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Archive for the ‘Reason Reviews’ Category

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Bass has always been such an important instrument in music that is often overlooked in amateur music production. Some people tend to think that just because it isn’t always as prominent or ‘in your face’ as a 6 string guitar for example, then it wouldn’t matter if its not 100% right. This is a huge misassumption as the bass guitar is as equally important as any other instrument (in some genres maybe more important). Most people tend to assume that because they cant hear the bass as much, probably die to poor speaker quality or production skills, then it doesn’t matter if it gets hidden in the mix, But this is the downfall of many producers.

The thing with Bass people need to keep in mind about bass guitars is that its one of the most soulful instruments out there, it requires a lot of human feeling, style and rhythm. These Factors get lost when using samples in most cases, as MIDI keyboards don’t usually offer this kind of versatility and control. However, this sample pack isn’t like any other bass pack out there.

Not only does it give you a number of different bass guitars (See bottom for list), but also its attention to detail will have producers kneeling before the guys at propellerhead. Each bass guitar sound provides the user with so just as much versatility as having an actual bass player in the room. The combinator patches provided allow you to not only choose the Bass guitar, but also gives you a choice of fingers or plectrum picked Bass guitars in some cases, a small but effective detail as both give a different sound. Each bass refill also has the same frequency controls you will find on the actual bass guitar dials, not to mention each refill contains individual finger slides or fret scratches that give the pack almost human characteristics. With these tiny but powerful differences from other packs, the samples here allow producers so much control you wont know what hit you. Read the rest of this entry »

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There is no question about it, Drums always sound better when recorded live by an actual player for that specific track. This however, is not always an option for most people as this would put a flashing red light on your bank account in most cases. This is why most people turn to Samples.

There are hundreds of drum refills out there, and don’t get me wrong, most of them are nothing short of impressive! Propellerhead however, take it to a whole new level, Giving you the next best thing to an actual drummer packed into one box!

Being a student of music technology I have had to deal with my fair share of frustration, trial and error, and in most cases, disappointment. All factors I have yet to experience with this pack. There has been nothing left to chance, the drums themselves work well in any genre and require very little EQ or alterations to adapt to your sound. With the impressive 58 unique drum kits you get in this pack it’s going to be virtually impossible to hit a production block. Read the rest of this entry »

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When the folks at Propellerhead Launched Record, Reason Users all over the world were blown away! Reason – With audio capabilities. Some may ask how do you expect to top that?

The answer with the release of Record 1.5 and Reason 5!

The addition of audio recording functions to Reason was a massive breakthrough in the way we use previously MIDI based program that we all love, so obviously the release of these upgrades was going to bring a lot of new features to the table. Now, lets have a look at what’s new in the way of Propellerheads music creation vision.

KONG Drum Designer.

Now if you’re a Propellerhead fan (no doubt, if your reading this then you are), You will know that Reason has always given us great ways to create and manipulate our drums, no matter if it’s a loop your slicing in the Rex player, or if it’s a custom beat your twisting in the ReDrum. Now, we have a new weapon to our beat arsenal. The KONG Drum designer.

Essentially, The KONG Drum designer is a virtual Drum machine and modulator, Making it not only a much more effective way of controlling drums, but a much more fun way of getting what you want out of them. The Pads them selves are completely customizable from the type of drum you assign to the pad, right down to what kind of sound you want them to give off. Now I know that Reason presented these kind of functions in both the Rex player and the Redrum, but this is just one of the features the KONG has to offer. Each pad come complete with a selection of built in effects and various modulation, such as compression, overdrive, tape echo and ring modulator to name a few. Having them built in and ready to go mean not only does it save you time having them pre loaded, but also it saves both the CPU power usage and hassle of not having so many Effect units chained to every different part of the kit. These are just some of the functions we have to play with, Reasons fantastic way of linking Synths and modulators mean that as a user you have full control over what unique kits you can construct. Read the rest of this entry »

We are all familiar with the all might Reason and the capabilities it brings to your musical creativity arsenal. However, since its creation in November of 2000, and after 4 full updated versions (Not to mention the release of Recycle way back when), We have yet been given the power to use this super rack for recording audio……until now.

That’s right, built in audio recording capabilities! No longer do you have to fiddle with Rewiring through a host such as Cubase or Logic, which, don’t get me wrong does work, but it can prove to be traicky if your not used to the concept, and can also be a temperamental at times.

Reason Fans will love the new layout, which is based around the similar structure as Reason, making the program easier to grasp. Although the new layout will seem a bit intense and somewhat tricky to navigate, once you familiarize yourself you will be hooked. Read the rest of this entry »

Vocal Loops are always available from somewhere. They can be found with most sample packs or simple online for free download. However, a decent set of vocal loops, especially anything remotely usable in your own work is often hard to come by, if not impossible!

That’s where Loopmasters step in.

Lets start with the ‘Tai Jason Slammin’ Hip Hop and Urban pop’. This collection does exactly what it says on the tin, bringing you a wide variety if incredibly well produced sounds at a brilliantly affordable price. The pack itself comes complete with over 250 loops, 400 single sounds, not to mention a respectable 65 patches all ready to go from the second you insert the disk. All in all, resulting in a spectacular collection over 600 strong. Read the rest of this entry »