Learning Reason

June 3, 2005 6:22 PM

I have to learn to use Reason 3.0 for a job that starts at the end of this month. I've used ProTools and Sonar to record, mix, and master music in the past. I've downloaded the Reason demo. Any good resources for getting up to speed with it quickly?
posted by ludwig_van to technology (6 comments total)

Yeah. Play with it. As much as humanly possible. The learning curve on Reason is steep, but not insurmountable. And the helpfiles are brilliant. Read them in sequence, and play with each component as it's presented. Then just start playing and tweaking.

I find that the major benefits of Reason are the unlimited possibilities for signal path control and routing. It's un-fucking-believable.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 6:53 PM on June 3, 2005

Oh! Silly me. Downloading .rns files and deconstructing how things were done in a given song will help you greatly.

I must say I'm jealous. You're getting paid to play with Reason? No fair, I say!
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 6:55 PM on June 3, 2005

Thanks, dnb. Do you know of any good sites for getting free .rns files? I downloaded some from propellerhead's site, but I seemed to lack the necessay plugins for the file. How can I find the files I'll be able to use with the demo?
posted by ludwig_van at 6:57 PM on June 3, 2005

PAID to work with Reason? Son of a bitch....

Anyway, this program will blow your plain old multitracking head off. If you've done any MIDI sequencing in the past, dredge it all back up again. If not, your learning curve just got a little steeper. Reason is essentially a plain old MIDI sequencer with one HUGE difference: all the devices you'd normally have in an equipment rack with MIDI and patch cables snaking every which way are now ON YOUR SCREEN!

And if you press the TAB key, you'll see the back of all the devices, with said cables a-dangling. Go nuts and see what happens; Reason breaks in very interesting ways.

My suggestions:

A) Lose the demo; get the actual version up and running. You'll need the full version to learn on once you blow past the limits of the demo, which will probably happen very quickly. Also, the demo can't open any other Refills (Reason's collection format for sounds, samples, synth patches, REX loops, etc.), so you're screwed if you try to open anyone's RNS (song) file with the demo. Very poor substitute for the real thing.

B) Send the PDF of the actual operations manual (not the starter book which comes with, but the large PDF manual included on the disk) to Kinko's and make a printout of it. Glue this to your hand for the next couple of weeks. Work through each device in turn, as each one is a highly complex, individually unique rack device which you should understand the working of. Exception: ignore the NN19 sampler, the NNXT does everything it does and more, and is easier to work with, too. It's a lot to absorb at first, but once you get a couple of devices under your belt, the whole picture starts to take form.

C) Check Reasonbanks.com for refills and songs, Reasonstation.net (not .com!) for great tutorials and more resources. Propellerheads.se has a ton of songs, resources, etc. as well, but you've already been there.

I'd wish you good luck, but you've already got the job (mutter mutter lucky bastard mumble mumble).
posted by Aquaman at 8:47 PM on June 3, 2005

Propellerheads has some in-depth articles that I found very useful.
posted by D at 4:16 AM on June 4, 2005

There’s a TON of online resources for Reason; this is probably the best place to start with...
posted by dpcoffin at 10:00 AM on June 4, 2005