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Teaching music with reason Teacher’s Resource File
, Teacher’s Resource File containing lesson preparation material, teaching plans, student worksheets, “How to…” guides and assessment sheets , 10 printed student booklets , Reason Adapted program for installation on 10 computers , Lesson song files in different contemporary styles , PDF files of student material in US Letter and A4 format , 1 Reason 2.5 program for teacher use
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Concept and written material by Stephanie Sobey-Jones Layout by Anders Nordmark, Roger Wiklander and Ludvig Carlson for Synkron AB Design by 802 AB Reason Songs by Lars Erlandsson & Niklas Möller for XLN Media, Stockholm, Sweden. Testing and Quality Assurance: Fredrik Hägglund diod design Paul Ferguson and Graham Weir Napier University, Edinburgh, UK Ed Bartley, Andrew Kitchenham and Bernie Steponitis Music Technology Centre, Poole, UK Peter Schyborger, Jonas Fromholt, Patrik Groop, Mattias Hallqvist and Erik Thunberg Royal College of Music, Stockholm, Sweden
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Propellerhead Software AB. The software described herein is subject to a License Agreement and may not be copied to any other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission by Propellerhead Software AB. © 2004 Propellerhead Software and its licensors. All specifications subject to change without notice. Reason is a trademark of Propellerhead Software. All other commercial symbols are protected trademarks and trade names of their respective holders. All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents 3
Introduction to “Teaching Music with Reason”
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About the Reason Adapted program
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A quick overview of the Reason Adapted cabling
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Lesson 1: Musical elements and ideas
35
Lesson 2: An introduction to mixing
47
Lesson 3: Working with rhythm patterns and phrases
59
Lesson 4: Your first original song! – Creating the drum track
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Lesson 5: Your first original song! – Building a bass line
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Lesson 6: Your first original song! – Lead lines and harmonies
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Lesson 7: Your first original song! – Arranging and editing
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Lesson 8: Working with loops
119
Lesson 9: Further work with loops
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Lesson 10: Class showcase
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Lesson 11: Exploring effects – Creative use of reverb and delay
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Lesson 12: Exploring effects – Creative use of distortion
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Lessons 13 & 14: Sound shaping and TV theme project
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Lesson 15: Creative production ideas – Mixer and effects unit automation
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Lessons 16 & 17: Student party dance project
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Lessons 18 & 19: “Variations” project
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Lesson 20: Editing project and assessment
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Lesson 21: Preparing a coursework portfolio
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Student Record Sheet
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Student Skills Assessment Sheet
Table of Contents
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Table of Contents
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Introduction to “Teaching Music with Reason” “Teaching Music with Reason” is an introductory level curriculum designed for use over approximately 2 terms or semesters of a school year. With an emphasis on music creation and production, the material can be used in a variety of teaching situations, from school music lessons to college introductory modules in Music or Music Technology. (Age suitability may vary depending on curriculum requirements in different territories.) During their studies, your students will: • Explore some basic elements of music and music production through listening, improvising, recording, arranging, editing and mixing. • Create original musical ideas using a variety of stimuli. • Learn to extend basic ideas into more complex pieces, using formal development, variation, textural contrasts and dynamic shaping. • Develop some basic knowledge of mixing and production techniques, including sound shaping, effects use and parameter automation. • Learn to apply technical skills in a creative context through project work. • Compile a CD portfolio of coursework that can be used for assessment and personal enjoyment. No previous knowledge of Reason is required, however students should have some basic computer skills and some experience of working with melody, rhythm, simple chord sequences and musical forms. They should also be familiar with using a MIDI keyboard for basic composing or performing activities. The individual lessons are designed for use with a specially adapted version of Reason. This version contains a more limited number of devices and features, to help students focus on the tasks (see the following chapter “About the Reason Adapted program”). However it is also possible to teach these lessons using the full Reason program version. If you are completely new to Reason, familiarizing yourself with the skills required for each lesson should take a relatively short time. Reason’s features and functions are mostly taught from a musical, rather than a technical angle, so little previous experience is required.
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Familiar equipment If you have already worked with a software sequencer, hardware or software instruments, effects units and studio hardware, you will find the concept of the different Reason components quite intuitive in the way they link together to form a complete composing and arranging environment within a single program! Depending on the number of available computers, several students (or even an entire class) can all have access to the same pieces of music production equipment at the same time. What’s more, the stress associated with physical equipment set-up, rewiring and maintenance has now been significantly reduced!
