Propellerheads Reason 8 Full Review

There has been some cool updates to Reason that tackle some of the issues I had with it - i was reviewing the original version 8 release in 2014, they are now on 8.3.1 (jan 2016). And yes i now know there's a tuner!!!

Molten Music Technology tackle the new version 8 of Propellerheads Reason music production software. We talk about the new features such as the browser and enhanced workflow but also give an overview into Reason for the uninitiated. And thanks to everyone who's pointed out that there is, in fact, a tuner on every audio track!

Molten Music Technology:
@MoltenMusicTech

[markharacz]

Thanks for the review Robin. Greatly appreciated. Just getting back into this stuff after 20 yrs of absence (abstinence). I just can't believe what's out there now....

[slofkosky]

Thanks for doing such an in depth review. I will be upgrading from Reason 5 so it makes it quite nice to get the "record" option plus all of the other beautiful work that Propellerhead has done on their product.

[Grinder-one]

Great overview. I have Reason 8 delivered tomorrow after being stuck with Reason 5 since moving to other DAW's, so this was just what I wanted. It does appear as though it should have been a patch to Reason 7 though rather than an upgrade, but I'm excited either way as I had given up on Reason due to the poor mixer and none existent monitoring of version 5 and prior. Anyway, thanks for uploading.

[uncleduffers]

Hey Robin, that's an excellent insight into the new stuff in Reason 8. I've kind of gone from R3 to R8 in one leap - so it's good to get an idea of how things have changed since the R3 days! Nice one. Have an excellent New Year and I look forward to your new videos. Cheers. Paul.

[TheCartoonHead]

Great, honest review.

I too share the same fustrations you demonstrate with the new 'workflow' design.

I've found some of the new changes have slowed down my workflow (including those you mention).
The best thing has been the faster loading of folders that contains lots of refills or samples.

[devilsbox]

Terrific review. Lots of great information and impressions. Thank you for posting it!

[davidmood]

Hi Robert, thank you for this review!
It was really interesting to watch as somebody who never used Reason before.
Many of the new features you mentioned reminded me of my main DAW, Studio One.
There you can also e.g. drag & drop an instrument or presets directly into the sequencer window, and it automatically creates a track and a mixer channel for you.
I think Propellerhead let themselves be inspired a bit by the workflow of S1 (which is no shame).
Having watched several of your videos, I'm guessing that you would like Studio One very much, maybe you'd like to give it a try.
What S1 doesn't really have though, are really good included sounds... but since it supports VST2 and VST3, you can of course use tons of 3rd party instruments.

[ennuiescence]

Great review!

I have never used other DAWs because I'm cheap, but the improvements in Reason 8 have engendered a very discernible boost in my workflow.

I wish it had EZ drummer as an extension....

Also I wish that you could superimpose EQ spectral analyzers from each track over each other. That would help me carve out different frequencies for each track without them bumping into each other.

[WeAreSomeRandom]

Great vid, Upgraded from 5 after watching and was really chuffed. Thanks :)

[HybridEnergy]

To other music producers, believe it or not but one of the best things I moved to that improved my production flow is an SSD drive if you aren't using it. With it there is no waiting for samples and instruments to load. It helps to prevent a break in the flow. Reason is pretty good, it has been since Reason 4 in my opinion, however Ableton is great as well these days. I use a full 88-key piano midi with weighted keys, love the thing and reason plays the best with it. For some reason I had to do a lot of fiddling with other programs.

[aarona.dubzperson]

I AM ON REASON 6, AND I LOVE IT!!! PROBABLY WONT UPGRADE TILL' 10 COMES OUT...

[RandyNLA]

Nice run through of Reason 8's more efficient workflow process.  However, @ 13:26, while pointing out that for tools, you, "have to select everything from this toolbar here..." you missed pointing out that all 7 of the tools are mapped across your QWERTYU keyboard keys.  If you aren't using those keyboard shortcuts to change tools, you are slowing yourself way down!  In addition to selecting the tools, you can momentarily switch between certain tools by holding down modifier keys such as CMD/OPT etc.  (I'm on a Mac, so the modifiers will probably be CNTRL/ALT for PC)   ie.After hitting 'e' to select the erase tool, I can hold down CMD and the tool changes to the pencil for drawing.  Release CMD and it changes back to the eraser.  Another thing that would probably speed up your workflow is to simply double click a clip you want to edit, rather than use CNTRL+e.  I go in/out of clips this way hundreds of times during editing and it just feels like a zoom feature, which is what you wanted; a way to make the waveform or piano roll view instantly larger for editing. I think it was part of a later 8.x update, but you can now select the instrument you want your MIDI controller to play in the rack by clicking the new tab that sticks out on the upper left edge of the rack device you've selected.
Cheers!
-=Randy

[eddiegeorge]

F5 - separate mixer window
F7 sequencer alone
You can do F5 and F6, = rack and mixer
F 6 and F7 = rack and sequencer

[drumandbassob]

you can have the reason rack, mixer, seq in full screen and just flick between them with F5 F6 and F7 which for me on a small screen is great, i've spent the last year trying other daws for the vst support but have come back to reason because when the daws crash and plugins crash its to anoying and also miss that in reason anything you touch you can undo 

[ggaafeur]

I don't know how it was then, but in version 8.3.2 :

- to trigger an other instrument with your midi controler directly from the rack, just click the instrument, and then click the grey arrow highlighted in blue that has just appeared at the up left corner of the instrument.

- to load a new patch in an effect device wich has been tweaked, simply click on the" load patch" knob, wich is the one in the center of the three ones that highlight in orange when you load a device.

- the other big new thing is the convolution reverb device. (Don't forget to download (for free) the specific refill patches from the propellerhead shop. You will hear the difference.

- there's also a BIG tuner that you can invoke with cmd F3.

I hope it helps. Have a nice day !

[leerees]

Great review. I fully agree with you regarding midi keyboard focus. Why can't you just click a synth to tie your keyboard to that track / synth?

I used to make dance music and spent far too many hours scrolling up and down trying to find synths instead of making music. Naming helped but still it would be so much more productive if reason had this simple feature.

I was a reason 3 user so it's crazy to think after all this time they still haven't fixed it.

[deankrain]

Nice review, really thorough.
But has anyone mentioned to you that here is a tuner? :D

[markburrows]

Been using Reason since 3. Love it to bits however I had decided to not go on from 7 as it works for me. This review has swayed it, the new way of loading up looks most useful. As always, thanks for the review.

P.S. Please, if your reading this Props then, PUNCH IN and OUT!!!

[timigregory]

Great review.  SO in the end...did you switch to Reason 8 or are you continuing with Appleton??

[anzatzi]

Great Reason review/overview. Is Propellerheads still developing this?