Music Software Review #3: Reason

Reason

http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/

Reason is a cross-platform music production software that I started using after I began college. During high school I used a similar software which you might know of called FL Studio. I’m not going to talk about the problems I had with FL Studio in this article, but I’ll at least say briefly that I didn’t really like the extra emphasis on organizing your music in blocks of loops and patterns. I tend to use long melodic passages, so when I need to modify them I don’t want to deal with large loops.

The most notable aspect of Reason in my opinion is the sheer freedom the user has in manipulating the various devices within the program. You essentially have your own personal rack of synths, compressors, reverb machines, effects, and more, all crammed into one program. And the best part is that you can literally re-wire these devices to your liking to achieve the sound you want. (And by “literally” I mean actually go into the back of the devices and re-route the wires!) Also, while the default instruments are great (and of course you can always buy more), you can easily create your own sounds from scratch if you have the technical know-how.

Pros:

• Extremely customizable
• Easily work with imported MIDI files and recording MIDI via USB keyboards
• Compatible with most DAWs
• Comes with thousands of great default patches

Cons:

• A somewhat intimidating interface (especially for complete beginners, or those coming from an FL Studio-like environment)
• Expensive
• Doesn’t allow VSTs or other plug-ins (although you can buy “refills” which are essentially instrument patches unique to Reason)
• No audio recording capabilities (Although you would tend to use reason with a DAW anyway)