The best workflow enhancement I've ever come up with. What are yours?

[tobypearce]

Small things make such a difference!

I thought I'd share this as it's such a powerful little change. Hopefully other people have little things too that they hardly give a second thought too, but might benefit others.

Zoom to Selection
To zoom, I mostly do this:
1 Press Y
2 Draw rectangle with mouse
3 Press Q to get back to pointer tool.

I've realised that with Better Touch Tool, I can save a step!
I assigned a spare key on my keyboard (just in Reason). On the downstroke it sends Y to Reason, and on the upstroke it sends Q! This means
1 Press new Key and hold
2 Draw rectangle with mouse
3. Let go of key.

Since I'm zooming in and out all the time, this makes a massive difference.

[Boombastix]

Small things make such a difference!

I thought I'd share this as it's such a powerful little change. Hopefully other people have little things too that they hardly give a second thought too, but might benefit others.

Zoom to Selection
To zoom, I mostly do this:
1 Press Y
2 Draw rectangle with mouse
3 Press Q to get back to pointer tool.

I've realised that with Better Touch Tool, I can save a step!
I assigned a spare key on my keyboard (just in Reason). On the downstroke it sends Y to Reason, and on the upstroke it sends Q! This means
1 Press new Key and hold
2 Draw rectangle with mouse
3. Let go of key.

Since I'm zooming in and out all the time, this makes a massive difference.

I use ctrl or ctrl+shift and then scroll with the mouse wheel. Zoom in or out quickly. Just need to position the pointer in the right place so the window doesn't move away.
Then use scroll wheel only or with shift to move up/sown or sideways.

[Loque]

Curved automation lines and multiple lane editing at once. Was waiting too long for such simple features.

[Proboscis]

For the sequencer:

G key for + Horizontal zoom
H key for - Horizontal zoom
Ctrl key + mouse wheel for +/- Vertical zoom

For the Rack:

Ctrl + Drag Device to Duplicate it
Shift + Drag Device from browser to create an routed version of the device (with n mix channel assigned)

Navigating between Windows:

F5 key brings up the mixer
F6 key brings up the rack
F7 key brings up the sequencer

And something I only discovered in 2019, every section of the mixer can be folded !

>

mixer_folded.PNG (24.05 KiB) Viewed 5946 times

[EdGrip]

I sound like a broken record on this forum, but:

Buy a gaming mouse. If it helps, think of it as "a mouse with loads of buttons that you can assign".

I have one, set up as follows:
The middle button (scroll wheel) flips the rack.
6 buttons under my thumb for
- Mixer
- Rack
- Sequencer
- Browser show/hide
- Undo
- Snap to grid on/off

The are two more buttons next to the left mouse button. These are:
- Play/pause
- Back to start

These are just the keyboard shortcuts I use most often, but you can assign ANY key command, short or long. I have a different set of buttons for every piece of software and the mouse auto-detects which software is open.

I have never used any of these buttons to play a game.

Just do it, it makes everything SO much faster.

[Rising Night Wave]

If I am not wrong, there is or are dedicated keyboards just for Reason.

OK, here is one: https://kbcovers.com/reason-keyboard/



Otherwise you can buy stickers and stick them to your existing keyboard so you can easily get used to shortcuts.

This is also interesting thing:
https://www.editorskeys.com/products/pr ... cbook-imac




I also mostly use CTRL/Shift/mouse wheel for zooming. Shift/Spacebar for playing. And Q, W, E and R for editing.

[Proboscis]

Small things make such a difference!

