You’ve seen “pay what you want” pricing for self-released albums on Bandcamp, and independent donationware software. But you certainly haven’t seen it in a major proprietary application like Reason 6. That’s what Swedish developer Propellerhead is doing with their Reason 6 upgrade, with name-your-own-price starting at EUR/USD 1.00, through the end of October. (One, not one hundred. Really. Apologies for embedding what’s essentially an advertisement below, but the video explains it.)

Edit: Readers observe that Reason 2.5 was a free upgrade, which is arguably just as notable as a pay-what-you-will upgrade here.

Now, this isn’t for everyone: it’s the upgrade, not the full product, and it’s only for people who own a copy of Reason and a copy of Record. In effect, what the upgrade does is reward early adopters who purchased Reason and Record Duo or bought Record separately on top of an existing copy of Reason. My feeling was certainly that the two products should have been offered together from the start. Many Reason users complained that they weren’t getting all the new audio recording features (only a sampling feature). And I noted in a review of Record for Macworld that Record didn’t come with everything unless you also bought Reason. The bundling of Reason and Record functionality into a single product called “Reason” to me makes perfect sense, and the deal here reflects that.

For that reason, I wouldn’t go as far as asking, as Jo-Ann at Shocklee does, if this is the future of music software pricing. But it is a big deal, and it proves that more significant names in music software can take some risks. It’s also a nice bargain: remember that Reason 6′s price, reflecting the incorporation of both programs, is effectively what you paid for Reason + Record duo, and that even if you have both, you still get some nice, new effects. (I’ve been playing with them for a few weeks, so expect a write-up on that soon, once I actually sit down and make some real music with them.)

But for me, the bottom line is, it’s nice to see a good idea trump caution in the accounting department.

http://www.propellerheads.se/paywhatyouwant/

Propellerhead today unveils the new Reason, incorporating Record functionality in both the full-blown and “Essentials” versions, a new audio interface in their first-ever hardware, and a beta that will at last make ReCycle a modern Mac tool.

Record added some wonderful stuff to Reason, including a terrific analog-style console, modeled EQ and dynamics, the ability (finally) to place racks side by side, and extra effects modules, including nice Line 6 modeled guitar kit. In other words, Record introduced a bunch of stuff you’d really want in Reason all along. Conversely, if you only bought Record, you were left out of a bunch of useful stuff that was only in Reason.

Yes, there was the “Duo” box that included both Reason and Record. But what you really wanted was both. Since neither app supports plug-ins, you really, really wanted both.

Propellerhead has apparently heard us, because Reason 6 now includes everything. It’s effectively Duo, with both Reason and Record. If that’s overkill, Reason Essentials gives you Record plus the bits of Reason Record users most wanted — the ReDrum drum machine, the NNXT sampler, the Dr OctoREX loop player. Essentials also has a smaller mixer (actually, I rather hope that’s accessible from the full-blown product, too.)

Onto what’s new: Reason adds a bunch of new goodies:

• Pulveriser : “crushing” effect with “crunchy” compression. Given the niceness of previous distortion efforts for Propellerheads, I think there’s reason to be optimistic.
• Echo: stereo effect with “modern” delay and analog tape echo. Sounds delightful, that one.
• Alligator: three-band pattern gate.
• Higher-quality audio transpose. One of the most overlooked features of Record was its exceptional-quality time stretching; getting better transpose alongside could make a formidable audio tool.
• True 64-bit compatibility.

The biggest piece of news here – the one Propellerhead didn’t even include explicitly in its press release – is that ReWire is 64-bit. That ensures ReWire’s place in the future of the product line.

Finally, in its first foray into hardware, Propellerhead is unveiling Balance, the lovely design of which you can more or less make out at top. It’s a two-in, two-out audio interface, but with eight connections – that way, while you can only record stereo, you don’t have to swap cables.

There’s also this feature: “Hardware buttons on Balance bring up a large meter/tuner in Reason and can also enable Clip Safe, Propellerhead’s new recording technology that with one click heals clipped recorded audio. Musicians no longer have to worry about losing a great recording because gain levels were too high, and can stay focused on creating that goose bump evoking performance.”

I’ve confirmed with Propellerhead that the basic means by which this works is that the software automatically records extra audio, so that when you do clip a recording, you can effectively borrow additional dynamic headroom (in that you’re recording additional dynamic information) by using the additional recording. There’s some clever means by which this is automatic; it should be fun to test, intentionally setting gain wrong. (I was just looking at a Sony mobile recorder that does something similar, albeit using additional bits by recording at 24-bit over 16-bit, etc.)

The other good news on the audio interface: it’s WDM/ASIO on Windows, but class-compliant for Mac (and Linux, and iPad, and other things). The Balance upgrade will come bundled with Essentials for US$499; clearly, part of the idea here is to offer in one box some complete software for use by newcomers to music production tools, with everything they need in one box.

