Reason 3.0

[zimv20]

But as an engineer, and if i never ever used Reason, i think i too would take other peoples word for it... cuz if anyone would know.. it would be the people coming to your studio to record... not some dude on a Mac Rumors Board.

well, until we get to hear some of that "real music" that you're making, then i suppose that just makes you some dude on an MR board.

it's the bad carpenter who blames his tools.

 

[3rdpath]

Reason is for audio noobs.
snip...
Reason is fun, but you wouldnt want that sound on your real music.

i couldn't DISAGREE more.

Certainly Reason, with it's low price point and ease of use, is attractive to novices but many music professionals ( such as myself ) use it on a regular basis.

i don't use it as the sole source of my music but it has it's place in my arsenal of equipment. If I need some cool pulses, synced arps or drum loop stuff to fill out a score-I go to Reason. I usually record the tracks into DP and process them individually-If I need great strings or piano I'll use my gigastudio-don't expect it to do everything.

Reason is an amazingly powerful and flexible program thats only as limited in sonic breadth as the person programming it. NTM, it's quantize function has the best groove since the MPC60.

 

[thumper]

well, until we get to hear some of that "real music" that you're making, then i suppose that just makes you some dude on an MR board.

it's the bad carpenter who blames his tools.

"real music" go buy any new CD out right now.
anyone making money from thire music would NOT use reason... trust me.

i didnt come on here to show off my work or to tell people what projects ive been apart of cuz thats just stupid for any real engineer/prod to do such a thing. i dont care what you think about me professionally.

i only replyed to this topic cuz i spent a lot of cash on reason when i first
got started, and now i realize that it was a waste of money and i want to give some helpful advice.

 

[thumper]

Hello-

I am looking to get Reason for music and it's just crazy expensive. Does anyone know where I can get this cheaper?

Also are there any other types of music programs out there?

Anyways.. sorry about all this BS thats filled up your topic.

other people might think that programs like Reason/Fruityloops and Garage
are wicked sweet programs and they sound so good and awesome that
BIG music producers and really talented people use it.

but i feel they are wrong...

-in my pass experience i can tell you there are way better programs out there that sound WAAAY better and yes even BIG producers and Very talented people use them.

Native Instruments have some AWESOME software
-Reaktor... absynth.. guitar rig.. Kontakt.. FM7
http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=home_us

Logic Audio, with a student discount, its almost the same price as Reason.
WHAT A DEAL!
http://www.apple.com/logicpro/
This is the best program for midi and it comes with some
great softsynths that just blow reason out of the water...

Sonic Synth 2 is just an amazing piece of softwear
great sounds and works so easy... its everyones little secret
http://www.sonicreality.com/viewDetails.php?ProductID=244

these are just 3 groups of software that WILL last
you a long time

*also, youll notice that all these companies have a section on there
webpage that says "Featured Artist" where they show off all the REAL industry people who use there programs... ive looked all over reason's page to find some big artist that uses reason.. but.. sadly, .. i couldnt find any.. ...
.. .i hope im wrong.. .

... oh wait... i found this guy..

his not a big artist or anything... and
if you want his cd that he made you have to email him..
http://www.bradsucks.net
NO JOKE

 

[Flowbee]

Took me about a minute to find this...

Liam Howlett of Prodigy used Reason on their last album.

I know the Beastie Boys have used it extensively as well.

 

[faintember]

I feel like i should post my credentials before saying more, so fyi, i am a last semester Masters student in Music Composition with an electronic emphasis. I also do IDM in my spare time.

Reason 3.0 is pretty decent for what Reason does. The synth sounds, the sampler, hell even Redrum works fairly well. The key to make Reason sound like something other than Reason is to tweak the settings. It is amazing how much of a difference just a few tweaks here and there can make. The main complaint of those that say "Reason sounds like Reason" is the drums. The stock stuff is pretty drab, so what is stopping you from making your own samples and using Reason to play them back as you like? Or just tweak the drum sounds a bit and it helps to some degree.

Is Reason the be all, end all program? Absolutely not, as said before Reason does not deal with acoustic audio well, but hey, thats why you have Logic, Pro Tools, Cubase, etc.

Do i have any Reason audio to back up my claim? No. Why? Because with a vintage Moog Modular Synth, 2 ARP 2600's, a Prophet 600, a Aries 300 and Max/MSP i have no need for Reason.

Reason works well for "pop" musics, and the like. The problems come in when Joe Blow picks up Reason, makes a song using default settings and thinks he is the next Aphex Twin. Sorry, it dosent work that way. A critical ear can easily discern the difference b/t the sound of Reason and lets say Reaktor.

I have a friend that swears by Reason for his DnB stuff and he gets decent results. To each his own. And to the other posters, those that love Reason and those who hate it, no flames are intended either way. My personal choice is to build whatever i need in Max/MSP. For what i do, it gives me the best results and total control.

