Five reasons why Reason Studios is more relevant now than ever

Five reasons why Reason Studios is more relevant than ever

Reason has been falling behind the competition in recent years, however, Reason Studios have made huge changes to fix that.

The Reason DAW has long been revered as a favourite amongst music creators, however, in recent years it has fallen behind – that’s all changing rapidly. Update after update, Reason studios have been introducing milestone features – some of which are features requests from the early days of the DAW. In today’s competitive DAW market – these introductions make Reason more relevant than ever.

VST Support

What is it:

The ability to load VST plugins into the Reason DAW

How it works:

The updated added a VST host that you add to your rack like any other instrument, from there you load your plugin and hook up your cables at the back 

Why it’s a game changer:

While Reason’s built-in instruments are extensive, most of us have plugins which are part of our workflow, and having to find alternatives is often unintuitive. Since Reason 9.5, the DAW has features VST support – allowing you to load your favourite tools inside the intuitive rack system. Now you have access to Reason’s intuitive player system and modular workflow alongside your favourite tools.

Reason as a Plugin

What is it:

This is exciting news for sure, now you can incorporate Reason’s modular workflow into your existing DAW or make use of a more advanced mixer or performance system that other DAWs may offer.

How it works:

Reason now ships with a standalone (Original Reason DAW) and a Reason Rack Plugin version, all three packages give you access to the plugin and all you need to do is load it into your DAW and you’re good to go. 

Why it’s a game changer:

This is probably the biggest introduction of all. In Reason 11, the developers introduced the ability to load Reason as a plugin inside various other DAWs. One thing that I feel Reason struggled with was the mixing and MIDI arrangement, maybe it’s just that I am so used to Cubase, but being able to use the best of both worlds is certainly a huge game changer.

MIDI Out

What is it:

Now you have the ability to send MIDI from the Reason Rack Plugin into your DAW

How it works:

You can either hook up the Reason device to the new MIDI Out device, or drag and drop sequences from players and other internal sequencers directly to a track in your DAW. 

Why it’s a game changer:

The introduction of MIDI out in the latest version of Reason is another huge new feature, now you can take advantage of Reason’s intuitive players and sequencers and send the MIDI out into your DAW for further recording, editing or sending to other destinations.

CV/Gate tools

What is it:

Reason has updated the way it sends and receives data

How it works:

MIDI Out is a new device that replaces External MIDI Instrument, now you’ve got 8 channels of CV input from Reason – each with scale and offset controls. 

Why it’s a game changer:

It’s not all updates focusing on the Reason Rack Plugin, this one addresses hardware connections within the standalone DAW too.

Beatmap

What is it:

In short, Beatmap is an Algorithmic Drummer

How it works:

Load Beatmap up like you would any other sequencer or player in Reason 

Why it’s a game changer:

This is an intuitive and inspiring tool with several nifty features, it automatically generates drum beats based on a map of tons of different algorithms. One of the cool features here is that it allows you to lock each element as you find a sweet-spot, leaving the other elements open for fills and experimentation.

Old-school or new-school…

Whether you’re an old-school Reason-head or a newcomer, looking for new ways ideas to incorporate into your existing workflow – it’s pretty obvious that the team at Reason Studios have been pulling out all the stops with their recent series of updates.