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(More customer reviews)I need to begin this review with an important disclaimer: I am an armchair musician, the kind of person who played an instrument in high school but hasn't been serious about music in a long time. I am also a person who loves gadgets, including musical ones like synths. I was bitten by the synth bug in the late '80s when I discovered techno music and the great analog masters of the '70s like Isao Tomita. (I remember having great times listening to Tomita and trying arrangements of 'The Planets' suite with a buddy from high school who had an Oberheim analog synth and a sequencer. Good times!)
In other words, I am . . . a dabbler. So this review is from a technophile, music-loving amateur's perspective.
It was actually Propellerhead's demo software that inspired me to take another crack at music as a hobby after many years away. I got myself a nice M-Audio keyboard and the full version of Reason and dived in. In short, I am in hog heaven.
Whether you are a dabbler or a pro, I suspect the first thing you will feel upon firing up Reason 3.0 is, "holy cow, there is a LOT of stuff here." The software is just insanely packed with features. Synths, effects modules, samplers, and more... It is literally like having a room full of hardware. And when you hit Tab the rack turns around so you can use virtual patch cords to wire everything up. And oh yeah -- it sounds great!
Reason has so many features, in fact, that it's intimidating for a new user. You'll quickly be making some good sounds, but getting the sound you had in mind to BEGIN WITH is where the skill comes in. It's like going from a Yugo to a race car: now you can adjust the suspension in 10 different ways, but how do you know what you want to do unless you are already a gearhead?
And this is why I mark Reason down from 5 to 4 stars: I wish it held my hand more. The manual isn't bad, but the program is so rich that I am going to have to invest in a tutorial package to get the most out of it. I can't blame Propellerhead TOO much, for admittedly I am a dabbler in a pro's world, but I suspect I am not alone in this feeling judging from the amount of 3rd party Reason products out there.
One thing for actual keyboard players to be aware of: since Reason uses your computer's CPU to generate sound, there is a small amount of latency between a key hit and the sound being produced. On my system, an Athlon 64 3000+, this delay is 34 milliseconds. That is hardly perceptible, but anyone used to a real hardware synth could find it annoying.
If you are a hardware junkie, get a keyboard controller with as many hardware inputs as possible. I am using a Radium M49, which has 9 sliders, 8 knobs, one foot pedal jack, plus the pitch and modulation wheel -- and when I am playing with the Reason synths, I wish I had more knobs. Of course you can twiddle all the virtual knobs with the mouse, but sometimes there is no substitute for the real thing.
Lastly, be sure to visit the publisher's web site. They have a lot of cool free downloads and user forums.
I hope this has been useful to other musical dabblers!
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The latest version of this award winning music software system is here!Reason 3 is the final word in software synthesis, an infinitely expandable music workstation, Reason 3 is well suited for composing, producing or live playing. Think of it as a virtual studio with all the tools you need to turn your musical ideas into reality. Whether you need a quick drum machine pattern to practice to, or a whole band with real drums, piano, and an array of cool loops swirling around, Reason 3.0 is the place to do it. Known as a creative tool by artists and producers everywhere, Reason is a totally expandable, software-based, music workstation for Mac� or PC. Step into the age of Reason and learn more about the software that will turn your home studio into a hit-making machine.
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