Making Rent with Reason!

[chimp_spanner]

So I thought I'd change it up a bit here and get a sound off from everyone here using Reason in their work. What do you do? What kind of projects and clients do you deal with? What do you love about it and what do you hate about it? I'd love to hear what fellow working Reasoners are up to. Go!

[esselfortium]

I'm a freelance composer. I mainly work with developers of indie games and visual novels. My released portfolio is pretty small right now, but I've done a few projects already this year and am now eagerly waiting on some of them to get released to the world It's stressful at times because there's not always an obvious "right answer" and it can take some trial and error, and because I get very emotionally invested in my work, but it's also really rewarding and it feels great to hear my music used as part of something larger.

It's been great for pushing me into new stylistic territory. Aether Interactive's Subserial Network is coming out soon with an experimental vaporwave/trip-hop/ambient soundtrack. Earlier this year I wrapped up a folk/bluegrass project, which was pretty much entirely uncharted territory for me and surprisingly fun, and I'm currently working on another with a more mystical and orchestrated style. Doing everything in Reason, using Kontakt/UVI instruments and REs.

[QVprod]

Hasn't become a full time income yet, but I primarily produce for other artists building custom tracks for their songs. Sometimes even creating the songs from scratch and participating in the lyric writing. In most cases I can easily get the sound I want in Reason very fast which is important when the client is sitting next to you as you work. Only main gripes are the workflow for setting up recording is pretty slow as well as dragging devices to the rack for mixing, so I prefer to do those and more 'real instrument' sounding songs elsewhere.

[chimp_spanner]

I'm a freelance composer. I mainly work with developers of indie games and visual novels. My released portfolio is pretty small right now, but I've done a few projects already this year and am now eagerly waiting on some of them to get released to the world It's stressful at times because there's not always an obvious "right answer" and it can take some trial and error, and because I get very emotionally invested in my work, but it's also really rewarding and it feels great to hear my music used as part of something larger.

It's been great for pushing me into new stylistic territory. Aether Interactive's Subserial Network is coming out soon with an experimental vaporwave/trip-hop/ambient soundtrack. Earlier this year I wrapped up a folk/bluegrass project, which was pretty much entirely uncharted territory for me and surprisingly fun, and I'm currently working on another with a more mystical and orchestrated style. Doing everything in Reason, using Kontakt/UVI instruments and REs.

Awesome! That sounds really interesting. I'd love to get into game music but my time is taken up by other work so my actual composition time is quite limited atm. Are there any examples you can share or is it "wait until it's released" kinda thing?

Also cool about your other work. Doing library and production music has forced me way, way outside of my comfort zone. Used to be a straight up metal head. Ended up doing orchestral, Peruvian pan flute music, Trap/Grime, whatever I get asked for. Pushing boundaries is the best thing for any composer.

[chimp_spanner]

Hasn't become a full time income yet, but I primarily produce for other artists building custom tracks for their songs. Sometimes even creating the songs from scratch and participating in the lyric writing. In most cases I can easily get the sound I want in Reason very fast which is important when the client is sitting next to you as you work. Only main gripes are the workflow for setting up recording is pretty slow as well as dragging devices to the rack for mixing, so I prefer to do those and more 'real instrument' sounding songs elsewhere.

Not something I've had much experience with myself but my dad has done a fair share of that. Yeah I do find that the process of arming and recording is a little sluggish sometimes (what I wouldn't give for some global defeat buttons!). But for most things it's not too much of an issue. Again would love to hear any examples if you got em!

[esselfortium]

I'm a freelance composer. I mainly work with developers of indie games and visual novels. My released portfolio is pretty small right now, but I've done a few projects already this year and am now eagerly waiting on some of them to get released to the world It's stressful at times because there's not always an obvious "right answer" and it can take some trial and error, and because I get very emotionally invested in my work, but it's also really rewarding and it feels great to hear my music used as part of something larger.

It's been great for pushing me into new stylistic territory. Aether Interactive's Subserial Network is coming out soon with an experimental vaporwave/trip-hop/ambient soundtrack. Earlier this year I wrapped up a folk/bluegrass project, which was pretty much entirely uncharted territory for me and surprisingly fun, and I'm currently working on another with a more mystical and orchestrated style. Doing everything in Reason, using Kontakt/UVI instruments and REs.

Awesome! That sounds really interesting. I'd love to get into game music but my time is taken up by other work so my actual composition time is quite limited atm. Are there any examples you can share or is it "wait until it's released" kinda thing?

Also cool about your other work. Doing library and production music has forced me way, way outside of my comfort zone. Used to be a straight up metal head. Ended up doing orchestral, Peruvian pan flute music, Trap/Grime, whatever I get asked for. Pushing boundaries is the best thing for any composer.

Most of what I've done this year is still waiting for release, but this song was released recently as an advance promo for Heart of the Woods. This one has some vocals from Dell Kramer.

I'll definitely be posting more on the forum once I'm able to share it! Subserial Network OST should be out next month, I believe.

