Reason 5 rookie
October 13, 2011 7:27 PM Subscribe
I just bought a copy of Reason 5, and having NEVER used music creation software, I don't even know where to start. All the tutorials online and the instructions that came with it seem to be made for people who have a certain amount of experience with this type of software. I am a complete noob! Does anyone have any advice or resources to help get me started making music?
Did you try just blindly following video tutorials?
Want to clarify this - I think it might be helpful to actually blindly follow video tutorials! Just doing, not necessarily understanding at first. It'll accumulate.
posted by krilli at 7:56 PM on October 13, 2011
Want to clarify this - I think it might be helpful to actually blindly follow video tutorials! Just doing, not necessarily understanding at first. It'll accumulate.
posted by krilli at 7:56 PM on October 13, 2011
Techniques can be different for different kinds of music. If I were you I'd find production forums for your kind of thing and hang out. That will narrow down the infinite possibilities into what you need.
Then try and do one step well. Like think 'I'm gonna make a bassline' (good one to start with), do some searches and tutorials and most importantly play around until you get it.
posted by Not Supplied at 8:30 PM on October 13, 2011
Then try and do one step well. Like think 'I'm gonna make a bassline' (good one to start with), do some searches and tutorials and most importantly play around until you get it.
posted by Not Supplied at 8:30 PM on October 13, 2011
Response by poster: Skype is a great idea, as I have a friend who has the program, but lives a good distance away. I will ask him if he is willing to go that route. Maybe even a you tube video would be helpful. The main sticking point is just simply creating a song. I thought I was creating something but couldn't get the different tracks to synch or join together, then when I went back to them individually, they didn't seem to be there, so I can play the instruments, but cannot record/synch together. My musical background is as a listener only. I've just seen the advances in technology and finally said, I think I can take a stab at this and make some really good stuff. I read notation, and I have an old (9 years) Yamaha full key synth with MIDI capability, so I need to get an interface for that and my laptop. I know music, and love all kinds, and the stuff in Reason sounds great. I really think I could create some interesting stuff with this program. Will re-attempt to look at the tutoials as well, but most just seemed to lose me.
posted by venbear3 at 8:31 PM on October 13, 2011
posted by venbear3 at 8:31 PM on October 13, 2011
(Thanks for the update! Good plan. Sounds like a good situation for even a tiny bit of initial back-and-forth dialogue with a guide. Doesn't need to be a Reason wizard I think; Reason is kind of a self-contained idiom, so once the ball starts rolling it kind of teaches you about itself. That's a big part of the beauty of Reason.)
posted by krilli at 9:03 PM on October 13, 2011
posted by krilli at 9:03 PM on October 13, 2011
The main sticking point is just simply creating a song. I thought I was creating something but couldn't get the different tracks to synch or join together, then when I went back to them individually, they didn't seem to be there, so I can play the instruments, but cannot record/synch together.
Sounds like you aren't arming the activating the tracks you need to record and quantizing them. Try going thru this tutorial - reason hasn't changed that much since this video was put together.
posted by Brent Parker at 10:48 PM on October 13, 2011
Sounds like you aren't arming the activating the tracks you need to record and quantizing them. Try going thru this tutorial - reason hasn't changed that much since this video was put together.
posted by Brent Parker at 10:48 PM on October 13, 2011
Yes, absolutely check Youtube for tutorials...walkthroughs for video games I have played and got stuck on have been so, so helpful in this regard. Checking youtube myself, typing in "Reason 5," it gives the autofill option of "Reason 5 tutorial beginner." with several results. Taking out "beginner" results in lots more.
posted by mreleganza at 12:05 AM on October 14, 2011
posted by mreleganza at 12:05 AM on October 14, 2011
It sounds like you're not hitting the record before you record, just hitting the normal playback button and playing your parts along to it.
It's been awhile, but my favorite way to learn stuff in Reason was to look at other people's songs. All the demos that come with the program are 'open source,' as it were. Load them up and you can see exactly how they did everything (and then change it if you want!). Furthermore, at the Propellerhead website there are forums where people from all over post their creations, and most of these give you the actual Reason file and not just a .wav or whatever, so you can in turn load all of those songs up and inspect their methods. You can (with shift+tab i think?) turn your rack around and see which cables go where, you can 'steal' their effects set-ups and use them and tweak them for yourself, and so on.
