Anyways, not that I’ve been on this forum for years, but I’d like to point out that this will be my last topic. I’ll always remember the good (and rough...) times with Reason, but I did my best to express my (well “our”, mostly) needs and I’m not satisfied with how Props is not paying enough attention to its core users. So, I just feel the need of scratching a specific itch before I take off, that I hope future and current Reason users will open Props’ eyes for some life-changing details to the better sake of this company.
Back to the core subject. I want to talk about what some of you may know as Lean Management. It’s the art of reducing as much time as possible to complete a task. Major companies like Toyota swear by this approach. What does it have to do with Reason? Everything.
You see, there has always been a gap between Reason’s marketing and advertising and the final product. Instead of focusing on selling the actual strength of Reason, they kept polishing its weaknesses thinking that people would not pay much attention to, and that the advertisment will help blind people to this weakness. In other words, they kept coming up with mottos such as “we want to add flow, to workflow” or “we want you to focus on making music, not being an engineer” and so on.. where in reality, workflow and live recording are not the strongest elements of this DAW, even if, they did try to make efforts with adding a browser etc.. but, at the end of the day, we all know that workflow (sequencer workflow, specifically) is definitely not Reason’s Strength when you compare it to other DAWs. Point blank.
I respect that they are ambitious to improve and be creative. But, imho, they are looking at things the wrong way. When a tree is sick, it’s not the trunk and leaves that you fix, it’s the roots and soil. I don’t know how much of the code has been re-written/improved/modified or whatever you want to call it, since 1994, but all I know is that Reason looks, feels and works old.
So say they refresh the whole structure, Reason is now modern-looking, brand new. You think the problem’s solved? I don’t. Because the problem is deeper. It’s in the mentality.
Reason’s team is infected with a very serious syndrome. The workaround syndrome. I’m laughing as I write this because as much as I’m being sarcastic I’m also being honest. For Reason, if you ask them:
- “Dear Props, Is it possible to make A+B=C?”
- “Of course! All you have to do is take the Square root of A, divided by half of its amount, add B and create a parallel channel, bus A and B and it parallel channel together, and VOILA, C!!!”
- “Thx for your in-depth response (thinking “dafffuk...”) and for this great workaround. However my question really was can I simply add A and B to make C?”
- “No response and make you feel like you’ve crossed the line”
This has been the scenario for me for more than a decade. Everything was possible, but with 2 more steps. Everything can be done, but with workarounds. So to get back to the relation with what I was saying about Lean Management. This is a company that simply does not understand this principle, nor does it see its benefits.
No matter how much Reason modernizes, if the mentality does not modernize along, you will always end up disappointed (for those who already are, like me) at future releases.
For me, the cherry on the cake for this type of behavior was when I asked a specific question about the new “pencil roll notes” of R11. Notice on the website, when you look at that specific functionality presented in a GIF format, notice the GIF shows that with one click you can drag to add, but also, with one-click you can drag back and remove. Well, haha, that’s another false advertisement! The GIF just has a reverse effect, so it goes one motion and then reverses, and so on...They could’ve presented a normal GIF, with one motion, going only front, from left to right continuously, without alluding to an inexistant improved workflow, by showing that you can also remove notes by dragging back.
So I had to email them to confirm that the GIF is just reversing and that to erase, you still need the terrible inefficient editor tools. But I didn’t give up! lol
I wrote them an email, asking whether this can be possible to implement in future releases (to be able to simply, while you’re in pencil mode, click once on the note created to remove the note) they replied (yes I know you’re expecting it haha):
“Of course you can! All you have to do is press alt while you’re in pencil mode, to temporarily take you to pen mode, and when you’re in pen mode you can simply double-click (that annoying motherfucking double-click for everything) to remove!
”Lean Management guys. This is the secret of today’s modern DAW success. Lean Management.
So long fellas and wish you all great music <3
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