If you do want Balance and intend to use the full-blown Reason, Propellerhead tells us, “If you already own Reason or Record or the Duo you get a free upgrade to Reason 6 when you buy Balance. If you buy Balance new without owning any Propellerhead software previously, you can upgrade to Reason 6 by buying the Reason 6 upgrade ($169).” (See further discussion in comments.)

There are still things I’d complained about that appear not to be here – namely, MIDI output for hardware synths and the ability to run Record (now Reason) as a ReWire host and not just ReWire client, which I think would make it an ideal mixing, arrangement, and mastering console. (I do track the things I write in the “Cons” column.) But I’m very excited about this release. I’ve been a great fan of the work on Record, and it seems only natural to bring it to a broader audience of Reason users. This appears to make the product line more sensible and friendly, and I’ve long found those couple of simple effects additions in new Reason versions can turn out to be the ingredient in entire tracks.

Stay tuned for a hands-on when this ships. Ship date: September 30.

Pricing: US$449 for Reason 6, US$299 for Reason Essentials (without the hardware), or US$169 for an upgrade from any Reason version or Reason Essentials to Reason 6.

Full details:
Reason 6 minisite

There’s a public beta signup if you just can’t wait:
Beta Test Reason

And in other news, Propellerhead have an update on Lion compatibility. Their software, apart from its usual Windows function, will work on the upcoming new release of Apple’s software. Because Apple is, as expected, removing Rosetta, the now-ancient compatibility layer, it’s time for a native Mac OS X version of Propellerhead’s ReCycle loop creation software. There’s a beta coming for that, as well:
Lion Info

There’s also this nice video of Reason users, set in New York City, with a few people I know mixed in. It’s an advertisement, of course, but I like them focusing on the human side of music software.

May has brought two new Web projects from manufacturers – one a titan name from analog hardware, another the king of the software studio. In each, the product itself is downplayed to focus on artists actually making music. That means if you’re looking to kick off your summer music making with a little inspiration, you’ve got some video to watch, and not just the usual gear lust. I don’t think I can be an entirely objective judge of websites, since I do work for The Internet, but that seems like a good trend. (So, yes, I’m not only being partial to Moog and Props here – I always welcome real musical discussion from the folks who make our music tools!)

First off, Moog has a much-welcome rebuild of their previous site, replacing a hard-to-navigate kludge with tiny images. The new site I have to say is one of the best I’ve seen yet from a vendor. Of course, it’s the actual content we still care about. For that, turn to a lavish legacy section. (You can even reminisce about the year 2000 and those heady Big Briar days.)

The nicest feature – back to the idea of getting to the music – promises to be the Sound Studio. First up is The Dandy Warhols, surrounded of course by tasty Moog gear. They have a mixed lineup coming – and don’t worry; that includes the likes of Thereminist Dorit Chrysler, lest you think Moog is abandoning their synthy roots. Now, if they could just find a way to put the pronunciation of their name front and center. (Hint: if you sound like a cow, you’re saying it wrong. Rogue.)

Moog Sound Lab

Propellerhead has a unique approach in May’s “Music Making Month.” Hands-on how-to videos appear first as live webcasts, then on-demand YouTube clips, showing how to get into some real music making. Reason and Record are featured, of course, but the series is as much about production and performance as those tools. Check out the start of the terrific series by Josh Mobley on keyboard finger-drumming, for instance. (Skip a couple of minutes in, and check out Josh’s percussive dexterity.) Artist guests are doing Q&A and video how-to installments on everything from control voltage to sequencing to songwriting, and it looks like there’s a nice artist/tech balance. I like the first week’s videos; tune in for more to come. (This also, though, confirms some of my reservations about the “Like” button; I wouldn’t read too much into those numbers.)

http://www.propellerheads.se/

Take a very short survey, and you’ll be entered to win some six months of intensive training in music production and Ableton Live, or copies of some of our favorite recent software, a two-app box set of Reason and Record from Propellerhead or Roger Linn’s AdrenaLinn Sync.

Knowing more about our readers helps us develop Create Digital Music, Create Digital Motion, and the Noisepages community as free resources, both by letting us know about you and helping us to work with the sponsors who pay our bills. It’s also a chance for you to tell us where you’d most like to see us invest.

I think privacy is important. Questions are kept strictly anonymous; we don’t associate your IP address, location, or email address with your answers. You’ll answer a minute or two of quick questions, then be provided with a separate form for your email (because otherwise we can’t contact you if you win); winners will be randomly selected.

I’m also pleased to get the chance to help our friends at DubSpot celebrate the launch of their online school on Monday. The Live training includes 66 hours of hands-on instruction and labs and three levels of Ableton Live education over half a year.

Reason and Record Duo from Propellerhead gives you the latest version of both these music-making tools for Mac and Windows – a virtual rack of gear, plus recording, mixing, and production.

