Hello, I am a newb with Reason. I was told to come here to the reason thread for questions. There seems to be more bickering than info in this thread but I have a question, maybe someone can help.

I am using a subtractor to make a melody, now I want to use two different patches to make two different melodies for the same song. Do I have to use two subtractors?

I have two note lanes, but if i change the sound patch it will effect the other note lane too. Please help a newb.

Thanks

At 1/31/09 04:23 PM, dbeck002 wrote: I am using a subtractor to make a melody, now I want to use two different patches to make two different melodies for the same song. Do I have to use two subtractors?
I have two note lanes, but if i change the sound patch it will effect the other note lane too.

Of course you'll have to make two subs- I can't find any good reason to limit yourself to a single subtractor. Just make another one and it will all be fine

At 10/7/07 02:44 PM, Sp1r1T wrote: lol for the past week I've been using the Reason demo so much. I NEED that prog.

Prodigy used it for Outnumbered but never Outgunned album.

Too bad that album SUCKED XD..and I'm a big fan of them :)

Btw you are right, Reason is a great program!

Reason 3.0 I've been using, but I had a look at the 4.0 demo, and although the rack seem pretty much the same, the editing window I can not get a grip with.

Like recording you now have to highlight the area you want to record :S that's so annoying for a start, not that i've been able to record anything with it at the moment due to I can't figure out how to assign modules to the tracks I want.

is anyone using Reason 4.0 after using 3.0? If so how long did it take to adapt to the new set ups etc? And is it even worth upgrading to? The only difference I've noticed is that you can automate the tempo during the song, that and a new rack.

At 4/22/09 08:42 PM, itsfoxhall wrote: Reason 3.0 I've been using, but I had a look at the 4.0 demo, and although the rack seem pretty much the same, the editing window I can not get a grip with.

Like recording you now have to highlight the area you want to record :S that's so annoying for a start, not that i've been able to record anything with it at the moment due to I can't figure out how to assign modules to the tracks I want.

is anyone using Reason 4.0 after using 3.0? If so how long did it take to adapt to the new set ups etc? And is it even worth upgrading to? The only difference I've noticed is that you can automate the tempo during the song, that and a new rack.

im using it.

1) the timeline is a lot better since instead of automating completely by hand, you can jst set points--its called vector automation. that's really useful for me. makes it a lot easier to organize the song and develop effects more accurately.

2) you get thor, an arpeggiator, and regroove to give you're patterns a little more realism--though i dont really use those; thor is a really really powerful synth device to throw onto ur rack but i havent toyed around with it much yet, and the other 2 dont really matter too much to me. but maybe they would to u.

adapting to it took less than an hour for me. idk if it was worth it moneywise for me since i don't use so many of its features, but its definately easier to work with and more versatile imo.

and im pretty sure if u jst press the record button and then jam stuff out itll jst highlight for you in those boxes to organize the recorded part. thats not a bad thing.

I only have two things to say about Reason, and that is - it's the best program to use to make fake music.

Why? Because you should be recording the instruments live with microphones!!!

At 4/23/09 05:38 AM, joeymofo wrote: I only have two things to say about Reason, and that is - it's the best program to use to make fake music.

Why? Because you should be recording the instruments live with microphones!!!

I record with microphones and use Reason. Record into wavelab and then fix it up with NN-XT

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At 4/23/09 05:38 AM, joeymofo wrote: I only have two things to say about Reason, and that is - it's the best program to use to make fake music.

and whats the second thing you have to say about it?

(sorry for the double post)

At 4/23/09 05:38 AM, joeymofo wrote: I only have two things to say about Reason, and that is - it's the best program to use to make fake music.

Why? Because you should be recording the instruments live with microphones!!!

What the fuck man? Record the instruments? Are you kidding? Recording is totally cheating, you can NOT call it real music if it's not played live. And of course, you should only be using classical instruments- if you're using an electric guitar or a banjo or something then you're nothing but a stupid poser

At 4/24/09 07:51 AM, SBB wrote:
What the fuck man? Record the instruments? Are you kidding? Recording is totally cheating, you can NOT call it real music if it's not played live. And of course, you should only be using classical instruments- if you're using an electric guitar or a banjo or something then you're nothing but a stupid poser

WTF, recording the instruments is cheating?! Recording eg micing up a guitar amp playing it live and recording it is not cheating, niether is recording vocals like that, when you start using vocorders to get someone's voice to sound better that is what I would class as cheating, but there aren't no rules in music.

