Reason101 is committed to providing you with creative and practical advice on how to use Propellerhead software, specifically Reason and Rack Extensions.
For a bit of history, the main reason I decided to put together this site was to provide the Reason user community with some tutorials and sound files, and to get some feedback from you as to alternate methods and ways in which Reason can be used creatively. I was not finding very many answers when looking online at YouTube or at other Reason forums. Don’t get me wrong, there are some excellent resources out there for us musicians, and hopefully I’ll be able to highlight a few along the way. But I wanted to create a place where I could pass along some of the things I’ve learned while using the Reason and Rack Extension software.
The second reason why I’m writing these tutorials is because a few friends of mine had asked me to provide pointers on using Reason. Usually they would get stuck somewhere in the program and I would help them out by providing some answers. So I thought I would document some of the processes that they asked me about.
Now let me outline a few notes you might want to keep in mind as you read through my site:
- I’m going to assume you own a licenced copy of Reason and/or Record (preferrably both) and you know what these products are. A trial version is ok too. There’s a link you’ll find to your right which is always there called “Propellerhead” which will take you to the main page of their site. There you can find all kinds of resources and information on the software product I mainly use to create all my music recordings.
- Next, I’m going to assume that you’ve read their entire User Guide or Help File at least once. I know in our ADD world nobody likes to read those huge tomes , but I strongly urge you to do so, and even if you read it 4 or 5 years ago, I strongly urge you to read it again as a refresher. A lot of work went into their documentation, and it will shed a lot of light on the basics of the software. I’m not going to cover the basics which can be found in those documents. I write user documentation and manuals for a living, and I’ve done the “click start and go here to click this button” to death. These projects and tutorials are intended to be middle of the road. It’s my intention to provide the average Reason user some new insight into what can creatively be accomplished with a little effort in Reason.
- Since most of the music I create on my main site at http://www.phisequence.com is Ambient Glitch, House, IDM, EDM, and all other kinds of “Electronic” music, I’ll tell you right now that the slant of the samples, music, and projects is going to be in this genre. However, that’s not to say you can’t take these projects and apply them to the genre of your choice. Please do! That’s the point. Always remember you can still take a lot away from these projects.
- I have a full time job outside of the world of music, and so everything I do here is done in my free time. As such, postings may be sporadic and erratic, sometimes coming in spurts, and other times taking a while to see anything new. I apologize in advance. I’ll do my best to keep providing new content for you.
So that’s it really. I hope you have fun, I hope you enjoy reading, and please comment, comment, comment! I learn just as much as you do, but only if you respond and provide the feedback.
Note about Site Content Licensing:
Unless otherwise stated, all works, files, and site contents are available under the Creative Commons 3.0 License: Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike. This means:
- You can freely use anything on this site as long as you provide an attribution to http://www.reason101.net or www.reason101.net or reason101.net. I would also appreciate it if you would include my name (Robert Anselmi or Phi Sequence) if you are using any written site content in part or in full.
- You cannot use any site content for commercial use. Yes, you can use the Reason files (combinator or thor patches, for example) in your songs, even if your songs are sold commercially. You CANNOT resell any of those patches as part of a commercial refill you develop. You can, however, include them in a free refill you develop, so long as you provide the above attribution and redistribute your refill under the same Creative Commons License.
- Anything you create with my work or as a derivative of my work must be shared in the same way and under the same Creative Commons License.
All my best.
Robert Anselmi
Email: webmaster@reason101.net
Hi Robert,
I think your site is very nicely done!
Great articles & tutorials here.
Peace & Good Music!
-008′
Thanks Double-oh eight! I hope you enjoy the stay. Come back, comment, ask a question and make some kick-butt music. 😉
Peace & good music back to you.
Rob
Thanks for the help, I like the way you think
Thanks David,
I’m glad you enjoy the tutorials. 😉
Rob
Hey Robert, I like you reason programming tutorials. I’m going to be writing step-by-step guides for beginners and the programming for each of the devices will really help. Having read the Site Content Licensing, I’ll make sure I note your name and website because I’d love for the people reading my guides to relate to and explore your techniques.
Zak
Zak,
Of course you can freely share the resources, as long as you cite me as the author and source. Do me one more favor, and please send over a copy of the guides you’re creating. I always like to see how other people use my work and techniques. I might even showcase it here on my blog if that’s ok.
All my best,
Rob
hi,
love your site! this is worthwhile reading and actually entertaining as well!
it’s almost 10 years i play reason and some tutorials of yours are way too far from what i learnt by myself hehe
good job you did!
by the way you got some serius sounds in your songs… those are also well arranged
best regards
rodja
ouch i wrote worthless by mistake… sorry meant the opposite… too late for me bye!
Rodja,
HA! I hope you don’t mind, I changed it to “worthwhile” instead. I don’t make it a habit to change other people’s comments, but it sounded like this is what you meant to say, so I didn’t see a problem with it. I really appreciate you taking the time to comment here. Thanks for that. 😉
glad you did! 😉
Phil, I just wanted to say thanks very much for taking the time to make these tutorials. I’m working through them gradually, along with James Bernards over at the Propellerheads website and Hydlide24 on Youtube. I think between the three of you, you make a VERY powerful pool of knowledge for anyone wishing to learn the in-and-outs of Reason and Record.
Kindest regards
Michael M
@Michael,
Thanks for your comments. I hope these tutorials give you a few new creative ideas for Reason and Record. Honestly, this is just the tip of the iceberg. There’s so much to explore in both those programs, you don’t ever have to run out of ideas. Let me know if you have any questions or ideas for upcoming tutorials. I’d be glad to explore them.
All my best,
Rob (aka: Phi)
Sorry, should have read Phi, not Phil lol 😉
Coming from Ableton Live background on producing, I am considering Reason for my synths as their cable routing seems superior to Live, atleast easier to understand. Seems like a great site so far. I like the ‘About me’ intro on yourself. I hope i will be able to get much from your site. I am loving it already. Thanks for sharing the knowledge.
That’s odd. You came up with my name. lol. Did you enter that in?
Anyway, Reason is much easier in a lot of respects to most other DAWs. At least that’s what I’ve found. I’m glad you’re enjoying the articles. Feel free to comment and share your own ideas as well. We all learn together.
Thanks for posting!
Rob
Great site! You’ve done an awesome job with the tutorials and info. Keep up the outstanding work.
Thanks,
E.I.
Uplifted Productions, LLC
E.I.:
Thanks. I try. 😉
I can aledary tell that’s gonna be super helpful.
Thanks for your recent help on my ‘How to convert R5 to R6 mixer channels’ topic of Props forum. Have dropped by your site a couple times in the past, but didn’t see the great details you have in your tutorials. Have now bookmarked and will be revisiting.
Again, thanks!
@CarvingCode,
No problem at all. I’m sure a lot of people will be wondering how to convert their tracks. So that article comes in pretty handy I think. I was scratching my head when I went from R4 to Record myself. That’s when I started pursuing how to do it properly and after a lot of help from many people and sources, the article was born. Glad you enjoy the site. I hope you find lots of stuff useful here, and please don’t hesitate to ask any questions you might have.
All my best,
Rob
Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. Its def a great help to see real time someone else creating.. All the best.. ill be keeping an eye out for new posts..
@TC,
Thanks for posting. I’ll be putting up some new content soon. Got lots of projects on the go at the moment, and don’t always have enough time to do the tutorials, but I’ll be back at it shortly. All my best, Rob
Hello. Just a line to say that this is a very informative and well-constructed site that I use frequently.
Thanks,
Hedswell.