Best products from r/reasoners

I have Reason 7 and a Mac Book (13 inch, non retina, 2012). Everything is just fine and projects from Reason 3 can be used with no problem.

When I was buying a Mac Book the retina was like $600 more than the base model so I went with that, and I'm glad I did. You don't need a retina display to make music.

Also I use an external display, so I never even open the Mac (actually I could probably have just bought a mac mini and it would be the same).

So, you're an engineer...be careful - just get a limited rig and then start making music. Do NOT start reading about everything that's available, your engineering brain will take over and you'll never get around to making music - instead you'll just fall into gear acquisition syndrome.

I would also advise getting the following:

A bluetooth Mac keyboard, a blue tooth mouse, and 4 or 8 rechargeable AA batteries (the batteries are key), and an external display.

For monitors a pair of Jbl LSR305. These seem to be the best "bang for your buck" monitors and in online reviews people will not shut up about how good they sound for $150. Avoid Rokits.

As for midi, I'd say get a good midi keyboard and a good set of drum pads. If you want cheap and easy I'd go for a nanoPad2
If you want something a bit more involved (and actually this is what you should get) go for the padKontrol

You'll need keys. Since you say you're a composer you'll need at least 49 keys (61 and 88 are obviously better, and best). When I was buying stuff the MPK49 was pretty much the best thing you could get (except for the pads). The MPK249 is coming out soon and supposedly has better pads, but we'll see.

And finally an audio interface. I have an Echo Audiofire4 which isn't made anymore (btw it's fucking awesome so if you can find one used, do it). It seems the focusrite 2i2 is the most popular choice among newbies...personally I'd go for something with more inputs. RME and MOTU seem to the best but you'll pay a lot more (though in the long run it's worth it).

I would also say, go slow. There are a ton of cheap midi controllers (like $50-$100) so just get one, see what you like and move on from there. DO NOT cheap out on your audio interface. Your audio interface is the most important part of the whole chain.

So, Reason 7 on a Mac and an external display/mouse/keyboard, some keys and pads, an audio interface, and a good pair of monitors and you're set.

Hope this helps.

Honestly my reaction was really no better.

My reaction was honestly a little more harsh.

Yeah, this sucks pretty bad, but that's OK. As Jake the Dog says, sucking at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.

Here's what I'd recommend you do. Go pick up "Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio" and study the shit out of it. Some of the most basic lessons from it are:

1. Fix your audio monitoring situation
   
2. Get good monitoring equipment
   
3. Mix on multiple audio systems (car, cheap headphones, cellphone speakers, etc)
   
4. Use reference tracks for your mix
   
5. Get criticism from trusted people early and often
   
   There are many more lessons that you will learn from this book. He's great! Definitely worth the money.
   
   Get some decent studio monitors if you don't have some (I use Yamaha HS5).
   
   Pick up some good monitoring headphones. I'd recommend either ATH-M50x (what I use now)
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Audio-Technica-ATH-M50x-Professional-Monitor-Headphones/dp/B00HVLUR86/ref=dp_ob_title_ce
   
   or Sennheiser 280s (what I used to use), I vastly prefer the Audio Technica ones though.
   
   I limited my feedback to mixing stuff. In my opinion you have composition issues too, but that can be a little more subjective.

Well first off you are never supposed to master what you mix/write. Someone with brand new ears in a real mastering house must do this for you. Even if you were the best damn mastering engineer in the world you should still never do this no matter what hardware/software you use. As you mix and record your ears become colored with what you are trying to perceive instead of what is really there.

Reason also lacks proficient mastering tools. Yeah ok there is a "Mastering Suite" but that is more for marketing and should be considered no more than a toy when compared to actual hardware/software that was designed for mastering.
It lacks a good EQ with M/S ability. It is also extremely hard to pinpoint a specific freq. The other tools it provides are meh at best.
The whole workflow of reason is just not set up for masteringbut instead is set up for production/Live play.

Mastering goes a hell of a lot deeper than just throwing some plugs on your mix and cranking perceived loudness to max via a compressor/limiter. Man it goes deep, very deep and it takes a long time to train your ears and attain the knowledge to get good at mastering.

Now that being said I'm not saying you couldn't get "OK" results using Reason to master, but you would still need to be in an environment that is conducive to mastering. Room acoustics and shape, monitor configuration, AD/DA conversion and so many more things need to be set up before you should even try to master anything period.

My long time friend who runs Stonebridge Mastering here in Memphis just published a very concise book on the matter through McGraw Hill. He even got contributions to the book by some of the world's top mastering engineers like Brad Blackwood and Bob Katz. There is very helpful info in there even if you aren't a mastering engineer. It also goes into some advanced mixing techniques that are extremely helpful for any engineer or producer.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Audio-Mastering-Practical-Techniques/dp/0071819576

Truthfully, there's much better value in investing in a few books and watching free tutorials, especially the propellerhead generated ones.

Mixing Audio should be your bible and studied like you're taking the bar exam. It'll give you an incredible foundation to grow from. It covers everything from compressors and other devices, setting up a mix, and professionally executing a mix. I'm serious, read it with a highlighter and take notes. Plus with Reasons analog mix board like setup, it's easy to translate to Reason.

Even if you decide to take some courses, I would read that before hand anyway to get alot more out of the classes.

Propellerhead's Own Videos are extremely insightful as well.

All in all Good Luck!

• PropellerheadSW YouTube channel has a ton of stuff to watch.
  
  
• Groove3 has excellent tutorials, but they cost money. You get access to everything for $15 per month which is a pretty good deal.
  
  
• There are also book series like "Ignite" and "Power" that cover Reason. Any book on Reason 6 will be directly applicable to Reason 7.
  