Using an electric guitar or a banjo makes you a stupid poser??? I think you should leave lol

dude i know! it does suck , but you can automate the knobs up next to the mod wheel i think

At 4/25/09 01:22 PM, itsfoxhall wrote: stuff

lol dude... it's called sarcasm. Oh and it's a vocoder, not a vocorder ;)

At 4/26/09 03:32 AM, Gorgorothx wrote:

:Oh and it's a vocoder, not a vocorder ;)

So it is my bad, I've always been taught that it was a vocorder, then again might be different wording/spelling in diff countries, like colour in the UK and color in the US

so i constructed a cross fader within a combinator. i created a line mixer and made it so that ones max and min volumes were of opposide parameters, so that when i turned the knob on rotary 1 the levels crossed....as in a cross fader, but how do i get them to cross fade without losing the full volume of the synths or whatever i have in the mixer towards the middle, untill it gets past the middle it sound slike a half volume of the two which is a bad cross

Hey guys... This might be a question that was asked over and over again, but ain't the sound in Reason incredibly low?

I think the addition of the Master Suite somehow resolved the problem, but I tend to get too much compression in my songs. Got any suggestions for for?

ok...my advice dont use the master suite... if you do only use the eq, perhaps the peak limiter and the compressor, if you use that stereo field expander you are risking some stuff space wise.

1. if you really use that compressor heavily over the master mixer than you are goin gto get a "quieter sound" and if you use the peak limiter...same problem for you, the idea is to use them in descression. also make use that your song never hits the red zone on the mixers master amplitude meter. the idea of mixing for most part means dont let it go red. if you are still unsure if it is at the right level just before the outputs go to your audio card from the master suite attack another big mixer and rout the outputs into the input of one of the mixer channels and then the master output of that to the audio card, here you can see what the levels are like after processing, and then you can raise or lower the volume to your choosing from the master slider, you dont want it to go red but this is just my view on it, this should be at a standard listening level

At 5/3/09 03:31 PM, Darren-M wrote: ok...my advice dont use the master suite... if you do only use the eq, perhaps the peak limiter and the compressor, if you use that stereo field expander you are risking some stuff space wise.

1. if you really use that compressor heavily over the master mixer than you are goin gto get a "quieter sound" and if you use the peak limiter...same problem for you, the idea is to use them in descression. also make use that your song never hits the red zone on the mixers master amplitude meter. the idea of mixing for most part means dont let it go red. if you are still unsure if it is at the right level just before the outputs go to your audio card from the master suite attack another big mixer and rout the outputs into the input of one of the mixer channels and then the master output of that to the audio card, here you can see what the levels are like after processing, and then you can raise or lower the volume to your choosing from the master slider, you dont want it to go red but this is just my view on it, this should be at a standard listening level

Thx, but I think I didn't explain myself very well...

I meant that by default the sound of my songs is always very low even if pushed to the limit... and I even tried my songs on other Computers or sound systems and the sound is always very low compare to commercial productions or even other user's tunes.

SO! I tried the Master Suite to bring the volume up. It works, but since it's always clipping I have to use the limiter for compression, which creates volume gaps... hence fuckin up the sound of my music.

I get the basics of mastering very well... Thank you... it's just that I don't get why the volume is always so low...

At 5/3/09 05:21 PM, HotActionYiffFur wrote:

At 5/3/09 09:54 AM, Nekoprism wrote: Hey guys... This might be a question that was asked over and over again, but ain't the sound in Reason incredibly low?

I think the addition of the Master Suite somehow resolved the problem, but I tend to get too much compression in my songs. Got any suggestions for for?

Yeah, ditch the Master Suit and individually compress features as needed.

Sorry for the double post...

I get what you're saying but if I do that I find the sound to be lower than anything else I listen too... I checked the Propellerheads board and many other people are having the same problem... BUT! Nobody has a solution... =(

oh ok, i wasnt trying to say you didnt know just telling why it might be messing up but i can see you have thought about this.... hmm

well i would say that there are two things that i might think if this were to happen.

1. perhaps there is interference between your frequencies, such that maybe your bass drums and bass synths etc... are combining and shorting eachothers amplitudes out thus reducing the amplitudes, i would suggest eqing each instrument seperately, but then again you probably did this.

2. i went through a phase where i wanted to compress every instrument, dont do this id you are

3. are you reversing phases on the instruments?
this could be a problem

4.sometimes saturated effects harm the mix

5. if none of these apply then perhaps it is all in your head and other peoples music is too loud... i went crazy for a year trying to understand standard volume levels and what was actually considered the proper amount, especially w/vocals those are so tricky, but in any case i dont know what else to say

5. if none of these apply then perhaps it is all in your head and other peoples music is too loud... i went crazy for a year trying to understand standard volume levels and what was actually considered the proper amount, especially w/vocals those are so tricky, but in any case i dont know what else to say

No harms done... =)

Thanks a lot for trying. It'S very nice of you. But I think I'll go with number 5... =P As long as it doesn't make my music bad. =)

Just jumping in on this one, assuming the topic.

