Propellerheads Reason
This review is about a music software called Reason. Reason was made by Swedish Software company Propellerheads. This company previously come to fame for releasing two other music software programs that both introduced new, creative methods of making music.
ReCycle let the user ‘cut' up and edit sound samples and create loop files (called “.rex” files) that can be synchronized to and mixed into songs, matching other musical tracks by adjusting tempo and pitch.
Rebirth is an exact digital copy of a set of 1980-1990s synthesizers. Aside from a perfect transition of the original sound, Propellerheads created a fantastic user interface that pays homage to users of the original machines. They took photorealistic pictures of the synths and remodeled all the movable parts, switches, knobs, buttons and keys. Analogue synth fans were gobsmacked and amazed by being provided new ‘computer only' features that made the software better than the ‘real thing'. Music Patterns could be programmed and stored. Changes to the interface of the instruments could be recorded in real-time and layered with previous inputs, thus allowing the composition, storing and playback of complete songs for the first time on these instruments. The photorealistic interface Rebirth provided only had one drawback – it was very hard to visualize the song arrangements one makes, because no view other than the photorealistic panels of the synths (which provide no information other than what was shown on the original machines) was available. Users who wanted to sequence loops and move slices of music about within the arrangement were disappointed.
Though ReCycle was limited in scope (no music arrangements could be made, only short loop sequences) and Rebirth only provide limited sequencing capabilities, the most noticeable achievement of their two user interfaces, was to endorse creating and editing music in realtime, while it is playing, so to say “live”.
Reason's User Interface
Reason is the third product by Propellerheads.Reason in the follow-up software to their previous packages. Reason not only simulates a few synths and samplers, it simulates an entire studio rack of high-tech music production hardware. Just like Rebirth it provides a drum machine, analogue synthesizers, samplers and effects. It also includes an instrument called “Dr.Rex” which allows loading ReCycle- made “.rex” files to be added to the arrangement.
The Sequencer
The Reason Sequencer is based on popular sequencers such as Cubase and logic audio. It thus lets you create sections of music using different note and rhythm placing interfaces (such as a virtual piano, or a simple table of available sounds) arrange these sections in blocks and move them about to make the final composition.
Every time a user creates a new instrument in the Reason rack using the “Create” Menu, Reason automatically creates a new Sequencer track in the sequencer window. Each Sequencer track displayed is linked to a single device in the rack, becoming an interface for all its functions.
There is a problem with switching between Sequencer modes in Reason though: The sequencer has two modes:
An edit Mode to program the instruments and write sections of music.
An arrange mode to group and arrange these blocks of music.
This is the Button before it is pressed and the Sequencer is in default Arrange mode. Pressing this will switch to the Edit mode of the Sequencer.
This is the Button after it has been pressed. It is now used to get back to the Sequencing mode.
The Default view when a new Reason project is created is the Arrange mode. This causes a problem with new Users who do not know how to get to the Edit mode to write notes. In Cubase and Logic Audio users just had to double click on any track to generate a block of music to be edited in one of the composition views. Having only a single button to switch between the two views will mean that some Users won't event know that there is a second view other than the Arrangements window they see.
Combined with the fact that many of Reasons instruments provide interfaces for writing music themselves (such as the Redrum, Rex, Matrix etc), novice users often find themselves writing everything on these instead of utilizing the Sequencer. Although this is a valid alternative, it doesn't present the same level of functionality that a full Sequencer does.
In the Edit Mode the User can choose to view six different “lanes” using the buttons right next to the aforementioned switch view button:
Propellerheads have summarized all sorts of audio manipulation techniques in to these six lanes. The aforementioned row of buttons allow the user to switch these lanes on and off for the Sequencer track they are currently viewing.
The Keyboard Roll lane is the most common musical editing interface found in Computer Music Software. It displays the image a Piano and its keys to the left and provides a row for each note. Single musical notes can be drawn onto this sheet and are played as the position indicator moves over them.
The Rex Controller Lanes. Lets the user draw and arrange Rex File Audio “Slices” (In a Rex File, a music loop is literally “sliced” into tiny bits allowing for playback of single drum hits for instance).
The Drum Pattern programmer is used for the Redrum Drum machine and us just a table of the loaded sound into which the user can draw drum hits.
The Velocity lane does not allow the user to program musical notes itself. It is usually used in conjunction with other lane views and only manipulates the velocity with which notes are struck.
The Pattern programmer allows users who have created musical patterns on Instruments who provide interfaces themselves, to play individual patterns from the sequencer.
The automation controller lane lets the user manipulate single control elements on instruments through “automation”.