AdrenaLinn Sync 2 provides beat-synced modulation and effects and now runs on Windows (VST/RTAS) or Mac (VST/AU/RTAS).

The survey will close 11:59 PM NYC (US Eastern) time, Thursday, February 3. You must enter before that time in order to qualify.

Enter the survey to win!

http://cdm.2011.sgizmo.com/s3/

And thanks, as always, for your support for this independent site and community. More on the prizes below (with some rather interesting videos, all).

Ableton Live Training Online from DubSpot

DubSpot offers training from its expert staff, like the free tutorial featured above.

Ableton Live Core Program ($2,495)
6-months / Three levels / 24 sessions / 66 hours of hands-on instruction + labs

The Core Program introduces you to the fundamentals of producing music with Ableton Live, creating a number of sketches while developing your own unique sound, then developing your ideas into two fully fleshed out songs.

Courses:
Ableton Live Level 1: Shake Hands with Live
Ableton Live Level 2: Completing Your First Track
Ableton Live Level 3: Production Essentials

http://www.dubspot.com/ableton-live/

AdrenaLinn Sync

AdrenaLinn Sync is a software plug-in from Roger Linn Design that provides the same unique beat-synced filter modulation and sequencing effects of our AdrenaLinn III guitar pedal, plus quite a bit more. Though intended for guitar, it adds fascinating rhythmic tonal effects to any instrument or processed audio.

AdrenaLinn Sync transforms your input signal–guitar, keyboard, turntable, loops, etc.–into dramatic rhythmic patterns of filtered, resonated, chopped, pulsed, spiked, sequenced, looped, delayed and otherwise manipulated tones.

AdrenaLinn Sync

Reason and Record Duo

Record – super intuitive, streamlined recording software. Reason – the legendary virtual studio rack packed with synths, samplers, effects and all the electronic music production tools you need.

Combine the two and they fuse into one incredibly powerful application, while still remaining the fast, lean, rock solid music production environment that lets you stay focused on your music making.

Reason

Record

Enter the survey to win!

http://cdm.2011.sgizmo.com/s3/

There’s obviously something about big. In the 1988 film Big, the iconic scene featured Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia tapping their way across FAO Schwartz’s oversized piano. Now, it’s the drum machine’s turn.

David Crowder*Band drummer Bwack made the oversized stage version of an MPC-style set of drum pads, seen below and on CDM in 2008. That model featured a rack for a computer, making it a real workstation.

This week, to celebrate the launch of their new releases of Reason and Record, Swedish music developer Propellerhead had their own entry. It features not only pads big enough to dance on, Big-style, but massive architectural projections on one of the biggest buildings in Sweden.

But it wasn’t enough just to see a few minutes of this thing in action. I wanted to make sure we could find out how the team that built it put this project together.

Perhaps all of this will mark the beginning of Brobdingnag-scaled musical instruments. (That’ll be the opposite of Lilliput. It’s the one with the giants.)

Propellerhead’s Ryan Harlin talks to CDM about all the little details that made up this giant creation.

CDM: Can you describe the physical device? How big is it?

The physical controller surface measures 74.5 inches square (that’s 190cm for the metric folks). Each pad is 16 inches square and it’s all housed in a 1X2 inch aluminum modular frame that provides the sidewalls in which the pad buttons rest. In keeping with the Swedish company… it was like a piece of Ikea furniture on steroids – right down to the little hex bolts. We wanted to build a device that was massive but we didn’t want to lose site of its ultimate utility. It had to be danceable. If you make each pad too big then the ability to play adjacent pads becomes too difficult. Too small and it’s… well… too small! I actually started experimenting with size and choreography by dancing on my kitchen floor tiles.

The pads themselves are 1″ thick clear acrylic (plexiglas). They were sanded down with an orbital sander on both sides to give them the necessary diffusion and frosting effect. The pads were easily the heaviest part of the unit but their weight helped give a very responsive tactile feel to the controller. When you stomp on something with the full force of your legs you want to hit something that feels solid, and they certainly did!

We also had strips of LED lighting running under each pad. We set up a dual color system that kept the pads glowing blue when the button was in the off state and it turned white and twice as bright in the on state (twice as many LEDs).

From the underneath side of the dance floor we ran all our cabling to two different USB micro-controller brains. One brain handled the sensor data, while the other one powered and controlled the LED lighting via high-amperage relay switches. These two units sat beside the controller on the sidewalk. They connected to a USB hub and then into our laptop which was running Reason 5 and the new Kong Drum Designer device inside Reason – which this “Kongstrocity” (as we’re calling it around the office) was obviously mimicking in terms of the pad layout.

How did you go about assembling the drum machine itself?

