Here we are again!
Another chance to contribute to the development of your favorite music software.
Reason 6.5 Beta is open for applications.

Aside from this rad Radical Piano they also “announced” two more Props RE’s on this page: http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/index.cfm?fuseaction=get_article&article=whats-new
Pulsar and Polar huh? Giggidy.

Pretty darn exciting if you ask me.
Any particular dev’d you’d like to see make Rack Extensions?
What do you guys think about all of this? Leave your comments.
I haven’t decided yet what type of RE user I will be.
Will I pick and choose my RE’s? or just get all of them as they drop?
Not much longer to wait and see!

…and we will also augment its brain with MIDI !

My plan from here:
Give it the new case and outfit it with a Midi-If Kit.
Stay tuned, i will def. post finished results and some samples! What about you guys, circuit-bending or hackin’ anything lately?

Amidst the all activity surrounding the announcement of “Rack Extensions” recently,
a new propellerhead iOS app was also unveiled.

Figure, a beat & synth looper for your iPhone or iPad, is powered by Reason!
Having Two Thors and a Kong means we have a drum kit, a bass and yet another track for the lead.

Visit the Propellerheads Figure page here: http://www.propellerheads.se/products/figure/

Download Now for FREE

OR

Here is a FREE Reason 6 ReFill. Inspired by a certain movie about wars in the stars.
These are combinators made entirely from Reason’s devices and effects.
There are NO samples whatsoever of the: movie, dialouge, sound fx etc.
It’s pure REASON Sound FX & Foley!

ReFill Contains:

closeThere may be a patch or 2 (3 or 4?) that makes use of a Pulverizer or The Echo.
Reason 4 and 5 users should still be able to use 95% of this ReFill.

Big ups to @semajforeman who inspired me to do this!

What do you think? Leave Comments & Watch the full announcement video at bottom of page

The news is official!
http://www.propellerheads.se/news/rackextensions/

The world’s best music software is now open to mingling with the world’s favorite “plug-in” makers.
Props has just greatly expanded the scope of Reason in one smart move, Rack Extensions.

A lineup of developers that are VERY GOOD at what they do & several more unnamed companies are already on board and I’m sure there will be many more to come.
Reason “Radical Piano” was also announced as what I assume will be the first actual “instrument” Rack Extension. It seemed like a modeling piano, but I have to confirm that.

So what are your thoughts on all this news? Everyone already knows all I use is Reason so i was wondering: If you were someone who wanted VST in Reason, is this the type of news you were hoping for? Good? Bad? What’s the word?

Word on the street is Propellerheads is announcing some big news in the next week! Mar 20 2012

Is it VST support? What about MIDI out? Is it a modular non-rewire Reason out?
Is it some sort of Reason “Wrapper” to host vsts? An sdk for making new devices or what?
No one knows!!
That doesnt stop our over-active imaginations on the internet..
In the user forums the general discussion is leaning toward those “Rack Extension” rumors started last month. There are quite a few types of guesses on the forums and around the net right now but until they officially announce…it all remains mere speculation.

So, It’s all eyes on Musikmesse Frankfurt March 20, 2012. More news here when I hear it.
I suspect the buzz will first hit the internets after (and most likely during!) the initial announcement, but Propellerheads themselves said they would post the video presentation a few hours after the actual press conference.. and they’ll probably have something on the site for us to read and look at so I’ll just wait for that.

What do you guys think it is? Leave a comment and speculate away!

You will fast notice how simple, subtle changes will make your beats and tracks come alive.
-Try that snare shifted 16 or so ticks to the right.. classic, late-snappin’ snare!
-How about nudging those string stabs a bit earlier in time? Hear them lockin in with the beat?
-Perhaps 7 or 8 ticks of “Random Timing” for the percussion?(Tool Window/Groove Settings)
This is the software equivalent to getting our tracks “in the pocket”
I use ReGroove the most on my drum tracks. You can record in the midi or sequence it with a mouse, but when you apply those groove changes deliberately, much more starts to happen.

