Reason Adapted: Pandoras Box?

Yesterday, I received some promotional software for my studio.

It's a program called Reason Adapted for Digidesign. I qualified for it when I upgraded to Pro Tools 6.4.

Reason is a sequencing program that hosts five (or maybe six?) smaller sequencers, loop editors, and samplers. It has a program called ReDrum that allows one sequence drum patterns from pre-recorded samples. There are two synth boxes, a piano bank, and a sophisticated loop editing station. I mentioned in a previous post that Pro Tools 6 has a click feature. Reason Adapted plugs into the same INSTRUMENT patch as the click. Convenient.

After spending two hours learning the software and protocol, I asked myself: "Do I really need this program?"

No. No, I don't.

"Is it useful, though?," I said.

Yes it is.

If I were doing a remix record or required polyphonic synth patches for my music, I'd love this program. I read on the Reason website that the latest Prodigy album was written exclusively on Reason. I think it could be useful as a writing tool, but, by and large, I really don't need it.

The "pros" of the program are that it allows one to use less tracks in Pro Tools to do otherwise mundane things. Clicks, tambourines, and percussion can be seamlessly edited in Reason and applied to a Pro Tools session on its own, independent track. Also, the MIDI editing is much easier than with Pro Tools. I can loop patterns in the sequencer and edit them in real time or in post. No problem. Easy to use.

One "con" of Reason is that it's a big program. It will take a while to learn all of it's intricacies. But still, in 24 hours, I figured out how to program and edit a drum pattern and insert it into a Pro Tools session. Another is that, if I get hooked on it, I'll have yet another thing to upgrade and buy sounds for. My Discrete Drum loops aren't compatible with the loop editor...at least, I haven't found a way to make them compatible yet. Where there's a will, there is certainly a way.

That's what I think of Reason Adapted. It's at least more useful that the old Roland Groove Box. But then again, the Groove Box was really fun.

Sigh.