PROPELLERHEAD Reason 1.0
Apr 1, 2001 12:00 PM, By Dave Hill Jr.
A virtual rack of hardware that nearly does it all.
During the Winter 2000 NAMM show, Propellerhead Software (creator of ReCycle and ReBirth) announced the imminent release of Reason, a powerful and revolutionary software package that offers an entire rack's worth of hardware in a virtual configuration. The unveiling spawned a healthy buzz among DJs, the techno crowd, soft-synth devotees, and the ReBirth faithful. Press releases with Reason's specs boasted that the software would provide all the power of several synthesizers, samplers, rhythm machines, effects processors, and sequencers in a single streamlined package.
Like many other enthusiasts of the latest technology, I bookmarked the Propellerhead Web site and began the long wait until Reason's release date. Each month I watched the progress meter on the site slowly creep up toward the next stage of the software's development, and eventually to the beta-testing phase. I had all but given up when sometime around Thanksgiving I found the freshly released Reason demo on the Shareware Music Machine site (www.hitsquad.com/smm/). After spending a week or two jamming with Reason, I discovered that good things do come to those who wait.
Reason 1.0 is a monster release, a self-contained, multifaceted music-making metropolis that contains under one hood as many sound banks, mixers, drum machines, samplers, synthesizers, loop players, and effects as you could want — or at least as many as your computer can handle.
The ReBirth-savvy among us will appreciate Reason's layout. The vertical logic and linear programming style of its Matrix sequencer and ReDrum drum machine feel like second nature, allowing you to tap your existing remix skills. But with practice you will also expand your reach by exploring Reason's potential to create new and deep sounds, coupled with the many combinations of programming possibilities it boasts, including Rewire connectivity and the ReBirth Input Machine.
Reason 1.0 departs from the current music-software paradigm by offering considerably more power, punch, flexibility, and sounds than any other drum machine or synthesizer software on the market — particularly those under $500. What you won't find in Reason is audio multitrack recording or wave-sample editing. Like many other soft synths, Reason can work in a pro-audio environment integrated within Cubase and Logic Audio, or you can use it entirely on its own to create complete songs — something few soft synths can do. Considering its very affordable price, Reason will undoubtedly add to the growth of an already booming new market: teenage remix artists.
RACK OF JAMS?
When you fire up Reason, you see a MIDI-audio hardware interface sitting atop what looks like a Mackie 14-channel mixer (complete with four auxiliary sends, 2-band EQ, panning knobs, mute and solo buttons, and volume faders). Below it are several virtually racked instruments and effects that you can add to, completely reconfigure, and automate in as many ways as your PC's or Mac's RAM can handle.
In the next slot down of Reason's default layout are the Digital Reverb and Delay Line effects units. Effects in Reason are half-rackspace modules, which appear side by side. You can reprogram, repatch, and replace each effect to your liking. Other available effects include Foldback Distortion, Envelope Filters (including ADSR and resonant lowpass and bandpass filters), Chorus/Flanger, Phaser, Compressor, and 2-Band Parametric EQ with curve display. Every effects parameter is completely editable and reroutable, with automated mixdown functions. Again, you can add as many of these devices as you like, route them any way you like, or place them as pretty decorations throughout your customized Reason rack to separate your multitude of samplers, synths, drum machines, and loop players.
ReDrum is the first instrument you encounter as you scroll down the default layout. Capable of playing WAV or AIFF audio files, ReDrum provides ten independent channels. You have the freedom to build and dismantle kits as you like, choosing among everything from generic sounds to those modeled after the likes of Fatboy Slim, the Chemical Brothers, Photek, and Lee “Scratch” Perry. With a few tweaks, you can even turn non-drum sounds such as pianos, distorted guitar riffs, and ethnic timbres into rhythm sounds — it's just the thing to give your electronic compositions a customized but organic flavor. You can manipulate each channel by changing pitch, panning, level, velocity, and length, and each channel can contain two effects sends. The drum sounds included with Reason are varied and versatile but need a little creative tweaking to sound their best. The Randomize Pattern and Alter Pattern functions (right-click on ReDrum to see them) are especially handy when you're looking for a fresh place to start.