Introduction to “Teaching Music with Reason”
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Concept and content The first part of the curriculum introduces the different Reason devices, relating their functions to work with various musical elements such as rhythm, harmony, melody, form, texture and dynamics. This is achieved through basic arranging and mixing activities, composing rhythm patterns, constructing bass lines, improvising and recording melodic and harmonic material, and by using different note input and editing techniques to achieve interest and variation. Different types of stimuli are explored as a basis for more sophisticated musical ideas, such as the use of drum and music loops, the addition of effects to individual sounds, and the shaping of sound parameters. Later lessons include project work, encouraging the application of skills to specific musical challenges. This allows students to shape and refine their musical ideas, producing more extended pieces of work with greater attention to formal structure, texture, melodic, harmonic and rhythmic variation and dynamic shaping. In many current music styles, mixing and production techniques form an integral part of the creative process. Basic concepts are first introduced at the start of the course, so that students quickly become familiar with including balance, tonal adjustment, sound placement and effects use as part of their work. Depending on the age and experience of your students, the curriculum is structured in such a way that you could also decide to use Lessons 1-10 as a stand-alone short course during one academic year. Lessons 11-21 could then form the basis of a more advanced course for the following year, with greater emphasis on production issues, and more detailed focus on certain musical aspects.
Time limitations - Completing the lesson tasks If you feel that some lessons contain more content than you can comfortably cover in a single teaching session, don’t worry! Most lessons are structured into specific tasks and activities that can easily be spread over two sessions to fit the available time. Simply work at a pace that suits your teaching style and the experience level of your students. If on the other hand, some of your students are quick workers, many lessons also contain an “if time” activity. This allows students who have completed their main tasks to revise concepts from previous lessons, and explore additional areas. (Should you decide to cover a lesson over two class sessions, the “if time” activity can then be included as a regular task.)
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Introduction to “Teaching Music with Reason”
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Your teaching material In the box you’ll find the following components: • Teacher’s Resource File containing lesson preparation material, teaching plans, student worksheets, “How to…” guides and assessment sheets. • 10 printed student booklets containing worksheets and “How to…” guides. • 1 Teaching Music with Reason CD, containing: - the Reason Adapted program, for installation on the students’ computers. - the song files for lesson use. - PDF files of student material in A4 and US letter formats. • 10 authorization cards with license numbers for Reason Adapted. • 1 full Reason CD package, for the teacher to install and use. • 1 Getting Started manual for the full Reason version.
Color coding In your Teacher’s Resource File a system of color coding is used to differentiate between pages specifically designed for teacher use, and pages intended for student use. • Page numbering in these colors indicates material specifically for teacher use. • Page numbering in these colors indicates material for student use. These pages are also included on CD in PDF format for printing and copying. To open PDF files, you need the Adobe Acrobat Reader program installed on your computer - you will find an Acrobat Reader installer included on the Teaching Music with Reason CD if required.
Guide symbols You will notice guide symbols on some pages. These might be helpful when working through some of the techniques in preparation for teaching the lesson, or for referring students to particular tasks. D (or numbering) - indicates a “to do” direction.
! - indicates information to keep in mind, or “reminders”.
Introduction to “Teaching Music with Reason” Your teaching material
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The lessons Most lessons include the following material: An outline of lesson content and a brief description of any song files that accompany the lesson.
Lesson preparation and background reading material. These pages provide you with a guide to the device(s), functions and techniques that will be used in the lesson. Depending on the age and experience of your students, you may even want to photocopy these pages and give them out in class as a general introduction to the topic.
A teaching plan. This will form the basis of your lesson. Most lessons have a similar format, with an introductory activity (demonstration, or guided class exercise), followed by student practical tasks. You may want to add to these plans, or modify a task to better suit a particular group of students. For this purpose, we have provided some space on the pages for your own notes.
A student worksheet, or project sheet. These sheets are provided for most lessons. You can decide how frequently to use them, depending on your teaching strategies. You may find it helpful to start lesson preparations by first glancing at the student worksheet. This gives an immediate overview of the main practical lesson tasks. The lesson preparation and background reading material should then answer any questions arising from this. “How to…” student guide pages. These are reference guides for students, describing the main functions and techniques used during the lesson.
