New to using VSTs in Reason - a few questions.

[Jagwah]

Hi,

So I gave NI Massive another go and I really like it.

Setting it up and now using it again is a really simple process which is great. I take it this smooth process is due to NI Massive being a standalone VST...

I have a SERUM trial which I would like to use but Serum is not standalone. What I would really like to do - is automate Serum in Reason the same way I automate Massive in Reason. I have Live 9 ready to go, ready to host Serum, but I am thinking I can only automate it in Live, is that the case?

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Another question - When I go to automate a parameter in Massive through Reason, I right click and select 'Midi Learn' on the parameter in Massive, then find an unused CC# on Reason's EMI and give the knob a wiggle. Isn't there something already set up with mapped CC numbers, like Filt 1 Freq is CC 22, or something like that?


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One more - Can I make Massive 'stay on top' of Reason? Would rather just drag it out the way compared to switching windows all the time. :comp:  


Thanks!!!

[Leighbeater]

I will be reading this post hoping someone has got a good way to do what you are describing, regarding the Serum question or any other VST that is not standalone

With my limited experience I think you can only automate it in Live

Thats why I was hoping when they first mentioned drag and drop in R8 that I could drag directly from Live into R8, but thats not the case. Cant even drag something off the desktop i don't think? I forget

How easy would it be to quickly record it in Live then just drag it into your R8 project instead of messing with Rewire. I like working in Reasons sequencer better I don't want to work in Live and use Reason in Rewire, hopefully they update this in R8.5 or R9

[Jagwah]

How easy would it be to quickly record it in Live then just drag it into your R8 project instead of messing with Rewire. I like working in Reasons sequencer better I don't want to work in Live and use Reason in Rewire, hopefully they update this in R8.5 or R9

Yeah another thing is I really like working with midi and automation. I hear a lot of big name producers say 'commit to audio as soon as possible,' but with Reason's routing system I much prefer to keep it midi and automation, there is no reason to commit to audio when working in Reason imo

[normen]

Most VST instruments come with a standalone version so you can easily use them alongside Reason with a virtual MIDI connection. The only complicated thing is getting their audio back into Reason. Some audio interfaces have "virtual" channels that you can route back into Reason, if yours doesn't you have to use something like Soundflower, which can be a bit of a hassle to set up (and to get in sync with the other tracks in Reason again). I am using a separate computer to do my final mixing, having the Reason-computers multichannel audio interface connected to the mixing computers one so I can just play my hardware and software synths from Reason and record them on the mixing computer.

[Jagwah]

The only complicated thing is getting their audio back into Reason.

Thanks for the input Normen. Yeah I hit a stump with getting the audio back in to Reason - so I'm recording in Audacity and dumping to Reason, at least this way it runs through my analogue mixer before getting to Audacity, but it's really limiting me in the way I want to be working.

If I but an external soundcard of some sort would this make it a lot easier to get the audio flowing in to Reason the way it should?

[normen]

The only complicated thing is getting their audio back into Reason.

Thanks for the input Normen. Yeah I hhit a stumpB with getting the audio back in to Reason so I'm recording in Audacity and dumping to Reason, at least this way it runs through my analogue mixer before getting to Audacity, but it's really limiting me in the way I want to be working.

If I but an external soundcard of some sort would this make it a lot easier to get the audio flowing in to Reason the way it should?

If you get an audio interface with multiple channels you could simply route back the outputs to the inputs using cables, you'll still get the roundtrip latency of the interface as latency on those channels though (if you want to use software FX "live" in Reason) but you could counter that for MIDI tracks that are played back using the MIDI latency settings in Reason so that the MIDI tracks are played a bit in advance. For playing live it will still add latency though.

[Jagwah]

Thanks for the info Normen, I'll look in to audio interfaces.

[littlejam]

hello,

Noel posted a 'tutorial' thread here at ReasonTalk describing the ways to implement the external midi instrument with audio

the thread is at the bottom of the tutorial page

also: i believe this wdm asio link driver will also do the trick
working in conjunction with asio4all driver:

http://odeus-audio.com.au/Odeus/AsioLink

(there are 2 versions: this one and a pro version depending on your needs)

i hope this helps

:s0826: , j

[QVprod]

I always recommend Rewire (just a stereo mix, not individual channels) over this method as it doesn't have latency and audio routing issues and is a supported method. But If you absolutely want/need to use Reason's sequencer with VSTs then here's a tutorial I made a while back with using The EMI to control vsts while Rewired 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ-1jf4kZHM

[normen]

I always recommend Rewire (just a stereo mix, not individual channels) over this method as it doesn't have latency and audio routing issues and is a supported method. But If you absolutely want/need to use Reason's sequencer with VSTs then here's a tutorial I made a while back with using The EMI to control vsts while Rewired 

Thing about ReWire is that if you ReWire Reason you lose some of its functionality, like audio recording etc. I'd really like to see Reason as a ReWire master, many of the standalone instruments support being a ReWire slave.

[Jagwah]

hello,

Noel posted a 'tutorial' thread here at ReasonTalk describing the ways to implement the external midi instrument with audio

the thread is at the bottom of the tutorial page

also: i believe this wdm asio link driver will also do the trick
working in conjunction with asio4all driver:

http://odeus-audio.com.au/Odeus/AsioLink

(there are 2 versions: this one and a pro version depending on your needs)

i hope this helps

:s0826: , j

Thanks for the info. I tried those links before and didn't find specifically what I was looking for, hopefully I can get the help I need here.

[Jagwah]

I always recommend Rewire (just a stereo mix, not individual channels) over this method as it doesn't have latency and audio routing issues and is a supported method. But If you absolutely want/need to use Reason's sequencer with VSTs then here's a tutorial I made a while back with using The EMI to control vsts while Rewired 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ-1jf4kZHM

Thanks for this. I can see you are using midi in Reason's sequencer to play these instruments, so in turn I should be able to automate which is what I want. I will have to decipher exactly what is going on in the video, thanks for posting.