People who know Reason well, but still don't get stuff done

Have an urge to learn, or a calling to teach? Want to share some useful Youtube videos? Do it here!
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Heigen5
Posts: 1505
Joined: 25 Sep 2018
Location: Finland / Suomi

23 Nov 2018

If you are so called "an old fish" already in Reason, but you are still more like trying it out still, you might want to cahnge that to the "baked enough Reasoner" - Lets create some muzak NOW!
As if you are stuck to be a discoverer every time you open Reason, that may ruin the actual purpose of the program, i.e. making music with it. But... this doesn't mean, you should totally stop learning. Just learn stuff as you go, i.e. learning and making music at the same time.

For those who have just started out, it's pretty obvious, open Reason, and watch the Youtube videos, and try stuff out with a time.

This is it, I want to make shitloads of music now myself... :thumbs_up:

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rgdaniel
Posts: 592
Joined: 07 Sep 2017
Location: Canada

23 Nov 2018

Heigen5 wrote:
23 Nov 2018
...if you are stuck to be a discoverer every time you open Reason, that may ruin the actual purpose of the program, i.e. making music with it. .
I don't feel "stuck", I feel blessed (in a secular way). I have so much STUFF lying around in the Reason Browser that I've barely looked at, tons of money (for me) invested in refills and devices, that I will never run out of potential starting points. The "discovery" process IS "the actual purpose of the program" for me, and probably always will be.

That said, I tried installing Reaper the other day, just to have a play at "discovering" how that thing works, maybe play with rewire or something. Lasted about 10 minutes. Overwhelmed by tiny buttons and an unfamiliar interface. Uninstalled. Apparently I'm a Reason-for-life kinda guy... :puf_smile:

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Loque
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Posts: 11175
Joined: 28 Dec 2015

23 Nov 2018

Somehow you catched me, but i am in now pressure. I do it for my creative brain and for relaxing. If i get a tune done, thats fine. If not, its ok too. If i just play around and got lost for 2-3h, why not?
If it would be my job and not a hobby and something to calm down, i would have more discipline to get the job done - thats for sure. And i dont have the attitude to be the next Justin Bieber.
Reason12, Win10

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Heigen5
Posts: 1505
Joined: 25 Sep 2018
Location: Finland / Suomi

23 Nov 2018

rgdaniel wrote:
23 Nov 2018
Heigen5 wrote:
23 Nov 2018
...if you are stuck to be a discoverer every time you open Reason, that may ruin the actual purpose of the program, i.e. making music with it. .
I don't feel "stuck", I feel blessed (in a secular way). I have so much STUFF lying around in the Reason Browser that I've barely looked at, tons of money (for me) invested in refills and devices, that I will never run out of potential starting points. The "discovery" process IS "the actual purpose of the program" for me, and probably always will be.

That said, I tried installing Reaper the other day, just to have a play at "discovering" how that thing works, maybe play with rewire or something. Lasted about 10 minutes. Overwhelmed by tiny buttons and an unfamiliar interface. Uninstalled. Apparently I'm a Reason-for-life kinda guy... :puf_smile:
To each their own. I think I want to make music that floats my current mindset.

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Heigen5
Posts: 1505
Joined: 25 Sep 2018
Location: Finland / Suomi

23 Nov 2018

Loque wrote:
23 Nov 2018
Somehow you catched me, but i am in now pressure. I do it for my creative brain and for relaxing. If i get a tune done, thats fine. If not, its ok too. If i just play around and got lost for 2-3h, why not?
If it would be my job and not a hobby and something to calm down, i would have more discipline to get the job done - thats for sure. And i dont have the attitude to be the next Justin Bieber.
To each their own. The over-saturated hysteric world makes me feel busy, which reduces my abilities down. And if I want to success (part of me does want), then I need to put my coin into some kind of a goal. An album, not too planned, giving my best shot, and not having a deadline.

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Ahornberg
Posts: 1904
Joined: 15 Jan 2016
Location: Vienna, Austria
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23 Nov 2018

For more that a year I only record improvisations and cover them with several FX.