The assembly presented a few serious design challenges. First of all we had just two weeks to build it from the time we had the idea to the day we scheduled for the performance. Designing a drum machine of this size in that time required a very “leap of faith” design philosophy. We had to research our methodology and then implement it based on the blind, perhaps naive, confidence that our design would work. There would be no time in the schedule for revision. Our proof of concept had to be our final unit also and we were just fortunate that the decisions we made payed off and worked exactly as we expected.

The other major design challenge was that I was designing and building this unit in San Francisco and it needed to get to Sweden on August 16th. That meant it had to be built in such a way that I could bring it with me as checked luggage! That means it had to be somewhat modular in its design and all components had to be packed down to luggage sized parcels. Sure, I had to check 9 pieces of luggage on my flight but we pulled it off.

Once it was in Sweden we finished the final solder joints and attached the sensor bases and frame to a wooden plywood base which locked it all together as a single unit instead of a luggage-friendly modular unit.

What does it use to sense foot triggers? Were there any challenges to getting this calibrated properly and working effectively?

Under each pad is something called a “force sensitive resistor.” We considered using piezo transducers, which are popular on many DIY electronic drum tutorials. However, piezo sensors suffer from too much ambient noise that would come from adjacent pads. They measure sound energy just like a microphone. Therefore, nearby pad stomps could create false positives from a sensor-perspective. I discovered a video online of a kid who made “drum shoes” and in his description he mentioned that he used force sensitive resistors because they work better than piezos. He was right. By measuring the direct downward pressure on the sensor, we were able to create very reliable readings of when a pad was being triggered or not.

As far as calibrating and working with the sensors, it was as “plug-and-play” as anyone could hope a DIY project of this scope to be. We used a system of USB interfaces by a company called Phidgets. Phidgets are sorta like Arduino without the learning curve. They allow you to hook up a variety of analog or digital sensors to a USB interface unit and then use a variety of programming platforms to work with that data and communicate back out to the interface. Our setup used a Phidget 8/8/8 Interface connected to the computer, a force sensor under the pad, and a Phidget Voltage divider in between the two so we could scale the force readings and calibrate them so all 16 sensors behaved the same way. I can’t say enough great things about Phidgets. They were the thing that shaved our testing and learning curve down to something so small that I didn’t have to worry about it and I could rather dedicate myself to tedious tasks like 800+ solder joints and CAD drawings of frame components.

It seems in the video people responded well! What did you find, as people tried playing with their feet?

We learned a few very interesting things in the process. The first and most glaring user response we realized was that if you’re a musician, you were very quickly making beats on it. If you weren’t a musician, you tended to walk around on it making arrhythmic “sound art.” We wrongly assumed everyone would know how to make a basic beat on a controller. Boom boom crack… boom boom crack. Or just a “four on the floor” kick beat. Boom Boom Boom Boom… and then repeat. But musicians got it right away, whether they were drummers or not. As you can see in the video, some people didn’t catch on as quickly. Similarly, young people raised on Guitar Hero or Dance Dance Revolution were also likely to catch on quickly.

The other thing we learned was that our design was surprisingly versatile. We didn’t rest our big acrylic pads directly on the sensors because the weight of them meant that downward force was always being applied to the sensor, making it difficult to get a good reading between on/off. We ended up floating the pads on springs above the sensors. This accomplished a few fortunate goals. It gave the sensors an idle reading of 0, making it easy to determine when force was being applied (when someone was stomping on it). It also had the side benefit of give some spring to our buttons and making them feel like bouncy pads. However, the third thing it accomplished was that we were able to set our trigger thresholds so low that children could dance on the pads as easily as grown adults and the controller responded just the same. We didn’t know it would work so well for that until a 6 year old tried it out and it performed perfectly for him.

How did you connect the device to Reason? Any Reason-specific tweaks to set up a huge set of drum pads like this?

The Phidget interfaces allow you to program in Max/MSP [multimedia visual programming tool]. So we used Max and some Phidget objects from their website to read in the sensor data, convert it to note data, send it back to the LED lights as digital on/off messages, and communicate with Reason by setting up our Max runtime application as a controller in Reason’s preferences.

On the Reason side, it behaved just like we had plugged a keyboard into our computer. No tweaks were necessary.

Were you familiar with Bwack’s previous large-scale physical drum machine when you made this? (Now I have to get the dimensions on that to work out which really is the “biggest” in the world, though if we count the projection, I know who wins!)

I actually hadn’t seen that until I arrived in Sweden with the controller and someone in the office showed it to me. I think the world can’t have enough large-scale controllers. Playing on it reminds me of childhood visits to the “Please Touch Museum” in Philadelphia.

Who worked on this project?

