Propellerhead Reason 4.0

Reason version 4 has reached the next level. Stronger, swifter and smoother to work with, Reason 4 will alter the way you create your music. Reason's new devices and features will not only inspire you to produce great tracks, they will provide you with new ways of doing so.

Reason version 4 is a virtual studio with the tools you need to turn your musical ideas into reality. Whether you need a quick drum machine pattern to practice to, or a whole band with real drums, piano, and an array of cool loops swirling around, Reason version 4 is the place to do it.

Known as a creative tool by artists and producers everywhere, Reason is a totally expandable, software-based, music workstation for Mac or PC. Step into the age of Reason and learn more about the software that will turn your home studio into a hit-making machine.

Highlights in Reason 4:

Thor Polysonic Synthesizer

• Thor is a semi modular synth with interchangeable oscillators and filters. With its six oscillator types, four filter types and endless modulation possibilities, this synth comes with a sound like nothing else on the planet.

RPG-8 Monophonic Arpeggiator

• A powerful arpeggiator with multiple play modes, pattern function and much more.

ReGroove Mixer

• ReGroove mixing is a way to work creatively with grooves, timing and feel in real time. Hands-on access to 32 channels of groove parameters will make this an essential tool for any musician who is serious about their beats programming.

The New Reason Sequencer

• With a whole new look, a ton of fresh features and a completely new way of handling sequencer data, the Reason sequencer still offers the streamlined workflow Reason is famous for, but with a new level of sophistication.

Reason comes in the shape of a classic studio rack, packed with all the gear you could possibly need: Samplers, Analog synths, Graintable synth, Vocoder, Mixer, Step time drum machine, Arpeggiator, Compressors, EQ and Effects – as many of each as your computer can handle.

A realtime multi-track sequencer provides full control over every detail, letting you create and edit your music quickly and intuitively. Reason is an all-in-one music production environment, complete with a massive soundbank containing sounds, loops and patches for all possible styles of music.

Here’s a look at all the devices you can stack up in your Reason version 4 rack:

Sound Modules in Reason:

• Thor Polysonic Synthesizer
• NN19 basic sampler
• NN-XT advanced sampler
• Malstrom granular synthesizer
• Dr. Rex loop player
• Redrum pattern-based drum machine
• Subtractor analog subtractive synthesizer
• Combinator unit for building chains of instruments, effects and pattern sequencers.

Effects units:

• RV-7 digital reverb
• DDL-1 digital delay line
• D-11 foldback distortion
• ECF-42 envelope-controlled filter
• DF-101 chorus/flanger
• PH-90 phaser
• COMP-01 compressor
• PEQ2 2-band EQ
• RV7000 advanced reverb
• Scream 4 Sound Destruction Unit
• BV512 vocoder with 4 to 512 bands and equalization
• UN16 unison

Sequencer, Mixer and Utility modules:

• RPG-8 Monophonic Arpeggiator
• ReGroove Mixer realtime groove console
• Matrix pattern-based sequencer
• Fully featured high precision multitrack sequencer
• 14 x 2 mixer w/ EQ and effects send/return
• 6:2 channel stereo line mixer.
• Spider Audio Merger & Splitter
• Spider Control Voltage Merger & Splitter
• Remote mapping to external MIDI controllers and hardware control surfaces
• Enhanced browser for searching, previewing and loading sounds and patches

Mastering Tools:

• 4-band, professional level mastering EQ
• Stereo imager control with independent high and low band control
• Stereo compressor with sidechain input, soft-knee mode and CV out
• Loudness maximizer with switchable look-ahead and soft clip controls.

Thor Polysonic Synthesizer:

• Thor is a semi modular synth with interchangeable oscillators and filters. With its six oscillator types, four filter types and endless modulation possibilities, this synth comes with a sound like nothing else on the planet.

The Combinator:

• The Combinator is a sophisticated device that allows you to build elaborate chains of Reason units - instruments, samplers, effects, pattern sequencers, you name it - and save the entire setup as a single patch.

