Why I love reason as a long time hobbyist

[getynge]

I've been trying to get into music creation as a hobby for a very long time, and with most other DAWs I would hit roadblocks very quickly. I could never quite get the sounds I wanted, the UIs felt confusing, and I never had the faintest idea where I could find better instruments or samples. I'm not very serious about music and I don't think I ever will be, but I was willing to drop a fair amount of money on this hobby so I decided to try the reason trial.

It was love at first sight.

First off, I adore the fact that reason is modular to the point of absolute absurdity. If I don't like how a sample sounds I can tweak it just about a million different ways until it's just right. I can use anything from samples to synthesizers to make just about any sound that can be imagined (I remember being very proud of myself when I was able to perfectly imitate the sound of a motorcycle engine using a saxophone sample and an LFO.) And as someone with a bit of an obsession with customization, reason's "wire everything to everything" mentality really resonates with me.

Second, the factory soundbank (including orkester and reason 9 sounds) is absolutely fantastic, along with refills in general. I love the samples provided in the factory sound bank, and I've made use of the free refills provided on this forum as well. I personally have a thing for orchestral music so I bought the Miroslav Gold refill at a discount, and I'm very happy with how refills and sounds function in reason. Many of the DAWs I have used before had decent soundbanks, but nothing they had comes close to touching reason, this is further compounded by the fact that I find refills relatively easy to find.

Third, the extensibility of reason is amazing. While I admit I have some gripes in regards to rack extensions (namely that the SDK is kinda locked away, and that they are exclusive to the propellerhead shop) I absolutely love them all the same. Rack extensions take the modularity I love from reason and jack it up even further, I only really make use of free rack extensions at the moment, but I will definitely use some more given just how much they extend reason's functionality.

And finally, the community. You guys are fucking awesome. You guys make great tutorials and I've been figuring out how to use reason thanks to that, I've found good refills and rack extensions thanks to this forum, and you all seem to be a very friendly bunch, and that's always welcome.

I just really love making music for fun, it's a stress reliever for me. Many DAWs almost make music feel like a chore, but reason feels like a music playground! Using reason is honestly the most fun I've had making music, and I just really needed to gush about how much I've been loving it. After the month trial I purchased reason with absolutely no doubt in my mind, I want you all to know that I think reason and this community is fucking awesome.

[Kenni]

You are hopefully not the only one who feels like that, but I'm going to print your thread, frame it, and put it on my wall.

This is exactly the reason we're here and this is why we're taking a leap into expanding the site as well.

Thank you!

[moneykube]

Reason rules... great post

[4filegate]

Audio signal processing has a similar basics in some way like the optics: Teaching of the visible light.
The term optometry comes from the Greek words opsis; view and metron; something used to measure, measure, rule

[Dabbler]

what he said

[lzap]

This is exactly how I feel it. As a ReBirth fan, I tried Reason demos multiple times starting from version 1 and then bought Essentials, now my 2nd copy (REv9) with my new MacBook Pro. I do not feel constrained as a home user and RE is stunning, it has everything I need (well except MIDI out - since I do not have PRO audio interface with 2ms I would appreciate possibility to send at least one MIDI channel out to my piano during my part recording). Currently considering Radical Piano in the next sale (crossing my fingers), I love it mainly because half-pedaling and sound. +1

[Ottostrom]

Currently considering Radical Piano in the next sale (crossing my fingers), I love it mainly because half-pedaling and sound. +1

Its a super useful RE I've started to use it the most out of all of my pianos just because of how easy it is to change the sound.

[Fig]

I am a hobbyist and new Reason user as well. Over the past 18 years I've had just about all the typical VST DAWS. hopped from one to the other, always hoping for 'the one'. Demoed Reason a few times over the years, and just didn't get it. Demoed 9, and it all came together. Bought it during the holiday sale, and got the "free" REs, which are excellent btw.