The “Who” of this project is somewhat long and I’m bound to leave people out so apologies in advance. As far as the research, design, wiring, and testing… it was done largely by myself in San Francisco prior to arriving in Sweden but I had some of the brightest minds to rely on, of course. Our engineers were eager to help and help they did. When I got to Sweden I even enlisted a small soldering army to help me finish the last part of the wiring. In San Francisco, I had a lengthy meeting with Matt Ganucheau to talk about sensors and strategy. Matt helped me focus my design ideas and let me confirm that I was on the right track. I got a crash course in Max programming from a interactive media friend of mine based out of Bristol, named Duncan Speakman and he helped me wire up Phidgets to convert the sensor data to MIDI data.

Once the controller was in Sweden it became a group effort by everyone to finish wiring it, mount it, test it, and move it from location to location. As is often said, “It takes a village to raise a Kongstrocity.”

More on Reason and Record:
http://www.propellerheads.se/

Drum machines may have no soul. But if they’re big enough, they can also crush you like a monster truck, so careful what you say about them.

As I mentioned earlier today, the big news story in the Reason and Record announcements is that you don’t need Record to record; Reason now does sampling. Here’s the full look at what’s new from Propellerhead’s software music workstations.

Highlights:

• A new drum designer. Drum synthesis, sampling, REX loops, physical modeling, and effects modules drive a 16-pad drum instrument, so you’re no longer limited to faux 808s or samples – you can make your own drum sounds. This alone could help Reason find its way back into some workflows, I’d guess.
• Everywhere there’s a sample, there’s sampling. Propellerhead have told me in the past that they really focus on consistency in engineering; in this case, I think they deliver. Anywhere you now see a sample waveform, in Reason 5 you can click to sample from an input. It’s simple, it’s in a way somewhat obvious – but that’s also why it matters.
• Multi-core optimization. Reason and Record are already pretty light on system resources for what they can do; multi-core optimization is good news for newer CPUs.
• Neptune pitch adjustment / voice synth: I’m still waiting on how this can be used in ways other than the generic-sounding, AutoTune-style correction and harmonization. Formant shift and other features look like they could be abused for more creative sound deign. Imogen Heap covers, also likely.
• Dr. Rex Plus Eight. The “Octo” version of Dr. Rex makes it easier to load multiple REX audio loops, the Props’ format for beat-sliced audio. I’m assuming you’ll be able to use this in conjunction with sampling, but will confirm that. You actually can’t sample into Dr. Rex, unfortunately; it seems to me that the Rex workflow is an area that could use revisiting in Reason, generally. Let me know what you think, particularly if you use this aspect of the tool.
• Block pattern sequencing. The sequencer continues to mature with arrangement features.

Other, more subtle features are improved, too, in each. It looks like some focused updates, at least, for current users.

The Record update is free for current users; Reasons upgraders will spend US$129 regardless of version. All other information:
http://www.propellerheads.se/

It’s all good stuff, and I look forward to seeing what the final announcement is later today. I’m still hoping that Record gets ReWire host mode, because I can think of some users who would love to drop tools like Ableton Live into Record for final mixing and mastering. (Flying Lotus, Steve, I bet you agree with me!) Update: Nope. It’s not a deal-breaker; you can just import audio, which is okay, given that mixing and mastering generally happens last. Of course, I still think it’s a good idea.

But the big news so far is that sampling has come to Reason. What a lot of Reason users I talked to said following the Record release was that they had no desire for a big, SSL-style console, but thought a lightweight sample input was what Reason had lacked all this time. Sure enough, that’s exactly what you get in this release, as seen at top. It makes perfect sense for the Reason workflow, and the implementation appears to be fairly easy to use, complete with a sample editor. Yes, I know – what many of you would like to know is likely why it took four releases to get here. But for Reason die-hards, it could be well worth the wait.

With sampling and the Blocks feature both in Reason, you also aren’t forced to by Record just to get audio input or arrangement.

Sampling in Reason 5

Our own Matt Ganucheau is currently in Sweden at Props headquarters; I’ve scheduled the announcement for 9am NYC time / 3pm Berlin and Stockholm time / 1pm Greenwich Mean Time… you know. Some time today.

Full CDM upgrade story, to go live later today

The launch video doesn’t tell you much, unless you’ve been so caught in Reason world that you didn’t realize mics can be used to record things. It does, however, give us a picture of what the world’s strangest, audio geek mod of Unreal Tournament would look like. (Duke Fieldrecordem 3D, anyone? We could totally have a CDM clan.)

And yes, it is absolutely fair for Propellerhead to point out that too many “samples” don’t allow live input. It’s a crime. It’s not a sampler if it only plays things back and doesn’t record. This sort of thing is the cure. Input is a good thing.

52 Reason and Record Tips Week 4 – Unlocking the Secrets of CV and Gate. from James Bernard on Vimeo.

Reason and Record may lack plug-in support, but what they do have – open-ended patching between the available modules, in the tradition of analog synthesizers – opens up plenty of creative possibilities. The only sad news is that many Reason uses don’t take full advantage of that depth.