It surprises me sometimes when working with others (not music related), when even the most basic key commands are foreign to them. Things like ctrl+c and ctrl+ v for copy & paste, or ctrl+A to 'select all. These are functions that almost every application responds to. When I try to explain how much simpler things can be if they get familiar with the basics, and gently tutor them in simple functions I assume every PC user should know, in most cases the response is 'its too hard to remember all this stuff!' ... sometimes people with an unwillingness to learn have set their own obstacles in their mind and remain forever a 'beginner user'

I love finding workflow improvements into many things I do on the PC, whether they be general commands or ones specific to a software suite. One example that I've turned a few people on to is that I have no launch icons on my desktop for software, not a single one. Nor any on my taskbar, apart from the file explorer folder. It's become a habit embedded into my brain to just hit the Windows key, type the first for letters of whatever Im looking for, and press enter. I don't need to close windows to get to the desktop, I don't need to go searching among a whole bunch of icons on the screen. In fact I don't really even look at either the screen or the keyboard and I can launch a program within one or two seconds. I don;t need to know where it resides, I don't even need to know what it looks like.

On Windows OS, understanding the 'quick access' 'folder' in file explorer is also a huge time-saver, and learning to manage it makes working a lot easier, especially if project assets are spread over different locations. To enhance the use of this, I also disable 'recently used' and 'frequently used' from showing, and I also delete anything I'm not currently working with (note that this is only a shortcut folder, so you aren't deleting the files)

And of course Reason has it's own version of this too, where you can drag & drop a regularly used folder, patch or ReFill under the 'Showcase' link, and add/delete shortcuts as your current project call for. When I start a new song I tend to immediately remove everything from the last song I was working on, leaving only five links that I almost always use (I have a 'bass patches' folder that stays there, since I often use basses from the same collection, which is REB)

[BananaSkins]

I sound like a broken record on this forum, but:

Buy a gaming mouse. If it helps, think of it as "a mouse with loads of buttons that you can assign".

I have one, set up as follows:
The middle button (scroll wheel) flips the rack.
6 buttons under my thumb for
- Mixer
- Rack
- Sequencer
- Browser show/hide
- Undo
- Snap to grid on/off

The are two more buttons next to the left mouse button. These are:
- Play/pause
- Back to start

These are just the keyboard shortcuts I use most often, but you can assign ANY key command, short or long. I have a different set of buttons for every piece of software and the mouse auto-detects which software is open.

I have never used any of these buttons to play a game.

Just do it, it makes everything SO much faster.

Thanks for this post Ed, I'm all for speeding up my workflow - any links please to the kind of mouse you are talking about?

[selig]

Small things make such a difference…

Since I'm zooming in and out all the time, this makes a massive difference.

I just use "Z" to zoom to selection, then again to zoom to all. Changed my life, seriously.

[esselfortium]

Hold shift when dragging a rack device to automatically re-route it to where you're dragging it, so you don't have to spend time plugging and unplugging the audio cables manually. This one ought to be loudly announced somewhere in the GUI because I keep encountering people who've used this program since dinosaur times without knowing about it.

[motuscott]

Command Q (mac)
saved my life more than once..

[craste]

I'd like to link the bellow to the two puttons on the side of my mouse, how would I go about doing this?

F6 key brings up the rack
F7 key brings up the sequencer

[EdGrip]

Thanks for this post Ed, I'm all for speeding up my workflow - any links please to the kind of mouse you are talking about?

Here's the one I use (it's wireless)
https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/ ... ming-mouse

But the more buttons the better, really - described as MMO mice. Something like this would be great for workflow if you don't mind a cable:
https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categorie ... 9304011-NA

It might seem pricey but think how much you spend on MIDI controllers, and how much time you spend using them vs using your mouse.

[EdGrip]

...even more basically but maybe it needs saying, who knows:
Use a mouse. Don't use the trackpad on your laptop. They are the WORST input device for productivity, despite what anyone's marketing department might have us believe.

[Rising Night Wave]

Thanks for this post Ed, I'm all for speeding up my workflow - any links please to the kind of mouse you are talking about?

Here's the one I use (it's wireless)
https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/ ... ming-mouse

I have this one only one model older: Logitech MX Master 2S. This mouse is sooooo good. It's just the right sized, weight enough, it's a bit ergonommic, it has a few knobs you can customize them all, it's wireless what is most important for me, battery lasts pretty long and it charges also quite fast.

[EdGrip]

I use just one rechargeable AA battery in mine, and it frankly baffles me how the battery lasts so long.

