Do this for Reason 9 You Will Upgrade Now. To know why, just read on…
To all those that know us, we are die hard, to the “floor” software heads. We use just about every software “axe” we can to get new ideas. Well, we have been hearing the hum in the wilderness about Reason 9. But at the studio, we have not used Reason since version 2.5. So when it came time to considering this new software, we were like, “Reason, wasn’t that what we used to produce euro trance tracks on?
Now that we have sufficiently dated ourselves, you can see that we were not entirely sold on the prospect of upgrading or even if we were eligible to upgrade given the fact that we were back at version 2.5! So instead, we downloaded the demo and instantly, we were totally wrong, in the best way possible. This is not an upgrade. Between version 2.5 and version 9, Reason suddenly became a fully contained digital audio workstation. How did this happen, when did this happen? Why didn’t anyone tell us. So, we are telling you.Try out the 30 day trial and if you are not convinced, then it will be our little secret!
Customize the interface
So if you haven’t already left to upgrade or are simply tired of software hype, then let’s just start by saying Reason 9 is a monster. Firstly, and you may call us vain for saying this, you can customize the interface. That is right, you can decide how you want to skin the interface. That is something that all other DAWs simply do not let you do. Cubase does allow you to change interface colors to a degree, but we are talking about skinning it altogether. This concept makes for a far easier way to audition different combinations of colors and styles quickly and easily. We have tried tweaking colors sets in Cubase and it is tedious. We have often simply given up and accepted the layouts the way they are. Skinning allows you to adapt the interface instantly to different lighting conditions. This is great because our studio has a window and at certain times of the day, we love the sun coming in, but it obscures everything. We now have a way to deal with this and we love this feature.
Dueling Arpeggios
Arpeggio generators are NEVER boring. We have loved them since they were first used on early synths as a substitute for rudimentary sequencing. Clearly, arpeggios have found their way into all styles of music. Reason takes it a step further and adds dual arpeggios to any Reason instruments you throw at it. There is an insane amount of variability and controls available with this tool. There is only one danger with using it. You will lose hours and hours pretending that you are Paul Oakenfold and the crowd is going bananas. But if you can see beyond the simple surface of Trance and EDM, there are a million uses for arpeggios in all kinds of music. Not to mention the fact that it is just plain fun as hell. The presets offered in Reason 9 really show what it can do. We encourage you to take as much time as you like going through them.
The Mighty Thor
Well, given the fact that Propellerheads is a Swedish and I being Norwegian, I was not prepared to forgive them for stealing the Norse god of thunder’s name. But I put my “hammer” aside once I started to mess about with this amazing piece of synth plugin goodness. I now understand that sometimes, very rarely, the hype does not do it justice. This is truly one of the most powerful and versatile soft synths we have every used. Reason heads for years have gone on about how awesome a synth Thor is and they were right! I would say that the best comparison to another soft synth out there is Massive by Native Instruments. Again, if you download the demo and just play the presets you will be amazed. The last time we used Reason, there was Malstrom and Subtractor. Those were pretty good synths for their time, but very limited. Thor smashes them to pieces. There is so much that Thor can do as a synthesizer, that we will be writing another review just on it. If all that came with the Reason upgrade was Thor, then it would be a done deal. I know that this is going to be a new favorite synth. I have no doubt. If you never had a version of Reason with Thor in it, you do not know what you are missing, run, don’t walk to your computer and upgrade now!
Final Thoughts
We have just scratched the surface in this review about what is great in Reason, we have not done the entire upgrade justice. So we are now committed to at least two or three more reviews of the product as we dive deep into what it offers. In the meantime, if you haven’t already rushed to the Propellerheads site and upgraded, do it now. You won’t be disappointed.