REASON - Please Direct Reason questions here

[Devvyn]

I have been using Reason on its own from version 1.00 to 2.50. If anyone needs any advice, help, or suggestions, ask away.

[Mark7]

Hi, i was messing with the Malstrom synthesizer and i was wondering about if i can let the mod kick in after a second or so. At this moment the instrument has mod the whole time, from start to end, but that is not what i want.
Of course i can manually set the mod value of the controller, but that is a lot of work if i have to do it with each note :p


btw. I'm not sure if anyone is interested but I myself had a good idea for making panning delay (from left to right or right to left):
1. Make 2 delay thingies.
2. Connect the left source to one and connect the right source to the other (if you got a mono source, use the spider to split it to 2 channels).
3. Connect the left output to the left input of the mixer and connect the right output to the right input of the mixer (duh).
4. Make sure the settings of the 2 delays are the same. Except for feedback. If you increase feedback of the right channel delay, the delay will move from left to right.

Pretty neat eh?

[humanliteshow]

You know, I haven't tried doing that, but I imagine you could hook up a Matrix to the Mod Amount input on the back and program your desired mod changes. :?

[Devvyn]

The problem with using the Matrix is that is doesn't sync up to the notes, just to the beat. So, you might end up with modulation at the wrong times.

Okay, well, I played around myself, because I have run into this problem before. I have come up with a solution.

The explaination makes it look more complicated than it really is, so I recommend simply downloading the simple example here:
http://www.waterwave.org/Malstrom%20Delay%20Example.rns

What you do is create two Malstroms. One to make the sound, and one to control the mod. The reason for this is because the Malstrom is the only device that can make a nicely shaped CV for this job.

Wire them up so that Mod A Output on Malstrom 2 routes directly to Mod Amount Input on Malstrom 1. Wiring is complete. Now, flip it over and set Mastrom 2 like so: Turn off the audio oscillators. (Click the orange square above the words "OSCILLATOR A"). You don't want this one producing extra sounds. Next, go to the Mod A section and turn on "1-shot". Set the modulation curve to curve 5. It's shaped like this: _|¯ Finally, copy the note data from Malstom 1's track to Malstrom 2's track, so they will be triggered together. Set your rate the way you like it, and you're done.

By the way, if you turn sync on for the Mod A on Malstrom 2, you may not get the results you want.

I hope this helps.

[Rellik]

Uh, hi, I have the Reason Demo, and I can't figure out how to make it do stuff other than open files and play them.

:wink: By the way, I'm actually serious, I'm really confused.

[klm09]

Uh, hi, I have the Reason Demo, and I can't figure out how to make it do stuff other than open files and play them.

:wink: By the way, I'm actually serious, I'm really confused.

Do you have the 1.0 demo? Because, I'm not sure of this, but I think the edit mode of the sequencer might've been disabled in that; at least I never figured out how to do anything with it. If it's the 2.5 demo, which I played around with recently (I've got the full version now, yay!), click on the icon that looks like 3 different colored bars on top of each other to go into edit mode in the sequencer. There you can enter in notes for any instrument devices you've added into your rack.

[Devvyn]

For something as general as this, I'm going to have to point you to the "Getting Started" section of the Reason help file. I also suggest you make sure you have the most recent version.

One tip I will give for an absolute beginner is to use the little button on the far left at the top of the bottom pane. When you press it, it will switch between an overall view (which won't let you edit notes) to a track view for whichever track you select. Draw notes with the pencil, move them with the pointer. If you're using the demo and you want to copy and paste, select what you need to copy, and drag it to it's second location while holding Ctrl. (I'm not sure what the equivelent key is for the Mac, sorry).

If you have a keyboard and want to record, make sure the little circular "plug" icon is beside the track you want to record into. Also set up MIDI in the Options panel before you attempt to record.

If anyone is in a situation where they feel they need a lot of help and don't want to post here, feel free to add my email address to your MSN Messenger Contact List, if you have one, and speak to me online. Emails or PMs are accepted too, of course, any time.

[DJ_Ikronix]

How about...


What location do you place your own ReFills? Every time I boot up a song, I have to manually feed the location of all the Refills every single time... :cry:

[humanliteshow]

Hmm, it shouldn't make you do that every time. When it says sounds missing, click Search and Proceed, then Search Manually, or something to that effect. After you find the sound, it shouldn't make you look for it again unless, of course, you move the sample/refill in between working on the song.

I usually put ReFills in the Reason prog folder, where the Factory Sound Bank and Orkester bank are.

[Devvyn]

The answer to this is simple: put the ReFills wherever you please! Go to Edit | Preferences, Sound Locations page. Select up to four folders besides the Reason program folder where you would like Reason to check for sound samples, refills, patches, and anything else your song file might require.

Happy remixing!

[DJ_Ikronix]

Hey, thanks for the tip. I can't believe I friggin forgot about that... :oops:

[Devvyn]

No need to feel embarrassed. I will gladly attempt to answer any question, no matter how dumb it may seem. I'm here to help as much as possible.

[Devvyn]

I just want to keep this near the top so nobody misses it and starts a new topic about Reason. I wish I could make this a sticky...

[Protricity]

I just want to keep this near the top so nobody misses it and starts a new topic about Reason. I wish I could make this a sticky...

I don't think this thread should have priority over all the others.

Hi, i was messing with the Malstrom synthesizer and i was wondering about if i can let the mod kick in after a second or so. At this moment the instrument has mod the whole time, from start to end, but that is not what i want.
Of course i can manually set the mod value of the controller, but that is a lot of work if i have to do it with each note :pUhh.. why not just hook up the mod wheel to the modulator effect and turn the wheel off when you start, then push it up when you need the effect to happen?

Isn't this how its supposed to be done?

Wouldn't creating 2 maelstroms create a huge headache with notes playing at the same time, syn issues, and having to update 2 sequencer tracks for every notation change?

[Devvyn]

I'm not giving this thread priority, I'm trying to be helpful. If you've got a Reason question, you can ask it here. If you're trying to feel better than someone else, you are not contributing.

Mark7 wrote that automating the Mod Wheel for each note felt like too much work, and therefor that is NOT the answer he wanted to hear.

I don't know what a "syn issue" is, but if you read my tutorial or even just download the demo, it should be pretty clear that my solution fits. Of course, if anyone has a better idea, I'm not going to be one to say mine should still be used. Don't criticize if you aren't even paying attention and can't provide anything better. That's just rude.

Thanks for trying, anyway.

Next QUESTION?

[klm09]

To expand on Devvyn's idea, couldn't you use a Matrix and a CV Spider to prevent having to copy/paste the note data? Yes, you'd lose some programmability, but for simple stuff you'd avoid the hassle of making sure the notes are identical for both tracks.

[Protricity]

To expand on Devvyn's idea, couldn't you use a Matrix and a CV Spider to prevent having to copy/paste the note data? Yes, you'd lose some programmability, but for simple stuff you'd avoid the hassle of making sure the notes are identical for both tracks.

If you gave me a reason why the mod wheel idea doesn't work ideally for this situation then MAYBE, though its still messy as hell (still need to sync the tracks ex. cant have them both playing at the same time, need to turn one of when the other is on... huge headache)

Use mod wheel. Thats what its for.

[klm09]

Yeah but the point here was that he wanted a way to do it besides automating the modwheel. And, btw, I meant that you'd be sending the note data, not cv curve data from the Matrix.

EDIT: Curve date? Yes please. However, I meant curve data.

[Protricity]

I'm not giving this thread priority, I'm trying to be helpful. If you've got a Reason question, you can ask it here. If you're trying to feel better than someone else, you are not contributing.

Mark7 wrote that automating the Mod Wheel for each note felt like too much work, and therefor that is NOT the answer he wanted to hear.

I don't know what a "syn issue" is, but if you read my tutorial or even just download the demo, it should be pretty clear that my solution fits. Of course, if anyone has a better idea, I'm not going to be one to say mine should still be used. Don't criticize if you aren't even paying attention and can't provide anything better. That's just rude.

Thanks for trying, anyway.

Next QUESTION?

WTF is with all the insulting? Chill out bud. If you wanna do that stuff, go to unmod.

Anyway, Mark said he didn't want to edit the mod effects themselves. Yes, that would be a lot of work. What I don't think he realizes is that you can link ALL the mod effects to ONE mod wheel and just use that which is far far easier to do than having two tracks.

An even easier solution would be, if you are just dealing with FM and such mods, to turn the velocity modulators on. In other words, when you hae a low velocity note hit, less (or more) modulation is used on that note alone. This is very effective for polyphonic sequences. It also eliminates any need for using modwheels, dual tracks, and the like. Very easy.

[Protricity]

Yeah but the point here was that he wanted a way to do it besides automating the modwheel. And, btw, I meant that you'd be sending the note data, not cv curve date from the Matrix.

Gotcha. Still, at some point you'd have to automate each track to turn their volumes on and off so both tracks aren't playing at once.

So if you use that system, you're creating a headache of dealing with to tracks and syncing them AND you are still modulating volume.

Kinda kills the point eh?

Either way, consider my velocity idea. No modulation required at all! Just change the velocities of each note. Very easy.

[Devvyn]

The reason I didn't suggest the Matrix approach, as I said in my original response, is because it doesn't synch up properly to notes of all lengths without using some sort of automation to change the pattern or it's rate of play...which defeats the purpose of avoiding mod amount or mod wheel automation.

Suppose you have a note which is one bar long, and another note which is one half-bar long. Now, if you want the mod effect to come in, say, half-way through the note, you'd need to create a CV, Curve, or Note pattern which rises after one-quarter of a bar for the half note, and one half of a bar for that whole note. Since the Matrix repeats, the modulation would either rise and fall twice on the whole note, or not at all for the half note, depending on which note you were trying to set it up for. Am I not right on this? It gets even worse if you have a long note which isn't placed at the start of a bar.

Of course, as has been said, the mod wheel can be used instead of the Mod A/B. I would wire the output of the mod from the controlling Malstrom to the Mod Wheel input on the sounding Malstrom.

Again, I refer everyone to the demo Reason Module.
http://www.waterwave.org/Malstrom%20Delay%20Example.rns

[Protricity]

Here is the same example without having to use two tracks. I would become a headache later on.

http://rks.no-ip.com/~protricity/Malstrom%20Delay%20Example2.rns

This just uses release and sustain values and rather fluid.

[humanliteshow]

There is no headache involved in syncing two tracks. If you make changes, duplicate the track you changed, point the new track to the 2nd Malstrom, and delete the one you don't need anymore. It's not as easy as the mod wheel, but it's not a headache or hassle at all.

[Protricity]

There is no headache involved in syncing two tracks. If you make changes, duplicate the track you changed, point the new track to the 2nd Malstrom, and delete the one you don't need anymore. It's not as easy as the mod wheel, but it's not a headache or hassle at all.

Not unless you decide to do pitch bends, effect tweaks, rewire automation, matrix automation, and a few other things I cant think of at this moment...

[Devvyn]

I listened to Protricity's example, and the tremolo is present continuously, but it does become more pronounced as the note decays. I think this could actually work, but it would sound best with the use of a compressor with the proper release setting. If you really want to get around having to duplicate a track then I guess this may be the best approach.

I personally believe that although my approach is slightly more complex to set up, it is ultimately cleaner and more flexible. There are advantas to each, it seems.

[Protricity]

I listened to Protricity's example, and the tremolo is present continuously, but it does become more pronounced as the note decays. I think this could actually work, but it would sound best with the use of a compressor with the proper release setting. If you really want to get around having to duplicate a track then I guess this may be the best approach.

I personally believe that although my approach is slightly more complex to set up, it is ultimately cleaner and more flexible. There are advantas to each, it seems.

Your method also allows the use of 2 maelstrom synths to be mixed instead of just one. Ups and downs.

[(Cry()genic)]

Hi. I installed Reason 2.0 a couple of days ago and I'm having a problem with sending the ReDrum patterns to the sequencer. I use the penicl tool but instead I get silence. Are there any other ways? Do I need to get anything hooked up to the mixer (besides the drum machine)?

