Reason 3.0 Tips

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BeatsBuY

BeatsBuY

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I was wondering if any of you had tips for Reason. There's so much stuff you can do that no one thought of. Anyone have ideas or things they found that's cool? :cool:

I don't know if anyones played around with the Comendador, but it has some crazy new sounds...
 
BeatsBuY said:
I was wondering if any of you had tips for Reason. There's so much stuff you can do that no one thought of. Anyone have ideas or things they found that's cool? :cool:

I don't know if anyones played around with the Comendador, but it has some crazy new sounds...
Click to expand...


I'll swap tips with you man. Hit me up on email. hammerback1@gmail.com.
I'd love some different tips myself. Some of those beats you have are crazy and I'm wondering where those sounds came from.
 
That Lil Jon 808!

I'd thought we would get started on some Reason 3.0 tips. Now, we all know that Reason doesn't come with a lot of 808 sounds. But, you can make a custom 808 with the Malstrom.

1. Leave the Malstrom on the "Init Patch" when you first open it.

2. make sure the patches are on "Sine".

3. Now change the octave in the "OSCA" and "OSCB" sections to octave 2. this will make the pitch low more like an 808 frequency.

4. Make sure the patches are on "Sine". Change the wave patterns and it will give you a different sound.

5. Now play with the "R" (release). Add less or more depending on the kind of 808 you want.

6. Change the "A" (attack) to make a hard hitting 808 or a deep padded 808 effect.

Now that you have your 808 set, save the settings. You can make different types of 808s and have them ready for sessions.

Now for mixing, to make a low 808 hit hard, you need to add a lighter kick over it. If you listen to Lil Jon, he has a regular kick and a lower 808 under it. Now, the big problem arises when you do this. You know the big bass overload!

What I do is if I have my regular kick sequence in the Redrum, I'll re-patch it to a mixer channel and EQ it. Cut some of the lows off about -3db. And if your kick has some 808 dly on it, be sure to cut of some of the length on the Redrum kick channel. You can run into major bass conflicts if your main kick has a little 808 and you are adding another 808 under it.

Now that you have your kick sequence laid out, copy that kick sequence and copy it to your Malstrom 808 track. Depending on the octave you used on the Redrum, you may have to tweak the octave on the Malstrom to get the right 808 sound you need.

Now EQ the Malstrom 808 on the mixer channel. Lower the EQ about -3db or so. Now remember, just because the beat sounds good in your studio speakers, it may sound distorted in your car! This is where experience plays it's roll.

It is recommended that you bring the velocity on your kick and 808 tracks all the way to max. You don't want any level changes on your bass frequencies. This can be harsh for speakers and your mix. Just us the line tool and draw a line on the velocity track to the top line.

Last, use the "Mastering Plug-in" to compress the whole mix and finish your master. Now using the "Mastering Plug-in" is a whole new forum topic.

Let's get more tips going. Anyone have ideas or questions?

How about we share some hot presets we made on Reason.
 
nice looking with the 808 tutorial BeatsBuy! i'm a newb to Reason, so i don't have any tips at this moment.
 
I dont think this is any big secret but....

I always use 2 mixers.
one for all the instruments, and the second is completely dedicated to my drums.
I hook each redrum channel to a seperate chanel of the mixer so i can mix each drum hit seperatly.
under the drum mixer, i add a compressor, reverb, and delay as effects sends.
doing this gives you a whole lot more controll over the drums, helps me a lot.

i usually have the compression settings around here...

Threshold: -10db to -15db
Ratio: 6:1 to 8:1
Attack: 3ms
Release: 50ms
Gain: +5db to +7db

but thats all up to you.

something els that has come in really handy for me....

Sometimes i like to really speed the hi-hats up before the beat drops, or at random points in the beat. heres an easy way of doing it.

after you record the drum pattern, (or copy pattern to track if your like me and use the redrum).
go in to edit each note individualy,
delete all the hi-hats after the one you want the pace to speed up after.
select 1/64 instead of bar (to the left of the quantize button, i hope you know what i mean) copy it and ctrl-v like crazy.
keep pasting until you hit the spot where you want the hi-hats to go back to regular tempo.

for added 'coolness', layer a different hi-hat on where you speed them up, and add some delay to the layered ones. sounds really dope.





I hope what ive said makes sense.
I'm an insomniac, and havnt slept in quite a long time, if i read this back after ive slept and it sounds like rambling, i'll edit it to make sense.
or if anyone needs more coherent instructions to do any of the shit i just said, PM me.

.peace. im going to bed, now.
 
Great! This is coming along. Anyone hear a major released track and wondered how they did that?
 
