Level 1 - Beginners Guide to Reason
- Streamed lessons - access 24/7/365
- 6 Hours of tutorials
- Reason Song Files from the course
- Bonus samples and presets
Our brand new Reason Level 1 course provides students with all the knowledge necessary to start making music with Reason. As well as being guided through all the main areas of the software, the modules also provide more general information about music, performance and production.
At the end of the course, students should have all the basic skills required to produce their own tracks, with the 15 modules going from the jamming stage right through to final mastering. Students are even introduced to important sound creation methods, such as sampling and synthesizing.
The online Reason course is presented in a series of online videos which you can watch where and when you prefer, with a full complement of accompanying downloadable materials for your future reference.
Sign up to watch the free module on the media tab and download the free information pack without any obligation to buy.
Modules in this course:
Module 1 - Introduction and Setting Up
This module is designed to give you a quick tour of Reason and Record, to give you an idea for each section of the software and how they relate to each other. There is also a guide to authorising and setting up the Preferences, which are the first things to do when you load up the software.
Module 2 - Starting a Song... What is MIDI?
This module is designed to teach you how to get started with a new song and the basics of MIDI, explaining what it is and how you can use it to create melodic and rhythmic tracks. There is a guide to creating note clips for instruments in the rack, which can be recorded in by playing or drawn in using the pencil tool, as well as some tips for the most important features to consider when editing MIDI.
Module 3 -Working with Loops
This module teaches you how to work with audio loops in Record and Reason, either by using Rex loops or importing audio directly.
Module 4 - Programming Drums I - Intro to ReDrum
This module teaches you how to create drum parts with the ReDrum instrument, both internally and using tracks in the sequencer. Then, there are some techniques for how to start to arrange a song by creating and laying out the different parts into sections.
Module 5 - Recording Audio
This module teaches you how to record audio into a song, which is only possible with Record and version 6 onwards of Reason. Various considerations and methods of recording are shown as well as how to edit the recorded audio after recording.
Module 6 - Basic Processing - Compression and Filtering
This module gives you a guide to using insert effects on devices in the rack, beginning with two of the most popular _ compressors and filters. There is a demonstration of how each effect works and some of the different ways they can be used, as well as a brief introduction to envelope modulation and the types of sounds it can create when filtering a signal.
Module 7 - Programming Drums II - Intro to Kong
This module teaches the basics of working with Reasons powerful drum instrument Kong, showing how a beat can be constructed and then edited both in the sequencer and on the device itself. There is also a guide to the application of grooves to tracks, enabling their rhythm and feel to be tweaked to create more character and unification between parts.
Module 8- Introduction to Sampling - Using NN19
This module teaches the basics of sampling, explaining what single- and multi- sampling are and how they can be used to create a variety of different instruments, both acoustic and electronic. As well as providing a guide to each of the main sections on NN19, which covers all of the most important parameters in each, there are examples of how samples can be recorded, imported and edited in order to create classic bass and vocal patches.
Module 9 - Introduction to Synthesizing - Using Subtractor
This module provides an introduction to the world of synthesizing. There is a guide to Reasons Subtractor synth, showing how the instrument is constructed and how each section can be used to produce different types of sound. There are also examples of how various techniques can be used to create patches like a classic LFO bass and a dirty lead with velocity effects.
Module 10 - Mixing Part I - Levels, Panning and EQ
This module teaches you the basics of mixing a song, beginning with setting appropriate levels for each track, explaining metering and decibel ranges, then moving onto the other mixer controls available. Then, we move onto another important area of music production, equalisation.
Module 11 - Mixing Part II - Reverb, Chorus and Delay
This module shows how to apply send effects using the mixers in Reason and Record in order to improve the sound of a mix. There is also a guide to some of the different effects most commonly used as send effects, including reverb, delay and chorus.
Module 12 - Introduction to Mastering
This module shows the main considerations for mastering a track, beginning with the ways in which compression and EQ can be applied and then moving onto some techniques not seen so far, including limiting and stereo imaging. There is also a guide to removing clicks and pops from tracks, and creating an audio file of the finished song.
Module 13 - More on MIDI - Remote and ReWire
This module explains more about how to control the software remotely using a MIDI keyboard or control surface, both those with advanced control facilities and those without. The automatic systems for controlling are explained as well as the way that these can be overridden to create your own custom setup. Then, there is a guide to ReWire, explaining the basics of how it works and providing a few different examples of situations in which it might be used.
Module 14 - Introduction to Combinator and the RPG-8 Arpeggiator
This module introduces the Combinator and RPG-8 devices, showing what they are individually and how they work, then how they can be combined with other devices to produce an instrument patch complete with various effects and performance controls.
Module 15 - Bonus Module - New Features in Reason 7 Part I
This module teaches some of the new features in Reason 7, including the addition of slice markers in audio clips, which allow precise timestretching of individual sections of recorded or imported material. The ability to create Rex files from audio clips is also included, showing how to edit them on the device to further transform loops in interesting ways, as well as how the new effects device Audiomatic Retro Transformer works.
Rob Jones
Rob is a classically trained musician, with piano as his primary instrument, and obtained a degree in music and sound recording (the prestigious Tonmeister course) from the University of Surrey. Having honed his skills both at University and in the studios in London where he worked in a technical role, he began releasing music on labels like Lot49, Dead Famous and Erase, under the artist name Anarchy Rice. Rob has been at the forefront of music software training since the very beginning, having kicked things off at Focusrite back in 2006. With both classical music and technical sound qualifications, as well as a wealth of presenting experience, he is ideally suited to the role of an online music trainer, and is 100% dedicated to sharing his knowledge and assisting others with what he believes to be one of the most rewarding things in life - making music!