[klm09]

So, are you saying that when you use the Copy to Track menu option to transfer a pattern you've programmed in the ReDrum interface to the sequencer, you get silence? Or that when you program a sequence period, you can't hear anything?

Well, ok, that doesn't *really* matter.. :P but anywho, is the ReDrum connected to your mixer? Is the mixer connected to the hardware interface? (Is the hip bone conn.. uhh.. sorry).

In the sequencer, is the Track you've programmed the sequence in being "sent" to the ReDrum? What I mean is that is there a small icon that looks like a miniature ReDrum machine next to the "name" of the Track on the left side of the sequencer?

That's all I can think of for now.. hmm. Everything else works properly?

[(Cry()genic)]

Thanx man. I was blindly using the penicl tool...But I've got a second question now. When I wanna play my sequencer song. It always starts playing all of the sequencer track at once. I managed to turn that off, but I can't turn the synths off.

[klm09]

Sorry, but I don't quite get what you mean. Do you mean that you'd like it to start playing the different tracks at different times? Do you mean that you've programmed some patterns in a Matrix, and now you want to be able to get those synths that are controlled by the Matrix to not play all the time? Or that all the notes you've programmed in play at the same time in a giant chord of ear bleeding dissonance? If you could clarify a bit, I'm sure that one of us can help you. :)

[Devvyn]

I might be stating the obvious, but it might help to say this anyway:

About not hearing anything from the ReDrum:
This may seem ridiculously obvious, but it has happened to me--if you have not loaded samples or a kit, it will not produce sound.

About the sequencer:
The sequencer will play all tracks from left to right simultaneously. The tracks in the sequencer are not like individual patterns. So, if you want one part to come in later than another, you'll have to highlight it and drag it to the appropriate place.

Another reason for too much sound:
Also, things like the Matrix and the ReDrum will play continuously when you hit play regardless of what is in the sequencer if the "Pattern" button is lit on the device in question. I used to have a problem remembering that from time to time and then I would wonder why there was more sound than there was supposed to be.

[(Cry()genic)]

I did have the kit loaded.

The 2nd reson for too much sound is right, but how do you solve it? It doesn't show these tracks loaded into the sequencer.

[Villainelle]

I've got general questions about the program (I don't own it yet). I'm a Fruity 3.56 user who's looking to step up to something slightly more powerful, and it's between Reason 2.5 and FL Studio 4. I've heard Reason is the more "professional" software, but I don't care about the image of the program, I'm just a bit worried about limitations...

1. So Reason can't use VSTs? Does that mean I'm stuck with Reason's default synths, or is there some other way to sneak in, say, an Absynth VST? Or are Reason's synths good enough to not even need plug-ins?

2. What about effects and such, would I be able to download those or am I likewise stuck with the default program settings and I'll have to make all my effects manually? *fear* I already have trouble trying to stop myself tweaking other people's plug-ins...if I have to do it ALL myself I'll never get anything done... (cry)

3. You can't have tempo changes in Reason songs, right? Is there at least something similar to Fruity's automation?

TIA!

[klm09]

I've got general questions about the program (I don't own it yet). I'm a Fruity 3.56 user who's looking to step up to something slightly more powerful, and it's between Reason 2.5 and FL Studio 4. I've heard Reason is the more "professional" software, but I don't care about the image of the program, I'm just a bit worried about limitations...

1. So Reason can't use VSTs? Does that mean I'm stuck with Reason's default synths, or is there some other way to sneak in, say, an Absynth VST? Or are Reason's synths good enough to not even need plug-ins?

2. What about effects and such, would I be able to download those or am I likewise stuck with the default program settings and I'll have to make all my effects manually? *fear* I already have trouble trying to stop myself tweaking other people's plug-ins...if I have to do it ALL myself I'll never get anything done... (cry)

3. You can't have tempo changes in Reason songs, right? Is there at least something similar to Fruity's automation?

TIA!

1. You can't use VSTs in Reason, per se, but via ReWiring it to another program such as Cubase you could. But no, you can't use them in Reason. However, I'd say the synths definately are good enough that you don't need anything else, except for some very outlandish sounds that are only producible via very specific forms of synthesis, etc.

2. Yup, you're also "stuck" with the stuff that comes with Reason. But again, they're all of such quality that you don't necessarily need anything else.

3. Yes, you can automate just about every parameter of every machine either manually or then via the Matrix.

Crap lesson starting must stop here.

[Protricity]

3. You can't have tempo changes in Reason songs, right? Is there at least something similar to Fruity's automation?

TIA!

Reason, rewired to cubase, can use a 'tempo track' from within cubase to control the master tempo. This is a very effective way to control reason's tempo. I do it all the time, but beware, there is a reason delay module bug that occurs on tempo changes D:.

[Villainelle]

Thanks for the info, guys! Decided to buy. :)

[klm09]

3. You can't have tempo changes in Reason songs, right? Is there at least something similar to Fruity's automation?

TIA!

Reason, rewired to cubase, can use a 'tempo track' from within cubase to control the master tempo. This is a very effective way to control reason's tempo. I do it all the time, but beware, there is a reason delay module bug that occurs on tempo changes D:.

Does the same thing happen as when you change the delay time on the fly? Like that tape speed fluctuation type of sound? (I don't have Cubase so I can't try it out)

[(Cry()genic)]

Another reason for too much sound:
Also, things like the Matrix and the ReDrum will play continuously when you hit play regardless of what is in the sequencer if the "Pattern" button is lit on the device in question. I used to have a problem remembering that from time to time and then I would wonder why there was more sound than there was supposed to be.

how do you solve it?!

[Villainelle]

Another reason for too much sound:
Also, things like the Matrix and the ReDrum will play continuously when you hit play regardless of what is in the sequencer if the "Pattern" button is lit on the device in question. I used to have a problem remembering that from time to time and then I would wonder why there was more sound than there was supposed to be.

how do you solve it?!

Er...I just found this in the Reason 2.5 help file:

The Pattern Enable switch
If you deactivate the "Pattern" button above the pattern selection buttons, the pattern playback will be muted, starting at the next downbeat (exactly as if you had selected an empty (silent) pattern). For example, this can be used for bringing different pattern devices in and out of the mix during playback.

[Villainelle]

Also, I've got some actual questions now for you Reason users...

1. Is there any sort of scripting possible? Specifically, I'm wondering if it's possible to do something like select some notes and then run a script that lengthens all selected by 1/4.

2. Any tips or tricks you guys have for grouping? What useful things have you done with it, besides just separating stuff categorically?

[Villainelle]

1. Is there any sort of scripting possible? Specifically, I'm wondering if it's possible to do something like select some notes and then run a script that lengthens all selected by 1/4.

!!! I'm not spamming, but I think I just figured out how to do that without scripting...

So apparently all you have to do is select the notes in keyboard edit mode, then drag the little black box on the end of any note to your desired length and all notes are lengthened that amount. Only problem is that spacing isn't kept intact and the notes overlap...any ideas on how to either keep spacing the same or lengthen it as well?

[klm09]

Do you mean you want to, say, turn a bar of 8th notes into 2 bars of quarter notes? That you can achieve by selecting the notes, right clicking and choosing "Edit Events" (I'm pretty sure that's what it's called). There you can do what I desribed above, with the "scale tempo" function iirc.

[Villainelle]

Do you mean you want to, say, turn a bar of 8th notes into 2 bars of quarter notes? That you can achieve by selecting the notes, right clicking and choosing "Edit Events" (I'm pretty sure that's what it's called). There you can do what I desribed above, with the "scale tempo" function iirc.

YES! Exactly! That works beautifully, thank you so much.

[(Cry()genic)]

Er...I just found this in the Reason 2.5 help file:

The Pattern Enable switch
If you deactivate the "Pattern" button above the pattern selection buttons, the pattern playback will be muted, starting at the next downbeat (exactly as if you had selected an empty (silent) pattern). For example, this can be used for bringing different pattern devices in and out of the mix during playback.

You're a fucking genious! Thank you!

[(Cry()genic)]

DAMN IT STILL DOESN'T WORK! I remember in one of the demo songs, the pattern menu in the Matrix was "highlighted". Does anyboy know how to do this?

[sgx]

The purple line box thang around the pattern bank numbers and letters? It gets highlighted when you draw or drag those pattern tab things in the sequencer when looking in pattern view for that track. When it's highlighted, that signifies that the pattern stuff is automated (just as any knob or slider gets highlighted green when it is automated). Hope that helps/was clear.

[Villainelle]

Automation question...

Okay, could someone tell me if this is correct or if there's something I missed? When you automate a device, the automation data is stored in the corresponding track. The mixer doesn't have a track so you need to create one for it to add automation. There is no other place your automation data will end up...right? No secret cubbyhole or something? Just want to make sure I'll be able to find my automation again...it was a pain to do this in Fruity Loops. Blah.

[Protricity]

Automation question...

Okay, could someone tell me if this is correct or if there's something I missed? When you automate a device, the automation data is stored in the corresponding track. The mixer doesn't have a track so you need to create one for it to add automation. There is no other place your automation data will end up...right? No secret cubbyhole or something? Just want to make sure I'll be able to find my automation again...it was a pain to do this in Fruity Loops. Blah.

You are correct. The only way to record in realtime a knob or switch's automation is with a track that has midi focus. Midi focus is the little midi icon next to the track that you can select (only one at a time, though). So naturally, if a knob or whell has no track, it cannot be the focus of the midi marker, right?

Cool thing about cubase sx is that if you automate ANYTHING, it will create an automation track in the right location for you.

[Villainelle]

Excellent. Thanks!

[(Cry()genic)]

Ok, I've got a question that I've been wanting to ask for quite a while now:

Is there any way to adjust the tempo of a Dr Rex loop without adjusting the whole sequencer?

[klm09]

Ok, I've got a question that I've been wanting to ask for quite a while now:

Is there any way to adjust the tempo of a Dr Rex loop without adjusting the whole sequencer?Send it to a track, highlight the notes, right click, choose Edit Events, and manipulate the tempo from there.

[Protricity]

Ok, I've got a question that I've been wanting to ask for quite a while now:

Is there any way to adjust the tempo of a Dr Rex loop without adjusting the whole sequencer?

If you wanna adjust the tempo of the drex, you might also want to adjust the tempo of the whole song. If you have cubase, rewire reason to cubase by opening cubase, then reason. Create a Tempo Track on Cubase and set cubase to midi master. Then you can alter the tempo anywhere during a song.

[(Cry()genic)]

Thnx 4 the last question. Now more: Does Reason support any plugins (not refills)?

[Compyfox]

If you mean VSTi/DXi or VST/DX plugings...

Unfortunately only via a VST Host like Cubase, Logic (etc.) that's connected via ReWire so far. The advantage... you can fully controll Reason with the "Master Sequencer" (including automation). One of the disadvantages... more switching between programs and saving/making backups of two different files - which also means "loading" two files too or the song isn't completed the next time you want to work on it.

[ffmusic dj]

hay, I have been helping out people for a while online, if people need help online, just ask me. I would be more than happy to help out. with reason 2.5

[Protricity]

hay, I have been helping out people for a while online, if people need help online, just ask me. I would be more than happy to help out. with reason 2.5

Wanna help me out then?
My Soundbank cd was scratched and I need to burn another one, what I need to know is the cd label of the Reason Sound Bank (the default one). I just need the label :)
Anyone have?

[*Drasiir]

hay, I have been helping out people for a while online, if people need help online, just ask me. I would be more than happy to help out. with reason 2.5

Wanna help me out then?
My Soundbank cd was scratched and I need to burn another one, what I need to know is the cd label of the Reason Sound Bank (the default one). I just need the label :)
Anyone have?

Sound Bank

[(Cry()genic)]

thnx again. Are there any programs that will let me convert wav loops and samples into Dr. REX files?

[Villainelle]

Okay, I'm trying for a trance sound right now, and it's just not happening. Gating a synth is giving me the most trouble. I've read a bunch of tutorials and tried things like plugging a Redrum into a synth and then using drum patterns to dice the sound up, but I can't quite get the sound I want. Could anyone else share their techniques for getting that gated, rhythmic trance sound out of Reason's synths? Thanks.