Back on topic, to the OP, what exactly do you want to do with Reason? What do you want the software to do, and what are your needs? That is the only real way we can actually attempt to give some decent advice to you as to what programs would be suitable.

Edit: [extended rant] By the way, the software does not make the music, it is what you make with the software that makes the music. Squeezing all you can out of a software program or piece of hardware is at the heart of music and musical exploration. Want a sample of this? Check out this. Done using Reason, and Peak (only to normalize and convert the file to .mov). It took me about 60 mins. It may not be pop, but it sure as hell shows the flexibility of a program once you dig into it.[/extended rant]

 

[thumper]

My personal choice is to build whatever i need in Max/MSP. For what i do, it gives me the best results and total control.

i love MAX, and i love the customer service you can chat
with the guy who made MAX

my love for max is why i love reaktor, cuz you can get right down to the
coding if you really wanted to. but its also got a friendly surface to get into it. not to mention the sound quality.

i also like playing around with "pure data" very fun for audio coding.

Once you see the light(or hear the waves) of better audio with superior control, you want to grab everyone who doesnt get it and say, "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!!!" the grass is so much better on this side"

 

[faintember]

but Max/MSP is not for everyone. Not everyone wants to learn Max (or Reaktor for that matter), nor do they NEED that control. I do. No other programs that i am aware of other than C sound and the likes allow me to do spectral filtering in real time, while using my own granular synthesis modules that are being controlled in real time by analyzing the partials that the instrument is creating.

Not everyone wants to learn a programming language (for that is what Max is), and for those Reason is a good alternative. It is flexible, but like with all programs you have to work with the program. Most of the time stock settings give stock results.

 

[faintember]

btw, the "sound envelope" that thumper refers to is also known as an amplitude envelope, or more commonly an ADSR. I would say that amplitude envelope or ADSR are more common terms than sound envelope.

A google search for "sound envelope" gives: 9,930 hits
A google search for "amplitude envelope" gives: 62,500 hits
A google search for "ADSR" gives: 246,000 hits

 

[thumper]

Not everyone wants to learn a programming language (for that is what Max is), and for those Reason is a good alternative. It is flexible, but like with all programs you have to work with the program. Most of the time stock settings give stock results.

i understand that, and was not recommending it.
my whole point was that. i bought reason and once i got really into audio/music i wished i spent the money more wisely. and i also gave some examples of some very good professional programs... which i wish someone did for me.

reaktor isnt that hard.. it can be if you want it to be, but its almost as easy as reason. thats why i was suggesting it.

 

[faintember]

Not everyone wants to be an audio engineer or a professional electronic music composer.

Help would be:

Reason offers no educational discounts. Try finding someone selling a used copy to save money.

Other Audio Programs:
For Sequencing Music: Garageband, Logic (express or pro), Cubase, Pro Tools
For Audio Editing: Peak
For Loops: Recycle
For Software Synths: Absynth, Reaktor
For Other Uses: Max/MSP, C Sound, Supercollider

 

[Doctor Q]

From the moderator

A number of posts have been deleted from this thread. If there is further namecalling or other breaking of forum rules, the thread will be closed.

Stick to the discussion at hand and make your points without personal insults.

 

[zimv20]

getbigg21 -- you've got access in this thread to a few songs made with Reason, giving you an idea of what it's capable of. if it's to your liking, then great. if not, there are lots of options to get you to where you want to be.

the important thing is to start making your music.

peace, all.

 

[bartelby]

Took me about a minute to find this...

Liam Howlett of Prodigy used Reason on their last album.

I know the Beastie Boys have used it extensively as well.

I love Reason.

I've used loads of different music software over the years from "Tracker" and Cubase on the Atari ST to Reason, Reaktor, Logic and Ableton.

To me saying Reason is for music noobs is like saying an HB pencil is for noobie artists.

If you're good at creating music, and I don't just mean song writing, you can get any program to sound good.

 

[e-clipse]

in the Electronic industry... i dont know ANYONE who would use Reason
in there music. it really has a semmi pro-summer sound to it.

Most people in Electronic music are into LFO's and sound envelopes
and designing their own cool sounds. mmm MAX/MSP... absynth, reakotor.

its like painting and using what ever colors you want and where you want...
Reason is like that paint by numbers colouring book. no control and
just looks bad.

I am an electronica producer
I am an audio engineering student in Nashville. I use Reason 3 all the time because I can't afford a Roland Fantom and Logic Pro yet. I have made numerous great songs on Reason 3, but I admit...Reason samples are not top notch. If you listen to them on a good set of nearfield monitors, you will hear alot of frequency hiss that you will have to eq out if you are an audiophile. The synths are pretty good, but even with tweaking they are subpar to a Yamaha, Korg, or Roland. Reason is cool, but Logic Pro and a Roland Fantom is the way to go.