Here are three tutorials to get you started, if you’re not familiar with how to do this (or if you need a video to send your friends to get them patching). At top, James Bernard continues his 52 tips in 52 weeks series with a general look at how the CV and gate connections work. From Propellerhead’s Matt Piper, we have two videos with guitar, one routing through Malström and the other through the Thor synth. Matt tells me that in the Malström vid, “once the patch creation portion starts (at 0:36), there are no edits thereafter– it is a ‘live performance’ that I hope is somewhat musical.”

It’s all good stuff, and of course it’s terrific to be able to combine Reason and Record in order to get audio routing through the modular system – “’bout time” I believe is the phrase I’m looking for. At the same time, I’m sure that doesn’t ease the frustration of Reason users who don’t like the idea of having to buy Record just to get audio. I can understand the perception there, though at least there are some crossgrade offers. It’s a tricky question: the Props could have added basic audio functionality to Reason, but then, once you do have audio, you might start asking for all the other stuff that’s in Record. (The mixer, more audio effects, audio track management and editing – work through that wish list, and you can see why they have another product.) To me, the interesting question now will be who will upgrade and who won’t.

Speaking of Propellerhead news, a number of readers have noted this announcement on the Propellerhead site:

“Do you want to help us test the music software of the future? Are you a Reason/Record power user? Can you keep a secret? If your answer is yes to all three questions, maybe you would like to join the Propellerhead Test Pilots?”

I don’t actually know whether this is Reason 5 or something else. I expect I will find out, at which point I’ll be sworn to secrecy. In the meantime, for anyone else who doesn’t know, feel free to commence the rampant speculation. And if you’re a current user, you can try signing up for the limited testing pool.

And here’s part two of using guitar and synth in Reason/Record, which also includes a downloadable Combinator patch.

Propellerhead Record + Reason: Playing Guitar Through the Reason Synths (Part Two)

52 Reason and Record Tips by James Bernard Week 1 from James Bernard on Vimeo.

I’m writing this from the wintry wonderland that is Stockholm, Sweden. How geeky is this country? Geeky enough to use their entire nation’s terrain to construct the world’s largest scale model of the solar system. And they’re the home of music software developer Propellerhead, with whom I’m talking a stroll in just a few minutes. In the Props’ honor, here’s a round-up of some handy stuff for Reason and Record users, plus a link to my most recent reviews.

The timing couldn’t be better. Propellerhead product specialist James Bernard has already begun a terrific blog full of tips and tricks for Reason and Record, and just yesterday, he kicked off a 52-episode series of video tutorials. The first installment has a look at how to construct a rhythmic gate using the dynamics section of Record. Of course, you could very easily apply this to another tool (even Props’ own Reason, with a little work), so it’s potentially worth a glimpse even if you’re not a Record user.

James also has a nice example on using iPhone TouchOSC control with Reason on the Mac. I expect the musical style of James’ work may not appeal to everyone, but this is worth a look: he definitely knows his stuff, and it’s great to see him sharing.

Propellerheads Substance: Product Specialist

Propellerhead in general have done a much better job in recent months of getting more how-to content on their site. The whole Substance site has a round-up of materials from learning the basics of recording technique to artist profiles. There is, naturally, a bit of a commercial bent, but I wound up reviewing some of the tutorials while learning Record myself. It’s funny: we spend so much of our time and energy on reviews, but I find users generally use what they like. The area that really has endless potential is talking about how to actually use stuff.

For more video tutorials, check out the PropellerheadSW YouTube account, including micro-tutorials on Record, like the sidechain compression example here.

PropellerheadSW @ YouTube

For a non-Props-produced tutorial, Audiotuts has an in-depth look in one of the most interesting new features in Reason and Record, a grove tool that uses a mixer as the interface metephor:

An Introduction to Propellerhead’s Groove Engine [Audiotuts.com]

It starts with the absolute basics if you’re just starting out, it covers a tool that may not be immediately intuitive in its potential, and it’s (cough) better than the included documentation.

Reason’s user community keeps on plugging; you can find a new free or cheap ReFill of sound content nearly each week, it seems. The best I’ve seen recently is a terrific free ReFill of retro, chip-based drums:
Free ReFill Features “Filthy & Nasty” Chip Drums [Synthtopia]

Sir Sedric’s ChipDrums Reason ReFill/ WAV Pack – Filthy Chip Drum Delight

There’s some creative sound design in there. I’m definitely taking it as inspiration, as I’ve just begun working on some new drums with the deep Plogue Chipsounds collection, trying to produce some sets that push the chip sounds in unexpected directions.

Chipdrums Demo Track by SirSedric

Finally, Macworld recently published my reviews of Record and Reason. They’re equally relevant whether you’re a Mac or Windows user (having finished those reviews, I’m currently using both primarily on my PC).