[chimp_spanner]

Awesome! That sounds really interesting. I'd love to get into game music but my time is taken up by other work so my actual composition time is quite limited atm. Are there any examples you can share or is it "wait until it's released" kinda thing?

Also cool about your other work. Doing library and production music has forced me way, way outside of my comfort zone. Used to be a straight up metal head. Ended up doing orchestral, Peruvian pan flute music, Trap/Grime, whatever I get asked for. Pushing boundaries is the best thing for any composer.

Most of what I've done this year is still waiting for release, but this song was released recently as an advance promo for Heart of the Woods. This one has some vocals from Dell Kramer.

That sounds great - is that real guitar? Super tasteful playing if so! Enjoyed

[esselfortium]

Most of what I've done this year is still waiting for release, but this song was released recently as an advance promo for Heart of the Woods. This one has some vocals from Dell Kramer.

That sounds great - is that real guitar? Super tasteful playing if so! Enjoyed

Thanks so much, that means a lot coming from you! All the instrumentation is sequenced, the main guitar part is played on AcousticSamples' GD-6.

[chimp_spanner]

That sounds great - is that real guitar? Super tasteful playing if so! Enjoyed

Thanks so much, that means a lot coming from you! All the instrumentation is sequenced, the main guitar part is played on AcousticSamples' GD-6.

Wow, well I might need to check that out. I'm a guitarist myself but I still like to use samples either to prototype or just because I'm lazy/indecisive/bit of both. Looking for a good electric guitar solution atm as I use Shreddage II. But Banshee and RealEight have got my attention also.

[esselfortium]

Thanks so much, that means a lot coming from you! All the instrumentation is sequenced, the main guitar part is played on AcousticSamples' GD-6.

Wow, well I might need to check that out. I'm a guitarist myself but I still like to use samples either to prototype or just because I'm lazy/indecisive/bit of both. Looking for a good electric guitar solution atm as I use Shreddage II. But Banshee and RealEight have got my attention also.

I picked up AcousticSamples' GD-6, Sunbird, and Telematic on a VSTBuzz discount bundle last year. I love the GD-6, like the Sunbird, and am somewhat disappointed in the Telematic. Was a very worthwhile purchase (especially at that price) and I'd easily recommend the first two, but all my guitar purchases since have been from Orange Tree and I'm more satisfied with those overall, for their versatility and their amazing-sounding (and customizable!) vibrato. I own Orange Tree's Evolution Strawberry, Evolution Mandolin, and Slide Lap Steel, and they're all absolutely spectacular. I'm hoping they run their group-buy discount again this summer so I can expand my collection

[chimp_spanner]

Ah yes yes, it's Evolution Draco I meant. I think it used to be called Banshee. Let's see how many pennies I can scrape together haha.

[esselfortium]

If they run that group-buy sale again I'm thinking of picking up their acoustic 12-string, their archtop, and then possibly the dracus electric... or maybe one of their bass guitars... or maybe just the whole evolution bundle... they have way too many tempting options! The strawberry electric has been really great and versatile, though, even despite its relative age compared to their other guitar libraries as they've updated it to pretty much have feature parity with them (or very close to it) and it sounds incredible.

[QVprod]

Hasn't become a full time income yet, but I primarily produce for other artists building custom tracks for their songs. Sometimes even creating the songs from scratch and participating in the lyric writing. In most cases I can easily get the sound I want in Reason very fast which is important when the client is sitting next to you as you work. Only main gripes are the workflow for setting up recording is pretty slow as well as dragging devices to the rack for mixing, so I prefer to do those and more 'real instrument' sounding songs elsewhere.

Not something I've had much experience with myself but my dad has done a fair share of that. Yeah I do find that the process of arming and recording is a little sluggish sometimes (what I wouldn't give for some global defeat buttons!). But for most things it's not too much of an issue. Again would love to hear any examples if you got em!

Exactly. having to open up the audio mix channel to select the input every time can be a pain if your mic isn't plugged into channel 1 (mine isn't). Creating one and duplicating is a work around but yeah it's a bit clunky. I'd love to get into some library music like you do but haven't had the time to really pursue it. Here's a song from a project earlier this year I produced in Reason.

Here another that came out yesterday. I actually did this one in Studio One mainly to use Ampire on AAS Strum but could have easily been pulled off in Reason just as well. I ended up needing less "live"' instruments than I thought.

He has another song on his 3 song EP that I did do in Reason (video's just not out yet)

[QVprod]

That sounds great - is that real guitar? Super tasteful playing if so! Enjoyed

Thanks so much, that means a lot coming from you! All the instrumentation is sequenced, the main guitar part is played on AcousticSamples' GD-6.

Wow! good work. I have Acoustic Guitar Collection and Strum Maker from Indiginus but haven't really dug into it yet. Got AAS Strum mainly for electric guitar since it the upgrade was on sale (got Strum Session for free). I would've though the guitar in your song was recorded.