NN-XT Advances Sampler:

• This is a highly advanced sampler with an impressive list of features and functions squeezed into it. The NN-XT is the perfect tool for life-like instrument samples like drums, piano, strings, and vintage keyboards. Just load up one of the included orchestral library patches, and you'll know what we're talking about

Malström Graintable Synthesizer:

• Malström is not your everyday synthesizer. It doesn't act like one and it sure doesn't sound like one. This is the missing link between rocket science and music technology. You’ll just have to hear it to believe it.

Subtractor Polyphonic Synthesizer:

• Subtractor is an analog type polyphonic synthesizer based on subtractive synthesis, the method used in analog synthesizers.

ReDrum Drum Machine:

• ReDrum is a drum machine with a built in pattern sequencer. It has ten channels that play samples loaded by the user or sounds from a preset drum kit. In addition to the pattern sequencer, ReDrum can also be played from Reason's main sequencer or via MIDI.

RPG-8 Monophonic Arpeggiator:

• A powerful arpeggiator with multiple play modes, pattern function and much more.

ReGroove Mixer:

• ReGroove mixing is a way to work creatively with grooves, timing and feel in real time. Hands-on access to 32 channels of groove parameters will make this an essential tool for any musician who is serious about their beats programming.

Dr. Rex Loop Player:

• The Dr-Rex Loop Player is a truly unique machine and will probably be one of your favorites in the Reason rack. It plays loops in the popular REX format (invented by Propellerhead) and it's design enables some truly new and innovative ways to use ReCycled loops.

NN-19 Sampler:

• The NN19 is a sampler, capable of loading and playing any wav or aiff audio file. But because of NN19's integration in to Reason, its possible to do stuff with this sampler, never done with any other sampler

Matrix Pattern Sequencer:

• If you are into 70's style modular synths or if you simply like to play around with an analog style sequencer that can control virtually anything in the rack, the Matrix is for you.

Spider Audio & Spider CV:

• If you ever feel the need to merge or split some Audio or CV signals, these two eight-legged utilities are perfect for the job.

Line Mixer 6:2:

• The line Mixer 6:2 is a simple but effective 6-channel stereo line mixer.

EFFECTS:

MClass Mastering Suite:

• Want big, tight, loud sounding tracks? Need extra stereo width, increased clarity, punchier bass? Say hello to MClass, the new mastering suite in Reason 3.0. MClass brings you four separate pro level mastering units designed to add power, presence and an overall professional feel to your Reason mixes.

RV7000 Advanced Reverb:

• Do you crave sophistication in reverberation? Look no further than the RV7000, the most expensive sounding reverb unit ever to hit the software world.

BV512 Digital Vocoder:

• Besides being a 4 to 512-band vocoder capable of modulating sound in both old-school analog style and digital FFT fashion, this unit also doubles as a fully automated equalizer with a twist. The BV-512 can be used for everything from classic robot vocals to weird harmonic effects.

Scream 4 Sound Destruction Unit:

• Imagine having all your favorite distortion pedals and overdrive boxes transformed into one shiny, rackmounted Reason device.

UN-16 Unison:

• Unison is exactly what the name suggests; a software reincarnation of that mysterious "Unison" button on those early eighties synths.

Localization
Reason now comes in four different flavors. When you install, you can choose between four different language versions: English, French, German or Japanese.

The language options means the entire application, from installer to menus and help files, will speak the chosen language!

Factory Sound Bank
Reason wouldn't be Reason without its huge Factory Sound Bank. The Sound Bank holds patches for all devices in Reason to help you get going instantly. These are the additions in version 4:

• Thor patches
• More Combinator patches, including arpeggio-driven patches using the RPG-8 arpeggiator
• Groove files for ReGroove
• New ReDrum drum patches - Song starters

Signature patches
Having the best sounding synth on earth is a lot more fun if you have a set of great patches to play with. We invited some of the world's leading synthesists and sound developers to add their own Thor patches to the Reason Sound Bank. They are:

• Daniel Wang
• Morgan Geist
• Pascal Gabriel
• Plaid
• Richard Barbieri
• Richard Devine
• Sonic Boom
• Tipper
• Two Lone Swordsmen
• Gordon Reid
• Vengeance

Tool Window
One new feature that will quickly ease its way into your workflow is the new Tools Window. This is a floating window containing all your most frequently used tools. Using the Tools window, you can create new devices by choosing from a device palette, fine tune your sequencer data from the Tools pane, or set groove parameters using the groove pane.