  
• And finally there is an excellent book called Modern Recording Techniques that covers the ins and outs (and they WHY that you are wondering about)

I don't have a lot of desk space so I needed a stationary mouse and ended up with one of these Logitech M570(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0043T7FXE/). I have it velcro'd to the right side of my MPK261. It fits perfectly and doesn't inhibit the use of the faders. It's a good mouse if you like track ball mice. Great for cramped spaces. Works really good for my situation.

Edit: Worth mentioning: It is always turned on and gets really long battery life.

In addition to the manual, I would highly recommend Reason 5 Power! when it's released. I have his book for Reason 4 and it's excellent. He discusses each instrument in great detail, but he also provides a lot of tutorials and walkthroughs that really help you understand them as well.

Here is the link to Reason 4 Power on Amazon. You can use the "Look Inside Feature" to get an idea of what kind of detail this guy provides.

I would also recommend getting something with some pads. I have the Akai MPD 18. There are some negative reviews regarding the responsiveness of the pads, but I used the electrical tape fix and it worked great. The MPD 18 is much easier to mod because there's less to fight with.

I recommend reading this book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0240815807/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I asked this very question myself on /reasoners a while back and someone suggested it to me(thanks whoever you were). Gives you a really good foundation on the more technical aspects of mixing and the theory behind certain mixing practices. Kinda a dry read but push through it.

I'd also like to second that mixing is not really so much about loudness but rather making your mix sound balanced both in the volume of individual tracks and the areas of the eq spectrum in which they occupy. Loudness is typically achieved as a result of this and also mastering after your mix sounds the way you like it.

Also, it helps to compare your own mix to a song or artist that you like the sound of and want to imitate from a mix standpoint.

It takes time but you will get it figured out. Just keep at it.

Nektar IMPACT LX25+

The integration of the Nektar line with Reason is incredible. Basically it allows you to switch banks in any of the instruments using the keyboard (no mouse). It auto maps all of the dials and pads as well. Yes it's got some stuff you seemingly won't use, but it's well built and pretty amazing for $100.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CO8TBOW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DE

Courtesy of r/buildapcsales

The reason you want an i5 even if you never hit the threshold is well, best bang for the buck like Coogle said.

You could always go AMD, with like an 8350 or 6300.

If I were you, I'd get the i5, as it can do massive Reason projects and another thing or two as well.

If you're in to dance music, The Dance Music Manual is densely-packed, but still easy to read and fun.

Reason 101 has a "visual guide to the Reason Rack" that's really good. PM your address and you can have mine. The type is too small for my eyes to read.

Here's one tip: For $4 - $10 you can pick up the book "Power Tools for Reason 3.0".

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0879308613/ref=dp_olp_all_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=all

Yeah, 3.0. Don't get 6.0 - it's not by the same author. The 3.0 version is 90% relevant anyhow and has some great information. It's designed primarily with examples that show interesting routings and combinators that yield all kinds of different sounds and effects. The example-driven approach really helps you to get familiar with the nuts and bolts of Reason. Make sure you go through the process of building the examples - I don't think it would be the same to just load a patch. Anyhow, I'm a big fan.

If you are a piano player, I recommend the Alesis Q88, a lightweight full-sized keyboard with a good action for both piano and synth parts. If your budget is for the keyboard and speakers and soundcard then this would be the list I recommend: Sound Card http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-UCA202-Audio-Interface/dp/B000KW2YEI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1410636197&sr=8-2&keywords=behringer+usb+sound+card Monitors: http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-MS16-Active-Personal-Monitor/dp/B00181T20O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1410636254&sr=8-2&keywords=behringer+monitor+speakers Keyboard: http://www.amazon.com/Alesis-Q49-49-Key-Keyboard-Controller/dp/B0038YX3BS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410636355&sr=8-1&keywords=49+key+keyboard
These are all units I have used and been very happy with.

Not sure if it's right for your needs, as I don't have really any experience with Maschine, but I'm a pretty big fan of the Arturia Beatstep - https://www.amazon.com/Arturia-BeatStep-MIDI-Controller-Sequencer/dp/B00I88HPUO

I've got pretty simple requirements for a pad controller though, so this might be the wrong one for you. How's that for a ringing endorsement?

I've found it worthwhile to learn what all the knobs, switches, buttons, and slides do. This applies to all the synths and samplers. This allows you to tweak the preset patches and experiment less blindly. Youtube is a good resource but I've gotten more from this book
But I vote anything that sounds good acceptable!

This book helped me improve with Reason a lot. The genre-specific sections are pretty dated now, but it is loaded with great advice on sound design, music theory, and mixing.

Dance Music Manual, Second Edition: Tools, Toys, and Techniques https://www.amazon.com/dp/0240521072/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_pV1dBb1P15E5N

This! I got the Dance Music Production one and it's fantastic

[Amazon] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dance-Music-Manual-Tools-Techniques/dp/0240521072/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1376289177&sr=1-1&keywords=dance+music+production)

Get any of the Reason books that function as expanded user manuals and just digest every segment of each device until you understand them. Once you understand, experimentation can begin!

Also, Peff is the man. I'd even recommend picking up his power tools book (even though the version is outdated, the insights are amazing). http://www.amazon.com/Power-Tools-Reason-3-0-Software/dp/0879308613/ref=la_B001KITWI2_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368307588&sr=1-1

A few purchases I made recently after few days of researching and asking for recommendations.

Mike Stavrou - Mixing With Your Mind

Rick Snoman - Dance Music Manual, 3rd Edition

Bob Katz - Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science

Bobby Owsinski - The Mixing Engineers Handbook: 4th Edition


Edit: ...and I just checked out the ableton book recommended by /u/NeiloMac and now it's on its way.