I have never had the confidence in a DAW like I have in Reason. I no longer live in fear of a crash, or is this VSTi going to play well with my DAW. I find reason to be the most stable software ever, and that takes my mind off tech issues and frees me to think about music. That's huge for me. I like the "walled garden", and find all i really need is in the garden, so why go chasing after the latest thing outside the wall.

I have sold much of my former DAW's and synths, that paid for Reason and extra RE's I wanted. My MPK225 works perfect with Reason, and I had an original Maschine MK1 covered in dust that now sits next to the MPK225. Got the MaschineR software, and that old MK1 is now more useful to me than the Maschine software ever was.

I'm still in Reason boot camp, but am already having the kind of fun I had back in the day on Cakewalk Pro Audio and Cubase VST. I've been lurking here for a while, but I just couldn't resist this thread!

[Ottostrom]

This is really refreshing after all the downer threads that pop up from time to time. I can honestly say that I am having the same amount of fun and feeling of wonder as when I started in Reason There never comes a point where you feel like there is nothing new to learn or explore, it just keeps on giving. Good luck to all the people who are just starting out! I hope this hobby can give you the same joy of living as it has given to me.

[chimp_spanner]

All of this. As I've mentioned many times, I work in Cubase maybe half the time (when I absolutely need some instruments). But when I load up Reason it always feels more fun. Like, which toy shall I play with today? What can I try and do with it that I haven't done yet? What happens if I plug this into that?

I just don't get that sense of exploration and discovery in Cubase. It is what it is, and it sounds great. But there are very few surprises.

[Mysterygrimms]

@ getynge

I would highly suggest you look into Bitley Fairlight's WBF R2 refill and you will truly fall in love with Reason from a Refill standpoint. It's a bit pricey but worth every dime! I would personally spring for the $159 bundle which includes Synclavier 1 & 2.

http://bitley.laconicsounds.net/way-beyond-fairlight/

[Kaosis]

I 100% agree with this thread. I'm a long time hobbyist as well and have demo'd reason multiple times in the past, but couldn't ever pull the trigger because of the whole VST thing. Even still I was always drawn to it, I've always felt like it was a more creative environment. Then not long ago saw someone selling their copy of 8 and finally pulled the trigger.

Man I wish I pulled that trigger sooner, I love this stuff.

I thought the lack of VST support would hinder me, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Instead of chasing down every VST under the sun for one more knob to turn, I'm actually making music, well mostly lol. Best of all, the music I'm making is more me than it is a trendy tutorial.

The stock sound bank sounds great and honestly it puts Ableton's and FL studio's to shame. I can't speak against the soundbanks for Studio One or Cakewalk, gave them a brief shot a while back but just did not jive, they felt like the ultimate chore to me and logic felt clunky (good sounds though).

[eiresurfer]

Good post, and I totally agree.

I love the fact that Reason can be as simple or as complex to use as you want. You can have no paid-for rack extensions whatsoever, just 4 tracks - redrum/kong, subtractor bass, thor synth and vox audio - and you still have a wealth of creative possibilities in front of you.

I used to be a Cubase user, moved to Reason, and never looked back. VSTs certainly have a lot of power, but it's a power that ultimately sent me down a nob-twiddling dead end so many times. Also, try opening a Cubase song from 5 years ago on a new machine...then trying to figure out what VSTs you once had installed...

In essence, Reason is just so good at "getting out of my way" technically and allows me to to focus completely on the creative side.

[bmarsh]

Reason, to me, is the most inspiring DAW. When i'm working in Reason, it's like i'm in another world; and i love it there. It's kind of the ODDBALL of DAWs and that's what i like about it. I love it's "limits" - forces me to be more creative.

I love Reaper for the same reasons and its customization options. Reaper and Reason are a dream when rewired! They work great as a team.

I've tried them all and a few years back decided to stick with Reason and Reaper as my two main workstations. I haven't regretted that decision one bit.