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Monitoring and assessing your students’ progress Several assessment sheets are provided to help you build up a detailed profile of each student. These sheets can be photocopied, and are also available in PDF format on the Teaching Music with Reason CD. • A student record sheet is provided at the back of the file. You can use this for monitoring general progress and completion of tasks. • Separate project assessment sheets are included with the material for Lessons 13-14 and 16-19. These allow more detailed assessment and grading of musical and technical skills, relating to a particular project. • Lesson 20 can be used as a more formal assessment of student skills. An additional assessment sheet is provided with this lesson material. • A blank assessment sheet is also included at the back of the file. This can be used for any other assessment purposes.
Song files Song files in a variety of musical styles are provided for most lessons. These are either ready-to-go songs, or templates that form a basis for student practical work. Since much of the original music has been “adapted” to suit specific lesson requirements, the music producers’ original files are also included in a separate folder on the Teaching Music with Reason CD. In some cases you may find it useful to check out the original versions before exploring the lesson files themselves. You may also want students to check out some of the originals for comparison or reference. These original song files could also be used as a basis for any additional or independent activities you might want to develop.
! Note: When working with Reason, the term “song” is applied to any kind of music that is created using the program. For example a Reason song could be a Hip Hop track, or a 12-bar Blues improvisation. It does not depend on having any kind of “vocal” representation (as the standard “musical” term more commonly suggests). The Reason “song file” format is used for storing recorded note, velocity and controller data belonging to a song, plus information about the device settings and sounds used.
• The Reason Adapted song files in this package were created by XLN Media, Stockholm, Sweden, www.xlnmedia.com. The founders, Niklas Möller & Lars Erlandsson, also work for Dreamworld Productions as songwriters and producers.
! The song files can be
Song file administration You will want to make the song files easily accessible to all students. This might involve placing them in a specified server location for general access, or simply copying the files onto individual computer hard disks. You will also probably want to collect song files that have been produced in class in order to monitor student progress. How this is administered will largely depend on your technical circumstances. However, here are some general suggestions for easier file management.
Loading song files Reason has an option to store up to four custom file paths called “Sound Locations”. A Sound Location is a path to any file folder on an individual workstation or on a network. These four shortcuts are available in the Reason file browser window. Whenever you want to open a song file (or device patch), you can simply click on a Sound Location icon in the browser window and be transported to the associated folder.
loaded and played in both the Reason Adapted programs and the full Reason version. If however you decide to make changes to any of the files and want to save these, please do this using a Reason Adapted version. It is not possible to open song files in Reason Adapted versions that have been created or saved in the full Reason version.
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To set up a custom Sound Location: D Open the Edit Menu (Windows, Mac OS 9), or Reason menu (Mac OS X) and select Preferences. D On the drop-down menu, select Sound Locations. D Click on one of the Sound Location icons – this will let you select your path to the required folder. Once this is selected, the file folder title will appear in the Preferences dialog. You can now instantly reach the file folder by simply clicking on the appropriate location icon.
! Important! When a student has loaded a song from a location, the song must then be saved locally i.e. in another place on the hard disk. Otherwise, the original song (or even work of other students) could be overwritten by mistake! See “Saving song files” below.
Saving song files The Sound Locations are not available when you save files - this is a different type of window. Here we suggest that you create desktop shortcuts to shared folders, so that students can quickly find the right place to save files either for collection, or for continued work in later lessons. Inside a central storage folder, you can organize files by creating subfolders, for instance by lesson number. A student can browse to a “Lesson 1” subfolder and use his/her own name as the song file name (/Teaching_Music/Lesson 1/John Smith.rsb). Alternatively, subdirectories can be named after the students and files after lesson numbers (John Smith/Lesson 1.rsb). In other cases, students might rename lesson song files and create more descriptive titles. Here, they could include the original lesson song file number in the title, for example “MySong 4”, for reference purposes.
Integrating this material into existing curriculum requirements This material is designed to allow integration with other areas of the particular national, state or college music curriculum you are currently following. Lessons focus on developing listening skills, understanding musical elements (melody, harmony, rhythm, form etc.), developing technical skills and applying these in a creative capacity. The table on the following page gives an overview of the different concepts covered in each lesson. At the start of each teaching plan you will also find an outline of the specific aims and skills involved in the lesson. This may be helpful for planning and reporting purposes. Some lessons include files with music designed for instant arranging, mixing, exploring effects etc. However for most composition-based tasks, you can specify any particular style of music to be created, or even leave it up to the students themselves. This is to allow student practical work to fit with other curriculum activities and requirements. For example if you have just looked at dance music or perhaps blues with a particular class, you may decide to base some of these lessons around the composition of pieces that use musical elements already analyzed in other class sessions. With another class, you might be working to a prescribed exam composition “brief”, and decide to generate some ideas using resources available in the Reason environment.