[chimp_spanner]

Runaway sounds really cool QV! Been getting into a lot of this kind of stuff lately (as well as a lot of Hip and Chill Hop in general) so yeah, feeling it. Great vocalist too.

[esselfortium]

Runaway sounds really cool QV! Been getting into a lot of this kind of stuff lately (as well as a lot of Hip and Chill Hop in general) so yeah, feeling it. Great vocalist too.

Seconded, great work! It has a great dreamy, nocturnal atmosphere about it. Same goes for Float. These are both super sleek and well-done

[beaurmcleod]

I have been using reason for a little over a year now and am relatively new in the DAW and production game, but my use for reason is making hip hop and trap beats. I have had some success with beat sales to a point where I am positive if I put in the hours I could make a respectable living off of music production. I use platforms like Instagram and Beatstars to market and sell beats. Definately worth checking out!

[chimp_spanner]

I have been using reason for a little over a year now and am relatively new in the DAW and production game, but my use for reason is making hip hop and trap beats. I have had some success with beat sales to a point where I am positive if I put in the hours I could make a respectable living off of music production. I use platforms like Instagram and Beatstars to market and sell beats. Definately worth checking out!

This is interesting - I've long wondered about how to go about selling beats. Especially now I've got the Maschine. My morning routine usually goes cereal, coffee, turn on, make a loop, save it and start work. In addition to all the other bits I've done in Reason. How do you use Instagram as a marketing thing? Are there certain accounts you follow or tags you use? I'll also check out Beatstars!

[QVprod]

Runaway sounds really cool QV! Been getting into a lot of this kind of stuff lately (as well as a lot of Hip and Chill Hop in general) so yeah, feeling it. Great vocalist too.

Seconded, great work! It has a great dreamy, nocturnal atmosphere about it. Same goes for Float. These are both super sleek and well-done

Thanks a lot!

[plaamook]

I've got a couple little albums out, working on third. Doens't pay much. Gigs a bit. Sound design for film and trailers makes more money but its only part of my income. Which is fine by me. I can't handle too long in front of a computer.

[NekujaK]

After 20+ years, I got laid off my steady job last year, and since then, have been trying to grow my video production business from a side hobby (that earned a bit of money) into something more substantial.

I have several clients who require voice overs, and I use Reason to record and process them. I'm also mixing projects for a couple of local bands that were recorded in "big" studios. It's really amusing when the recording engineers transfer their ProTools stems to me with a puzzled look on their face when they find out I'm using Reason

I'd love to continue doing more mixing work, but I honestly don't foresee that being a big revenue-generator for me.

[strangers]

Over the past few months, I've dabbled with mixing/mastering work for artists. I have a day job and mix/master on the side as something I enjoy since I don't currently play in bands like I used to. I'm happy polishing other people's musical adventures. I'd be even happier if it could pay bills but just like NekujaK mentioned it is not a big revenue generator. Even if I were quicker and had more artists lined up to handle daily, the rates that pull clients in would never make me comfortable turning mixing/mastering into anything more than a late night/weekend "hobby".

I did produce beats with a friend of mine years ago. I'd write and he'd handle the production end. Made drastically more money doing that than mixing/mastering. Been wanting to get back into it as a change of pace whenever mixing/mastering jobs are light.

[Geltic Höhn]

I've got a couple little albums out, working on third. Doens't pay much. Gigs a bit. Sound design for film and trailers makes more money but its only part of my income. Which is fine by me. I can't handle too long in front of a computer.

Khun pasa thai ?

[aeox]

This thread has given me ideas for different avenues to explore.

I've been selling full songs and "beats" for a little over a year now on ghost production websites, and it been okay. You get what you put into it really, it's just hard work! Lately, I've lost a lot of motivation doing this kind of work because it's not rewarding mentally, only financially.

I'm interested in the Beatstars website because there is opportunity for more income and less effort that way, rather than selling the "beat" or song exclusively on a ghost production website.

I'm also interested in contacting companies about making music for games, etc. Any advice for getting started on something like this? I'd assume I need to have a portfolio or at least some demos of a wide variety of music and styles? These are things I don't have because of the nature of ghost producing and most of my producing time going into that.

[Geltic Höhn]

Lately, I've lost a lot of motivation doing this kind of work because it's not rewarding mentally, only financially.

This is something that every creative person needs to reflect upon if they are monetizing their hobbies. What is ultimately more important, money or passion ?

I choose not to be specific here, but a few years ago I was approached by a couple of businesses to run their operations, as an extension of a hobby/passion (not music/audio related) that has seen me highly awarded in many state & national competitions. While on the surface it seemed like a dream role, my concern was that my turning my passion into a paid job, I would lose interest in the hobby side, which did bring me a lot of joy.

So people need to ask themselves, if they're working on music for other people all day every day, under the client's brief and guidelines, will there be any desire to sit in front of a DAW in the off-hours for fun ?

Of course if you absolutely love it, then fantastic. But when it becomes a chore, it's time to move on from one or the other.