Record 1.0: Turn your Mac into a fully equipped virtual recording studio

Reason 4.0: Virtual rack of music toys sports new modules, a Nordic God synthesizer, and a grown-up sequencer

The magazine took some flak in comments for running a Reason 4.0 review late, but I think it’s actually more appropriate to consider Reason 4 now in the context of the release of Record. Writing reviews is always a funny thing: I believe you have to judge a tool on its own terms and merits. You may discover a product is really fantastic, and still decide it’s not actually for you in your workflow. But I’m finding myself toying with Reason and Record, returning to Reason a bit in my own work after a long time away. They are marvelous pieces of engineering, and whether it’s common knowledge or not, I know a lot of producers and developers alike who have respect for the tools.

In fact, my biggest complaint about Record remains that it’s not a ReWire host; loading Ableton Live (among other tools) into Record as a mastering/mixing tool, for instance, seems like a no-brainer. If you agree, leave comments, and maybe we’ll see this feature in a future version.

I know one “review” CDM has gotten is not running enough tips and production tutorials, so I’m on it. There are a lot of tools out there, so let us know which are more important to you. (Pro Tools? Csound?) I’ll rest up here in Sweden and come back refreshed and ready to tackle that next week. Enjoy!

Software of the year: Propellerhead Record

For all the major releases and upgrades and gear, as well as the dominance of a certain Berlin-based developer, if you had to pick one application of 2009, it’d be Record. Record tops the list not because everyone dropped everything to go use it, but quite the contrary. Record bucked industry trends, and provided a love-it-or-hate-it view of what audio software could be. In other words, it was quite reminiscent of Reason.

Centered on a mixer, emphasizing “recording” (perish the thought), and omitting expected features like MIDI out and plug-in support, Record resists modern-day conventional wisdom. That was divisive enough, even before the debates began over Record’s new hardware key. In the long run, it may be the simple fact that Record brings audio signal to Reason that gives it staying power. But in 2009, Record was the application about which everyone had an opinion.

See our original preview, May, plus details on the "Ignition Key" authorization system

Developer of the year: Ableton

What a year it’s been for Ableton. The company kicked off the year with “Share,” “Extend,” and “Touch,” as well as the release of Live 8. It sounded simple. But Ableton’s tech dominated CDM headlines in ‘09 with the variety of user tips and tricks, rants and raves. How’d they do?

New gear: Hardware was in the spotlight – and ranked highest in CDM clicks – even above the software. Many users embraced Akai’s APC40, the first commercial hardware to really balance a variety of Live’s features, as well as Novation’s affordable, simple Launchpad grid controller. But even as Ableton emphasized the ability of this hardware to work out of the box, hackers set about customizing their own control. We saw the Launchpad used with Renoise (complete with a mocked-up Renoise logo decal), and the Korg nanoKONTROL hacked to integrate more seamlessly with Ableton – even when KORG and Ableton themselves hadn’t worked on support. Lesson learned? Make tools for musicians, and you may find some support and development gets crowd-sourced, whether you intended it or not.

See: Hands-on with the Launchpad, nanoKONTROL Myr for Ableton Live, APC40 Hacking Superguide

Live, meet Max: Max for Live has already led to some incredible work, most notably stretta’s fantastic compositional toolkit for the monome. It earned praise (for setting a new bar for sheer power) and criticism (most notably for lacking a free runtime). Some jumped on M4L, some swore they’d stick to the traditional Max, and others swore they’d seek alternative or free solutions. In the end, Max for Live has wound up becoming bigger than, well, Max for Live. It’s begun a discussion of how live performance should work, and how software should integrate and be extended. And that’s a story that should be with us for a long time.

And a few wrinkles: The third prong of Ableton’s initiative was barely visible in ‘09; while a beta is underway, we don’t know much more about how Share will work in December than we did at NAMM in January. Live 8 has been beloved by some, even as others users expressed frustration with stability issues. CEO Gerhard Behles surprised everyone this month on the Ableton forum by conceding the company could do better and promising developers would re-focus on squashing bugs, even putting new features on hold.

As the saying goes, any press is good press. Ableton and their fired-up user base stayed front-and-center on CDM in 2009, even as twists and turns complicated the narrative. The story isn’t quite as clean and tidy as it is was at the beginning of the year, and you can read the full spectrum of comments calling this year everything from a triumph to a failure (and, hopefully, a few more reasonable thoughts in between). But without a doubt, Ableton is the developer of 2009.

Story of the year: Switching from Mac to Ubuntu

After years of tired debates about the merits of operating systems, the potential of the philosophies of open source versus proprietary, and whether Linux is ready for the desktop, in 2009 we saw a new spin: what if you switched to Linux to make your life easier?