[DJ_Ikronix]

I usually don't do anything complicated like that, although, I suppose you could set an LFO/Mod on the volume or something...kind of an extreme vibrato, or something.

Are you having problems programming a synth sound? Or are you just looking to make a good pattern?

I usually just sequence it directly onto the track...

[Villainelle]

I can program a synth to make the sound I want, but can't figure out how to modulate it properly to give it a fluctuating, trancey gated sound... Automated volume...been trying that, it sounds close to the sound I'm trying to get.

So, if you were remixing a game song into trance, would you completely rewrite the notation of your leads to get that trance sound, or would you stay close to the original notation and use automation to accomplish the trance sound?

[DJ_Ikronix]

I would personally use notation, and rewrite the lead, because LFO's/Mod's don't really cut the sound quick enough for me.

I know that RV304810239487-whatever Reverb unite has some sort of Gating mechanism on it, but I'll be damned if I can get it to work... :P

Also, you can put more variation if you're not relying on a waveshape to modulate the volume for you.

[Xelebes]

I can program a synth to make the sound I want, but can't figure out how to modulate it properly to give it a fluctuating, trancey gated sound... Automated volume...been trying that, it sounds close to the sound I'm trying to get.

So, if you were remixing a game song into trance, would you completely rewrite the notation of your leads to get that trance sound, or would you stay close to the original notation and use automation to accomplish the trance sound?

I would actually use a gating tool. Mind you, I tend to dislike the automated gate except when I ambutchering beats and melodies.

[sephfire]

Hey, I know this an extremely basic question and I'm sorry, but I don't have access to my operations manual at the moment.
Can Reason open other types of song file formats (ie: FruityLoops, Cubase, etc.)? Is there a way to translate them into .rns format? If this just isn't possible, what's the best way to go about collaborations?

[klm09]

Hey, I know this an extremely basic question and I'm sorry, but I don't have access to my operations manual at the moment.
Can Reason open other types of song file formats (ie: FruityLoops, Cubase, etc.)? Is there a way to translate them into .rns format? If this just isn't possible, what's the best way to go about collaborations?

Nope. Each sequencer has its own proprietary file format, and converters don't exist. But: all of them can open midi files, so that's the best way. Beyond that there's making wavs of "your bit" and the other guy importing that into his sequencer. If this route is taken, it's a good idea to make a separate wav of every element in the mix even though it takes more of everything: time, effort, diskspace.. because that way you're not stuck with a certain eq or panning or whatever for whole portions of the mix.

[klm09]

I know that RV304810239487-whatever Reverb unite has some sort of Gating mechanism on it, but I'll be damned if I can get it to work... :P
Yeah, but that's for the reverb itself, so that when the reverb falls below a certain volume threshold, it gets muted. So you can't really use it for gating.

[chokst~1.bat]

It's interesting watching the ideas that everyone is trying to do with their music in Reason; and the kind of answers people are giving out. I've played around the program for maybe 4 or 5 days since I had it (bought it in September - mainly because I wanted an alternative to Fruityloops, and so I can have a glimpse of how one of my friends makes alot of his music)... and it's quite the cool tool; no doubt. :)

I don't have any questions yet (since most of things I want to learn on my own for now; and I'm not familiar with the 'language' people use here for most musical terms anyways), but if I ever want any help with something - I'll be sure to come back here and post my questions to see what you veterans have to say; even if I'm just looking for a second opinion about how something should be organized. Good luck with all your Reason adventures guys. Peace!

[Villainelle]

Edit: nevermind, got a used copy of Logic 5.5 for Windows, happy as a clam now. :)

[GrayLightning]

The official Reason thread is now stickyfied. More power to reason users. ^_^ I hope you don't mind the title change as it's more prominent now.

Also be sure to check out SGX's super reason tricks guide (http://www.ocremix.org/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=24096).

I also use Reason, but I can't promise I know the ins and outs of it yet. :P

[humanliteshow]

Gating is very easy to do. First make a mixer, a Matrix, and whatever module you want gated. The module will be hooked up as normal to the mixer, but the Matrix you will run a cable from the "Curve CV" on back to the "Level CV In" on the Mixer channel your module is on(on the back of the mixer). Finally, turn the knob right under "Level CV in" all the way to the right.

Flip the rack back over, switch the Matrix to "Curve" at the top, and paint in the rhythm you want(alternating 1/8 notes, randomize, etc.) Now, hit play on the Matrix, and when you play the module, the Matrix will only allow the sound through on your painted in rhythm.

EDIT: Whoops! Forgot to say to put the Matrix in "Bipolar" mode on the back.

[Mesaria's Prophet]

Alright, so, a question from a relative n00b to the program. I've forgotten what the proper term is for what I'm looking to create, but on a piece of sheet, it looks like a little note strung to a normal sized note on the same beat.

Anyway, as I don't have a keyboard, I'm setting the notes directly into the sequencer, and I've yet to figure out how to do this (or at least, been able to get the note to work exactly the way I want it to - I've been screwing around with the note velocity/attack/decay). Any help would be appreciated.

[Longinus]

Alright, so, a question from a relative n00b to the program. I've forgotten what the proper term is for what I'm looking to create, but on a piece of sheet, it looks like a little note strung to a normal sized note on the same beat.
It's called a grace note, and it is in fact a separate note. It's just so short that it's seen as subordinate to the longer note following it. Just put two notes in the sequencer.

[Argitoth]

How do you automate speed/tempo?

[Mesaria's Prophet]

Alright, so, a question from a relative n00b to the program. I've forgotten what the proper term is for what I'm looking to create, but on a piece of sheet, it looks like a little note strung to a normal sized note on the same beat.
It's called a grace note, and it is in fact a separate note. It's just so short that it's seen as subordinate to the longer note following it. Just put two notes in the sequencer.

I figured that much out already (the bit about placing a second note). I suppose what I was really asking is how to create a really damned short note, with an extremely short sustain time.

[sgx]

How do you automate speed/tempo?
You can't :(


Alright, so, a question from a relative n00b to the program. I've forgotten what the proper term is for what I'm looking to create, but on a piece of sheet, it looks like a little note strung to a normal sized note on the same beat.
It's called a grace note, and it is in fact a separate note. It's just so short that it's seen as subordinate to the longer note following it. Just put two notes in the sequencer.

I figured that much out already (the bit about placing a second note). I suppose what I was really asking is how to create a really damned short note, with an extremely short sustain time.

Zoom in as close as you can. If the 64th note division isn't fast enough, unlock the snap-to thang and you can get really small divisions. It gets a bit tricky and hit or miss, though.


Yo people, I have a Reason tricks guide thang. You can check it out at www.supergreenx.com/reasontricks.php or you can go search through here and find the thread for it I made a while ago. Email me or post any kewl new tricks you know of that I haven't got in the guide and I'll add em.

[Mesaria's Prophet]

Okay, time for another question. How do I get a note to fade in or out? A couple've the tutorials I've been reading make reference to a curve tool, but I can't seem to find it.

[humanliteshow]

Okay, time for another question. How do I get a note to fade in or out? A couple've the tutorials I've been reading make reference to a curve tool, but I can't seem to find it.

That's what "Release" is for on the Amp Envelope. The higher you set that, the longer it will take for the note to stop sounding after the note is released, or the end of the note, if you aren't using a keyboard. It creates a fading-out effect that can be automated in as needed.

[klm09]

Okay, time for another question. How do I get a note to fade in or out? A couple've the tutorials I've been reading make reference to a curve tool, but I can't seem to find it.

That's what "Release" is for on the Amp Envelope. The higher you set that, the longer it will take for the note to stop sounding after the note is released, or the end of the note, if you aren't using a keyboard. It creates a fading-out effect that can be automated in as needed.Also, the Attack setting controls how quickly the note fades in.

[chokst~1.bat]

How do you automate speed/tempo?
Hrmmm.. this might sound stupid, but you can try opening Sound Recorder (making sure your record settings are on Wave/Stereo out, and that your sample rate is around 44khz 16bit stereo) and than press play in Reason and move the tempo tags up and down manually as you're recording it live to Sound Recorder. You can also export it to wave first at the slowest tempo; than use something like Cooledit to unstretch it to different levels - but that method might affect the actual wave frequency of some of the instruments.

I've tried sampling full wave files from Reason into Fruitloops before too; to play around with it there. It's trickier because you have to keep restarting from the beginning or export it to hear the results (unless you split the wave into many sections and put it in a pattern first) - but still kind of interesting... slicing waves together to form a cool arrangement with features from other programs; that didn't work as well in Reason.

Editing music after it's in a wave file (or many wave files - if you're mixing channels with different settings) can be alot of fun... even just with regular Sound Recorder; let alone with CoolEdit and such. Many people who are accustomed to doing everything in their specific program are afraid to try this - but it can give you some pretty neat results when you give it a chance. All depends what you're after, I guess. :)

[Protricity]

How do you automate speed/tempo?
You can't :(


That, or rewire to cubase or any other valid Rewire supported controller that supports tempo automation. I do it all the time.

However, there is a bug in reason: if you change tempo while using a delay mod, the delay mod goes into pitch bending spasms and screws your song up. Either dont use delay at all, deal with the pitchbends, or avoid the use of delay during tempo changes.

[klm09]

How do you automate speed/tempo?
You can't :(


That, or rewire to cubase or any other valid Rewire supported controller that supports tempo automation. I do it all the time.

However, there is a bug in reason: if you change tempo while using a delay mod, the delay mod goes into pitch bending spasms and screws your song up. Either dont use delay at all, deal with the pitchbends, or avoid the use of delay during tempo changes.Actually, it's not really a bug as such, as that's how they implemented getting the delay synced to the tempo again when the BPM is changed. The buffer for the delay is filled with data that corresponds to the unchanged tempo, and by doing that pitch bend thing it quickly clears out the buffer. Why they implemented it like that is a mystery to me; it's the only thing really that I'm aware of that would have to be changed to allow "clean" tempo automation.

[Protricity]

How do you automate speed/tempo?
You can't :(


That, or rewire to cubase or any other valid Rewire supported controller that supports tempo automation. I do it all the time.

However, there is a bug in reason: if you change tempo while using a delay mod, the delay mod goes into pitch bending spasms and screws your song up. Either dont use delay at all, deal with the pitchbends, or avoid the use of delay during tempo changes.Actually, it's not really a bug as such, as that's how they implemented getting the delay synced to the tempo again when the BPM is changed. The buffer for the delay is filled with data that corresponds to the unchanged tempo, and by doing that pitch bend thing it quickly clears out the buffer. Why they implemented it like that is a mystery to me; it's the only thing really that I'm aware of that would have to be changed to allow "clean" tempo automation.

As the implimentation of rewire includes tempo change support deliberately, the delay's inability to perform well is an unintended and detrimental aspect of the reason system. By the accepted definition, this is a bug. It could have easily been fixed. However, to fix the bug would mean to change the system. Changing how the system sounds would be very inappropriate. People have completed songs in reason and would not want them sounding any different (or even being byte-wise different) in the downmix. I know I wouldn't. Thus, they wont change it. Its just unfortunate as it bugs the hell out of me.

[klm09]

How do you automate speed/tempo?
You can't :(


That, or rewire to cubase or any other valid Rewire supported controller that supports tempo automation. I do it all the time.

However, there is a bug in reason: if you change tempo while using a delay mod, the delay mod goes into pitch bending spasms and screws your song up. Either dont use delay at all, deal with the pitchbends, or avoid the use of delay during tempo changes.Actually, it's not really a bug as such, as that's how they implemented getting the delay synced to the tempo again when the BPM is changed. The buffer for the delay is filled with data that corresponds to the unchanged tempo, and by doing that pitch bend thing it quickly clears out the buffer. Why they implemented it like that is a mystery to me; it's the only thing really that I'm aware of that would have to be changed to allow "clean" tempo automation.

