Can anyone recommend a learning plan/roadmap?

[dubzilla]

Hi there,

I've wanted to learn how to make electronic music for years now, but I can't seem to get anywhere with it. I play other instruments and the actual writing of the music is fairly easy to me, but I'm always stuck by my limited knowledge of the software.

I've recently decided on Reason as I really like the workflow, but every online guide/training course I've used has been pretty vague, they leave a lot open to experimentation which is good, but I don't seem to make much progress like this, I get too lost in the features.

What I'm looking for is a solid learning plan that I can use to learn all the rack instruments enough to be competent with them along with the sequencer and the mixing desk. Ideally this would have exercises, challenges and would be fairly linear in its structure. If anyone has ever learned (computer) programming, I'm looking for something like codeacademy or a book that teaches from the ground up. I'm not really interested in YouTube tutorials that teach you how to make one sound or how to mix in a certain way. I need something I can work into a daily habit and keep practicing.

[virtualpt]

I am a software developer & am used to those sorts of books. When I was first learning Reason I really got on with Reason 4 Power by Michael Prager. He has one for Reason 7, which should have enough to get you going & you will then find your way round the new features of Reason 8 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reason-7-Power- ... bc?ie=UTF8

HTH
Paul

[Puckboy2000]

You should check out MacPro Video. Video tutorials go from the basics to more advanced features. They go through all the native devices and the mixer indivually too. Really helpful. I did the lesson purchase plan and downloaded them for easy reference. You could do a month subscription and watch as much as u can. If u have the time. And, once u are on the email list they usually send coupons every so month for up to half a lesson download or the monthly subscription. Good luck half off that is

[Pinkbox]

I started by reading the Help (F1) and propellerheads' blog tutorials.
https://www.propellerheads.se/blog/category/tutorials

It helped a lot!

[softska]

Macprovideo and groove3 are good start, but I wouldn't subscribe more than a month with them. IMO their tutorials for older versions (for v6 and lower) are significantly better content than newer ones, which had been a boiler plate of feature naming overviews. For a month though it's a good starting point.

http://www.dancemusicproduction.com tutorials does not use Reason, but they're one the best in class as far as quality production tutorials. You can always bridge the knowledge back to Reason. They're worth it, but these do get expensive quick if you buy multiple.

[pushedbutton]

I am a muppet and I just keep playing with reason until the screaming in my head stops. I know things, not useful things, but things nevertheless. If you know music all you need to do is forget everything you've learned and one day you'll be just as good as me.
I think what you're actually asking for is how do you mix and master. Learning the fundamentals of Reason is pretty easy, it's understanding how they work together to make your track sound professional that just takes time to master. If I am wrong you're welcome to come round to mine for a coffee and watch me do it all wrong until you feel better.

[ScuzzyEye]

http://www.dancemusicproduction.com tutorials does not use Reason, but they're one the best in class as far as quality production tutorials. You can always bridge the knowledge back to Reason. They're worth it, but these do get expensive quick if you buy multiple.

Once you have a basic familiarity with the program, tutorials that are not for Reason might actually be better. That way you are forced to figure out how to do something, rather than simply following along step by step.

I like the Technique section of Attack Magazine. (It's also free.)

[dubzilla]

Thanks guys.

To be a bit more specific, I'm looking for something that gives a clear explanation of all the features Reason has to offer but in the context of making music as opposed to explaining how the feature works standalone. Going back to my programming analogy, I once read a book that taught me how to code in Python - it went through everything you'd need to know from the ground up - What programming is, Setting up the software, Variables & data types, loops, branching, functions etc. etc. it gave exercises after every chapter and each exercise would make use of what was learned in the previous chapters right up to the last chapter where the final exercise was to make a fairly extensive piece of software.

Is there something like this for Reason? Ideally it would start with showing you around the software, workflow and so on before teaching you how to add percussion, then leads, bass etc.  using stuff like Thor, Kong, ReDrum etc before moving onto Arps, gates, automation, routing stuff on the back of the rack and such with exercises along the way, the final assignment would be to make a fully fledged song using everything you've learned from sequencer to mixer. Maybe this is only something you can get from taking an online course..

[Benedict]

Hi Mr Zilla

Problem with that approach is that a modern DAW has so many possibilities. A recording studio was deliberately designed to be flexible and Reason very much so. 

The best way forward is to define what you want to achieve, break it into parts and apply and practice those. Then add the next part.

You say composing is easy for you so start there; choose workable instruments and create your MIDI (or Audio) performance. Then what do you want to achieve next?

[Puckboy2000]

MacPro Video explains the different functions of the devices in the context of writing/recording music. Go on the site and look at the sample videos and see if that's what u are looking for. There are no lessons or exercises though. U might have to take a course from an online college like Berkley or Dubspot

[hydlide]

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... ds7Ed-KX4j
I done a free online "class" going through the basic functions of Reason. When it comes to "daily experimentation" and going really deep about everything else.
Here's a 160+ video list already done to get started
https://www.youtube.com/user/reasonexperts/videos
On a personal note, I am not in to the "how to get this sound", sometimes I just explain these type of topics since they also grasp the knowledge on how certain settings / filters etc work and so on. So they might also help with the learning curve.

The main difference between learning python vs using a DAW is that the learning curve may vary. Eg: python often starts with "Hello world" and you go through some basic IO functions before going deeper in to programming languages.

While learning a DAW (from my experience) can go in 5 different main stream directions:
A. Learn how to use the program and its functions (the main manual that comes with the program is pretty much in detail).
B. Learn how to sound sculpt (eg: sound engineering)
C. Learn how to play an instrument and make musical arrangements (eg: music theory)
D. Learn how to mix and master (mastering engineering)
And last:
E. I want to arrange this type of genre

While the first one is "general", a lot of online payed for courses will mainly teach you this. The issues with B till D is that these are techniques to help. Kind of like how to optimize your code in Python.  Also they are "additional" things which are not 100% required to learn (since they can also go pretty deep).
As far as it comes to my daily experimentation I am more a "B" type of person (eg, push the limit on sound design), where "C" is still is still a big mystery to me... I know how to play a chord and that is basically it. While D isn't really my cup of tea since it is a skill of its own (its kind of like being a Github administrator and solving merge conflicts all day).
While E might be the most interesting one for every one, it totally depends on the genre itself and requires a lot of listening how certain genres work. This takes a lot of practice and listening to them.

Last part I would like to add to this: when comparing programming languages vs a DAW. Programming languages are all about "logic". Eg it is like this, and there are maybe other roads that lead to the solution to the problem.
With DAWs (and making music in a general sense), it is all about being creative. You put your creative ideas in a "spread sheet". This is most likely why it is really hard for most learning academies to teach "being creative". They hand out ideas and directions, but the creative process is all up to the artist using the tools he/she gets.