The device palette (pictured to the left) lets you drag-and-drop instruments and effects directly to the rack and place them just where you want them.

The Tools pane contains all of Reason's sequencer editing tools, allowing for quick access to everything from Quantization to vector automation cleanup and legato adjustments.

When you hit a channel's Edit button in the ReGroove mixer, the selected groove's parameters show up here for instant editing. Here is also where you can save your own groove files.

Combinator & NN-XT updates
The Combinator and NN-XT devices have both had minor revisions to make programming patches easier and more powerful. If you are not into making your own sounds, these changes may not mean much to you. If you do like to create your own Combinator setups or NN-XT patches, then you will like this.

The NN-XT has been given new features to edit multiple samples simultaneously, to chromatically auto-map samples and a new Group Mono function to let samples play polyphonically, but still be silenced by other samples in the same sample group.

The Combinator now has a transpose function that transposes notes sent to a device. Very handy to create splits. Other additions include performance data filters to stop certain types of data from being sent to a device, more flexible choice of Sources in the programmer and a function to automate the receive notes option, making it possible to switch between instruments in a Combinator patch.

ReWire Audio and Synchronization
Think of Rewire as the software equivalent of an audio multi cable. ReWire allows you to route 64 channels of audio from Reason into your favorite MIDI Sequencer or audio recording program, for recording or further processing. What's more, ReWire takes care of all synchronization chores, automatically and transparently. Just fire up the two ReWire compatible applications and they will play together in perfect, sample accurate sync. And there's of course no compromise in sound quality. Rewire's audio resolution is extremely high, (32 bit floating point) and it will handle practically any sample rate.

ReWire MIDI
The new version of ReWire, ReWire2, also incorporates real time MIDI streams. With two ReWire2 applications connected, you can send and receive MIDI data from one program to the other. Just select a track in your MIDI sequencer, set it to play one of the devices in Reason's rack, and record your performance. Or, tweak a knob on Reason's front panel and record the automation in the other program!

Nothing to install, no settings to make, no MIDI Channels or buses to get your head around, just hit Record and go.


Remote
For those of you with a more hands-on approach to making music, the revolutionary Remote technology introduced in Reason 3.0 will be a welcome feature. Reason easily controls motorized faders and control surface displays. And then some. This is true hardware integration! Remote gives Reason smooth, seamless, out-of-the-box communication with external MIDI controllers and hardware control surfaces, giving you plenty of scope for real-time tweaking of Reason's functions and features - on stage or in the studio. Because Reason comes prepared for a majority of the controllers on the market, all you have to do is hook up your hardware and fire up Reason - no tedious configuration required.

System RequirementsWindows®

• Windows XP or Vista
• Processor: Intel® P4 / AMD Athlon XP or better
• Memory: 512 MB RAM minimum, 1 GB recommended
• Screen resolution: 1024x768
• 2 GB free hard disk space
• DVD drive
• Windows® XP/2000 or later
• 16-bit Windows® compatible audio card, preferably with DirectX® or ASIO drivers
• Recommended: MIDI keyboard with built-in MIDI interface, or MIDI keyboard and MIDI interface

Macintosh®

• Mac® OS X 10.4 or later
• Processor: G4 1GHz and up or Intel Mac
• Memory: 512 MB RAM minimum, 1 GB recommended
• Screen resolution: 1024x768
• 2 GB free hard disk space
• DVD drive
• Recommended: MIDI keyboard with built-in MIDI interface, or MIDI keyboard and MIDI interface