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Skills, knowledge and understanding
Concepts
Lessons 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13/14
15
16/17
18/19
20
21
Listening and evaluating
Understanding basic musical elements
Analyzing musical material
Exploring and evaluating sounds
Exploring, creating and developing patterns
Recording / note entry
Quantization
Editing and refining recorded material Creating melodic, textural, timbral or dynamic variation
Mixing (exploring mixer parameters)
Exploring effects (and effects unit parameters)
Using key words and concepts to stimulate original ideas
Working to a given composition brief
Applying knowledge creatively
Varying repetitive material e.g. loops
Automation - recording, viewing and editing controller data
Improvising
Developing structural frameworks
Shaping and modifying sounds Arranging (selecting, moving and copying material)
Introduction to “Teaching Music with Reason� Your teaching material
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Installing your Reason programs Preparations The Teaching Music with Reason lessons make use of the included Reason Adapted program. This can be installed and used on computers running Windows 2000, Windows XP, Mac OS X or Mac OS 9 operating systems. Furthermore, each computer needs: • Some sort of audio output. The built-in audio output on the computer may work fine, but generally some additional audio hardware may be a better choice, since this often causes less “latency” (delay between when you play your MIDI keyboard and when the sound is heard). • Headphones or powered speakers for listening. • A MIDI interface, properly connected and installed. • A MIDI keyboard, connected to the input on the MIDI interface. This allows you to play the sound devices in Reason Adapted, by sending MIDI from the keyboard to the program.
Installing Reason Adapted ! This needs to be done for each one of the students’ computers.
! Teaching Music with Reason includes licenses for 10 computers. You can order additional licenses if needed please contact your local reseller.
! Registering your software entitles you to updates, support, possible add-ons, etc.
! The Preferences dialog is opened either from the Edit menu (Windows, Mac OS 9) or from the Reason menu (Mac OS X).
! For more details about audio/MIDI settings, see the “Setting Up” chapter in the Getting Started PDF. This was installed with the program and can be found in the Reason Adapted program folder (or on the Start menu under Windows).
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1 Insert the Teaching Music with Reason CD. 2 Double click the Install Reason for Teaching icon on the CD and follow the instructions on screen. For Macintosh users there are two installers available; one for OS 9 and one for OS X. Make sure you select the appropriate installer for your OS version.
3 When installation is finished, launch the program. The first time you launch the program, you will be asked to enter user information and a license number. The license numbers are found on separate authorization cards in the Teaching Music with Reason box - each number should be used for one computer only.
4 You will also be asked to register the program. You can choose to do this now or at a later time. If you choose “Register Now”, your internet browser will launch and take you to the product registration page on the Propellerhead Software web site - please follow the instructions on screen. Registering involves creating a user account at the Propellerhead web site. For example, this could be a user account for your institution, for a particular course or for a specific teacher. You can register all 10 Reason Adapted licenses under the same user name please make sure you enter the 10 different license numbers and registration codes (as found on the authorization cards). Finally, you may want to make basic settings for audio and MIDI and make sure everything works before the students start using the program. These settings are done in the Preferences dialog (which opens automatically the first time you launch Reason Adapted).
5 On the Audio page in the Preferences, pull down the Audio Card drop-down menu and select the appropriate audio hardware driver. This determines which audio output should be used by Reason Adapted. The options on the menu depend on which audio hardware is used - if in doubt, consult the Reason Adapted Getting Started PDF manual or contact your computer system administrator.
6 Select the MIDI page in the Preferences dialog, pull down the Port pop-up menu in the Sequencer section and select the MIDI input to which the MIDI keyboard is connected. Then check on which MIDI channel the MIDI keyboard transmits, and set the Channel pop-up menu to this value. Now Reason Adapted should receive MIDI from the MIDI keyboard and send audio to the audio outputs on playback.
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Song files and student material
1 Open the folder “Lesson Material” on the CD and drag the folders “Lesson Song Files” and “Music Producers’ Originals” to the hard disk on the student's computer, or to a location on the server for general access. You will also need to copy this material to your own computer’s hard disk.
