Propellerhead Reason 6 Review
Propellerhead’s much-loved sequencing software has undergone a radical makeover. Hollin Jones finds out what’s new.
Price: £349.00
Manufacturer: Propellerhead
Website: http://www.propellerheads.se
Propellerhead’s announcement of Reason 6 came as a bit of a surprise, even to seasoned Prop-watchers. Traditionally, at least a couple of years passed between major revisions of the company’s flagship software, though the gap between 5 and 6 was significantly shorter. In addition to Reason, the Props have been developing Record, a more DAW-like sequencer with audio-recording capabilities, and anyone who has seen Record will instantly see what has been done with Reason 6.
If you installed Reason and Record on the same computer the two would effectively fuse into one application, even though both could be booted separately. So, if you opened Record, Reason’s modules would be available to use in that software. The result was one big DAW with all the advantages of Reason’s Rack and instruments plus Record’s much more advanced mixer section, audio-recording and time-stretching abilities. Reason 6 is essentially this product, with some extra modules and important under-the-hood changes thrown in for good measure. This approach makes sense: rather than maintaining two products with many of the same features but a couple of big differences, bring them together and give users the best of both worlds.
Spec speak
Reason 6 still has relatively modest system requirements by modern standards, needing just 1GB RAM and working with Mac OSX 10.5.8 and Windows XP (SP3) or any later versions of the Mac/Windows OS. It’s a 64-bit application that will also work in 32-bit mode and since there are still no external plug-ins to worry about it is all pretty seamless in the way it works.
The installation takes 3GB of HD space, most of which is for the bundled Sound Bank libraries (without which the software will not work). Reason 6 uses the authorisation system from Record, so you get a USB key that can authorise the software locally (and enables you to work offline) as well as an internet-based authorisation that checks your user details with the website. It’s nice to have the choice, as it gets around the potential problems of either being offline or not wanting to carry a USB dongle with you.
The setup process is straightforward and there’s a wizard to guide you through important stuff such as getting audio and MIDI in and out. The Preferences section is mercifully well designed by comparison to some others and has been tweaked so that everything is very clear and concise. It’s here that you set up audio input and control monitoring, among other things, so you can specify how Reason interacts with your audio interface.
The application’s window comprises three main sections, existing in a flexible main window with draggable borders. Window-management is significantly different from Reason 5, in which you pretty much had just the Rack and Sequencer, either of which could be detached. Now, as well as those two, you have a much more comprehensive mixer section plus overview sections for navigating projects.
Even with simple setups there’s generally too much content to have everything onscreen at once. This hurdle is overcome in a couple of interesting ways. For a start, both the mixer and Rack can be detached to new windows (you’ll never appreciate a dual-monitor setup more than when using Reason 6). In addition, clicking on a track in the Sequencer will briefly flash the associated channel in the mixer and device in the Rack if they are visible. This is invaluable when projects grow beyond a couple of modules – as they almost always do. Contextual menu shortcuts from different parts of the application enable you to manually highlight linked modules if you prefer.
If it ain’t broke…
At its heart, Reason 6 is still a great MIDI sequencer, based around the concept of a near-infinite rack of instruments and modules limited only by the power of your computer. Over the years its arsenal of sounds has grown and now covers all types, from acoustic pianos to the wildest synths. Classics like the Subtractor and NN-19 sampler live alongside the Thor synth, NN-XT and the mighty Combinator, which enables you to build any multi-instrument you can think of.
Beats are handled by the venerable ReDrum or the more modern Kong Drum Designer, as well as the Dr.OctoRex loop player. From Record you get the ID8, a more general-purpose sound module.
Effects are similarly well catered for, with everything from reverbs, Line 6 guitar modules and delays to the MClass mastering effects suite. Like instruments, these can be inserted anywhere and manually patched and re-patched by spinning the Rack around. They are joined in Reason 6 by three new modules. Pulverizer is a ‘demolition’ module that combines compression, distortion, filtering and modulation and sounds amazing, truly mashing up your tracks. The Echo is clearly inspired by the Roland Tape Echo and gives a much-needed boost to Reason’s delay capabilities. Rich, warm and organic, it’s great for adding depth to your tracks. Finally, there’s Alligator, a pattern-based gate for creating trance effects of all varieties. From Record you get Neptune, an advanced pitch adjuster, corrector and voice synth.
On track
The biggest news in Reason 6 is that it now supports audio recording. Simply create a track, set up your input, add any insert effects and record. MIDI and audio tracks sit side by side on the timeline and audio that you record is automatically made ‘elastic’ in the sense that it will stretch to follow tempo changes. You can comp audio takes together by double-clicking on a recording to enter the Take Editor, one of the better implementations of comp editing that we have seen.
Operations such as reverse and normalize can be performed on audio and you can chop it up and move it around, but otherwise sample editing is relatively basic, at least for now. You can create fades and transpose audio, but not get down to the levels of detail that other DAWs do. On the other hand, audio recording and editing is easier and more approachable here, so that may be preferable. The sample-editing functions accessible from modules such as the NN-19, NN-XT and ReDrum are arguably more elegant than the audio functions implemented in the timeline, but perhaps this will change.
Another big change is the mixer, which is now much more professional in appearance, with modular sections and multiple tools on every track. You get compression, gating, advanced EQ, four inserts and eight sends plus switchable signal path for every channel. Although it looks more daunting than Reason’s old mixer, it’s easy enough to use once you get used to it. Add to this multiple master insert and send effects plus a master buss compressor that glues mixes together nicely and the sound of Reason 6 is gorgeous. You can process your tracks through any effects in the Rack, but the mixer brings a touch more class to proceedings.
Reason to be cheerful
The fusion of Reason and Record into a single product brings the best of both worlds together, focusing on musicians and producers who want the excellent instruments and effects of Reason plus the straightforward audio recording of Record. Perhaps more importantly, though, Reason 6 retains the fun, inspiring feel and ease of use of its predecessors. MTM
Verdict
WHY BUY
Great fun to use
Gentle learning curve
Excellent instruments/effects
Highly flexible
Automatic audio stretching
Powerful mixer
WALK ON BY
Limited audio editing
Benefits from dual-screen setup
A worthy member of the Reason family that’s powerful and inspiring to use. Audio recording plus new effects are great additions.
★★★★★★★★★
Score: 9
This review first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 104
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