As the implimentation of rewire includes tempo change support deliberately, the delay's inability to perform well is an unintended and detrimental aspect of the reason system. By the accepted definition, this is a bug. It could have easily been fixed. However, to fix the bug would mean to change the system. Changing how the system sounds would be very inappropriate. People have completed songs in reason and would not want them sounding any different (or even being byte-wise different) in the downmix. I know I wouldn't. Thus, they wont change it. Its just unfortunate as it bugs the hell out of me.Yeah.. you have a point. Which came first, though? Rewire or Reason? If Reason, then your logic for it being a bug (although I do agree that it is such, just that it's intentional, unfortunately) is somewhat flawed, as at that time the tempo automation would have been impossible and the "bug" would never have been a concern, thus making that type of implementation perfectly viable.

[Xelebes]

The crazy pitchbending spasms, I've noticed, also happen when you automate the delay time. It's not just a product of ReWire.

That's supposed to happen. Changing the delay time will create flanging effect.

[klm09]

The crazy pitchbending spasms, I've noticed, also happen when you automate the delay time. It's not just a product of ReWire.

That's supposed to happen. Changing the delay time will create flanging effect.

Exactly. And if the delay time is syched to the tempo, changed the tempo also changes the delay. It's not a bug at all.But it's not flanging.. it's like your delayed melody is going along nicely, "doot do doot do do dooooot", but then when you change the tempo / delay time it's like "doot do doot BWOOOOOOONNNNNNNNGGGGggggg.... doot do doot doot". I'm not kidding. :| I'll upload an example mp3 when I have more time.

[humanliteshow]

It's an effect common to many different types of delays. I have a guitar pedal that does the same thing if you stomp the expression pedal to change the delay time while notes are being played. It's just something that happens when you mess with a time-based effect like delay.

[sgx]

I love that "bug"! Makes some cool sounds if you do it on purpose!

[shadow]

Heh, that's what I thought as well when I first heard it do that.

[klm09]

It's an effect common to many different types of delays. I have a guitar pedal that does the same thing if you stomp the expression pedal to change the delay time while notes are being played. It's just something that happens when you mess with a time-based effect like delay.Yeah, but it's possible to implement it so that doesn't happen. Like for example by quickly crossfading from the old buffer to the new one when the delay time of the new buffer is "over" (like 300 ms for a 300 ms delay). Or by simply emptying the buffer normally (playing through it) and starting to fill the buffer at the new tempo / delay time at the end. Some issues rise with those implementations too (mostly that the delay will be off time until it catches up), but it's not as obvious as the "BWOOoonnng" implementation.

[Vig]

here's a question:

there is a slight but noticeable delay time between when my keyboard sends signal to reason and when reason sends sound to my speakers.

how can i eliminate this?

[Xelebes]

You will always have this delay as the computer needs to synthesise/encode the sound. The best you can do is use ASIO drivers to get the delay down to like 5~15 ms.

[danny B]

My ASIO latency is 5 ms. Works great. Fucks cubase sx up though :(. Just make sure you have an ASIO card, like an Audigy or Audiophile.

-D

[GrayLightning]

Mine's set at 7ms. I could go to 3ms, but I'd rather go with a balance of reliability and speed.

[Vig]

okay, so how does one change this latency?

[GrayLightning]

In reason it's in edit - preferences - audio.

[Vig]

OHOKTHXBYELOL!!~

[Protricity]

In reason it's in edit - preferences - audio.

and in cubase?

Shit, wrong thread..

[Mark7]

How do you make the velocity of NN-XT instruments work like usual? I want to change the volume with velocity, but right now it just makes the notes a bit duller when i set the velocity to 0.

thx...

[klm09]

How do you make the velocity of NN-XT instruments work like usual? I want to change the volume with velocity, but right now it just makes the notes a bit duller when i set the velocity to 0.

thx...Open up the remote editor. There's a group of knobs under "Velocity". Adjust the "Level" knob: the more you boost it, the greater the difference between 0 and max velocity in terms of volume, where 0 is quieter, while reducing it below the neutral middle position will apply the opposite effect (0 velocity is louder than max velocity). The other knobs tweak other parameters in a similar manner.

[klm09]

Pardon the double post, but this deserves it:

http://www.members.optushome.com.au/brendanscott/supersweet/sweetreasonfaq.html

An absolutely FABULOUS Reason faq. :)

EDIT: It also covers some non-Reason specific issues that are asked quite frequently, like extracting vocals out of a mix.

[Mark7]

THX! I realized that i had to select the samples first to make that button work. I never really toyed with the NN-XT before...but i'm starting to get the hang of it...now.

[DJ_Ikronix]

Hey, that FAQ is nice. :)

I was over at the tranceaddict boards, and someone new to Reason asked for a demonstration (when I pressed him further, he said "Punk"), so I whipped up a quicky "Punk"-ripoff demo file. :)

Link. (http://hstrial-RB1.homestead.com/files/weakpunkattempt.rns) Fear the lack of bandwith. :cry:

(if it doesn't work, wait an hour)


It's not an exact representation in any sense, but if you're new to Reason, it might help a bit. And if it sucks (it does), feel free to not let me know. :wink:

[Mark7]

NICE! You might wanna change the ratio of the compressor imo.

Can you replicate that rave synth you hear in "Prodigy - Smack My Bitch" up too? The one that starts at 0:21 in the 5:43 version of the song. I always wanted to use such a synth :).

ELSE I might give it a try myself...

[sgx]

If anyone wants to check out a few of my mixes' .rns files, you can grab em here: www.supergreenx.com/tutorials.php

[DJ_Ikronix]

Can you replicate that rave synth you hear in "Prodigy - Smack My Bitch" up too? The one that starts at 0:21 in the 5:43 version of the song.

I don't have immediate access to that song right now (later tonight I will), but if it's the one I'm thinking of...sort of.

It's that wide, distorted bassline thingy, right? I've made stuff like that before. I've never tried that type of automation before, though.

Worth a shot, I guess.

[Mark7]

Ok, i had another incredibly bright idea to make an panning delay ;) (this one is better than my post on the first page of this thread, hehe).

This time i made a 2 steps delay that pans from left to right to left to right etc (NOT a 3 steps delay and a 4 steps delay combined, that would be the easy way out, hehe).

EDIT: download it here (http://www.sevenhoven.demon.nl/Reason/Mark7panningdelay.rns)

Anyway, here we go:
- create a mixer as usual
- create a 3 delay unit underneath
- set the first delay to 2 steps and we'll name the delay "first left delay" and set the FEEDBACK button to 0
- set the second delay 4 steps and name it "left delay" and set the DRY/WET button to the middle.
- set the third delay to 4 steps and name it "right delay". Don't change anything else on this one.

Now press tab and we will connect the wires correctly to aux 1 of the mixer:
- disconnect all wires from the delays to the mixer (to avoid confusion)
- connect Aux Send Out 1 Left to "first delay left" left input
- connect Aux Send Out 1 Right to "right delay" left input
- connect Aux Return 1 Left to "left delay" left output
- connect Aux Return 1 Right to "right delay" left output

And finally the wires between the delays:
- connect "first left delay" left output to "left delay" left input
- connect "first left delay" right output to "left delay" right input

That's it! (I hope i didn't forget anything)
I was kinda surprised that it worked so good myself, hehe

[Argitoth]

No example RNS??? :cry:

[Argitoth]

Did I do it right? Delayness.rns (http://www.azbanjo.com/argitoth/Delayness.rns)

[Mark7]

No, that's not what i meant, although it sounds quite nice. I mailed my example to you.

Get it here (http://www.sevenhoven.demon.nl/Reason/Mark7panningdelay.rns)

[JOJOFACE]

Is there anyway to do recording in 'keyframes' a la Flash MX/Cinema 4D? Like... Instead of live recording, so you can fine tune the effects? >_<'

[humanliteshow]

You can paint in notes by hand in the piano roll section of the sequencer or you can do measure by measure programming of individual instruments using the Matrix pattern sequencer. The downside to the Matrix is it's monophonic only.

[Debotron-6K]

Hey guys.. got a question about panning.

Here is a visual aid:
http://www.arches.uga.edu/~justind/img/malstrom1.jpg

As you can see, I've got this malstrom pattern that plays four times.
I want to pan it from left to right each time it plays. What's the easiest way to do this?

[humanliteshow]

Right click the Pan knob for the mixer channel the Malstrom is hooked up to, click "Edit Automation", and paint in the values you want for the length of time you want.

[Debotron-6K]

Hmm.. I see what you are talking about, but 'Edit Automation' is greyed out.

http://www.arches.uga.edu/~justind/img/pan.gif

???

[sgx]

you need to make a sequencer track for the mixer so you can control it. Once you paint in the panning automation, you can actually group the automation and copy paste the pattern if you like. Will save a lot of painting if you're making a pattern.

[humanliteshow]

Oops, forgot about the all important sequencer track! :oops:

[Debotron-6K]

It's cool, HLS. I had never thought to make a sequencer track for the mixer.. I'm learning new stuff with this program every day!!
Muchos gracias, Danny!

[tgfoo]

alright, mabye somebody can help me out here. I'm making an orchestral song in reason and the big problem i have is with key signature changes. the song starts out in 4/4, goes into a section where it alternates between somethign with 5 beats per measure and somethign with 6 beats permeasure. SGX recommened I do the part with 5 beats in a seperate rns file and then combine them later. originally I didn't want to do this, but as i progressed in the orchestation, it became necessary.

Basically what my question is, what's the easiest way to combine these two parts? i will have one rns file with the 4/4 beginning and the parts with 6 beats on it, and then another rns file with the 5 beat sections. Is there a way to move the content of one file over to the other while keeping the notation in the measures the same? or am i gonna have to export each individually and just combine the wav files?

[sgx]

You can highlight, copy and paste all the stuff you did in the sequencer into the other reason file in one big group. Just make sure your sequencer's tracks are in the same order between the files and your racks are the same. The copy/paste function is a bit weird, so Reason may make all new sequencer tracks below where you were trying to paste them. Just highlight and drag the automation upward.

Though it sounds like you will need to be doing this a lot and it may get messy since your song keeps alternating different time sigs. You could also just compose while ignoring the gridlines' time sig divisions.

[tgfoo]

But would that work if the tempo in the two files are different?

[sgx]

Well if you copy sequencing from one file to another, the tempo will automatically change to what it is in the file you are copying into. So, you'll have to use time stretching to change the length of the notes to get that sequencing back to a similar tempo as before. (Select the sequencing you want to change, right click, change events, then enter in a time stretch value) This will work fine, but now any editing of that section will be kinda annoying since the grid divisions and snap-to of the project won't correspond to your stretched stuff.

[tgfoo]

meh, guess I'll give it a try

[-RK-]

Yeah, uh, where can I find a demo of Reason. I can't decide which new software to upgrade to yet and a Reason is the last program on my list to try. :wink:

[GrayLightning]

http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/index.cfm?fuseaction=mainframe

[-RK-]

Oh, thank you. :wink:

[-RK-]

Wow, uh, Reason is kinda confusing. Does anybody know of any good Reason tutorials? I just hear such great things about the program that I want to really give it a fair shot, and since I have been looking to upgrade, I figure I should try each program to its fullest. :wink:

[humanliteshow]

How is it confusing??? You create an instrument, either in the top menus, or by right clicking in the empty rack area, one appears, a sequencer track is autocreated for it, and all you have to do is hit record and start playing notes on your keyboard.

[Uncle]

How is it confusing??? You create an instrument, either in the top menus, or by right clicking in the empty rack area, one appears, a sequencer track is autocreated for it, and all you have to do is hit record and start playing notes on your keyboard.

I'm guessing LordMaestro doesn't have a keyboard. When I first tried out the demo, I didn't have a keyboard (I still don't), and I had no idea how to do anything. I saw all these different devices, none of which I knew how to create sound with or what they even did for that matter. Trust me, it was a really intimidating experience.

However, I'm willing to bet that LM here has used piano roll before in one of his previous programs. That being the case, look at the sequencing window. In the very upper-left corner of the window, there should be three horizontial bars: one red, one yellow, one blue. Clicking that button will allow you to enter Edit Mode.
In Edit Mode, you will see several different lanes: a Key Lane for entering and editing note values, and a Velocity Lane for editing the velocities of the respective notes, among other lanes. These lanes can be hidden/restored by the buttons located to the right of the Edit Mode button. Using the Key Lane, you can enter in notes piano roll style.
Keep in mind that these lanes only pertain to the selected track. For instance, if you had the Redrum drum machine track selected, you will only see note/velocity values that that particular Redrum unit will process. So make sure you have the track selected that has the instrument you want on it.