It sounds like you think your music doesn't sound 'loud enough' compared to most other tracks. The reason for this is compression.

That being said, the fact your music doesn't sound like others is probably a good thing.

Commercial music these days is compressed beyond all levels of understanding for various reasons. They actually do compress tracks to make them as loud as possible for the purpose of making the music sound worse.

Yes. You heard me. Though that's a bit of a rudimentary way of explaining it, let's look in depth at why this is.

The playback method for music has changed a lot in recent years. The rise of MP3 players and other portables means that people are lisning to music on their own in a wholly different way. Tracks are being equalised to sound their 'best' on earbuds and other sound-isolating mediums.

Earbuds are not great for volume, they have tiny, low powered amplifiers with a high SNR in the lower amplitude (volume) ranges. Having a higher general volume means tracks can avoid distortion. Also, earbuds have rubbish bass, and as such tracks are compressed to isolate bass sounds so they ring through as if they were being played by a dedicated subwoofer.

This of course means that tracks, when played properly sound muddy and over-compressed. Why do recording studios not optimise their levels for a real set of speakers? That's where the money comes into it.

The only way that you can hear a track properly with the dynamic range that would naturally occur with a song is to hear it live. Although this, of course, applies less to electronic music, essentially speaking artists make their music sound shit when recorded in a studio to make their live performances and club recitals sound better, when other factors such as crowd noise, distance from speakers and room shape would otherwise make the track sound a lot worse.

Have a look at your track in a waveform viewer. A modern mastered track from pretty much any band or artist you can think of would look like a solid block of waveforms with little to no discrimination in amplitude levels from one part of the song to another.

On the other hand, a correctly compressed and EQ'd track would have very clear differences in amplitude in different parts of the music.

If you want your track to sound as good as possible, mix the stereo effects on a good set of headphones, then EQ and compress your track on a set of good quality speakers with a subwoofer.

Thx a million guys!

Khuskan, that was a great class on mixing!

I think I'll stop being paranoid about it and try to enjoy the dynamics of my songs.

Thx again!

So I got my hands on reason 4 today on my macbook and I've been having some fun futzing around with it on my ~$200 yamaha keyboard. I loaded up the mixer and the subtractor and just started turning all the dials and pressing all the buttons to see how everything works out. I also tried some of the default patches, and noticed something peculiar.

If I play the "bass guitar" patch on the subtractor, which was the first default patch that loaded, I couldn't play any chords, or even 2 notes at once. It would warp a little. But when I tried out chords in the arpeggiator, the arpeggios worked just fine. Then when I loaded in the "CCRMA E Piano" patch, I could play chords just fine without any warp.

I had probs like this in Fruity Loops, but that was a while ago and I have no idea how I fixed it. Is this an actual problem, or do some patches only pay 1 note at a time without getting all warpy? Sorry for the noobness.

At 5/10/09 11:16 AM, STEM wrote: If I play the "bass guitar" patch on the subtractor, which was the first default patch that loaded, I couldn't play any chords,

That's not a bug, that's a feature.

A monosynth is a synth that can only play one note at a time, although the subtractor is capable of polyphonic synthesis, there are artistic reasons as to why you would want only one note to be active at any one time.

For example, portamento (sliding between notes) is only truely possible on a monosynth - on a polysynth, how would the synth know what note you wanted to slide? Also, you'll notice a switch on the subtractor for Legato and ReTrig modes - these features only work with monosynth. On legato mode, the attack/decay/sustain/release envelope applies to all connected (next door) notes, while on retrig mode, each individual note is shaped by ADSR.

You can override this by turning up the polyphony value on whatever patch it is you're using, but be aware it may make the patch behave a lot differently.

Thanks for pointing that out, now I understand :)

Did you guys hear about this?

There's a countdown thing on the Propellerheads site and they're complaining about it in the forums, so I guess it's real. I don't care too much for it... unless it's controlled by a WiiMote. Then they've got me for sure

Another noob question. So I've been having fun with the NN-19 digital sampler, threw on the RhodesMK1Mute patch and liked how it sounded, but only when I pressed on the damper pedal to draw out the sounds, instead of making them end sharply. I noticed that I can't record the damper sound, I guess I need to add in a device to create that effect. What's the best way to go about this?

Nevermind, I think I came across it. It seems the R switch in the Filter and Amp categories gave me the sustain/damper I was looking for, in the NN-19. I assume that stands for Release

At 5/10/09 02:47 PM, SBB wrote: Did you guys hear about this?

There's a countdown thing on the Propellerheads site and they're complaining about it in the forums, so I guess it's real. I don't care too much for it... unless it's controlled by a WiiMote. Then they've got me for sure

What is it suppose to be anyway? A complement? A replacement?