Productivity tip: Create a Combinator template with Channel EQ and Dynamics pre-loaded and then drop in your chosen instrument-instant punch and presence! (Check out the step-by-step video tutorial for details.) In fact, by simply by adding Dynamics and EQ to Subtractor and tweaking a few parameters, I was able to make this humble two-oscillator synth every bit as “competitive” as my favorite go-to soft synths. It means you can now bundle them in a Combinator or RRP with any of the stock synths, which (to my ears) often lack the kind of production-ready polish of many third-party synths that offer onboard effects.
While they might seem rather mundane, having these utilitarian devices available separate from Reason’s built-in mixer is quite useful. Three of the five devices are actually existing processors-the Channel Dynamics and Channel EQ from Reason’s mixer, along with its Master Bus Compressor-repackaged as standalone effects. As you probably expect, this good-better-best tiering gives you more features and devices the higher you go.Īt its core, however, Reason 11 introduces five new effects along with a number of workflow enhancements to its DAW.
Perhaps a reflection of Reason Studios’ new product strategy, Reason 11 is available in three editions: Reason Intro ($99), Reason ($399), and Reason Suite ($599). If ReWire was to go the way of Yamaha’s mLAN, for example, many of us would be stranded without a path forward for playing and producing with Live in our host DAW, which has become a mainstay for musicians of all stripes. Many users rely on this technology to pair Ableton Live with another favorite DAW of choice. But to be clear, ReWire doesn’t exist in Reason 11.Īs an aside, with ReWire no longer required to connect Reason into the broader DAW ecosystem, I do have some concerns for ReWire’s development going forward. The flipside of these changes is that Reason no longer supports ReWire, which may not be an issue, depending on how you prefer to work. RRP does away with all of this and streamlines the music-making experience, albeit with some serious limitations as of this writing (more on this later). This meant running two DAWs simultaneously, jockeying between MIDI and audio tracks, automation controls, mixer channels and more, which has become an acceptable-yet-disjointed workflow for many of us. For years we’ve enjoyed Reason’s sonic cornucopia within the confines of its dedicated DAW environment, and relied on ReWire, an interapplication “conduit” protocol, to route audio and MIDI between compatible hosts. As of this writing, RRP supports VST3 hosts, with AU support promised by the end of 2019 and AAX support still undecided.īeing able to load Reason devices in other DAWs is nothing short of a game-changer. More significant to end users, Reason 11 ushers in a major shift with the introduction of the Reason Rack Plug-in (RRP), which allows you to run all of Reason’s synths and effects-including third-party Rack Extensions-as plug-ins within a compatible DAW, just as you would with any other plug-in. Farewell, Propellerhead, long live Reason Studios! Okay, I admit I’ll miss the nickname Propheads, but I can get on board with the new moniker. For starters, the Swedish developer that created ReBirth, ReCycle, ReWire, and of course, Reason, has changed its name and rebranded to become Reason Studios, a move that reflects the company’s focus on their flagship DAW.
Reason version 11 is here, and with it, Propellerhead Software has brought some big news.
Should you upgrade to the latest revision of this popular virtual studio?