Hope that helps! If something I've said didn't make sense, lemme know and I'll try to clear things up.

[DJ_Ikronix]

Hey guys. Someone on another board asked me to make a supersaw sound with Reason, and I figured it will be good knowledge anyways, so I went ahead and tried. Much to my surprise, I came up with something in about 10 minutes, mainly by accident.

Right Click, Save As (http://www.geocities.com/lurkronix/airwavesupersaw.zip) (it's geocities, so if it doesn't work, wait a hour or so...)

It's not perfect, and it could use some EQ'ing, but it seems to have helped the person who asked, so maybe it'll help those that have had problems getting the sound they want.

[Synth]

Can you layer racks? For example could I control redrum and subtractor at the same time with a midi controller?

[klm09]

Hey guys. Someone on another board asked me to make a supersaw sound with Reason, and I figured it will be good knowledge anyways, so I went ahead and tried. Much to my surprise, I came up with something in about 10 minutes, mainly by accident.

Right Click, Save As (http://www.geocities.com/lurkronix/airwavesupersaw.zip) (it's geocities, so if it doesn't work, wait a hour or so...)

It's not perfect, and it could use some EQ'ing, but it seems to have helped the person who asked, so maybe it'll help those that have had problems getting the sound they want.Whoa.. :o Awesome. I'm gonna have to copy some of that for my next trance mix. ;)

[sgx]

Hey guys. Someone on another board asked me to make a supersaw sound with Reason, and I figured it will be good knowledge anyways, so I went ahead and tried. Much to my surprise, I came up with something in about 10 minutes, mainly by accident.

Right Click, Save As (http://www.geocities.com/lurkronix/airwavesupersaw.zip) (it's geocities, so if it doesn't work, wait a hour or so...)

It's not perfect, and it could use some EQ'ing, but it seems to have helped the person who asked, so maybe it'll help those that have had problems getting the sound they want.

That's very good! Its amazing how much the unison machine rawks. Bypass the unisons on there, and those synths sound so shitty. :D

[Hy Bound]

I may be some kind of retard or something, but how do u get the midi sounds into the different colored bars so i can rearrange them instead of being the stupid little note stupids... im really frustrated about this... also, how do you do a fade-out without manually using the master volume knob with the (green square thing around it).

[sgx]

I assume you mean you want to group stuff. You can highlight what you want to group, right click, then select 'group'. Or you can use the pencil tool and drag it over the area you want to group.

As for your other question, i'm not sure if you mean you do or don't want to do the 'green box around slider' method (this is called automation, btw). But, I think that's about the only method there is. You'll have to create a new track in the sequencer and set it to control the mixer that has the volume knob you want to automate. Then right click the knob and select edit automation. Draw your automation for the fadeout.

This stuff is all in the getting started manual that came with the software. You should check it first before asking people here. Good thing I'm killing time in the library between classes :)

[Hy Bound]

I've been looking for how to do this for a long time and it doesn't seem to be anywhere that i look. How do you make that air hose sound, as in the end of the "Four Notes" song (Reason demo song) or in the middle of "Demonik Electronik" by Anoloq? Its such a cool sound. :)!!

[Reu]

Hi guys, is it possible to automate tempo changes in the middle of the song?

[GrayLightning]

You can't do tempo automation in reason. That's the biggest knock on reason. If you want to do it, you'll have to use it with another sequencer via rewire.

[Hy Bound]

I've been looking for how to do this for a long time and it doesn't seem to be anywhere that i look. How do you make that air hose sound, as in the end of the "Four Notes" song (Reason demo song) or in the middle of "Demonik Electronik" by Anoloq? Its such a cool sound. :)!!

Anyone???????

[humanliteshow]

Call up a Subtractor and mess around with the "Noise" settings right under the Oscillator section. Once you get the sound you're looking for, play with the Filter and Amp settings until the Attack and Release fit what you have in mind.

[Synth]

Ive had Reason 2.5 for a month now but, I cant get midi files to play in reason. I have all the settings right(i think) and my midi keyboard works fine. Any ideas?

[GrayLightning]

Ive had Reason 2.5 for a month now but, I cant get midi files to play in reason. I have all the settings right(i think) and my midi keyboard works fine. Any ideas?

Can you get any other sounds working by starting a new project from scratch? If so, have you linked the midi track in the sequencer to a soundsource (nnxt, malstrom, subtractor, etc.)? That's all I can think of with this little information to go by.

[Synth]

Ive had Reason 2.5 for a month now but, I cant get midi files to play in reason. I have all the settings right(i think) and my midi keyboard works fine. Any ideas?

Can you get any other sounds working by starting a new project from scratch? If so, have you linked the midi track in the sequencer to a soundsource (nnxt, malstrom, subtractor, etc.)? That's all I can think of with this little information to go by.

Yes I can get all the other sounds to work. How you link the track to the diffrent racks?

[humanliteshow]

Directly above the tracks in the sequencer window should be a label saying "Out". That column of dropdown menus in each sequencer track has options for all the instruments you've created.

If all you have are, say, three midi tracks and no instruments, create a Subtractor, for example, and use the Out menu to link the melody track to the Subtractor. Do the same for all the rest.

[avendelamorte]

what's up, how do i properly import .nsf files, .gbs & such files from Audio Overload to Reason 2.5 ? ––– In the past, I exported the .nsf file to a .wav file, then imported it in Reason 2.5 but all it did was play the song. My main interest is to chop the sounds of the .nsf files so as to have flexibility in remixing and making original songs. And one more question, Do you know of any freeware/shareware programs that can convert & chop such files in the above inquiry ?

[Tossy]

If you truly want flexibility, sequence the notes yourself. If you need help doing that, try getting a midi of the song (from vgmusic.com, perhaps), and using that for help (or I suppose you could just import it... cheater!)

And as for the sound of it, you can either copy samples directly from the wav file (generated from the nsf), or you can make your own sounds with Reason's softsynth (so not only can you emulate the original sound this way, but you also have the flexibility of changing the synth to whatever you want.

[avendelamorte]

Thanks a bunch :) Appreciate the quick reply

[zircon]

I have a question; how can I make the Orkester marcato violins sound sharper? They sound sort of soft and warm, not edgy and bright like they should. Is there a particular way I should EQ or apply reverb to make them more substantial?

[Tossy]

There isn't another violin instrument patch that sounds better for you?


Well, anyway. Have you tried altering the filter on it (in the sampler)? I would try a high-pass filter, maybe, to emphasize the higher freqs while cutting out the lower (warmer) ones. But perhaps more importantly, you'll probably want to increase the filter resonance... that usually makes things sound brighter.

Some compression or distortion may make your violins sound edgier.

[zircon]

There's only one violin marcato patch, as far as I know, in Orkester anyway. I'll try distortion + compression though. thanks!

[humanliteshow]

Try running it through Malstrom's filters and shapers, too, just to see what kind of results you can get from that.

[Tossy]

What IS marcato, anyway? :D

[Hy Bound]

Can you save or export a song as an mp3???? It seems like you should, but... is aif an mp3 format or something?

[zircon]

Can you save or export a song as an mp3???? It seems like you should, but... is aif an mp3 format or something?

No, you can't export to MP3. AIFF is not a compressed audio format, like MP3, but rather a lossless format used on Macs as a parallel to WAV. As far as I am aware, there is no significant difference between WAV and AIFF, though you would probably find slightly greater compatability using WAV files than AIFF files. As time goes on, that too will disappear with the continued development of multiple-format samplers and synths.

It's better to only be able to export to WAV/AIFF anyway, since you have greater options. You could encode as an MP3 using any one of numerous encoders, or OGG, or FLAC, or AAC, or WMA, or whatever. My suggestion is pick up dbPowerAmp music converter and grab a bunch of plugins for it. If you know what you're doing, you can encode better-sounding MP3s with it than default encoding schemes of other audio programs like FL.

[klm09]

I have a question; how can I make the Orkester marcato violins sound sharper? They sound sort of soft and warm, not edgy and bright like they should. Is there a particular way I should EQ or apply reverb to make them more substantial?When I want more edge from the strings in Orkester, I usually run the sampler through a PEQ (or whatever the 2 band parametric EQ is called again), put the frequency to the highest it will go, make the resonance/q as low as it will go, and boost to taste.

[zircon]

Thanks, I'll try that.

[Tossy]

I have a question about Reason.

I understand that Reason has no audio track capabilities... it's completely MIDI (unlike Cakewalk which does MIDI and audio tracks). So with that I'm wondering how you would incorporate song-length audio (say, a recorded guitar track) into a song you were making partially with Reason.

Is it reasonable to load, for example, a three minute long .wav of a guitar track as a sample in Reason's sampler, and play it the whole way through? Is that possible? If so, is it a decent idea, or will that be extremely awkward/unmanageable?

The only other method I can think of would be to downmix all your Reason tracks and then combine that with other audio tracks in another program. (Or export each Reason track individually, if you can do that.... can you??)

Well? :)

[humanliteshow]

Either of those ideas would work fine. Another possibility is what I typically use. I found a copy of Recycle Lite, a version that lets you save as .rcy, which is good enough to load into the Dr Rex and individual slices into the various sample loading machines. It's not warez, it came with my Soundblaster along with Cubasis and WaveLab Lite. See if you can find a copy of that on the cheap or free.

[Malcos]

I have a question about Reason.

I understand that Reason has no audio track capabilities... it's completely MIDI (unlike Cakewalk which does MIDI and audio tracks). So with that I'm wondering how you would incorporate song-length audio (say, a recorded guitar track) into a song you were making partially with Reason.

Is it reasonable to load, for example, a three minute long .wav of a guitar track as a sample in Reason's sampler, and play it the whole way through? Is that possible? If so, is it a decent idea, or will that be extremely awkward/unmanageable?

The only other method I can think of would be to downmix all your Reason tracks and then combine that with other audio tracks in another program. (Or export each Reason track individually, if you can do that.... can you??)

Well? :)


Yeah I use both of those methods. The only problem with loading a very long sample into reason is that you have to start at the beginning of the song each time you want to hear it.

The second idea is much better, and essential when you want to add vocals. Just solo out an instrument on the mixer, and then export. Continue soloing tracks and repeat.

[Tossy]

"you have to start at the beginning of the song each time you want to hear it"

I thought that may be the case... the samples being triggered by MIDI, afterall. Alright, thanks.

[ZeRo BaSs]

I've got a problem with recording :cry:
Ok guys,I've got an amen break on the Redrum machine and i want to use LP filters on it :roll:
I push the rec button,i push play,i use the filters,when I've finished I push stop, and I rewind the song to hear if it worked... :roll: Nothing!!!
The recording hasn't automatized the Lp filter!
What can I do?!

[humanliteshow]

If it's the filter effects box that you're using, you have to create a new sequencer track and assign it to the filter, then record in that track. Your manual should tell you how to assign empty seq tracks to effects.

[ZeRo BaSs]

If it's the filter effects box that you're using, you have to create a new sequencer track and assign it to the filter, then record in that track. Your manual should tell you how to assign empty seq tracks to effects.
yes,but the stuff that i need to filter is a breakbeat in .wav format which plays in the redrum! :cry:
I try to record the filters but nothing...

[Tossy]

I think his statement still stands.

make a new track in the sequencer, and assign its output to the Filter module. Then it can be automated.

(I think that's what he was saying).

[humanliteshow]

Exactly, tossy.

The filter box should be hooked up so the Redrum output is going thru it, then to the mixer. Then it's just a matter of automating the filter itself. You do have a legit version with a manual, right??

[ZeRo BaSs]

You do have a legit version with a manual, right??
:whatevaa: :whatevaa: :whatevaa: :dstrbd: :dstrbd: :dstrbd:

[Hy Bound]

Ok, I'm not quite sure how to explain this too well, but here goes: How do you make the effect where someone is singing or something and it cuts out and in, sort of like a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a. I've tried to dip the volume modulation down and up real quick, but it echoes a bit and doesn't give the desired effect. BT does this a ton with the vocals in his music and it sounds bad-ass. Any help would be appreciated.

