Introduction

From the moment Reason was first introduced, I knew that the entire game for electronic music had changed. It was the very first music software platform that behaved just like hardware. And, having been someone who had sunk quite a bit of my hard-earned money into music hardware, it was nice to finally see a new way of doing things without having to have so much room in my studio taken up. I mean, Reason even had all of the cords that I’d been paying so much money for over the years included free of charge!

Reason has grown a lot since then. More devices have been added, sure. A truly professional mixing board was added in as well. And, finally, audio. Since version 6, we have a complete studio that looks and sounds like hardware, but is all software. Its progression has been very similar to the way that it used to be when studios were all hardware. You’d buy a mixer, you’d buy a synth, a drum machine. And, over time, you’d add other items, like another drum machine, or you’d sell the one you had and get an even better one. As you got really adept, you’d get an even bigger mixing board. Propellerhead has been very generous with this studio!

Reason 6.5 came around very soon after Reason 6. With that update came a major breakthrough. Now, you could start buying new, individual effects, instruments, and various other forms of crazy hardware for your Reason studio. These rack extensions were not only ways for users to customize, but also for new developers, other than Propellerhead, to start adding new devices of their own. Well-respected companies like Korg, Cakewalk, and others began creating, and in some cases re-creating, classic devices that could be purchased for Reason as well. This was a huge jump going from Reason 5 to 6 to 6.5.

Reason 7 is here now, and this is the version that adds the polish. In fact, if there were ever a “pro” version, this would be it. Everything has been refined, including the way that you get around Reason and even the way you edit audio. Propellerhead has even added a way to send external MIDI to those hardware keyboards I talked about!

This book goes over these new refinements to Reason 7 as well as covering everything that Reason’s always done. So, if you’re new to Reason, you’re in very good shape, as it’s all right here in this book. You’ll learn all about the classic devices stored within the giant virtual studio of Reason that you’ve probably heard about from so many other musicians. And, if you’re an experienced Reason user, you’ll be happy, too. All of the new features for Reason 7 are covered—everything from MIDI to amazing new features like the ability to create your own REX files.

Alright, now that you know what you’re here for, let me grab the keys to the studio, and we’ll start diving into Reason.