Propellerhead Reason is a digital audio workstation (DAW) produced by Propellerhead Software used for creating and editing audio and music tracks. This is software DAW contains samplers, sequencers, hardware synthesizers, and mixers – all single software to help music producers create the best music that they can with all the possible resources that digital audio processing has to offer yet.
Reason can be used as a virtual music studio itself or a compilation of virtual instruments that can be sequenced using other audio processing software used in live performances. On the plus side: Great sound out of the box! Con: Not a standard GUI, but once you get used to it, it rocks.
It has been 14 years since reason 1.0 was released and the program is still the top choices in the digital audio workstation market. The software’s virtual studio interface let’s its users insert simulated instrument, mixed music, audio tracks and sound effects. These elements can be manipulated from Reason’s integrated MIDI sequencer and other sequencing applications available in the market such as Logic, REAPER, Cubase, GarageBand and many more. Third-party sequencing programs can be used by using Propellerhead’s ReWire protocol in the 32-bit versions of the mentioned software although Reason 6 and version onwards now support 64-bit hosts.
When they released Reason 7.0.1, it already had a variety of new additional mechanisms to use. They added features like:
- Maelstrom: a graintable synthesizer
- Subtractor: a subtractive synthesizer
- Dr. Octo Rex, a loop playback device that also allows you to slice pre-recorded audio samples.
- Also a drum machine with step sequencer, named ReDrum
- Different types of synthesizers like the Kong Drum designer, and Neptune voice synthesizer that enables the user to correct pitches with alteration features similar to auto-tune.
- Samplers such as NN-19, the simple version and NN-XT, the advanced sampler that allows the user to tweak a variety of modulation types, filter parameters of preloaded patches and oscillation.
- Pulveriser has been added, a virtual hardware for distortion, compressions, parallel signal processing and filtering.
- An External MIDI Instrument has also been added, a device which allows MIDI output from reason to an external MIDI device.
As of writing, latest release was on September 30, 2014 – Reason 8. The newest feature of this version is the upgraded file browser which goes along the rack window, and even (optionally) replaces it. Testing of sound files, instrument patches and loops are now made easy by dragging files from the browser to the sequencer or the rack window. This feature enables the users to enjoy a smoother and faster workflow.
Reason 8 also comes with two free rack extensions. These are ‘Softube Bass Amp’, bass guitar amplifier emulator and ‘Softube Amp’ a much simpler guitar amplifier emulator.