[humanliteshow]

Download this:http://www.peff.com/reason/download/rps/gatinns.zip. It's an example Reason file from Peff.com showing you how to do "gating", the term for what you're talking about.

[Hy Bound]

... :oops: :cry: :oops:

as soon as i thought about what i posted i started to cry. I wasn't even thinking about gating for some retarded unknown reason...

...for shame... :oops:

[sgx]

Download this:http://www.peff.com/reason/download/rps/gatinns.zip. It's an example Reason file from Peff.com showing you how to do "gating", the term for what you're talking about.

The way he described it is definitely gating, but what BT does more than gating actually is stutter edits.

This is actually taking a section of the audio and repeating it really quickly. Its not very handy or easy to do with Reason. You'd have to take the audio file into another audio editor, cut and save the portion of the audio you want to stutter, load it into reason with a sampler, then make the stutter pattern. Its a bit easier with a sequencer like Sonar or Cubase that runs audio better.

[Xelebes]

Ah yes, that's where FruityLoops comes useful and you can use a stutterer vst in it. Heh. But, yeah, it's best if you use a program that can make use of external plugins to do those effects.

[SirRus]

I have a question about Reason.

I understand that Reason has no audio track capabilities... it's completely MIDI (unlike Cakewalk which does MIDI and audio tracks). So with that I'm wondering how you would incorporate song-length audio (say, a recorded guitar track) into a song you were making partially with Reason.

Is it reasonable to load, for example, a three minute long .wav of a guitar track as a sample in Reason's sampler, and play it the whole way through? Is that possible? If so, is it a decent idea, or will that be extremely awkward/unmanageable?

The only other method I can think of would be to downmix all your Reason tracks and then combine that with other audio tracks in another program. (Or export each Reason track individually, if you can do that.... can you??)

Well? :)


Yeah I use both of those methods. The only problem with loading a very long sample into reason is that you have to start at the beginning of the song each time you want to hear it.

The second idea is much better, and essential when you want to add vocals. Just solo out an instrument on the mixer, and then export. Continue soloing tracks and repeat.

Sorry that I am bringing this up again and also that I could not understand this fully the first time it was resolved, but I was hoping someone could break this down for me with more specifics. I want to get about a 4 minute guitar recording onto Reason so that I can mess around with other instruments, effects, etc. So what I understand is that I have to first make all the accompaniment in Reason, then record all the tracks as individual mp3s. After that, I'm confused about how to put them all together? Should I/can I use Cubase to import the individual mp3 tracks on top of the guitar audio recording? I still don't understand how I would sequence the accompaniment effectively because I would still have to use the midi trigger of the sound wave in Reason to find at what point in the song I want specific drumwork, orchestration, etc. so how does compiling everything into Cubase or any other program help?

Sorry if I am missing something very elementary here, but I have never tried integrating any external audio devices before, and thanks for any help I can get.

[humanliteshow]

If you're using Cubase, you can use ReWire to synch up Reason and Cubase, control Reason from midi tracks in Cubase, and stream the audio from Reason into audio tracks in Cubase.

Read the manuals for Reason and Cubase to get it up and going.

[Chern]

quick noob-ish question:

I got reason and went online and downloaded some songs. I noticed on the sequencer the tracks have different colored backgrounds. Can someone explain what they are and what they do?

[Tossy]

SirRus:

Make all your accompaniment in reason. Export each track as wav files or mp3 files (whatever... but if you care about sound quality, go wav). Load those tracks into Cubase or whatever you use for multitrack audio. Make sure the accomaniment tracks are lined up. Then play those tracks. As they are playing, play along with your guitar, and record your guitar as yet another audio track (you can probably do this right in Cubase).

It sounds like you're trying to match up accompaniment with the guitar (and not the other way around).That'll be mighty tricky, especially if you record that guitar without anything, including a metronome.

If you want, sequence the notes of your guitar solo in Reason along with the rest of the tracks, so you have a good idea of what you'll be playing on your guitar. In Cubase, replace the sequenced guitar track with the recorded one.

[SirRus]

Thanks Tossy that makes a lot of sense now, I was looking at it in the totally opposite direction.

Just wondering, what is the benfits of using Cubase Rewired with Reason other than just tempo changes. What exactly is the true power of Cubase that would make someone want to go through the trouble of having these two programs linked together? The tempo automation is a good one, but that is the only thing I know of, perhaps adding VST's which Reason cannot do either, but in general, why is Rewire such a "cool" thing?

[klm09]

Thanks Tossy that makes a lot of sense now, I was looking at it in the totally opposite direction.

Just wondering, what is the benfits of using Cubase Rewired with Reason other than just tempo changes. What exactly is the true power of Cubase that would make someone want to go through the trouble of having these two programs linked together? The tempo automation is a good one, but that is the only thing I know of, perhaps adding VST's which Reason cannot do either, but in general, why is Rewire such a "cool" thing?In addition to the things you mentioned there's for example that you can record direct into Cubase; have the backing playing live to headphones while recording live, like most pro recording is done. The recording process is auto-synced so you just have to sing/play at the right time and that's it, no wave exporting/importing etc. necessary. Other things (that I can think of) are more "working method" oriented, ie. that you can for example do a quick doodle with a synth line with the Subtraktor and Matrix, record that over Rewire into a Cubase audio track, work with in there, adding effects via VST, export that as a wav, import in a Reason sampler, and have it triggering rhythmically in time with your beat, which would be a pain to do with just midi notes. Or maybe you don't like the synths in Reason, but you love the samplers: use VST's for synths, and Reason for drum / sample sequencing. And one more thing: Reason isn't all that suited for mastering, and exporting single tracks out of Reason, doing your mastering eq, compression and whatnot, then recombining them is a bit of a pain. So just record the Reason tracks into Cubase and use that for mastering, with better compressors and more accurate EQ's via VST's.

[SirRus]

I ReWired Cubase with Reason and I can trigger NNXT samplers via Cubase midi tracks. HOWEVER, I'm getting a pretty substantial delay between when I hit a note on my keyboard and when it is heard through my speakers, and I don't have any other applications running so short of CPU limitations, is there anything else that you could recommend?

[Hy Bound]

quick noob-ish question:

I got reason and went online and downloaded some songs. I noticed on the sequencer the tracks have different colored backgrounds. Can someone explain what they are and what they do?

I think what you mean is "grouping." this is pretty easy to do. you click the pencil icon and drag it over the notes in arrange mode. Or you can go into edit mode and select the notes you want to group individually and group them. This is easy for quick editing of portions of songs instead of indiviual notes.

On a completely unrelated note:

I have learned quite a bit about reason and all the different effects by just messing around with the program. You can make some pretty crazy sounds and basslines by just screwing around. :mrgreen:

Also, I would like to thank SGX with his example files and his tips and tricks page on his site; they have been invaluable! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[sgx]

I ReWired Cubase with Reason and I can trigger NNXT samplers via Cubase midi tracks. HOWEVER, I'm getting a pretty substantial delay between when I hit a note on my keyboard and when it is heard through my speakers, and I don't have any other applications running so short of CPU limitations, is there anything else that you could recommend?

Sounds like you need to adjust your audio drivers and or settings from within Cubase.

You're welcome, mr. Zenith. :D

[Chern]

another quick question:

How do i record changes on the mixer? For example i press record, then play, then for one of the tracks i can mess around with the device its attached to and it'll record those changes. But what if i want to change the volume of the track on the mixer at a certain point? or even the master volume?

Also, is there a way to increase the volume without having it peak out? keep it in the green/yellow area yet have it be loud?

thanks.

[SmockJoc]

I found the help for the latency issues that I was having in this thread. Thanks guys.

[SirRus]

another quick question:

How do i record changes on the mixer? For example i press record, then play, then for one of the tracks i can mess around with the device its attached to and it'll record those changes. But what if i want to change the volume of the track on the mixer at a certain point? or even the master volume?

^^^ Came here to ask the very same thing... right clicking the sliders on the mixer gives a greyed out "Edit Automation" link... and yet I have seen Reason projects that fade out the master track and individual tracks as well - what up wid dat?

I was also wondering if it is possible to automate the dry/wet setting on digital reverb. (SGX's tutorial on making those easy drum fills would be a lot cooler if I could automate the dry/wet setting to actually record them.)

Thanks.

[SirRus]

Awesome, I'm still learning my way around the interface, thanks for the help. Another question about that though, now that I have created the sequencer track how come the only way to automate it is manually within the track, like on the graph. When I hit record and mess with the knobs with the mouse nothing gets recorded, like it does on say the track volume of a NNXT device. I'm glad enough that you have showed me how to automate it at all, but for convenience, wondering if it is possible to record mouse modifications on the knobs or if I can only go to the graph for this. Thanks again.

[sgx]

I think you just can't. I just tried it. :( Can't say I personally miss the feature though.

[SirRus]

haha thanks anyway for trying SGX. I probably need to get a midi controller - anyone know of any relatively inexpensive/midrange midi controllers that work well with Reason?

Yes I know this probably should go in the Hardware forum, but I added that last clause "work well with Reason" so I won't get flamed.

[humanliteshow]

You did assign the sequencer track to "Mixer 1", right?

[sgx]

Yes, we did. You can set up automations, but it seems you can't record them in real time.

I'm not terribly familiar with midi controller hardware. I've heard good things about the Oxygen 8 though.

edit: btw, I kinda try to stay away from automating mixer volume sliders. Its annoying if you just want one channel louder in the whole song and you've got it automated already. You have to go redraw your automation if you want the whole thing say 15% louder. I try to automate volumes on the instruments.

Here's a tip also: if you need an extra volume boost on an instrument, or you want to volume boost after a chain of effects instead of before(sometimes different input volumes can change the way effects affect a sound), you can just add a Scream machine in there with distortion turned off as the last effect in the chain. You can also automate that and control volume from there. Maybe you can record automation on a scream, too. I'm not sure if you can and I'm too lazy to try.

[Uncle]

I'm not terribly familiar with midi controller hardware. I've heard good things about the Oxygen 8 though.
I have an Oxygen 8 and while it is a fairly decent midi controller, I would reccomend you all to go the extra mile and pay a little more for an Ozone. Go to M-Audio's website and take a good look at it (http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/MAudioOzone-focus.html); you'll find there may only be a few extras on the outside, but the real prizes can be found on the back panel: along with being a quality midi controller, it also sports inputs for mic, stereo and other auxilary lines, eliminating the need for a separate midi interface.

Shortly after purchasing my Oxygen, I began to somewhat regret not spending another $100 to $200 for these extra features. While doling out $100 to $200 more for something I might not neccessarily use sounds a bit dumb, it certainly is nowhere near as dumb as having to pay $400 to $600 for a separate interface later.
(when I found out I could have

Anyway, that's how I feel about it; if you play electric guitar or similar aux instrument and might want to record that on your computer, but you don't have an interface already, an Ozone is a sound decision.
But don't listen to me; if you're looking around for a controller, you know what all you need. Check the URL above and see what you think.

[Uncle]

Since we're speaking about midi controllers and Reason, I would like to say that even with the controller, I still tend to use the mouse for a large number of adjustments because I have no idea how to map the knobs to particular parameters (e.g., Slider A is used for the master volume of a device, Knobs A-D control the Attack Decay Sustain Release respectively, etc.).
How do you do this in Reason? I can't figure it out. Also, will your midi controller setups stay in the memory from project to project, or must they be reentered each time?

[Nicole Adams]

Alrighty, I'm having a little trouble with automation of ceratin devices. When I right-click on any of the global control knobs in NN-XT, for example, I have the ability to edit an automation. My problem is when I right-click on any of the knobs in the mixer or Advanced Reverb the edit automation selection is there, but not available for me to select. This didn't make any sense so I opened up one of SuperGreenX's project files and he had the ability to edit different automations of these same devices. All of my connections look right and I tried opening up a new project to see if I could be able to do it there but cannot. Can anyone tell me what might be the problem?

[sgx]

You need to create a new sequencer track and link it to the machine you want to control,.