That was the question Kim Cascone asked with his switch to Linux. And he wasn’t alone. One of the most-asked questions this year was how to make Linux work for music, particularly as users sought out more-reliable, more-affordable solutions for audio. (Yes, I know – “Linux” isn’t necessarily more reliable out of the box, as “Linux” could mean any number of setups, which I suspect is part of why the question was asked so much.) The popularity of Kim’s story, along with the turnkey Indamixx laptop or the Linux Laptop Orchestra we saw last week, suggest a challenge to CDM as much as a story. It’s the story we’ll likely see more of in 2010.

Linux Music Workflow: Switching from Mac OS X to Ubuntu with Kim Cascone

Biggest opportunity: Rock Band Network

Want a glimpse into the future of the music business? Here’s one way it could look. Rock Band Network provides an extraordinary level of control and customization, allowing your music to work as well with the hit game as music adapted by the developers themselves. As a revenue stream, as a promotional opportunity, and as a new way to play with your music, it looks fantastic. And don’t miss the fact that what made it possible was close collaboration with the DAW Reaper – a big coup for that package. Now, if we could just have the Amplitude Network, too, for electronic artists.

See our inside look at RBN with the folks at Harmonix

Surprise vintage tech: The return of CV

MIDI? What’s that? The biggest surprise revelation in January was that MOTU was set to release a brilliant plug-in called Volta, which elegantly bridged the gap between computers and, through control voltage, analog synthesis. Matthew Davidson (who wowed us with OSC and digital tech in 2009, too, in his monome work) walked us through his creation:

Analog, Meet Digital: MOTU Volta Connects the Mac to CV Synths, Effects Graphically

We also saw other CV solutions, DIY and commercial, Control Voltage on Moog’s Theremin, and in perhaps the hardware product of the year, Moog Music’s exquisite double-band MuRF resonant filter. And yes, the Moog piece even has MIDI for pattern changes and sync, while still making use of CV.

Most annoying story of the year: Anything to do with T-Pain

Yes, the iPhone is well awesome mobile technology. Yes, 2009 was the year in which the music world went from talking exclusively about “albums” to talking about “apps,” too. Yes, it’s amazing how Smule has popularized music technology and alternative interfaces and all that good stuff. Unfortunately, it was tough to focus on some of the wonderful things going on when you had to deal with the sudden and inexplicable success of T-Pain, capitalizing on everyone’s least-favorite effect – AutoTune. Not getting enough overuse of pitch correction on FOX’s hit show, Glee, ruining talented voices of kids and Broadway stars? Now put it on your iPhone, and suck the joy out of the (otherwise fantastic) “I’m on a Boat” video. We all love you, Smule, but, I’m on a phone? I’m in a time machine, trying to escape to some year where AutoTune has finally died.

To cheer up, let’s just remind ourselves why Smule’s chief mind Ge Wang is still cool, while I try to work out how to get off T-Pain’s press mailing list:

Interview: Smule’s Ge Wang on iPhone Apps, Ocarinas, and Democratizing Music Tech

And the Rest

Most important OS release:

Windows 7, for finally making us feel good about leaving XP – and, with the help of tools like Cakewalk’s SONAR and its BitBridge 32-bit plug-in support, giving us a good reason to go 64-bit, too.

Most popular how-to’s:

Instructable: How to Build a Music Studio in an Apartment

Abusing and misusing groove extraction in Live 8

Best reason to attend NAMM 2010:

The hopes of catching Teenage Engineering’s OP-1 synth, in the flesh

Most popular feature, and a reminder of what matters more than the gear:

Take it to the Stage: Reflections on Live Laptop Music from Artists

This analysis piece from a variety of top artists started a discussion about what playing laptops is all about. There was certainly no consensus, but it was – rightfully – the most popular feature story of the year, and something we should cover as often as possible. It’s the reason we’re all here. (Thanks to Primus Luta for putting this together.)

More Top 2009 Lists

Beatportal

Francis Preve takes on the top ten releases of the year for Beatportal, and I can’t help but agree. Having made my list of what caused the most controversy, these are the tools that – big splash or not – deserve some technological recognition.

MetaSynth remains a fascinating and unique tool for sound design, finally in a more modern release, and one I hope to work with more soon.

Logic 9 was a huge DAW release, though to that list I’d add SONAR 8.5 – two radically different tools, each markedly more mature this year.

FXpansion DCAM Synth Squad looks like the most brilliant soft synth of ‘09, and I’m long overdue in spending some quality time with it.

Dave Smith’s Tetr4 synth might make the top of my list if it didn’t have to compete with other fine synths from … Dave Smith.

Then there’s Melodyne, which resulted in some unique and creative results this year.

A must-read: 2009 Studio Technology Top 10

MusicRadar

MusicRadar, the online site that accompanies Computer Music and Future Music (among others), reviews the year month by month. But the list you want is:

In pictures: the best hi-tech gear of 2009

Yours’

Of course, in the end, what all these stories have been about is the full spectrum of ideas from our readers. So have at it. And Happy New Year.