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motuscott
Posts: 3420
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Contest Weiner

23 Nov 2018

I used to want to get stuff done. Now I'm old and just enjoying things, small things, processes, rose smelling (can't wait to try Kratos2 on that Carolinae over yonder).
Works for me
Who’s using the royal plural now baby? 🧂

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Heigen5
Posts: 1505
Joined: 25 Sep 2018
Location: Finland / Suomi

23 Nov 2018

Ahornberg wrote:
23 Nov 2018
For more that a year I only record improvisations and cover them with several FX.
Improvisation/Intuition do wonders when making music.
motuscott wrote:
23 Nov 2018
I used to want to get stuff done. Now I'm old and just enjoying things, small things, processes, rose smelling (can't wait to try Kratos2 on that Carolinae over yonder).
Works for me
How old are you then, I'm 38.
And yes, sniffing flowers is nice.

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motuscott
Posts: 3420
Joined: 16 Jan 2015
Location: Contest Weiner

23 Nov 2018

Mid sixties but I was once 38. And you're absolutely right to driving yourself.
Who’s using the royal plural now baby? 🧂

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Heigen5
Posts: 1505
Joined: 25 Sep 2018
Location: Finland / Suomi

23 Nov 2018

motuscott wrote:
23 Nov 2018
Mid sixties but I was once 38. And you're absolutely right to driving yourself.
You are at an age of my father. Very cool that you are a Reason user! :thumbs_up: :o :cool:

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Heigen5
Posts: 1505
Joined: 25 Sep 2018
Location: Finland / Suomi

23 Nov 2018

Also, in a busy nowday's world - you might want to work on an EP lenghted album, an full-sized album, but also release singles at same time. I go for an EP + Singles for now.

Bes
Competition Winner
Posts: 1128
Joined: 22 Feb 2017

23 Nov 2018

thanks for the motivation
- Certified Reason expert

oooRjXooo
Posts: 1
Joined: 30 Nov 2018

30 Nov 2018

motuscott wrote:
23 Nov 2018
I used to want to get stuff done. Now I'm old and just enjoying things, small things, processes, rose smelling (can't wait to try Kratos2 on that Carolinae over yonder).
Works for me

I enjoy making weird noises with all the synths. I started in Reason 3 and just picked up 10 after a long hiatus. Excited to get back into it. :reason:

WarStar
Posts: 296
Joined: 17 Oct 2018
Contact:

03 Jan 2019

This made me laugh..! I'm definitely in this group. I've been using Reason since vr 3. I made a goal for myself in 2014 to finish a electronic hip-hop meets classic rock sampled type of album. I've have roughly 10 or so solid songs that I'm about 70% finished BUT they've been sitting around for about 2yrs...! And during this prolonged hiatus? Of course been collecting REs despite not actually using Reason for the last long while lol.

It's embarrassing lol But at 41 with a couple years of medical issues with myself, my wife and my mother, who I take care of, I really have struggled to get back on the horse. I worked in a studio for about five years and had so much space and opportunity to write music which I took advantage of while there. But since I moved from Florida to Colorado I haven't done much.

I think it's time to jump back into it..

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guitfnky
Posts: 4408
Joined: 19 Jan 2015

03 Jan 2019

I've always 'gotten stuff done', but it's usually a very slow process for me. a couple of songs per year. about three months ago, I started working on a new tune, and had a guitar part that had sort of a 'chuck' sound going for it, so I called it "Little Chuck". then after the whole thing started to take more shape, I had an idea for a vocal melody. I recorded it, and just sort of ad-libbed words and mumbles of the melody over the music. the words inexplicably included a line about a guy being thrown out of an airlock. a story arc formed in my mind (I'm also a novelist)...now I had this guy named Little Chuck, floating around in space, thinking he's going to die, and there's just no way I can wrap that up in one song. so now I'm five songs into a concept album (which is something I've been wanting to do for a very long time), with a story more or less planned out, and plans to write a proper book when all is said and done.

the moral of the story is, sometimes you find motivation to finish stuff in really weird places. :lol:
I write good music for good people

https://slowrobot.bandcamp.com/

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NekujaK
Posts: 631
Joined: 09 Oct 2016
Location: USA

03 Jan 2019

I basically have two modes of working with Reason: Exploration and Productive.

