Announcing Reason 13

[mind2069]

One thing I would of loved is something like VocAlign (align multiple vocal takes) since we have good pitch correction, it would of been a great addition. Looking at those videos (VocAlign), it seem's like such a time saver

[robussc]

For simple one synth setups, they were pretty powerful and efficient for making music. The problem was when using more and more modules managing these rigs could be tedious. Reason solved alot of that being pretty much totally recallable. It was great being able to load up songs and they loaded up exactly how they sounded when you made the track, vs having to change sounds and adjust levels. This was somewhat doable in the 90s with Program Changes, which worked actually pretty well for midi synths with built in presets and you were just a preset browser, but if needing to make a custom Instrument Definition library things got tedious and you still had to deal with adjusting levels and things to sound exactly right.

But I do remember the crashfest of the 00s in the early VST years. I think that was the biggest reason Props decided against VSTs. Reason was the most stable thing you could buy back then. For some DAWs major releases meant a whole new series of bugs you had to deal with. I always knew whenever a DAW was completely bugging out I could come back to Reason and compose without the fear of crashing.

This matches my experience entirely!

[ThuslaDoom]

I just want note labels in the sequencer like in Live, FL studio and Bitwig with note folding. Simple thing to do, especially when you’re working on a small laptop screen and don’t want to trace the note back to the piano on the side.

[drno]

Come on Matias, bring us the blue again!

[Neo]

So weird to be reading updates on this thread. I just bought a used copy of Kurt "Peff" Kurasaki's Power Tools for Reason 2.5. Why? Mainly for the nostalgia, but also a reminder of what it was like in the early 2000s. Reason was seen as cutting edge and there was an incredible amount of excitement within the growing Reason community. Back then, other DAWs felt and looked like spreadsheets compared to Reason. The hardware rack paradigm was unique, exciting!! But also Reason was the software studio that just worked! How many of you remember the 90s trying to make music on a PC? Crash, crash, crash! No real DSP power for the average PC user. But Reason brought real music production capabilities to the masses and made it fun and exciting!

Maybe it's lame to point fingers and yell "Appreciate what you have!!" but it's so strange to see so much complaining about the silliest of things. People actually threatening to quit Reason because of a color scheme?!?! Are you kidding me? Reason v12 and soon v13 is way more powerful/capable than what could have been imagined 20-25 years ago. Man I just don't get it!

Power to the Peff! It's fun going back to the days of just having Redrum, Dr. Rex, NN-XT, NN-19, Subtractor, Maelstrom, the fake Mackie mixer, the spiders, BV 512, Scream 4 and RV 7000 and those half rack effect devices. Not even a Combinator yet! But back then, none of those devices weren't seen as limited but just the beginnings of infinite possibilities. Maybe it was naive. But it was a lot more fun back then!

As someone who started their musical journey on an Atari ST with Cubase 2 and a General MIDI sound module, I do have an immense appreciation for what we do have right now. If I ever moan it's only ever because I do genuinely love the software and want it to be SO good that other people love it too. I try often, and hard, to make a home in Cubase, Live, Logic. But I just have more fun in Reason. /// Can't one DAW just be 100% perfect? Is that too much to ask

+1
-
I'm requesting an Atari ST Skin! lol
(Happy to see Blue come back in an update)

[robussc]

RTOS was a revelation. Being able to modify the arrangement while it was looping?

[tewoc]

Dear Matthias,

please give us track folders / organizing stuff - please! We need to a organize the tracks in the sequencer better in general -> better track and project organisation = work much faster !!

Don't want to switch DAW just because of missing orga basics....

C'mon - please!

