Is Skeuomorphism Reason's Achilles Heel?
Posted: 25 Mar 2021
The fact that Reason's interface emulates real hardware can be said to be its most unique and defining feature. It allows Reason to be very powerful and flexible, but the downside is that while Reason gains some of the strengths of hardware, it also inherits the weaknesses, and may eventually lead to Reason's downfall.
Modulation
Since Reason emulates real hardware, the only way to modulate parameters is either through CV, mod matrix, or (in the case of Complex-1), front facing cables. However, recent synths such as Phase Plant or Pigments have shown a new/better way to do this that is both faster and more intuitive via clicking and dragging between modulation sources and destinations. This also has the added bonus of not being limited by the amount of mod matrix slots or CV input jacks. This workflow difference is most apparent in Algoritm, where you can click and drag to route the operators, but you still need to use a mod matrix for modulation. I think in the future as more synths get released and old synths get updated, drag and drop modulation is going to be expected, and if Reason can't or won't implement this it is going to look increasingly outdated.
Effects routing
While Reason is very flexible and capable as far as effects routing, the fact that it has to emulate hardware makes setting up moderately complicated effects chains more time consuming and complicated than it needs to be. For instance, take setting up parallel effects chains in Reason. You have to add a spider audio merger/splitter, add the effects, add a channel mixer, flip the rack around, wire everything up, and then flip the rack around again. Now compare that to something like Studio One's splitter or Kiloheart's Snapheap or Multipass. While they have limitations, such as limited routing options, splitter requiring Studio One and Snapheap and Multipass being limited to Kiloheart's snapins, they are much faster to setup than it would be in Reason. Snapheap and Multipass also allow you to add modulation using the same drag and drop method as in Phase Plant. The routing is much more clear, since you don't have to flip over the rack and trace cables to see the signal flow. If you're a professional you know that time is money, and even if you're not, how easy it is to try something can be the difference between experimenting on a whim to see how it sounds and not bothering with it.
The Grid
Bitwig's grid is I think the biggest future threat to Reason, as I think it is a complete re-imagining of the Reason rack. There are no extra steps to flip the rack around to connect devices and the signal flow is always clear even when you have very complicated routing. This can be a problem in Reason as once you have a certain amount of cables it can be very difficult to see what is connected to what, and very difficult to modify the routing. Everything in the grid is also 4x oversampled. The main weaknesses right now are: limited amount of grid devices, no support for VST or third-party devices, and no VST version of Bitwig, meaning if you want to use the grid you either need to switch to Bitwig or setup rewire. Also for me personally, I prefer connecting entire synths together like Reason does, rather than simple oscillators, filters and envelopes like the grid does, but that might not be a problem for most people. Due to the oversampling VST support in the grid might not be possible, but if Bitwig ever adds a grid extensions API and releases the grid as a VST plugin I think Reason might be in serious trouble.
Modulation
Since Reason emulates real hardware, the only way to modulate parameters is either through CV, mod matrix, or (in the case of Complex-1), front facing cables. However, recent synths such as Phase Plant or Pigments have shown a new/better way to do this that is both faster and more intuitive via clicking and dragging between modulation sources and destinations. This also has the added bonus of not being limited by the amount of mod matrix slots or CV input jacks. This workflow difference is most apparent in Algoritm, where you can click and drag to route the operators, but you still need to use a mod matrix for modulation. I think in the future as more synths get released and old synths get updated, drag and drop modulation is going to be expected, and if Reason can't or won't implement this it is going to look increasingly outdated.
Effects routing
While Reason is very flexible and capable as far as effects routing, the fact that it has to emulate hardware makes setting up moderately complicated effects chains more time consuming and complicated than it needs to be. For instance, take setting up parallel effects chains in Reason. You have to add a spider audio merger/splitter, add the effects, add a channel mixer, flip the rack around, wire everything up, and then flip the rack around again. Now compare that to something like Studio One's splitter or Kiloheart's Snapheap or Multipass. While they have limitations, such as limited routing options, splitter requiring Studio One and Snapheap and Multipass being limited to Kiloheart's snapins, they are much faster to setup than it would be in Reason. Snapheap and Multipass also allow you to add modulation using the same drag and drop method as in Phase Plant. The routing is much more clear, since you don't have to flip over the rack and trace cables to see the signal flow. If you're a professional you know that time is money, and even if you're not, how easy it is to try something can be the difference between experimenting on a whim to see how it sounds and not bothering with it.
The Grid
Bitwig's grid is I think the biggest future threat to Reason, as I think it is a complete re-imagining of the Reason rack. There are no extra steps to flip the rack around to connect devices and the signal flow is always clear even when you have very complicated routing. This can be a problem in Reason as once you have a certain amount of cables it can be very difficult to see what is connected to what, and very difficult to modify the routing. Everything in the grid is also 4x oversampled. The main weaknesses right now are: limited amount of grid devices, no support for VST or third-party devices, and no VST version of Bitwig, meaning if you want to use the grid you either need to switch to Bitwig or setup rewire. Also for me personally, I prefer connecting entire synths together like Reason does, rather than simple oscillators, filters and envelopes like the grid does, but that might not be a problem for most people. Due to the oversampling VST support in the grid might not be possible, but if Bitwig ever adds a grid extensions API and releases the grid as a VST plugin I think Reason might be in serious trouble.