Propellerhead’s Reason has been the software of choice for
many producers ever since version 1.0 came out back in December 2000. However,
at the beginning reason wasn't seen as the feature packed music production
platform that we know it as today. Unlike most music creation software, Reason
lacked the basic support for audio and MIDI that pretty much every other DAW boasted
at the time. This wasn't the point of reason though; Reason relied of its
unique take on the music creation process and its virtual rack that has
inspired many creative minds since its birth.
Over ten years later and Reason has grown into a mature
music creation workstation that isn't afraid to take on the big boys of the DAW
world. Reason hasn't lost any of that unique charm though, it still relies on
the virtual studio rack that made most of us fall in love with it at the moment
we set our eyes on it.
Audio input was added in version 6 when Reason was fused
with its sister program Record. This was a big step forward for the software as
it meant that users who used rewire to link Reason with other DAWs could ditch
the other software and work completely within the Reason environment.
Today we saw the release of Reason 7, the update that so
many of us have been waiting for since its announcement at the beginning of
March. The announcement wasn't really that long ago, but the hype that
surrounded the update has made it feel like an eternity for hardcore reason users.
So what’s new?
Reason now has MIDI out! That’s right; the feature that we
have been hoping Reason would adopt for years has finally been added to the
rack. The MIDI out device is pretty self explanatory; it’s a virtual rack
device that allows you to send MIDI data from reason and into your favourite
hardware gear. So all that unused gear that’s been lying around your studio can
now go to good use.
New audio editing features have also been included in Reason
7, most notable the new audio slicing capabilities. Reason now automatically
slices recorded audio so you can easily edit, re-arrange and warp your audio.
You can also bounce these slices to a .REX file and import them into the Dr.
Octorex or the Nurse rex devices. Once loaded into these devices you can then
further manipulate your audio inside the Reason rack. This is essentially like having
ReCycle built into Reason.
When Rack Extensions were introduced in Reason 6.5
developers began making all sorts of cool devices that can be purchased in the
Propellerhead shop. The most requested Rack Extension device was a spectrum
analyser. After a while we began seeing very basic spectrum analysers hit the
shop but they went as accurate as some of the VST devices that are available in
other software. Propellerhead listened to these requests for a versatile spectrum
analyser and built one into its already impressive mixer section. You can even
apply EQ straight from the analyzer window.
One thing that Reason’s mixer lacked was the ability to
group channels. There was a way of doing this in previous versions of Reason,
but it involved lots of wiring around the back of the rack and doing this every
time you wanted to group a set of sounds could get a bit tedious. Luckily Propellerhead
have included the ability to create bus groups as a new feature in Reason 7.
Another nice addition the mixer is parallel channels, just
by right clicking the channel strip and selecting “create parallel channel” you
can duplicate the selected mix channel. This is useful especially for parallel
processing where you can blend a highly effected signal in with the original.
Along with the release of Reason 7 Propellerhead also released
a brand new Rack Extension called the Audiomatic Retro Transformer. The Rack
Extension is free to anyone that owns reason 7 and is available in the
Propellerhead shop for users of Reason 6.5 and essentials users to buy for € 39.00. The effect is described as a “psycho-acoustic
future retro effect, inspired by the photo apps in your phone” which pretty
much means that it allows you to apply vintage and futuristic sounding effects
to your audio. Audiomatic has a really simple interface that features sixteen
mode selection buttons along with dry/wet, transform and volume knobs. It’s a
cool idea for an effect but only time will tell if it will prove useful in your
productions.
Will reason still run on my computer when I upgrade
it?
Unfortunately the answer to this is very hit and miss
but if you have a relatively up to date machine then you shouldn't have a
problem. The specs and requirements for Reason 7 are a little higher than the
previous versions but you can find all the information you need about system
requirements on Propellerhead’s website. Alternatively, if you’re a new user
then you can download the demo and give it a good test run. The demo is the
full version of Reason with the only restriction of not being able to open
saved files so this is a good way of seeing if the software will run on your
computer before you purchase it.
Overall I'm very impressed with the updated version
of Reason. The new features have been implemented very smoothly and now that it
has both audio and MIDI capabilities it feels a lot more professional. If you’re
new to music production then I definitely recommend that you give reason a go.
