Reason 10 Production Tricks & Tips
This is it. If you want to learn some of the coolest tips and tricks for Propellerhead’s Reason, look no further. Reason guru Paul Ortiz reveals some of his favorite production nuggets that are sure to open your eyes and your mind when producing with Reason.
Videos
• Building Synth Kits with Kong (06:48) - This video will look at using Kong as a CV nerve centre to trigger synths in place of its built-in drum modules.
• NN Nano Glitch Drums (04:46) - Using the NN Nano, learn how to create a patch that selects drum samples from a random pool for glitch style drums.
• Randomized Beat Slicing with Kong (04:49) - Next up, see how to set up Kong as a beat slicer ready to drag and drop loops onto for 8 or 16 chunk slicing.
• Grain as a Loop Player (04:22) - Grain can do a lot more than make pads, and in this video you'll discover how to use tape style tempo matching, as well as tape stops and granular tempo sync'd loop playback.
• Randomizing Top Loops in ReDrum (02:47) - ReDrum's random pattern generator can be an excellent source of quick rhythmical inspiration. Discover how to use it and bounce the results to MIDI.
• Getting 16 Channels of Multi-Out (04:19) - See how to overcome the 8 stereo channel limitation with this simple but effective workflow trick using Kong, and also VST instruments.
• Polyphonic CV (03:00) - Using a free rack extension, watch how to hook up multiple Matrix devices to a single synth for full polyphonic playback.
• Sidechaining with Audio (05:00) - In this video, re-visit sidechaining methods and see how to use the FX sends of the master section to distribute sidechain keying.
• Building a CV Sidechainer (04:20) - Following on from the previous video, discover how to build a CV powered volume ducking machine using Grain as an envelope generator.
• Pattern to Track with Rack Extensions (05:07) - Rack extensions don't have the ability to copy patterns to tracks (yet), but using the combinator and players it's possible to get around this with a simple workaround.
• Using Players in Combinators (03:00) - Nesting players inside of a combinator is a fantastic way of creating layered auto-accompany style patches to kick start your song ideas.
• Using Alter Notes to Modify Arpeggios (03:44) - See how using arpeggio playback automation and altering notes with the toolbox is a great way to liven up static arpeggio sequences.
• External MIDI Instruments & Delay Compensation (05:52) - In this video you'll learn how to compensate for the delay between Reason and external MIDI devices using groove lanes to introduce negative track delay.
• Europa & Grain Freeform Envelops & Mod Sync (04:46) - Explore a couple of little known Europa and Grain features to draw your own wavetables and grain playback envelopes, as well as tempo sync the rate of modulation effects.
• Internal Sampling Pt. 1 (04:36) - Learn how to record the live output of any device in Reason directly to an audio track for a "hardware style" approach to recording to capture unexpected ideas.
• Internal Sampling Pt. 2 (05:43) - Continuing on from the previous video, see how to use the I/O section to sample the output of any device directly onto Kong patches for an MPC style workflow.
• Internal Sampling Pt. 3 (05:54) - Using Mix Channels as record sources can be a great way to save on CPU when using hungry devices that require low latency, such as guitar amp simulators. Using this method, set up a virtual guitar processor inside Reason and record wet direct to any audio channel.
• Mix Channels as Sends (03:36) - Nesting effects inside Mix Channels as send effects gives you access to the SSL's macro features, sidechaining and full EQ and is a fantastic way to use the send FX section.
• Thor as an Audio Processor (06:39) - Old devices can still be taught new tricks! Discover how to set Thor up as a filter, gate and envelope programmer for external audio.
• Using Note Echo to Correct Patch Tuning (04:01) - This final trick will help you re-pitch incorrectly tuned presets without having to use MIDI transposition or edit the patches themselves.