[chimp_spanner]

As someone who started their musical journey on an Atari ST with Cubase 2 and a General MIDI sound module, I do have an immense appreciation for what we do have right now. If I ever moan it's only ever because I do genuinely love the software and want it to be SO good that other people love it too. I try often, and hard, to make a home in Cubase, Live, Logic. But I just have more fun in Reason. /// Can't one DAW just be 100% perfect? Is that too much to ask

+1
-
I'm requesting an Atari ST Skin! lol
(Happy to see Blue come back in an update)

Good lord that just unlocked some memories!! Fond ones too. Disappointed that Roland's virtual Sound Canvas isn't being supported anymore. Can't run it on the new Mac Love those old crusty GM sounds.

[chimp_spanner]

I just want note labels in the sequencer like in Live, FL studio and Bitwig with note folding. Simple thing to do, especially when you’re working on a small laptop screen and don’t want to trace the note back to the piano on the side.

I'd like to see note labels too, mostly for key switches. Although I always forget that I can look at the note in the info bar at the top. I mean it's not quite the same but it's something. Scale folding I don't really use even in DAWs that have it, mostly because I like to be able to go in and out of key. The two things I'm still really missing on the MIDI front - and yes I've mentioned these like a billion times - are;

- Hearing notes when walking through them with left/right arrows, or nudging with cmd+up/down. Currently I have to sing/whistle each semitone.
- Hearing long notes without having to pass their note-on (MIDI note chase)

I really, really hope these two things can come in a 13.x.

[spacepluk]

I just want note labels in the sequencer like in Live, FL studio and Bitwig with note folding. Simple thing to do, especially when you’re working on a small laptop screen and don’t want to trace the note back to the piano on the side.

I'd like to see note labels too, mostly for key switches. Although I always forget that I can look at the note in the info bar at the top. I mean it's not quite the same but it's something. Scale folding I don't really use even in DAWs that have it, mostly because I like to be able to go in and out of key. The two things I'm still really missing on the MIDI front - and yes I've mentioned these like a billion times - are;

- Hearing notes when walking through them with left/right arrows, or nudging with cmd+up/down. Currently I have to sing/whistle each semitone.
- Hearing long notes without having to pass their note-on (MIDI note chase)

I really, really hope these two things can come in a 13.x.

Yeah, all of these would be great! I do find scale folding useful for changing chord voices very quickly, better if you can enable/disable with a key or if it's a modifier key when moving notes like in Pro Tools.

[chimp_spanner]

I know the arrows thing seems kinda minor but like, a lot of times I feel most inspired when I've just got the laptop on me on the couch, and nothing else. But clicking and dragging or guessing notes is just a bit of a creativity killer. And as soon as I've got my USB C adapter and a mini keyboard out, well then I might as well just go work at my desk! I read somewhere quite a few producers these days don't even use keyboards. Like ever. I've met some! It's kinda wild to me. But in that case the less time spend shuffling things around with a trackpad, the better.

[spacepluk]

Hahaha, Agreed! It might be a minor thing but it makes a huge difference for me too!

[Marc Swing]

One thing I would of loved is something like VocAlign (align multiple vocal takes) since we have good pitch correction, it would of been a great addition. Looking at those videos (VocAlign), it seem's like such a time saver

YES!!! THIS!!!! and also a function where you can mark all audio clips and select a db threshold where it should cut/remove all silent parts below that threshold.

Similar to this "Strip Silence" function in Logic:

That would save me soooooo much time instead of editing it by hand.

[EnochLight]

After the version 12 debacle, I’m surprised they announced a release date at all. Why risk repeating the same mistake? Just do the open beta and release it when it’s ready.

Because 13 is not a complete re-write of the audio engine and graphics engine. Presumably they know that it's in a far better state currently than 12 was back in the day.

[spacepluk]

Also to sell stuff you have to make announcements.

[jaeproduced]

So this detached browser isn't new Reason Studios did this before and it didn't pan out so great so I guess lets try it again and see if it works this time around is the general idea.

[Pepin]

So this detached browser isn't new Reason Studios did this before and it didn't pan out so great so I guess lets try it again and see if it works this time around is the general idea.