I like to control the patterns of my hi-hats. Since I like to speed them up and slow them back down here and there what I'll do is have 2 redrum channels with the same hi-hat. I'll do a main pattern in the first channel...then I'll work in between the gaps of the signals on the first channel with the 2nd. That's how I make my cookie cutter hi hats. Works like a charm on bass and snares too.

Also, if you don't know by now...learn to LAYER your shit. I've made some of the ordinary ass sounds from the factory sound bank work really well by layering 2 or 3 different instruments with the same pattern. It can bring the depth out of boring instruments and give it an original vibe.
 
How many of you make your own sounds from scratch?

If you leave the malstrom or subtractor on 'Innit patch' and play around with all the nobs, you can come up with some pretty dope sounds.
I just recently started playing around with it, but ive made some sick sounds.
 
Make your own sounds!

Ya, making your own sounds is the whole part of producing. We should share what sounds we have made using Reason samplers and synths. I was thinking of adding a custom preset library to the beatsbuy site for download. Kind of like there's sites to download preset plug-in settings...
 
malstrom on the init patch by itself is a wicked little thing.
 
Big Sound with Layering Tips!

Here's some layering tips for instruments

The NN-XT sampler is the best way we've found to layer sounds. For example, ta get that heavy Dre. string stab, layer different strings. Layer a regular high string, a mid key string, a low string, a stab string and a big reverbed string. That gives you that big Storch/Dre sound. Then sequence 1 key in C3 and export it as a WAV file. Now you have your own string stab to use! The comendator also works great because you can layer. The key is layering. Even layer guitars. Have 3 samplers of the same guitar sound, but put 1 regular, one -1 octave, and one +1 octave. Then pan the two octave tracks left right. This makes a big stereo sound and adds body. Also put different effect on the mixer tracks, delays and reverbs. But, don't use to much delay and reverb, it clutters the mix. Just have those effect low in the mix. And also use automation on your effects. You might not notice it, but believe me, it make a difference.
 
BeatsBuY said:
Ya, making your own sounds is the whole part of producing. We should share what sounds we have made using Reason samplers and synths. I was thinking of adding a custom preset library to the beatsbuy site for download. Kind of like there's sites to download preset plug-in settings...
Click to expand...

That would be great... I'm sure if you decide to do that it would end up helping a lot of people ;). Showing people your dope layerings and how you did them would get a lot of people motivated to try their own and get a lot more ideas!!
 
BeatsBuY said:
I'd thought we would get started on some Reason 3.0 tips. Now, we all know that Reason doesn't come with a lot of 808 sounds. But, you can make a custom 808 with the Malstrom......
Click to expand...


Wow.... Your knowledge of reason is amazing!!! Love your tips!!! If ya got any more keep them comming!!
 
Invest in Recycle and make vocal arraingments via Dr.Rex
 
Recycle

Ya, get Recycle! It's also good for sampling. If you want to sample an old song, put it in Recycle and chop it up by bars, the kicks, or claps. You will get a different feel by how you chop it up. Then when you have it in Reason, each key plays a sample. Kind of like how the pads play a sample on an MPC. But, with Recycle you can use as many keys as you want. This is faster then bringing a stereo file into an audio program and cutting it up to use in one of the samplers. Try it, you'll have a lot of fun. You can also make many different beats from the same sample because you have so many splices in Recycle. You can make many variations. You can also sample vocals and filter it. Use the Srcream 4 Distoration to make phone and cb effects.

Also you can pitch and automate filters for effects.
 
This is my first post but I am no noob to Reason. My one major tip would be to never quantize too much unless u want it to sound robotic(which may be a good thing depending on the feel your looking for.) Also, make sure your starting template has everything u need. Mixers(2) Redrum NN-XTs(3-4), and whatever else u might use, already there ready to go. I like to have a piano patched in off the bat, so I can jump quickly.
 
Been using Reason for a short time!

I def. could use some tips on Reason. I create some great beats with the program, but I could get better. I've used Reason for about 4 months now. My music is at myspace.com/robbyrosariomusic
Let me know what you think. thanks
 
Quantization

YungInJanear said:
This is my first post but I am no noob to Reason. My one major tip would be to never quantize too much unless u want it to sound robotic(which may be a good thing depending on the feel your looking for.) Also, make sure your starting template has everything u need. Mixers(2) Redrum NN-XTs(3-4), and whatever else u might use, already there ready to go. I like to have a piano patched in off the bat, so I can jump quickly.
Click to expand...


Good point. If you must quantize, don't have it on 100%. Some instruments interact with each other in certain ways. Quantization on the 100% can really change the feel of your mix.

Also, you can drag some instrument notes back or forward by 64th notes. This can add feeling and change the groove. If you really listen to some 50 cent beats, some instruments have either a groove quantization or are moved back or forward. And some instruments may have a little or no quantization. If you are a really good piano player, you may not want to use quantization, it gives a live feel.
 
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