Regarding midi controllers, I really don't use mine much at all. I mainly use it to fool around, get some chord progressions going, or make a melody. I'd say like 1% of my time in reason is spent using my keyboard. I almost never use it for recording automations also.

[Hy Bound]

Yeah, so ok, I am trying to remix a song with vocals, and I want to extract them from the song, but have no real way to do it. I posted this in the remixing forum as a separate topic, but it got deleted. Anyway, does anyone have an idea of how to get just the vocals out. Right now Im ripping the song in a cheap-ass program and importing it in the NN-XT and trying to EQ the lyrics out... yeah, it sucks... :roll:

[sgx]

THere's been a lot of threads about this. One is probably still around if you look for it.

Short answer is you pretty much can't get vocals out of a song cleanly. And you wouldn't use Reason to do it.

[Uncle]

Regarding midi controllers, I really don't use mine much at all. I mainly use it to fool around, get some chord progressions going, or make a melody.
Sounds a little like myself.. I also tend to use it to audition instrument patches (eg. playing a few notes through a certain machine and seeing how it sounds).

And in regards to the vocal bit.. would it be possible to re-record the vocals yourself (as in singing it and using that instead of the original recording)? Not always the best way to go, but look at how SGX handled the situation with "4F73R M3"; he not only performed it himself, but he even changed the lyrics, which ended up working out even better. Maybe that's not going to work for what you have in mind, but at least you have a better worst-case scenario than having to use poorly-EQ'd vocals..
Two things while we're at it:
1)How did Trenthian get his lyrics for his One Winged Angel remix?
2)SGX, how did you handle the vocals for your B4U mix? Did you ReWire with a different program or something? I'd like to know in case I ever need to drop lyrics into one of my own works..

[sgx]

I believe I saw Trenthian saying that he happened upon a fan-made soundfont of those vocal samples that were ripped from the game.

I recorded the vocals in the free audio editor Goldwave www.goldwave.com then inserted them as audio samples in Reason. I could have used the nn19 or redrum for it, but I used ReCycle to make the different phrases into chopped up .rex samples and ran them in dr rex. I had to adjust my timing a bit and this made it easier. I could have manually chopped and loaded this stuff into lots of redrums, but that would have been messy and more time consuming.

[Hy Bound]

Thx a ton SGX, I'm kinda tired tonight and don't want to have to install all the programs required right now, but I will soon.

[Uncle]

I recorded the vocals in the free audio editor Goldwave www.goldwave.com then inserted them as audio samples in Reason. I could have used the nn19 or redrum for it, but I used ReCycle to make the different phrases into chopped up .rex samples and ran them in dr rex. I had to adjust my timing a bit and this made it easier. I could have manually chopped and loaded this stuff into lots of redrums, but that would have been messy and more time consuming.
Cool, I use Goldwave too. The style you say you used to insert these lyrics surprised me, but in all honesty, running them through Redrum is how I would have done it. I'm not fortunate enough to have a copy of ReCycle, so I'd have to splice the lyrics in Goldwave.

Two more questions (for now =P):
What kind of mic did you use for recording the lyrics?
Do you use ReWire at all, or is your work all produced within Reason?

[sgx]

I have some Sony portable mic thats made for use with minidisc players and stuff. Its not so hot for vocals, which is why I definitely needed to have that distortion on the vocals.

I do use ReWire a bit now, mostly for mastering stuff (some eq's and compression) within SONAR. The only songs I've done this for however, are Composer and Deep Breath (newer originals). Otherwise, Its all Reason.

[SirRus]

so.. whats the best way to do stutter effects on vocals (or anything?). loading a bunch of wavs into redrum and overlapping and tweaking volumes and omg such a mess, and I'm out of ideas... but being a n00b I have very few ideas so not really all that surprising.

oyeah and if anyone has any other cool mixing effects on vocals (im still learning my way around the vocoder... i have no idea what I'm doing on the backside of the Reason rack) that would be pretty sweet.

help? thanks!

[Uncle]

I have some Sony portable mic thats made for use with minidisc players and stuff. Its not so hot for vocals, which is why I definitely needed to have that distortion on the vocals.
Ah.. I should have guessed that was why you distorted the vox. Still, that's pretty impressive for a basic mic. I assume you used Scream 4 for distortion?

I'll have to check out the originals you mentioned.. only thing is I'm not downloading as much music as I used to, because I don't often download a mix on sight anymore; I usually stick it in a queue of stuff I want to download. Not neccessarily the greatest thing in the world, but when you need to leave bandwidth open for the phone, it works =P


SirRus: I assume you mean gating? For something like that you'll want to hook up a Matrix to the machine you're working with (Redrum, Subtractor, NN-XT etc) and create a pattern on the Matrix..
Can somebody else go over this in more detail? I still haven't done enough with gating sound to properly explain it to somebody else. I'll try to see if I can explain it later, but as of right now I don't really remember how the devices were wired in the back; that's pretty much the most important part now, isn't it?

[SirRus]

hmm ok yeah I know how gating works and what it is, but I've never really done it myself. In any case, there are demo files on this so no need for anyone to go into depth on that here unless there is something special to know about vocal sample gating and/or they are feeling extra generous.

But what about retriggering vocal samples effectively. A lot of times the stutter wont just be gating the original sound file, but it will retrigger the beginning a few times before finishing the clip (I hope I am making sense with this). Any effective way of doing this within Reason or do I need to be editing the clip with a sound editing program?

[Klay]

Hello there, I'm new to Reason and mixing. Very new. Just wanted to get that out of the way. If this post is asking questions that are often asked, I apologize. If you find these questions annoying in how basic they are, I apologize, I doing my best to become more knowledgable in this field. If you don't have anything helpful to say about this post, ignore it. Thank you.

Anyway, I have a few questions. First off, I have a Korg SP-500. I'm curious how I would use sounds from this keyboard and use them for recording in Reason. Is this even possible? I quite hope so.

Next, do people actually use only the sounds in Reason and it's refills to create music? If so, what refills and how can you get the sounds to not sound so...well....just not very good. =\ If not, what do you use to get good sounds?

Third. As I mentioned in the above paragraph, Reason simply doesn't sound that good. That is, the sounds are rather muddled, the quality is poor. Is there any way to make it sound better? Am I doing something wrong, is there something I should know about this?

Thank you taking the time to read and perhaps answer this. If the above didn't make much sense, please point out what part. I have a tendency to leave holes in what I write.

[sgx]

so.. whats the best way to do stutter effects on vocals (or anything?). loading a bunch of wavs into redrum and overlapping and tweaking volumes and omg such a mess, and I'm out of ideas... but being a n00b I have very few ideas so not really all that surprising.

oyeah and if anyone has any other cool mixing effects on vocals (im still learning my way around the vocoder... i have no idea what I'm doing on the backside of the Reason rack) that would be pretty sweet.

help? thanks!

Look at DJ Zenith's post on page 12 here. Check out my responses. This has been gone over :)

Hello there, I'm new to Reason and mixing. Very new. Just wanted to get that out of the way. If this post is asking questions that are often asked, I apologize. If you find these questions annoying in how basic they are, I apologize, I doing my best to become more knowledgable in this field. If you don't have anything helpful to say about this post, ignore it. Thank you.

Anyway, I have a few questions. First off, I have a Korg SP-500. I'm curious how I would use sounds from this keyboard and use them for recording in Reason. Is this even possible? I quite hope so.

Next, do people actually use only the sounds in Reason and it's refills to create music? If so, what refills and how can you get the sounds to not sound so...well....just not very good. =\ If not, what do you use to get good sounds?

Third. As I mentioned in the above paragraph, Reason simply doesn't sound that good. That is, the sounds are rather muddled, the quality is poor. Is there any way to make it sound better? Am I doing something wrong, is there something I should know about this?

Thank you taking the time to read and perhaps answer this. If the above didn't make much sense, please point out what part. I have a tendency to leave holes in what I write.

To get sounds from the keyboard, you would have to record yourself playing the keyboard with a program (like Goldwave) that is separate from Reason. Reason is designed to be very self contained, thus it does not have support for sequencing other software or hardware. To get your .wav recordings from goldwave or whatever you use, you'll have to load them using either the nn19, redrum, or nnxt samplers. Its..a lot of effort. Not many people bother to do this. If you must use reason for stuff, and you want better sequencing/recording capabilities, you can couple Reason with a more robust sequencer program like Sonar, Cubase, FL Studio, and a few others.

I use a lot of the sounds that Reason came with. I also use a bunch of new refills I got (mostly off of the propellerheads website for free), and sounds I record on my own or rip from other stuff (sometimes I'll pull a nice bass kick or something out of some pro song if I can get it out cleanly :)). The majority of the samples that Reason come with are actually very good. You just need to learn how to use them (sequencing well, eqing, good reverb, etc). The synths are pretty good too; again, you need to learn how to program them well and put effects that will make them sound cool on.

Third, again, Reason sounds fine. :) Look at some example files that came with it, or check out my mixes I have posted as rns files on my site in the tutorials section.

[Klay]

^_^ Much thanks SuperGreen.

[Nicole Adams]

Reason is designed to be very self contained, thus it does not have support for sequencing other software or hardware.

Funny, it supports MIDI controllers but not other keyboards.

[humanliteshow]

It supports any keyboard that can send midi out messages.

[Nicole Adams]

Ah, thanks for the clarification. :wink:

[Uncle]

Just wondering, how do you choose/make instruments? What I mean to say is: How do you as an individual go about deciding what machine to use for what part of a song (eg using Malstrom for a pad, etc), do you use premade patches or do you create your own sounds (and how do you do that, work with altering parameters of premade sounds or using a base patch and working from there)? Use any additional machines? Just wondering how everybody else gets their sound.

Oh, and if you use refills you got online, where did you find them?

[humanliteshow]

Sometimes it's just a matter of scrolling through presets to get some inspiration. Sometimes I know what sound I want and since I've used Reason for a while, I can pretty much tell what instrument/settings will get me closest to that sound.

In the beginning , really it's all about experimenting and just making music with Reason until it becomes second nature. Just have fun and you won't even notice you're learning! :D

[Synth]

1.Im trying to set the attack of a NNXT to my pitch blend wheel on my midi controller but the pitch is allready set to it. How do I remove the pitch and switch it to attack?

2. Is their a way to controll 2 or squencer tracks with 1? Fruity Loops has a layer channel but, is thier one for Reason?

[Argitoth]

Easily answered question: Can Reason use VSTI, specifically Slayer 1?

[GrayLightning]

Third. As I mentioned in the above paragraph, Reason simply doesn't sound that good. That is, the sounds are rather muddled, the quality is poor. Is there any way to make it sound better? Am I doing something wrong, is there something I should know about this?

Third, again, Reason sounds fine. :) Look at some example files that came with it, or check out my mixes I have posted as rns files on my site in the tutorials section.

Yeah SGX covered this one well. I agree with what he said completely. Also Reason sounds great. But unless you know what you're doing compositionally and production wise then nothing will sound good. Reason is capable of professional results and in my opinion rivals $2000 high end synth workstations. Keep learning - no one said making music was easy.

Easily answered question: Can Reason use VSTI, specifically Slayer 1?

No. Reason is not a vsti host.

[Uncle]

Easily answered question: Can Reason use VSTI, specifically Slayer 1?

No. Reason is not a vsti host.
However, if you do wish to use a VSTi, you could theoretically ReWire Reason to a program that supports VSTi and work from there.



Also, I was wondering: As of right now, the lead and accompanying instruments for one song I'm working on uses basic waveforms (saw, triangle, square). The bass and drums are not, however, and while I don't think they're really the problem (they sound fine alone), the waveforms sound pretty unrefined.

So I guess what I'm trying to ask is what waveforms work best in a given part of a song, and how do you create those sounds (synthesized, Malstrom or Subtractor?)?

[humanliteshow]

OK, go back and read what I wrote above. YOU have to decide what sounds good in your songs. If you aren't familiar with the sounds, then this will be by trial and error until you are familiar enough with synths to know ahead of time what you want in a song. No one here can tell you what sounds best in what part of a song.

How do you become more familiar with synths? USE THEM! Just make some music, man. Don't worry about getting everything perfect. It takes a ton of time and effort to make good music. There are no shortcuts to developing talent and skill.

