz I've tried to do tempo automation and haven't been able to for now...

[Hy Bound]

This has been answered a lot... Its no, unless you have a Rewire host that DOES do tempo changes, you can not have Reason do a tempo change by itself.

[DDRage]

so i'll just rewire reason to FLStudio and control tempo from there. thx for answering and sorry for asking sth already asked befor :wink: :wink:

[prophetik music]

EDIT - nevermind, i'm stupid. Shael told me what i needed to know.

[richter]

Yup. You can load .wav files into ReDrum or the NN-19. Might be some new stuff in 3.0 that I'm not aware of (?), though I think 3.0 is mostly mastering tools.

[sgx]

Pardon if this has been answered already - it's a very basic question - but I'm just learning Reason at school and I'm used to FL. How do I do automation of Effects? I can right click and automate stuff in SubTractor or Maelstrom but when I try and right click, say the Filter frequency in the ECF-42, it won't let me do automation. Thanks!

On my Mac, it's Option-Click. It'll give you an automation lane. I think that's Alt-Click on the PC. If you alt-click a parameter, it'll give you the appropriate lane.

Don't forget to create a sequencer track for the module first, though.

A really awesome trick with the Combinator though is that you can assign pretty much every single parameter to the knobs in the programmer, and then automate the combinator knobs and buttons. If you do this, you can start automating things that you normally wouldn't be able to automate, like the Malstrom Modulation wave shapes or the DDL delay steps.

I think his issue was just that Reason doesn't produce a sequencer track automatically for effects like it does instruments. Myth, just make a new sequencer track and link it to your effect machine and the right clickin' will work.

And yeah, those two paramaters were automateable before heh. What the combi lets you do that wasn't possible before (besides all the awesome convenience) is hook cv signals to the combi knobs which then control a synth or effect parameter that wasn't CV'able before.

[Navi]

Yeah, thanks for the help guys. The effects don't automatically create sequencer channels, so it wasn't letting me do it.

New question. :)

How do I group instruments, ie: Say I wanted to play my Subtracter and my Maelstrom at the same time on my controller. How do I do that?

I'll have many more questions in the near future. :D

[sgx]

Put them both in the same combinator.

[Navi]

I hate to sound like a total noob, but where's the combinator?

[sgx]

Its in the list of things to insert along with all the synths and effects. If you have Reason 3.0. It's new. Otherwise I don't think there is a way to control more than one synth.

[Navi]

Oh. I guess we just don't have 3.0 then. I'll have to check when I get to school tomorrow.

Damn. That sucks.

[melee54]

I've always browsed here, but decided to start posting a little...

Alright, 2 questions. I'm new to Reason and I am still getting used to it. I've got reason 3.0.

Question one:
Can you record voice with a mic into reason? I've heard soundfonts that are recordings of people's voices.

Question two:
Can you somehow load up an mp3 or .wav song into reason and edit it? (Add drums, instruments, etc.)

Thanks.

[Hy Bound]

Reason doesn't really support audio files directly. In order to get the sound files into reason, you need to create an NN-XT or NN-19 and drop the file into the sampler. Reason doesn't record audio either, so you'll have to record in another program and put it into reason's samplers (NN-XT, NN-19) and trigger it via midi.

[melee54]

Oh I see, thanks.

I have no idea how to do that, so I guess I'll just continue to record voice with Acid.

[Hy Bound]

Yeah, thats the best way to do it. Keep most of the synth-type stuff to Reason...

[melee54]

Alright, question... I am thinking of buying an electric guitar. I don't know how to play, but I get the hang of insutrments very quickly. Anyway, can an electric guitar be hooked up to a computer with a USB or MIDI cord and I can record it into reason? I don't think so, but I need to know.

Also, I know lots of people here have real quitars in their mixes. Do they just record them semperately then somehow add the other instruments? If so, how? Thanks.

[richter]

That's really more of a general question than a Reason question. No, Reason does not support audio recording. You'd need an external application to combine both. For example, I recently purchased Cubase, which supports Rewire. Now I can record guitar into Cubase, and still use Reason instruments.

Typically guitars are routed through a mixer and into your sound card's input. The only way use MIDI or USB when recording guitar would be if you had a MIDI guitar or some kind of weird USB audio output.

[melee54]

Oh, I see. I'll look into this Cubase software. Thanks.

[binster]

Its in the list of things to insert along with all the synths and effects. If you have Reason 3.0. It's new. Otherwise I don't think there is a way to control more than one synth.

It's possible, if you use a Matrix which is CV Spidered off to the devices. But this doesn't allow playback fro a midi controller as such.

However, I think you can play midi info into more than one device by turning on the keyboard/revolver symbol thingy next to them in the sequencer window. And if you have a riff that sounds good coming out of one device, you can duplicate that sequencer track and assign it to the other device.

But yeah, the easier way to do this is to shell out for Reason 3. It's lovely :)

[V___]

Fairly simple question... When you use multiple sends on the 14:2 mixer, do they all feedback at the same time or do they chain? Ie, if send 1 is reverb, send 2 is delay, each set to 100, does the reverb get delayed?

[richter]

No, the sends are independent of each other. But you can chain them manually via the rear plugs (lol).

Isn't that something you'd be able to tell right away?

[V___]

No, the sends are independent of each other. But you can chain them manually via the rear plugs (lol).

