28 Reason 4 power tips

The sequencer in Reason 4 is much more powerful than the one in previous versions.

Propellerhead’s Reason 4 has been available for a few months now, so we’re guessing that quite a few of you are using it. This latest version of the software studio is the deepest yet, though, so we’ve put together 28 tips to help you get more out of it.
We think there’s something here for everyone – whether you’re a long-time Reason user or a relative rookie. There’s a lot to get through, so let’s dive right in…
1. The single best Reason 4 tip is to read the manual! Existing users only need to read four chapters – Sequencer, ReGroove, RPG-8 and Thor. New users should set aside a day to read the entire manual without stopping (it’s mostly pictures!), then use Reason for a week and read it again. You really will get it all the second time round.
2. The best way to learn how to program your own patches in Thor (and every other synth) is to find some you like from the supplied presets and work backwards through the signal path. Switch things off – or change them – to find out how they affect the sound produced by the final patch.
3. The new Device Tool does speed up the process of adding instruments, but you should still use the Combinator to save any sequences of plug-ins you use regularly. This will not only speed up your workflow, but will also enable you to maintain a consistency of sound and style that will help make your productions stand out.
4. If you find the cables behind the rack a confusing mess, hold the mouse pointer over a connection point to find out what it’s attached to at the other end. Then, to make a new (or replacement) connection, click and hold over an input or output, and a list of all of the available destinations will appear. Select one and the cable will be added.
5. Groove quantise is great, but it can cause some pretty cluttered rhythms if you’re using more than one type simultaneously, particularly if the source material isn’t strictly quantised before you start. Thankfully, Reason 4’s Pre-Align button strictly quantises all note events before it applies any additional groove so you know exactly what it’s doing to each track.
6. The RPG-8 enables you to come up with great patterns. To use them in your arrangement hold Ctrl, click anywhere on its interface and select Arpeggio Notes To Track to create a clip from your arpeggio. The same works with ReDrum as well – Ctrl+click on the step buttons and select Copy Pattern To Track to make a clip out of your currently selected sequence.
7. One of the oldest tricks in electronic music is a to add positive or negative delay to certain channels to make some elements seem either much more urgent or laidback. You can easily do this using the ReGroove mixer – simply tweak the Slide control. Negative values bring elements in faster for a quick, driving feel, while positive values delay the part for that chilled vibe.
8. Arpeggios needn’t just be used for synth lines. Try using RPG-8 for some more outrageous arpeggiation action, such as triggering a drum patch in the NN-XT sampler, or in conjunction with the BV512 vocoder for some crazy dual modulation. Also, try recording an extended section with RPG-8 in Random mode and see what comes out…
9. It seems like an obvious tip, but it’s amazing how many people don’t choose the Detach Sequencer Window option from the Window menu. Reason’s new features make the sequencer section a much friendlier place to hang out, even if only to get a few ideas down, so why not detach it and enlarge it to fit your whole screen?