The problem with Reason Remote
Posted: 27 Mar 2018
I came to think of this again in another thread and I mentioned this a few times but I'd like to get a few opinions on this matter. It's about the situation with Reason Remote, i.e. the way MIDI control surfaces are integrated into Reason.
IMO the Props coded themselves into a corner with Remote support and now REs. Its not clear who should update the scripts / mappings. Because all plugin mappings are contained in the script for the control surface who's supposed to update them for each new RE? The Props because they put them out? The hardware manufacturer for each RE that comes out? The plugin manufacturer for each control surface that exists?
As said, the issue is that the mapping is in the script for the controller. There is no general mechanism for control surfaces to map controller knobs to "parameter 1 of plugin", "parameter 2 of plugin" etc. and RE's don't have to care about any mapping either. So it can't currently be solved like in other DAWs where usually the general functionality of the control surface is handled by the DAW but the single parameters are "filled in" from what the currently selected plugin supplies.
So yeah, on one hand, the way I use control surfaces with Reason is mostly combining a few synths and effects and then mapping single parameters to the connected control surfaces by hand, creating a massive "modular synth" so all of the default mappings don't really apply except for the one BCF 8-Fader main mixer control...
On the other hand this (and the poor integration of the Mackie Control surface with only one XT supported) has kept me from trying to set up my mixing place with Reason at least as an alternative to my usual mix-job go-to Logic. I do like to mix hands-on instead of using a mouse but with Reason it's all kinds of backwards doing that, starting with the fact that theres no "fixed" place for plugins (rack) and ending with this funny Reason Remote situation.
Another option would of course be a very powerful editor for the actually very powerful underlying script and mapping system...
So if anyone wants to ramble about this stuff as well....
IMO the Props coded themselves into a corner with Remote support and now REs. Its not clear who should update the scripts / mappings. Because all plugin mappings are contained in the script for the control surface who's supposed to update them for each new RE? The Props because they put them out? The hardware manufacturer for each RE that comes out? The plugin manufacturer for each control surface that exists?
As said, the issue is that the mapping is in the script for the controller. There is no general mechanism for control surfaces to map controller knobs to "parameter 1 of plugin", "parameter 2 of plugin" etc. and RE's don't have to care about any mapping either. So it can't currently be solved like in other DAWs where usually the general functionality of the control surface is handled by the DAW but the single parameters are "filled in" from what the currently selected plugin supplies.
So yeah, on one hand, the way I use control surfaces with Reason is mostly combining a few synths and effects and then mapping single parameters to the connected control surfaces by hand, creating a massive "modular synth" so all of the default mappings don't really apply except for the one BCF 8-Fader main mixer control...
On the other hand this (and the poor integration of the Mackie Control surface with only one XT supported) has kept me from trying to set up my mixing place with Reason at least as an alternative to my usual mix-job go-to Logic. I do like to mix hands-on instead of using a mouse but with Reason it's all kinds of backwards doing that, starting with the fact that theres no "fixed" place for plugins (rack) and ending with this funny Reason Remote situation.
Another option would of course be a very powerful editor for the actually very powerful underlying script and mapping system...
So if anyone wants to ramble about this stuff as well....