2 If you want the students to be able to print worksheets and “How to…” guides directly from their computers, open the folder “Student Material PDF files”. Inside you will find two folders named “A4 format” and “US Letter format”. Both folders contain an Acrobat (PDF) file called “Student Material.pdf”. These have the same content but are made for A4 and US Letter page formats, respectively. Choose one of the files (depending on the paper format used in your printers) and drag it to the hard disk of the student's computer, or to a particular location on the server.
3 Student record and assessment sheets are included in a separate folder “Assessment and Record Sheets”. Copy the appropriate A4 or US Letter folder to your own computer’s hard disk.
Installing Reason 2.5 For class teaching activities, it is suggested that you work with a copy of Reason Adapted. However, a full version of Reason has been provided, which you may want to explore at home, or use for your own musical activities. To install this program on your own computer, please refer to the Reason Getting Started book. • Please also see the section “Song file administration”, which has an important note about saving and loading work on Reason 2.5 and Reason Adapted.
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About the Reason Adapted program The Reason Adapted program includes the following modules and devices in its virtual rack:
Reason hardware (audio) interface: The connection between the program and the “outside world” via your computer’s sound card or other audio hardware.
Mixer: 14 stereo channels via which the Reason sound devices are routed to the hardware interface, and effects units are routed for use with the various sound devices.
Sound Sources: Redrum drum computer: For composing and playing drum patterns.
About the Reason Adapted program
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2 Subtractor synths: For playing and “shaping” a range of sounds or “patches”.
2 Dr Rex loop players: For playback of looped drum and music material.
2 NN19 sample players: For playing a range of sampled sounds.
A range of sounds is included for use with these different devices. These are stored in the Reason Factory Sound Bank, and can be easily accessed via the devices themselves.
Sequencers Matrix pattern sequencer: For composing pattern-based melodic phrases, basses and other ideas, which can also be transferred to a track in the main sequencer.
(Note: Matrix needs to be connected to an appropriate sound device for pattern playback.)
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About the Reason Adapted program
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Main Reason sequencer: For putting whole songs together by recording, arranging and editing musical ideas.
Effects Units: For adding room ambience, echo and distortion to different sounds. RV7 digital reverb
DDL-1 digital delay
D-11 foldback distortion
The Reason Factory Sound Bank and “lesson patches” The sounds that your students can use to create their songs are all contained in the Reason Factory Sound Bank that is supplied with the Reason Adapted program. (Different Sound Banks are supplied with Reason Adapted and Reason 2.5.) All the sounds that have been used to create the provided song files are also taken from the Reason Adapted Sound Bank. In some cases however, the music producers have made slight changes to some of the settings associated with a particular sound. Because it is not possible to save dedicated patches in Reason Adapted, these modified sounds (or patches) are included along with the regular ones for each device. It means that if students change an adapted sound, they can later recall it by simply selecting it again from an appropriate folder in the Sound Bank. The adapted sounds are contained in separate folders in the Sound Bank, corresponding to each type of device. For example, modified Redrum kits are found in the folder “Lesson Redrum kits”. Modified Subtractor sounds are found in the folder “Lesson Subtractor Patches, and modified NN19 sampler sounds are found in the folder “Lesson Sampler Patches”. The numbering on each adapted sound refers to the lesson song file in which it is used. The name is either that of the original sound, or it is a generic name such as “bass”. For example, a patch “L02a Picked bass” denotes an adapted version of the standard picked bass sound that is used in the Lesson 2a song file.
About the Reason Adapted program
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How is Reason Adapted different from the full program version? If you are a current Reason user or teacher and have already worked with the full program, you will notice several differences in this adapted version.
! If you are completely new to Reason, skip to the next chapter.
Devices and sounds The devices listed on the previous pages are present in the rack all of the time. It is not possible to create new devices, or to delete unused ones. However any unused devices can be folded in the rack to save space. It is still possible to change the position of devices in the rack by selecting and dragging to the required location. Adjustments made to device settings will be saved with your song. It is not possible to save, copy, paste or export patches in this program version. When you load the program, it opens with a new song template. Patches, samples and loops have already been loaded into the sound devices, and several pre-recorded patterns are provided in Redrum. This is designed to give some immediate stimulus for starting work! The number of sounds supplied in the Reason Factory Sound Bank has been reduced to keep students from browsing all lesson! However, there is still a wide range of resources for working in a variety of musical styles.