After all this time, I'm still not sure which browser I prefer tbh. The current browser is great for lots of things, but the modal one always felt better to me for auditioning presets.
At the very least, Reason 13 is a better upgrade than Reason 8. IIRC it was mainly just the browser and the Softube amps.

[supersmarter]

Can we still search for devices on the left browser?

Yes, but from what I see on the videos and screenshots you can freely create your own folder or favorites such as for example "Synths" and create an "Init" patch for each instrument so you can have instruments (or whatever) in the browser as well. The difference is that you won't see pretty pictures in the browser.

[deigm]

I'd like to see note labels too, mostly for key switches. Although I always forget that I can look at the note in the info bar at the top. I mean it's not quite the same but it's something.

I honestly didn't even notice that information was displayed at all, for years!
According to the screenshots, that note info will now be right next to the piano roll where it belongs.

I think that is kinda the point of this update. If you're gonna deliver workflow updates it makes sense that the first thing you do is put all the existing features in more obvious/accessible places, then build on it from there.
I look forward to seeing what they build on it.

[Yonatan]

Interesting that Browser once again becomes a selling point. It has been for several upgrades.
I think it was handy to have it so close always there.
I also liked the favourite function to organize.
Only with a hands on experience working with the new browser will make any final sense. The tagging system looks dope, but the pop-up window idea they will need to convince me on. I guess it was easier for them to bring the tagging function in that way. Not as sure that pop-up itself is better for users though. But hey, I am open to try it out. The tagging was highly requested and if this is the price to pay, and if it gives developers more freedom to better the browser functions, I might live with that.
As for blue template gone, that was my favourite.
But I can go darker if that ease the burden for the developers. Just wish mixer also could made dark.

[crimsonwarlock]

The difference is that you won't see pretty pictures in the browser.

The bigger difference is that this won't work for devices that don't have preset functionality, and there are quite a few of those.

[supersmarter]

The difference is that you won't see pretty pictures in the browser.

The bigger difference is that this won't work for devices that don't have preset functionality, and there are quite a few of those.

Ouch yes, you are right. Well, you can freely turn on or off the Devices section and search in it, can you?

Another workaround would be to save such device inside Combinator and then as a preset - all solved

[luckygreen]

The year is 2032 anno domini .. Reason Studios announces Reason 17 .. this upgrade focuses entierly on workflow enhancements. Except for the 50th virtual analogue synth. It's called Megatone. It sounds mega! You'll love it. Because everyone loves rack extensions.

Here are the big news.

(1) The browser now features favourite folders that can even hold devices. To top it off, we got rid of the floating browser window that everyone hates and integrated the browser as an additional tab to the left side device palette.

(2) To make more room for new editing functions we moved the tools area of the edit panel to a new floating "tools window". Simply press F8 and you have all tools directly in front of you.

(3) Have you ever thought, "Man, that bright white Reason theme hurts my eyes" or "Dude, I wish that dark theme was less contrasty. It hurts my eyes."?

With the upgrade to Reason 17 we revolutionize the way mankind thinks about ergonomics. Ladies and gentlemen, fasten your seatbetls. We spared no expenses, hired the world's leading coding experts directly from Apple and Google! Reason Studios prodly presents: Blue! Yes, you heard that right! Reason now features a blue theme. Not too bright, not to dark. 8 years in the making! You would not believe how much work we put into it!


That is USD 999,99 please. We know, you might consider it expensive but the remaining 200 users need to share the development cost and on top pay the private equity company and shareholders. Thank you very much.

[chimp_spanner]

So this detached browser isn't new Reason Studios did this before and it didn't pan out so great so I guess lets try it again and see if it works this time around is the general idea.

Which version was this?! I have like zero memory of this happening. How strange.

[Pepin]

Which version was this?! I have like zero memory of this happening. How strange.

Reason 7 and earlier. The current browser with drag-and-drop was the biggest selling point of Reason 8.