[Synth]

1.Im trying to set the attack of a NNXT to my pitch blend wheel on my midi controller but the pitch is allready set to it. How do I remove the pitch and switch it to attack?

2. Is their a way to controll 2 or squencer tracks with 1? Fruity Loops has a layer channel but, is thier one for Reason?

[Argitoth]

1.Im trying to set the attack of a NNXT...

LOL!!! "Myself wrote" that just made me laugh. 8)

[sgx]

1.Im trying to set the attack of a NNXT to my pitch blend wheel on my midi controller but the pitch is allready set to it. How do I remove the pitch and switch it to attack?

2. Is their a way to controll 2 or squencer tracks with 1? Fruity Loops has a layer channel but, is thier one for Reason?

I don't know the answer to number 1. I haven't done a whole lot with midi controllers other than what's set up by default. Read the manual.

2: Your question doesn't make much sense. Control 2 sequencer tracks with one sequencer track? whut? Maybe you mean control two machines with one sequencer track. No you can't, but you can duplicate sequencer tracks and do it that way.

[Uncle]

OK, go back and read what I wrote above. YOU have to decide what sounds good in your songs. If you aren't familiar with the sounds, then this will be by trial and error until you are familiar enough with synths to know ahead of time what you want in a song. No one here can tell you what sounds best in what part of a song.

How do you become more familiar with synths? USE THEM! Just make some music, man. Don't worry about getting everything perfect. It takes a ton of time and effort to make good music. There are no shortcuts to developing talent and skill.

Sorry, I guess I didn't make myself clear. I think I understand what you mean by saying to "make music to learn to make good music" (and thank you for the advice by the way), but I was just wondering if anybody had pointers as to their methods of choosing a particular synth/machine, not a patch, to play certain roles in the song. I've heard that Subtractor is great for basslines, so I was wondering if anybody else had suggestions.

Also, by "what waveforms work best in part x of a song", I was talking about basic wave shapes (sine, square, triangle etc). I'm thinking of using them to get something of a chiptune sound (until I can think of some other combination of sounds I feel would fit better), and I was wondering if anybody knew a general rule for what kind of basic shape (eg triangle) usually goes where (eg bass or pad). Whether I choose to follow that pattern will be my own choice, but I'd like to have that option as well as placing them on my own; like a general set of guidelines to start with.


Maybe you're right however, learning composition should be my own undertaking. That way, I can develop my own styles and tastes, and eventually my own sound.

[humanliteshow]

That's exactly what I'm saying. If you want to know the components of a certain sound, like a pad or lead, you have all the tools you need to explore it. Open up Reason, make a Subtractor, call up a pad patch, and look at the settings. There are so many different waveforms used for so many different categories of sounds, it's impossible for us to just give you a general list.

Now as far as shaping the sound and making it, for example, a pad, there are some basic starting points, like turn up the attack and release to give it a smooth build up and fade out. Or do the same with the filter envelope to get a long filter sweep as you hold down a note.

For more iin depth insight for synths (far more than we could ever write here!) go here: http://www.soundonsound.com/articles/Technique.php?session=73a25d4ace59ccebb0149ae343f0 4f57
They have a ton of articles called Synth Secrets that get down and dirty into synthesis techniques.

[sgx]

I was wondering if anybody knew a general rule for what kind of basic shape (eg triangle) usually goes where (eg bass or pad). Whether I choose to follow that pattern will be my own choice, but I'd like to have that option as well as placing them on my own; like a general set of guidelines to start with.


Maybe you're right however, learning composition should be my own undertaking. That way, I can develop my own styles and tastes, and eventually my own sound.

dood - saw waves go "buuzzzz", square waves sound like NES, "sine waves are the simplest/smoothest wave that can carry a pitch, triangle waves sound in between sine and saws, etc....... if you want your bassline to buzz, use a saw, if you want your lead to sound NES, use a square. You can't really set up rules for this kind of thing.

[Julio Jose]

Is there any way to get reason to record the notes i play on my yamaha 175 keyboard?

[Arcana]

Is there any way to get reason to record the notes i play on my yamaha 175 keyboard?

Probably! Okay, so I've been using Reason's demo for about two weeks so take that as an indication as to the quality of my advice, but...

So create some instrument - a subtractor works fine. Make sure that there's a circular MIDI jack by its Track under the "In" Column in the sequencer.

If sounds play, then you're pretty much set. If sounds do NOT play, you have a bit of work ahead of you.

So let's assume the worst. Sounds don't play, so go up to the Preferences section and then check the "MIDI" settings. There should be a box asking where you want sequencer input to come in from. Select your keyboard (don't select its MIDI input - make sure it's your keyboard). Restart Reason and try again.

Once your keyboard works, set your locator bars to where you want to record. Press the Record button on the Transport (or use *). Optionally use the "Click" button to enable metronome clicks. Press play. Play your MIDI keyboard. Press "stop" (or use space) to stop playback. Reason will automatically disable recording after this, so if you want to record again you need to re-enable recording.

By the way, if you use samplers like the NN-19 or the NN-XT, Dr.Rex, or Redrum, many of them don't have sounds attached to all of the keys.

[Julio Jose]

ok. sound plays throught the subtracter, and the circle thing is beside it, but when i hit record and play, then play on the piano, and hit stop after, no notes are recroded. any settings i gotta config?

[Julio Jose]

thnx i fixed problem. it was in the preferences menu

[Arcana]

Does Reason's sequencer offer away for you to view the piano roll for two or more tracks simultaneously?

I have a feeling that you can't and would need to use some other sequencer... :(

[sgx]

you are correct :/

[Txai]

Rofl. My english was really worse.

[sgx]

Sorry, I don't understand your question.

[Uncle]

Sorry, I don't understand your question.
Seconded. I'm not sure he's asking a question here or just making a statement about his setup. I think he might be wondering how to encode an mp3 with a small file size. I suppose if the bitrate of the file were extremely large, he could end up making an mp3 even larger than the original wav file.

So that's about all the more I can gather from his post: he doesn't know how to go about properly making an mp3 file, does that sound right?

[Hy Bound]

If anyone could help me with making a whooshing noise, thats kind of a background sound that doesn't use noise... everything I've made sounds like a plane flying over... :cry:

[sgx]

Usually you use some noise and some filters to make a swoosh noise. Like this. www.supergreenx.com/rns/swooshunewb.rns

Without using noise though? You could use 100% wet reverb with maybe some scream distortion over it. Lots of automation. I did stuff like this in my song Composer. I'm too lazy to make a sample file though. Takes some effort.

[Hy Bound]

Thx a ton, man. Maybe now I can finish my first remix. :wink: you'll see...

[m1lesteg]

Bit of a silly question, so apologies in advance.

I recently downloaded the Reason demo, and may possibly be making the switch from FruityLoops based on what I've heard from the web site demo and such.

The example songs, though, when I run them, don't sound especially great, very MIDI-ish. Is this just how the songs are, or is my sound card missing something? I don't want to drop 500 bucks to end up with things that sound like that.

[Arcana]

SGX will come in here with a better answer, but the Reason sounds can be made pretty phat with some creative effects processing. The default songs are pretty boring. Fool around with the effects and see what you can do.

Propellerhead has a number of songs that they make available for download from their site. Listen to those and see what you think.

It's pretty much agreed-upon by most of the members here that Reason has pretty good sounds and samples right out of the box, and that there's nothing wrong with its sound quality.

[humanliteshow]

What does "very MIDI-ish" mean??

[Hy Bound]

Reason is incredible, Im not sure how it sounds MIDI-ish (plinks and planks instead of a flowing sound, Human LS :wink: ), but I would recommend listening to Charlie Clouser's "Four Notes" song to cure what ails ya. If it still sounds Midi-ish, its either you or your soundcard.

[GrayLightning]

I'm not sure what you mean or what demos you were listening to. But reason is far from midi-ish. I thought the demos that came with reason sounded quite good.

[sgx]

Any music software will sound cheesy like GM soundcard midi if you don't pick good samples, program good synths, use nice reverbs, etc. There is WAY more to making stuff sound cool than just picking a sample and going.

[ffmusic dj]

If anyone has serious complaints about Reason lacking fatness, please come forward with what fattening features Reason lacks. If nobody can come up with any, I'm inclined to think it's user incompetence.

Ooh here, here!! Can you make a synth fatter? Please show me. This was why I stopped using reason. I mean I still use Reason for Drum Machine (nothing is better) but synth? Sorry if I sound incompetent, How do you make it fatter.

[ffmusic dj]

Holy crap dude! thats complex! VERY FAT! I never though of using 2 different tractors and using the spider audio, hence why, I thought, they made Malstorm ... I figured.

I still think vanguard still has some ot the most fattest instruments around.

[zircon]

I would say using Chorus + Unison would be more efficient than using layered subtractors.. but that works too. And yea, Vanguard is good for supersaw sounds - but I think that Reaktor's "Junatik" ensemble or layering a bunch of Synth1s is even better.

[m1lesteg]

To clarify, I had particularly in mind that song that plays the very first time you load Reason up (name escapes me), before setting your own default song. I shouldn't have said MIDI-ish. It sounds a lot better than MIDIs. It doesn't sound like a lot of the remixes I've heard on the site that were made with Reason. From what you've all said, I think it's just the song itself being not as deep or complex.

[sgx]

a lot of blind's older stuff is all reason, and some of the newer stuff is part reason. Daniel Baranowski has a bunch of reason mixes. All of mine except Forgotten Daze are all Reason. E-Bison's Time Management mix is reason. Binster is all reason. There are others that I forget or I don't know about.

edit: Gray's only all Reason mix to my knowledge is his Mystical Ninja mix. The rest are combos of different things often including Reason.

Oh, and FFMusicDJ's older stuff was all Reason. String Machine was Reason 1.0 I think :).

[m1lesteg]

Just listened to Four Notes in Reason. I stand corrected :oops:

[ffmusic dj]

Oh, and FFMusicDJ's older stuff was all Reason. String Machine was Reason 1.0 I think :).

It was all 1.0 strength baby! In fact ... what’s this?...
http://ffmusic.net/sandy%20badlands.rps
HAHA! I still don't believe I made this. Look at the stupid picture, it looks so horrid. Everything sounds chunky.
I still can’t believe it was 8 instruments, that’s it, nothing big.


Very rarely would I only make stuff on reason ... here is another!

http://ffmusic.net/Haroon%20Piracha%20-%20Horizion%20Beyond.rps (trance construction kit required)
I must admit, though I am partly sold to Cubase, working with reason couldn’t be anymore simpler!

[Arcana]

I have a question!

How do you make a smooth transition from a realistic sounding instrument to a synthy techno instrument?

So, for example, I have a flute or something and I want to end up making it sound all... well, sawtooth-like or something over the course of a few seconds while making the transition really nice. I don't have an actual song example that I can think of, but I hope I got the idea across.

[GrayLightning]

Yeah most of my mixes are combinations of stuff. My most Reason oriented mixes are my Legend of Mystical Ninja - Asian Twilight Mix and Battle of Olympus - Eros collaboration. My Star Ocean - Space Travel is all reason though.

[ffmusic dj]

I have a question!

How do you make a smooth transition from a realistic sounding instrument to a synthy techno instrument?

So, for example, I have a flute or something and I want to end up making it sound all... well, sawtooth-like or something over the course of a few seconds while making the transition really nice. I don't have an actual song example that I can think of, but I hope I got the idea across.

Yes, I know what you mean. Haveing an organic instrument in a techno song can be rough sometimes, what you need to do is make that organic instrument a little less organic.

Here is a good example...

Say you got a piano as that organic instrument.

This is how the piano sounds in reason, very nice and organic...

http://ffmusic.net/piano.rns

The key to letting the piano mix in with alot of effects. Effects are the key in a techno songs sometimes.

This is how the piano sounds after some EQ and reverb/delay effect...

http://ffmusic.net/piano2.rns

With a piano like that, it would sound more natural for it to be in a techno synthy song. It can easily be mixed in with synth without worrying. I dont know other people's methods... But I am sure everyone has ways they can improve on.

I hope that helped.

[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?

[ffmusic dj]

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.