Cabling and routing The song template contains a default cabling at the back of the rack, with all sound devices routed via the mixer to the hardware interface. Reverb and delay units are routed via the mixer’s auxiliary sends and returns. Similar routing is found in many of the provided song files. You can of course still make manual changes to the device routing at the back of the rack. Devices can also be auto-routed and disconnected using the Edit menu options. “Toggling” between the front and back of the rack is possible as in the full version.
The sequencer The main sequencer contains permanent tracks for all the available devices, plus additional tracks for recording mixer automation and automation for each of the effects units. Sequencer tracks cannot be added or deleted, but it is possible to change the track order by selecting and dragging, so that unused tracks can be moved to the bottom of the list. Each Reason device is hard-wired to its related sequencer track. The sequencer’s “Out” column is disabled, so mapping sequencer tracks for playback by other devices is not possible.
Menus A slightly reduced range of main menu options is available in this version. The Create menu is missing, since it is not possible to add to the existing devices in the rack. Other menus, connected more specifically with the sequencer and device handling contain many of the functions from the full Reason program, allowing a full range of recording and editing activities. Songs can be exported as both audio and MIDI files. They can also be saved in a “self-contained” format. It is not possible to import MIDI files into this adapted version.
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About the Reason Adapted program
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Using the Matrix pattern sequencer In the song template and many of the provided song files, the Matrix pattern sequencer has a default connection to the Subtractor 2 device. (It is physically situated below this device in the rack.) The intention is to avoid the necessity for manual cabling and routing procedures in early lessons, when students are creating pattern-based material. The default cabling can of course be manually changed if required. Because the “Out” column on the main sequencer is disabled (see above), playing back material that has been recorded or copied onto on the Matrix sequencer track requires some “manual mapping”. This is explained in Lesson 5.
ReWire ReWire functionality is included in this program version. Although not part of this particular curriculum, Reason Adapted song files can be synchronized with other ReWire compatible applications for more advanced audio and production work.
Compatibility with the full Reason program version In general, songs created or saved in the full Reason program cannot be opened in this adapted version. However, songs created in the adapted version can be opened in the full program.
About the Reason Adapted program
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A quick overview of the Reason Adapted cabling Cabling and routing techniques are not specifically covered in the main curriculum. However, accidents can happen, particularly if students decide to experiment with the back of the rack! The following guide shows some basic default connections, allowing cables to be re-patched if devices suddenly seem to stop working! In order to hear anything through headphones or speakers, a connection has to be made to the hardware interface. Although there are several options, it is assumed that a sound card with stereo in/outs, or built-in Macintosh sound capability may be used in the simplest classroom set-ups. Therefore in each provided song file: The Master Outs from the mixer are connected to Audio Inputs 1 and 2 on the hardware interface.
If you cannot hear any sound at all when you start the sequencer, try checking this connection. The main audio outputs from each of the sound devices are connected into the mixer input channels as follows: Redrum connects to mixer channel 1.
Subtractor 1 & 2 connect to mixer channels 2 and 3, respectively.
Dr Rex 1 & 2 connect to mixer channels 4 and 5, respectively.
NN19 1 & 2 connect to mixer channels 6 and 7, respectively.
If you cannot hear one particular device, and no level is visible on the mixer channel, check the connection between the device and the mixer. Moving devices in the rack should not affect the cabling, and you can choose whether the “Show Cables� option is activated in the Options menu.
A quick overview of the Reason Adapted cabling
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In the provided song files, the Matrix pattern sequencer is usually connected to the Subtractor 2 device. If you cannot hear any sound when playing back a Matrix pattern, first check that the pattern section is enabled (see Lesson 5), then check this connection to make sure that the Matrix is appropriately connected. (If there is still no sound, check the connections above to make sure that the sound device itself is routed via the mixer.)
The reverb and delay units are connected to and from both the mixer and the Redrum device (see Lesson 11) like this.
In new song files, the distortion unit is not connected. The unit is introduced to students in Lesson 12, and instructions are given in that lesson for routing the unit between the appropriate sound device and the mixer. In earlier lessons, the distortion unit may be used in some of the provided songs. (You may like to make a note of its particular connections for that song, by looking at the back of the rack.)
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A quick overview of the Reason Adapted cabling