| Propellerhead Reason is one of the most powerful | | | | difficult to produce music with a human feel, if that is |
| Virtual Studio-type music production software | | | | the kind of music you wish to create. A good |
| available today. By becoming proficient with Reason, | | | | keyboard controller is a good investment for the |
| you can produce elegant tracks with impressive | | | | home studio owner!) |
| sounds for various musical genres (though Reason is | | | | Audio Settings |
| more geared towards electronic music, it is by no | | | | 1. The Audio settings is accessed from the same |
| means limited to these genres only). But before we | | | | drop down menu in the Preferences dialog box. |
| can control the more powerful aspect of the Reason | | | | 2. In the Audio settings, you can determine which |
| environment, let's look at some of the fundamental | | | | audio driver to use and also the buffer size to be |
| controls and settings you need to make in order to | | | | used when using the Reason software. Choose the |
| ensure smooth and efficient operation. | | | | audio driver that suits your hardware the most - e.g |
| MIDI Settings | | | | if you have a PreSonus Firebox (like I do!), then |
| 1. In order to make your MIDI settings, you need to | | | | choose the ASIO PreSonus ASIO Driver (Firebox). |
| access it from the Toolbar Menu --> Edit --> | | | | Other drivers might include generic audio drivers such |
| Preferences. | | | | as ASIO DIrectX Full Duplex Driver or DX Primary |
| 2. In the Preferences dialog box, there is a dropdown | | | | Sound Driver (and various SoundBlaster drivers, if |
| menu where you can choose Keyboards and Control | | | | you're into that sort of thing!). Choosing the wrong |
| Surfaces - this is where you setup your MIDI | | | | audio driver might introduce various problems during |
| devices, therefore also determining your MIDI Input | | | | recording and playback, such as clicks and pops and |
| and Output. | | | | slow load times, so make sure you choose the right |
| 3. Should you have a keyboard controller or control | | | | one. |
| surface attached to your computer, then Reason can | | | | 3. You can also choose the buffer size to use, |
| automatically detect and set it as the master control. | | | | measured in samples (and translated into milliseconds |
| MIDI Input and Output is sent and received through | | | | of latency). The purpose of buffer size is to |
| the master control. You can also choose which type | | | | decrease the work load of the computer according |
| of keyboard or control surface that you have from | | | | to the task at hand. When you are recording, you |
| the drop down menu. Reason also allows you to | | | | want a small latency (time delay) therefore you set |
| determine your own MIDI device if it isn't detected | | | | the buffer size to the smallest possible, though this |
| automatically or recognized in the drop down list. An | | | | increases the computer work load. When mixing, the |
| example of an adequate keyboard controller is the | | | | reverse applies: since it doesn't matter that much if |
| M-Audio Oxygen 49 or 61. | | | | you have large latency (fast response is not critical |
| By setting up a master keyboard or control surface, | | | | during the mixing stage), then you can set the buffer |
| you can record and edit MIDI within the Reason | | | | size to decrease the computer work load. |
| environment with much more efficiency and | | | | By setting up the correct audio settings (drivers and |
| creativity. Of course, if you don't have one, you can | | | | buffer size), you will enjoy smooth operation of the |
| always edit the MIDI data using good old fashioned | | | | software so that you can concentrate on making the |
| mouse and keyboard (albeit it makes it much more | | | | music instead of tweaking and troubleshooting! |