But if I were buying again I wouldn't mind a cable.

[BananaSkins]

Thanks for this post Ed, I'm all for speeding up my workflow - any links please to the kind of mouse you are talking about?

Here's the one I use (it's wireless)
https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/ ... ming-mouse

But the more buttons the better, really - described as MMO mice. Something like this would be great for workflow if you don't mind a cable:
https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categorie ... 9304011-NA

It might seem pricey but think how much you spend on MIDI controllers, and how much time you spend using them vs using your mouse.

Thanks for that - a few to choose from

[MannequinRaces]

Here's the one I use (it's wireless)
https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/product/ ... ming-mouse

But the more buttons the better, really - described as MMO mice. Something like this would be great for workflow if you don't mind a cable:
https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categorie ... 9304011-NA

It might seem pricey but think how much you spend on MIDI controllers, and how much time you spend using them vs using your mouse.

Thanks for that - a few to choose from

I thought the Corsair looked pretty cool and then I saw... no Mac support. Bummer. Never thought about a more configurable mouse but it actually makes a lot of sense.

[groggy1]

Small things make such a difference…

Since I'm zooming in and out all the time, this makes a massive difference.

I just use "Z" to zoom to selection, then again to zoom to all. Changed my life, seriously.

Thanks for sharing “Z”. I didn’t know that, but it’s awesome

[EdGrip]

Logitech seem to have profile software for MacOS - here's their MMO mouse for maximum buttons.

https://www.logitechg.com/en-us/product ... mouse.html

There's a software called SteerMouse, which seems to be Mac compatible, that you can use for assigning keyboard shortcuts to mouse buttons.

[reddust]

For the sequencer:

G key for + Horizontal zoom
H key for - Horizontal zoom
Ctrl key + mouse wheel for +/- Vertical zoom

For the Rack:

Ctrl + Drag Device to Duplicate it
Shift + Drag Device from browser to create an routed version of the device (with n mix channel assigned)

Navigating between Windows:

F5 key brings up the mixer
F6 key brings up the rack
F7 key brings up the sequencer

And something I only discovered in 2019, every section of the mixer can be folded !

>
mixer_folded.PNG

These are also my main shortcuts plus using Alt + click on fold instruments in the rack or tracks in the sequencer to fold/unfold all of them at once

[selig]

Hold shift when dragging a rack device to automatically re-route it to where you're dragging it, so you don't have to spend time plugging and unplugging the audio cables manually. This one ought to be loudly announced somewhere in the GUI because I keep encountering people who've used this program since dinosaur times without knowing about it.

One of my most used commands, and adding "option"(makes a copy AND connects it to the new location) makes it even more useful!

[evolve187]

The best thing for me was buying a programmable keyboard to create custom color keys for Reason and turning multiple key shortcuts into single key hotkeys. Logitech 910 - its a fully programmable RGB beast...love it.

https://www.logitechg.com/en-ca/product ... 920-008012

[Boombastix]

Hold shift when dragging a rack device to automatically re-route it to where you're dragging it, so you don't have to spend time plugging and unplugging the audio cables manually. This one ought to be loudly announced somewhere in the GUI because I keep encountering people who've used this program since dinosaur times without knowing about it.

One of my most used commands, and adding "option"(makes a copy AND connects it to the new location) makes it even more useful!

On a PC it is "Ctrl+Shift", to drag and make a copy. I agree SOOOO useful.

Another tip is, right click on a RE and select copy patch, and the right click on another instance and right click to paste patch. Very useful if you need to copy over some EQ settings between channels. NOTE: ONLY works on REs that saves patches, so the stock EQ cannot do this, works on VSTs though!.

[dvdrtldg]

...even more basically but maybe it needs saying, who knows:
Use a mouse. Don't use the trackpad on your laptop. They are the WORST input device for productivity, despite what anyone's marketing department might have us believe.

Nah. For +10 years I've been producing with mouse at work, trackpad at home. Trackpad wins, no question