For learning how to get the synths (subtractor, thor, etc.) to do things you want them to, I found it helpful to 'derive' patches on my own. For instance, create two Subtractors (or whichever) next to each other. Find a factory patch (such as, uh, Big Booty Bass) that you like and load it into the top Subtractor. Initialize (right click on the device itself, choose 'initialize') the bottom Subtractor.
Then, knob position by knob position, button by button, make the settings on the bottom, initialized Subtractor match the Big Booty Bass patch settings.
As you go, diddle around on the keyboard between each change, and you will see and hear, step by step, how the factory patch was made. I found it edifying and demystifying, and I gained confidence for creating my own patches.
It sounds like your problems though are mainly with the interface so far. The newest Reason I've tried is Reason 4, so I can't speak to Reason 5, however for both 3 and 4 I had a bit of a time becoming comfortable with record settings, cutting copying pasting, dragging things around within a track or from track to track, etc. It's just a sort of complicated is all.
Don't despair, it's a skill to learn just like anything else. Get your sea legs doing simple things, and build from there. You'll get past the hiccups, and then you will start having fun. Because man, it sure is fun.
I just woke up, so there is a chance none of that made sense.
(I think I made up the 'Big Booty Bass' Subtractor patch---don't be alarmed if your copy of the program doesn't have it.)
posted by TheRedArmy at 7:55 AM on October 14, 2011
It's been awhile, but my favorite way to learn stuff in Reason was to look at other people's songs. All the demos that come with the program are 'open source,' as it were. Load them up and you can see exactly how they did everything (and then change it if you want!). Furthermore, at the Propellerhead website there are forums where people from all over post their creations, and most of these give you the actual Reason file and not just a .wav or whatever, so you can in turn load all of those songs up and inspect their methods. You can (with shift+tab i think?) turn your rack around and see which cables go where, you can 'steal' their effects set-ups and use them and tweak them for yourself, and so on.
For learning how to get the synths (subtractor, thor, etc.) to do things you want them to, I found it helpful to 'derive' patches on my own. For instance, create two Subtractors (or whichever) next to each other. Find a factory patch (such as, uh, Big Booty Bass) that you like and load it into the top Subtractor. Initialize (right click on the device itself, choose 'initialize') the bottom Subtractor.
Then, knob position by knob position, button by button, make the settings on the bottom, initialized Subtractor match the Big Booty Bass patch settings.
As you go, diddle around on the keyboard between each change, and you will see and hear, step by step, how the factory patch was made. I found it edifying and demystifying, and I gained confidence for creating my own patches.
It sounds like your problems though are mainly with the interface so far. The newest Reason I've tried is Reason 4, so I can't speak to Reason 5, however for both 3 and 4 I had a bit of a time becoming comfortable with record settings, cutting copying pasting, dragging things around within a track or from track to track, etc. It's just a sort of complicated is all.
Don't despair, it's a skill to learn just like anything else. Get your sea legs doing simple things, and build from there. You'll get past the hiccups, and then you will start having fun. Because man, it sure is fun.
I just woke up, so there is a chance none of that made sense.
(I think I made up the 'Big Booty Bass' Subtractor patch---don't be alarmed if your copy of the program doesn't have it.)
posted by TheRedArmy at 7:55 AM on October 14, 2011
Response by poster: Man, thanks everyone. I found the tutorial and in my free time over the weekend, will be making a concerted effort to wrassle this bear to the ground. And to TheRedArmy, thanks for all "Big Booty Bass"-in up this post. Had a good laugh at your expense. Can't wait to post some creations to "music". Thanks again everyone.
posted by venbear3 at 8:55 AM on October 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by venbear3 at 8:55 AM on October 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
If I were nearby, I'd drop by and show you around Reason. Is there maybe someone who can show up and get you over the threshold? (It might be possible to do so via some kind of screen sharing like over Skype or something ...)
Did you try just blindly following video tutorials?
That said, perhaps it would be easier to answer if we had slightly more info; Can you elucidate a little where you're coming to a halt? What kind of experience do you have that might be applicable, e.g. any previous experience in music? Other creative software? None is needed, but it helps in guiding you / guiding you towards guidance.
posted by krilli at 7:55 PM on October 13, 2011