Reason provides the necessary tools for editing musical notes. A selection arrow to select and edit single notes (see below) and a pencil tool to draw new notes.
Using the selection Arrow tool, the user can click on the red bars representing single notes within the Editing Lane . The black box to the right of the bar represents a handle for stretching and shortening the length of the note.
Learnability
Reason does take a little while (three to four sessions) to get used to. Its not very intuitive in the sense that it doesn't wizards for everything. Most of the functions (most importantly the create menu) are actually hidden and not visible without interacting (by pressing the right mouse button or selecting “create” from the Menu Bar.
After about three or four exposures, the user will have grasped how to add a sound generating device to the rack. One main problem here is that the Software doesn't exactly tell you if the thing you just added to the rack can actually make a sound. I found myself adding effects and a Sequencer before I found out that these did not produce any sounds. This problem though is dependent on the users knowledge of audio hardware. Had I known that Reverb was an effect device and not an instrument (as most people in the electronic audio field do), I wouldn't have encountered this problem. As this software (and its price-tag) aim at a user group primarily made up of electronic audio enthusiasts and professionals, this rather “negative” usability aspect becomes a minor issue.
Speed
Shortcuts- The Sequencer provides shortcuts for the most important functions making Reason very quick to use once these are memorized.
- When the Selection Arrow or Pencil tool are selected the User can use ALT to temporarily switch to the other tool. Having quick access to these two functions allow fast and intuitive manipulation of note data.
- The Song can be Played and stopped using the SPACE Key
- Notes can be quickly copied using two shortcut actions:
- Select notes using the selection arrow. While the song is not playing, press CTRL+C. The position marker of the song will jump to the end of the selected notes. If CTRL+V is pressed, the copy will be pasted exactly where the position marker is placed.
- Drag a copy of selected notes by holding CTRL while dragging the selected notes to a new location.
Accuracy and Functionality
The Reason Sequencer does have some redundant elements such as the myriad of “lanes” to view and edit note data. The Drum Pattern Lane and the Keyboard Lane essentially do the same thing and can be interchanged (the Keyboard can be used to program the Drum Machine for example), but each one provides an optimal interface for different instruments.
Reason avoids confusion by setting default views for every instrument the user can add to the Rack. The user CAN switch different view lanes on and off, but as they always provide a basically optimal interface, there is rarely a need to do so.
Memorability
The number of basic functions for writing music (note editing) is very small, there are only few which are imperative to use the software.
Other functions provided by the Sequencer are highly dependent on the instrument in the Rack that is being interfaced. Every one of these devices has to be discovered for itself, as they could easily be described as separate programs themselves.
The aspect of memorability in the latter case, where new knowledge has to be gained for every instrument used cannot be avoided in a Software of this type though. One of the main assets of Reason is that it simulates real studio hardware down to the last screw and cable. These studio devices weren't “easy” to use either, as most incorporated highly complex sound generation algorithms that had to be interfaced somehow.
Reasons sequencer allows the user to access all the functions of the hardware through automation (controlling knob turns, slider pushes, button switches remotely from the Sequencer), but that doesn't make the hardware easier to understand.
For novice users this is not a problem though, as they will be able to memorise all they need to know to produce music using the system. Pro Users on the other hand will cherish the fact that Propellerheads decided to mime the original hardware interfaces, as these are the ones they know from the studio rack. These Pro users are also the ones which will be able to use the extensive Automation functions provided by Reason, giving them an immense advantage over traditional studio hardware.
Satisfaction
Discovery is one of the primary drives of a Reason user. Most of the devices provided by Reason are so complex in their functionality, that weeks could be spent experimenting and discovering new possibilities.
Immediacy is the second main drive when using Reason. An orchestra can be under the users control in four mouse clicks (open “Create” menu, create Sampler device, Open patch selection File Menu, load orchestra patch).
What separates Reason from all the other programs out there though, is that the whole interface is very visceral. The sense of achievement when scrolling down a huge rack of blinking devices after having created a whole Song arrangement with instruments and effects is immense. Reason is often critiqued for looking overly complicated. This might be a problem as a novice, but once the interface is mastered it becomes a great way of showing off in front of friends.
Concluding
Yes, for novices Reason could provide a little more help to get started, but its fun discovering Reason and any questions are answered in the excellent documentation that comes with the program.
The general User interface of Reason is not too complicated to grasp (As it might seem at first).
Reason itself provides a very shallow basic interface to the instruments. The instruments on the other hand possess all the complexity of their hardware counterparts. Reason is one of those programs that is easy to learn, but difficult to master.
Propellerheads releases articles on their Website under the heading “Discovering Reason”. The core of what makes Reason so great to use couldn't be named more precisely: Discovery