Notes

• Use separate lanes (and regroove channels) for most all sounds (ex.kick,snare,hat,bass)
• Check the Reason Factory Soundbank for MPC regroove patches
• The Slide rotaries move notes earlier or later in time
• Get Groove from Clip (from any MIDI clip! ESPECIALLY your own performances)

FURTHER STUDY:

Check the Regroove video and the interactive pics @ Propellerheads

Download James Bernard’s JB Vol.4 – ReGroove Booster @ Propellerheads

CLICK THE REGROOVE ICON
OR THIS LINK TO DOWNLOAD .ZIP

DOWNLOAD HERE

This month’s -008` ReFills featured producer is: Top Mass Productions
Check out some tunes on his SoundClick and YouTube pages.
Listen to some of his work and it’s easy to see why he is on his way up!
Rappers can purchase his exc/non-exclusive tracks with and without hooks, from his soundclick..

Production Credits Include:
G Malone, Cash Money Records, H*WOOD

TopMass SoundClick: http://www.topmass.net

TopMass YouTube: http://youtube.com/topmass

I am posting this for the next time you hear someone say:
“Reason’s patches can’t sound like “Plugin-X” or “Producer Y” or “Synth-Z”
Hopefully you can easily explain why that is wrong and then, prove it.
(Instead of just punching the desk and screaming “Combinatooooorrrrrr” like I do.)

I want to stress the importance of using and understanding Reason’s Combinator in your workflow. It is a simple and at first, an empty tool in the reason rack. If we think of Reason’s Rack (front and back!) along with the devices and effects..it is much like a “real world” studio
(In my opinion, Reason is: bigger, smarter, faster, stronger, neater, cleaner, leaner and meaner!)
Anyway, when you get the basics down you will reap the benefits of the mighty combi in any and all of your projects. Now that Record was “absorbed” into Reason 6, we have this great new mixer and all of it’s channels are also represented in the rack by, you guessed it, a combinator…of sorts.

side note: Technically, the inside of the combinator is a rack itself…so Wut we got!?…..racks on racks on racks!! haha

I think of the combinator 3 different ways:

1. Instrument

Here is where we turn our device patches and effects into a clean self contained patch much like a nice big layered preset from an old keyboard workstation. I would guess this is the most common use of the Combinator. It could be for example, any instrument patch with some stacked effects, or multiple instruments stacked up and wrapped up clean in a combi. Perhaps it’s a Dr.Octo Rex based “percussion performance patch” with rotary and button controlled patterns and effects.

2. Insert Effect

A combinator as an insert effect may be a little less common, but then again most of us were used to having one in the rack the moment we open a new project! (the MClass Mastering Suite) The same way you build your stacked and racked instrument combis, you can build your own rack effects using multiple devices and routings. This is the way to invent and save your own vocal strips, guitar effects and so on.

3. Sub or Stem Mixer

If you like separate eq’s and effects on your kicks and snares etc.. chances are that your Mixer is getting full pretty quickly. Clean house! Throw that Redrum or Kong in a combinator, with its own 14:2 mixer then send that drum sub-mix to it’s own channel on the main mixer. Proceed to use as much or as little effects inside the combi and….think how nice that mess will look all folded up in your custom combinator..

Ok that does it for my quick and simple combinator advice. Go stack up some synths and effects of your own and see how easy it is to create a mind-blowing, face-melting, workstation-style patch!
Try mixing a lead synth with a guitar patch or, NNXT strings blended with a pad, etc.

Suggested Reading: @ Propellerheads

Popular Plugins as Combinator Patches | A great thread from Props User Forum!

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Combinator parts I and II by Fredrik Hägglund
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Combinator – Part I
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Combinator – Part II

Visit http://www.propellerheads.se/products/recycle/
ReCycle has recieved a bit of a facelift, GUI-wise.
My personal favorites for the updates include the use of Q,W,E,R for selecting tools and improved zooming & scrolling. If you are a ReCycle owner head to the propellerhead site for the free update.