Exploration is just what it sounds like - grab my guitar, dial in some tones, play stuff, maybe record something, load up a synth or sampled instrument, goof around, play with drums and rhythms, and so on.... This process leads to a finished track only about 10% of the time, so the expectations for any meaningful result are extrdmely low. It's just an opportunity for me to noodle around in a musical sandbox.

Productive mode is a whole other thing. The primary difference being that I approach Reason with a specific goal in mind, and Reason is simply a tool that enables me to complete the task. The most common goal is simply to record a song. All the writing has already been done ahead of time, usually outside of Reason, so now it's just a matter of building the arrangement, laying down tracks, and mixing. Working this way, I end up with a finished track about 90% of the time. Sometimes it can all be done in one evening, other times, It takes a few days.

So (for me) the key factors to getting things done are:
1) approach Reason with a specific goal or purpose
2) do all the creative songwriting ahead of time
3) don't work on other music until this recording is finished, or you give up on it

Another thing that helps to cross the finish line, is having an audience. And I don't mean thousands of social media followers. It can just be a couple of friends or family. Just some trusted people to whom you can send your FINISHED tracks to (don't ever bother them with in-progress stuff!). The simple act of sharing or posting your track creates a sense of finality and accomplishment, and frees you up to move on to the next thing.
wreaking havoc with :reason: since 2.5
:arrow: https://soundcloud.com/nekujak-donnay/sets

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Oquasec
Posts: 2849
Joined: 05 Mar 2017

03 Jan 2019

Get Reason
Get refills
Learn how to make refills (Optional)
Get RE (Optional)
Learn rewire (Optional)
Maybe learn an instrument or more
Get a good mic (Optional)
Learn basic theory. (Optional)
Producer/Programmer.
Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

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Reasonable man
Posts: 589
Joined: 14 Jul 2016

04 Jan 2019

rgdaniel wrote:
23 Nov 2018
Heigen5 wrote:
23 Nov 2018
...if you are stuck to be a discoverer every time you open Reason, that may ruin the actual purpose of the program, i.e. making music with it. .

. Overwhelmed by tiny buttons and an unfamiliar interface.
He he ..sorry didn't mean to take a solitary line from your post and take your comment completley out of context ..and i think you were referring to Reaper not Reason but this is how i have felt about Reason since i first used it in 2016 up until very very recently.
Everytime i felt i was getting somewhere the Props would bring out more versions and updates and devices that just added to the overwhelming nature of it.
I had to write music breifly during that process (Reason 8) and i opened up two of those projects recently and it took me a long time to even figure out what i'd done . The rack in particular was an absoulte mess, most of the tracks should have been in combinators and the wiring was ..as best i can describe it.. 'creative' in that there were wires going from splitters or similiar inside one combi going to inputs to random intruments inside other combies ..most of em weren't even having an effect on the sound! I had other strange things going on that were affecting the sound in a dramatic way like cv outputs going from alligator into the inputs of a vocoder , then out of the vocoder into a netpune that was inside an audio track 4 rack rows to the left of the original combi (sounds cool but i'm still miffed at whats actual going on with that).
The point being that in retropsect i hated trying to write music in those circumstances as it would take months to finish a track working like that.
I'm getting side-tracked with Compex-1 right now but thankfully all that time i spent with Fabfilter twin 2 (half modular) is making Complex an easy synth to use . If i were as experienced as some of the Reason Veteran here ...yes absolultley i'd be just writing music non stop . However i dont think its as simple as that alot of the time as life will always get in the way and alot of obstacales take time to remove as well as the top killer in that process..money. I've tried to block out the need for Kontakt and a few libaries but its becomming more and more painfully obvious that i'm fighting a loosing battle there . I actually need em .as for that panorama i bought and never use ... argh

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Oquasec
Posts: 2849
Joined: 05 Mar 2017

04 Jan 2019

Yeah it's more about how much time you put into your daw instead of worrying about bells & whistles.
All of the piano rolls on earth can get the job done, as well as the plugins.
Wanna look at a new piano roll though? rewire.
Want vst support somewhere else? rewire.
Producer/Programmer.
Reason, FLS and Cubase NFR user.

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