Isn't that something you'd be able to tell right away?

I knew you could chain em manually, just wasnt sure of the mixer... and my delays always sound a bit muddier than i like, and i usually have rev at 1, delay at 2, so i thought mabey thats why....? It couldnt be my sounds were just dirty ^^;;;

[Malcos]

I wonder what's going to be in Reason 3.5? I'm assuming it's going to be free (better be lol), but I'm not sure I can think of anything that they can really add now!

[binster]

They can add a decent filter. The current one is bobbins - just LP and BP. We need more power! HP at least...

[V___]

I kinda like the idea of a wavetable synth, that'd be nice... How about a 'portable LFO' device? Basically, its a simple LFO, except you can attach it to ANY rotary or fader you want... a chord comes out the front and you attach it to they synth knob you want it on, or somthing like that.

Oh and also, the 'Hide Cables' option should extend to 'Hide all cables except these i'm left clicking atm' or 'Hide all maelstrom cables' or somthing... It'd just be handy...

[sgx]

I think a new synth or an update to subtractor is in order. Subtractor is good, but really thin sounding compared to similar vsti's you can get for free. Software synthesis has improved since subtractor was made (three years ago or something?). Subtractor 2.0 or something would be nice.

I'd like to be able to load wavs into the Malstrom instead of just using the supplied waveforms.

[V___]

I'd like to be able to load wavs into the Malstrom instead of just using the supplied waveforms.

Hell yeh

[Awksijek]

They can add a decent filter. The current one is bobbins - just LP and BP. We need more power! HP at least...

The ECF-42 doesn't have HP but Dr.REX does.......


I'd like tempo automation. ^_^ And a new synth. Ooh! (this might be a bit of a stretch) And I want arpeggiation settings for the Matrix (or maybe even in the sequencer).

[V___]

They can add a decent filter. The current one is bobbins - just LP and BP. We need more power! HP at least...

The ECF-42 doesn't have HP but Dr.REX does.......


I'd like tempo automation. ^_^ And a new synth. Ooh! (this might be a bit of a stretch) And I want arpeggiation settings for the Matrix (or maybe even in the sequencer).

:O i gotta learn more about the instruments... i cant ask for more if i dnt know what the full capabilities are (ie never use the rex, ddnt know bout the filter) I agree with the tempo automation though...

Do most people want new stuff, or growth on whats already there? I like the idea of growth personally, i'd rather add to a chain than have to build a whole new one. But that could severally limit the possibilities...

[binster]

The ECF-42 doesn't have HP but Dr.REX does.......


Is there some way of routing an audio signal through a DrRex that I'm not aware of? Lots of instruments have nice filters (the subtractor, for example) but that's moot. I want to be able to high pass my entire mix.

And I'm not keen on using the reverse-sweep vocoder-whitenoise technique from Peff's book, either. Far too fiddly...

[zircon]

Tempo automation, an FM synth, a sampler built for "mangling" (or an update of Malstrom making it closer to a sampler, as sgx mentioned), more kinds of effects.. Reason could still use a lot of stuff.

[Darangen]

I'm using 2.5.

I've heard that you can use the Matrix plug-in to loop-control volume. How do I do this? I've tried connecting to the AMP CV thing of the synths, but I can't seem to get it to work.

[IC]

I just read this entire thread.

We should really put a little FAQ on the first page or something, seeing how the following make up 80% of the questions:

1) How do I automate tempo?

2) Why can't I automate effects?

3) Can I record audio in reason?

Honestly. Mods, would this be possible?

[V___]

I just read this entire thread.



you have alot of time on your hands... :P

[sgx]

I just read this entire thread.

We should really put a little FAQ on the first page or something, seeing how the following make up 80% of the questions:

1) How do I automate tempo?

2) Why can't I automate effects?

3) Can I record audio in reason?

Honestly. Mods, would this be possible?

Maybe I'll talk to Gray about it and see if I can write something up for him to mod in.

[zircon]

Soon enough we'll be upgrading to a new forum system (vBulletin, I believe) and we will be completely redoing the "ReMixing" section of the boards. One of the changes will be giving Reason it's own forum and dedicated FAQ, consolidating all of the important information out there.

[IC]

I just read this entire thread.



you have alot of time on your hands... :P

Hehe. I did it while watching 24. Plus an hour.



And that sounds excellent, Zircon. Can't wait.

[8bitwonder]

[quote="IC"]I just read this entire thread.

We should really put a little FAQ on the first page or something, seeing how the following make up 80% of the questions:

1) How do I automate tempo?

2) Why can't I automate effects?

3) Can I record audio in reason?

Honestly. Mods, would this be possible?[/qi've just joined this site, but i thought that my work with reason could help some here. to automate any action you need to do a bunch of diffrent things, but there is one simple thing to know.
to automate a device, you will need to automate each of the knobs seaperately unless you have a usb driven midi controller(m-audio sells a bunch of them for pretty cheap). to do this, you right click on the knob or wheel and select "edit automation". there are two diffrent ways you can fo from here. you can either go to the sequencing board and draw in with the pencil what you want the now automated knob does, or you can start playing you song in record mode, and then manipulating the knob with your mouse while the song is playing. this will record your movements in real time and give you the desired effect.

hope that this helps your question.