LOOP DREAMS AND SYNTH SECRETS
Reason's loop player, dubbed Dr. Rex, is a timely and well-planned partner to ReCycle 1.7. Dr. Rex uses Propellerhead's ReCycle format (based on Rex files, hence the name) to synchronize loops with the sequencer's tempo perfectly. Each transposable loop is divided into individual segments that you can again detune, pan, and color. Rest assured, the varied 300-plus drum loops included with Reason are so good they'll leave you wanting more. You can also make your own tempo-matching drum loops, but the catch is that you need to use ReCycle to do it. This virtual machine doesn't quite emulate the sample-manipulation capabilities of the Akai MPC series or the Roland VP-9000, but if you're a ReCycle lover, it's deep.
The company that also created ReBirth has experience making virtual synth software that not only sounds professional but is entertaining and fun to experiment with. Be prepared to log many rewarding hours with Reason, honing sweet new synth patches, posting them online, and trading them by e-mail with friends. Reason's mighty SubTractor synthesizer contains a wealth of intuitive and practical envelope and filtering options. It has a polyphonic 2-oscillator synth that is capable of saving 32 waveforms, and you also get a noise generator, a ring and phase modulator, and much more. Synth enthusiasts will discover lots of headroom for creating their own sounds, but the software is not as lushly programmable (or complicated) as, say, Native Instruments' Reaktor. The 400-plus patches included with Reason provide an excellent variety of sounds perfect for dance-music production. Of course, we can all anticipate many strange and wonderful new patches from Propellerhead developers and Reason users in the near future.
GRABS AND GRIDS
At first glance, Reason's NN-19 digital sampler is reminiscent of an Akai S-series sampler, and its mapping of key zones, its sample loading, and its general setup appear similar to those of Akai or E-mu samplers. Propellerhead has included an Automap feature to ease the dull headache you will acquire from wrestling with large batches of samples and overlapping key zones. The sampler's maximum polyphony of 99 notes is adjustable on the NN-19's face, as are its filters and other parameter settings (which you can easily automate within Reason's sequencer).
Reason really has two sequencers: Matrix and the main sequencer. Matrix, a pattern sequencer that works similarly to ReBirth's, does well with repetitive motifs and tight rhythms. Matrix can also control filters, mod wheels, and sounds. Programming the Matrix sequencer is a breeze. Simply drag the mouse across the desired LED and watch the notes appear. Located below the LEDs are velocities (volume levels) for each note; you can alter these in a similar fashion. As with all Reason machines, you can have multiple Matrix units within one rack, each functioning independently.
Below the rack resides the transport bar with playback and record buttons, and the main sequencer is located just above it. Although it seems niggling to complain about such a powerful and relatively inexpensive product, I have to say that the main sequencer in Reason is difficult to use. It's not horrible, but it's small and tricky to work in for long lengths of time. The immense capabilities of today's standalone sequencing software packages have obviously spoiled us all, and Propellerhead has packed so much into this application that no space was left for the sequencer. I hope a future upgrade will offer support for multiple monitors, but for now be prepared to shuttle back and forth, maximizing one screen and then the other.
HAVE IT YOUR WAY
The ability to repatch your rack any way you want is one of Reason's most amazing and powerful features. Ran out of mixer channels? Add another. Want two different SubTractor synths? Okay. Want 20? Fine. Reason also includes a couple of templates of alternative patch configurations to get you started (see the sidebar “Patch Exchange”). I found the selection a bit skimpy, but the Internet should provide an abundance of options as more and more Reason users take to posting tunes to strut their stuff.
Seattle-born drummer and producer Dave Hill Jr. has worked extensively with drummer Michael Shrieve (of Santana) and is currently composing and playing in New York City.
PATCH EXCHANGE
If you'd like to strut your stuff or just check out what other Reason users are doing, Propellerhead is promoting the exchange of patches, sounds, and settings, much in the way it did with ReBirth and ReCycle. Check out these three sites for the beginnings of the share tactics:
www.reasonstation.net http://elipsis.one.tripod.com/reason/www.peff.com
PRODUCT SUMMARY
PROPELLERHEAD
Reason 1.0
$399
PROS: Tight functions with intuitive module controls, especially for users familiar with pro-audio gear. Addictive in a productive way.
CONS: Dr. Rex reads only ReCycle loops. Sequencer is not as powerful as most standalone versions. Virtual rack configuration requires scrolling to view modules and signal-path “wiring.”
Overall Rating (1 through 5): 4.5
Contact: tel. (626) 445-2842
e-mail info@midiman.net
Web www.propellerheads.se, www.midiman.net
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