Most electronic artists I know use Pro-Tools/Logic Pro to record analog equipment with a nice keyboard workstation. Knob Freaks. Reason is by far the best program to prepare you for "the switch" to pro-audio.

 

[quigleybc]

Has anyone suggested Ableton Live yet???

To the original poster, don't get Reason if you ever intend on recording your own sounds or laying tracks of instruments.. You can use your own samples in Reason, but there's no recording of real instruments.

Live is so much fun, and it can get you up and learning the basics of electronic music production just as fast as Reason, and you can record instruments.

I'm personally glad I started off using reason because it really laid a path to getting into bigger programs. Just getting familiar with terminology and what not..I'm a big fan of Reason, although I only use if for a rewired sound here and there, but it was great to start with.

If you have the money and want have fun while learning pick up Reason.

If you have a little more money, and want to have fun while learning and recording, pick up Ableton Live.

 

[FFTT]

I tried listening to the Reason instruments and a few of them sounded pretty good, but the string sounds were absolute *****.

Overall it looks like a great application for pre-fab compositions, but
it doesn't seem to offer anything remarkable for the real musician other than a few nifty bells and whistles.

 

[zimv20]

the string sounds were absolute *****.

Overall it looks like a great application for pre-fab compositions, but
it doesn't seem to offer anything remarkable for the real musician other than a few nifty bells and whistles.

there are a lot of negative Reason opinions 'round here. i find the program useful, and about the sounds -- you have to tweak them. or like i do for most of my sounds, make them from scratch.

i've never found a survey of stock sounds, whether on the computer or with dedicated hardware, particularly useful or informative.

 

[FFTT]

Sorry Zim,

It's not just Reason, I'm finding that most of the synth strings I'm hearing
just sound so badly fake and it's even worse for horn sections.
I suppose I was expecting more from Orkester.

Honestly, I hope I can get my Ensoniq EPS back up and running.

The "Epic Strings" ensembles sounded like a real string section and you could easily layer keyboards over them to get a very cool Mellotron sound. You could also easily stack the saxes to get that power sax section I liked so much in the Beatles tunes.

I'm sure there's something better out there, but I haven't found it yet.
At least not anything affordable.

 

[zimv20]

It's not just Reason, I'm finding that most of the synth strings I'm hearingjust sound so badly fake and it's even worse for horn sections.

perhaps this is at the root of the differences of opinions. i'm a keyboard player and i almost never attempt to do string or horn sounds. it's either piano, organ, or something synth-y. as i said before, i get good stuff out of Reason for synth-y sounds, plus i like the way the drum sequencer is programmed.

Honestly, I hope I can get my Ensoniq EPS back up and running.

a fine machine, to be sure. somewhere around here i've got an EPS 16+. one thing i liked to do with it is, instead of sampling something, make a patch from scratch, starting with, say, a square wave (if you'll recall, it's possible to have the machine make a single cycle waveform).

then i'd go nuts w/ the other programming stuff. i thought ensoniq made some nice filters and i was always tweaking those to hell. good stuff.

 

[thumper]

ya, theres not much you can do to escape that "reason" sound.

i personally find the stings and horns in the Korg Triton and yamaha motif to
be really good. if your good with midi then you can make them sound VERY realistic.

rack mounts are pretty cheap these days.

 

[zimv20]

ya, theres not much you can do to escape that "reason" sound.

obviously, we've been round and round on this. i guess we'll just have to disagree.

 

[Flowbee]

somewhere around here i've got an EPS 16+. one thing i liked to do with it is, instead of sampling something, make a patch from scratch, starting with, say, a square wave (if you'll recall, it's possible to have the machine make a single cycle waveform).

I've still got an EPS 16+ in storage. Time to dig it out and try to fire it up. Ahhh... the memories.

 

[FFTT]

I miss the ease of use of my EPS.

Of course you can get many more instruments now with any modern synth, but using the EPS was easy and I loved being able to layer and combine instruments at the push of a button.

The on board sequencer was also easy for me to understand, although I never had the pleasure of using my EPS with my G3's display.

I had a chance to fire up Reason again yesterday, and the string sounds weren't as bad as I originally thought.

Ease of use is a whole other ball game.

I'm really having technophobe problems trying to activate Reason while using Cubase SX 1.6 and trying to track Reason instruments into Cubase.

I'm sure I'm missing something simple, but that's where I'm at.

 

[Pathetique]

Just to give you an example of what can be done with reason

http://www.purevolume.com/dantesfirstcircle

"It's begun" is the beginning of an album i'm writing based on Dante's Inferno... The other three were me mainly just playing around.

Just so you know, all of the vocals in the other songs were done with the built in mic on the powerbook. Guitars were added with garageband (as were vocals), the rest was done with reason