Time-stretch and audio quantize with Reason 7

Correcting the timing of a real instruments and percussion is a practice that many producers use in their music on a regular basis. Time-stretching and audio quantizing can be used to subtly nudge a vocal back in time, correct the timing of a dodgy bass player or even to create new glitched-out sounds from your original audio.

These features have been included in most major DAWs (Most notably Ableton Live) for quite some time now, but it was only recently that Propellerhead announced that they would be adding this to Reason 7 (released April 30th). So what's the big deal, why are people getting exited about something that they've already seen on another platform? I guess it's not the actual technology that people are interested in but the way the company has intergraded it into their software. Propellerhead are notorious for doing things a little different, and this implementation of audio quantize is no exception.

The workflow and sheer beauty of Propellerhead's Reason sets it worlds apart from the rest of the competition. The modularity of the virtual rack makes it stand out to individuals that like to experiment and get their hands dirty while writing music. Flip the rack around to reveal endless routing options with audio and CV cables that give you the flexibility to create pretty much anything you like. After you've spent half an hour messing about you will realise that Reason is truly an audio geek's paradise.

The way that time stretching is implemented into Reason isn't necessarily different to other DAWs but it does look sleeker and more intuitive. You can even bounce your sliced audio to .REX format so you can experiment even further with Reasons built in Dr.Octorex player. Fair enough, it's taken Propellerheads quite some time to add audio quantizing and time-stretching to reason but features like this are worth the wait if they're implemented as flawlessly as this.

The video below shows off what can be done with the audio quantise and time-stretch features that will be available in Reason 7.

Editing stock loops to fit your productions (Future Music)

Sometimes it's the little things that make your track stand out. Using pre-made loops in your music can be an easy way to kick-start the creative process but you don't have to leave them as they sound straight out of the pack. As this video from Future Music shows, simple volume adjustments can really change the character of a loop.

By using the volume envelope and highpass filter in Ableton Live Joris Voorn changes basic house loops into something a bit more percussive and expressive. When they are stacked together with the kick drum you can really see a difference.



Rather than just dropping stock loops into your tracks, it's always best to experiment by adding effects and making a few changes to make that sound a little more unique to your production.

Kick drum compression in Reason (Lucky Date)

Drum processing is always a hot topic when it comes to electronic music. everyone wants to know the secrete to huge sounding punchy drums. Getting your kick to stand out in the mix without dominating everything else is a task that most of us face in pretty much all of our productions.

In the Video below Lucky Date shows us how he processes his kicks. It's a fairly basic method using just the Mclass compressor and EQ that come with Reason. This is a fairly minimalistic approach but it does show how easy this can be, all that you need is a basic knowledge of compression and you can get the job done with little to no effort.

However, like most things in the world of music production this is a matter of taste, things can vary depending on the style of music that you're working on and the kick that you're using. I find that it's best to experiment a little bit before deciding what works best for you. The technique that Lucky Date uses in this video is ideal as a starting point but don't expect it to work flawlessly for all of your productions.

Creating an 808 style cowbell with Dune CM (Computer Music)

I've posted on here before about drum synthesis when we looked at the Dubspot tutorial about creating a TR-808 style kick drum with NI Massive. This time I'm going to share a video from Computer Music with you. In the video (below) you will be shown how to create a synthesised cowbell sound (again, similar to the one from the TR-808) using the Synapse Dune CM synthesiser.

Dune CM is a great synth that is available on the free DVD that comes with Computer Music magazine. It might not be considered to be a beginners synth but it's definitely worth checking out. Along with Dune CM, you will find a treasure trove of freebies on the Computer Music DVD, including other synths, effects and software. The magazine itself is also packed with valuable information about music production, so it's a must read for beginners and experts alike.

Although the tutorial below is much easier to follow than the DubSpot one, it still gives you valuable insight into drum and percussion synthesis. Creating your own drums can be fun and it will also give you a set of sounds completely unique to you, meaning that it will give your tracks that extra personal feel.

If you do go about creating your own drum sounds, then I recommend that you sample them. By doing this, you will build up your very own sample library that's full of original drum sounds. this way, you can call upon them in future projects. Sure, there are plenty of drum samples readily available on the Internet but nothing can compare to making your own.

Vocal Processing tips with Morgan Page and Waves

Waves plugins are pretty much studio standard for many pros in the industry. Fair enough, they're a little on the expansive side but I suppose you get what you pay for, and with Waves what you're getting is quality. If you're looking to splash out and spend a little money on your studio, then it might be wise to invest in a few decent post production plugins such as the ones offered by Waves. Post production isn't the most glamours processes when it comes to music, but it is an important one and it will help your tracks to shine.

Below you will find a video from Waves' YouTube page that shows house legend Morgan Page discussing a few tips on how he processes his vocals using Waves Plugins.

When working with vocals you have to be careful and really use your ears, as different vocal styles leave you with different results. What's worked for you on past productions won't nessicerrily work for you every time.

Even if you're just working with sampled vocals, you have to have at least a little knowledge of mixing to get it to sit right with the rest of your mix. Just putting a compressor on your vocal isn't enough, you have to have to really work with the track to get it to sit nicely. This might sound a little confusing at first, but like with everything else, practise makes perfect. A little trial and error never hurt anyone, and remember to use your ears not your eyes.

Using shortcuts to increase productivity in the studio

Keyboard shortcuts can help you to increase your work flow and generally make your experience inside software a hell of a lot easier. Music software is no different, there are a lot of tasks and window switching that goes on in professional DAWs and sometimes knowing the basics will hep you navigate your projects with ease.

Beware though, keyboard short cuts aren't universal and will differ between different kinds of software so if you use a combination of DAWs when you produce, then you might have a hard time remembering what's what for each DAW. A good tip is to keep a print off or a note book containing the shortcuts near to your workstation.

There are also Keyboard overlays for your computer keyboard that display the shortcuts on the keys themselves. If you're a power-user then it's probably worth having a look at these; they're available for pretty much any DAW that you can think of. With a quick Google search you should be able to find the overlays that you're looking for.

Here, we have a video that was uploaded by Reason Explained that demonstrates some of the most common keyboard shortcuts in Propellerhead's Reason. Of course, these aren't all of the shortcuts that are available in Reason, but they should get you started. If you want to have a look at all of the shortcuts then there is a PDF file on the Propellerhead site that documents all of the shortcuts in detail.

Using Massive to Create Sub-Heavy Kick Drums (Dubspot)

This tutorial from DubSpot might be geared a little more at the advanced user. It goes into detail about how you can use Native Instruments' Massive to create a classic 808 type kickdrum sound with lots of sub. To follow this tutorial you might need to put on some headphones as it works primarily in the low end of things and you might find it difficult to hear if you don't have high end studio monitors.

Drum synthesis is a very important skill to have when it comes to electronic music production. If you can learn how to create drums and percussion using synthesis then it can save you a lot of hassle when you're looking for that certain sound.

The guys over at DubSpot know their stuff when it comes to electronic music production and you can pick up quite a lot of valuable knowledge from their free online tutorials. It's also worthwhile looking at their online courses; if you're looking to learn about music production then maybe their courses are something that you could benefit from.