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Hands-on review: ZVEX Effects Fuzz Probe

Take your time when you get this software, Reason 1.0 can be a bit overwhelming to the newbie. Study other peoples process when making music. Learn the ins and the outs of the program and learn how to create a full song in it and you will be amazed on the potential that it has. Its worth every single penny. I am not sure if you can still purchas... [read more on Audiofanzine]

Overall Reason is a great software, I wouldn?t recommend it for the beginner because it will throw you for a loop, there are other software?s out on the market that a beginner can try for free and download and if they like it they can purchase. But after you get use to using and sequencing with software I suggest you come back and try Reason. [read more on Audiofanzine]

The biggest investment is the computer you buy to use Reason (get the most processor you can afford). If Propellerheads continues to support their customers and add new devices (or at least new sounds) I will remain a customer for life! Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: bluezoo7 ( 3-, 2004) [read more on Audiofanzine]

I love it as far as software goes but making drum patterns is limited when you have to point and click them. id recomend a midi control drum pad like akai mpd16 or hooking up your mpc as a controller. other than what it lacks in being able to physically touch it(which you cant with any software....its software) this program is the top of the lin... [read more on Audiofanzine]

Even in my grave i would use reason, why, because i have a "reason". Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown (January 2-, 2003) [read more on Audiofanzine]

Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown (January 2-, 2003) [read more on Audiofanzine]

It could use plenty of other features, but for what it is, it's a great all-in-one studio. Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown (January 1-, 2003) [read more on Audiofanzine]

I use it mainly for demo work and throwing ideas together at the studio. I didn't purchase it, but if I had, I wouldn't dash through burning buildings to save the CD-ROMs. Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown (January 1-, 2003) [read more on Audiofanzine]

If this program could bare children i've make it take the pill and then "marry" it. Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown (January 1-, 2003) [read more on Audiofanzine]

I use this as my lifeline really, I have a midi keyboard, and so far it's saved me getting a piano. It's really got everything a budding musician could want. A synth and sampler w/ a HUGE library of sounds... a drum machine, a Dr REX loop thingy which is a life saver for those of us (me) who don't know the semantics of programming a drum machine... [read more on Audiofanzine]

They need to add an eleven to this one... =) Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown ( 6-, 2003) [read more on Audiofanzine]

It's the heart of my studio. my main tool for composition. period Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown ( 3-, 2003) [read more on Audiofanzine]

It's the best music software I have ever used. It's ease of use and rock solid performance means I'm going to be using it for years! For once computer technology doesn?t get in the way of music creation. Originally posted on FutureProducers.com Posted by: Unknown ( 5-, 2002) [read more on Audiofanzine]

I got Reason, about a year ago, from www.propellerheads.se for £299 ($423). While it is an expensive product, it can be a very worthwhile purchase, as I hope to explain.

Reason is a virtual studio (much like the freeware Buzz that due to some computer problems is no longer supported by it's creator) which means that instead of just using MIDI, or samples, you have a single analog synth, a drum machine, a loop player and a sampler (basically a software version of an Akai sampler). Although this seems best suited to composing dance music, I have no interest in doing so, and looked to use it to produce music for my band. This is where the sampler becomes incredibly useful, and for that matter the loop player and drum machine too. The sampler is perfect for putting in guitar riffs, drum loops, vocal lines and normal samples. It gives great control over the use of the samples, such as pitch adjustment, frequency oscillation and ADSR envelopes. The loop player lets you split the loop into each section (say each drum hit) so you can then use it as a drum machine, placing the hits where you want them (meaning you could take one drum loop and essentially build your entire song with it) which is perfect for adding fills. The drum machine can be loaded with any samples of drum hits (they don't even have to be single hit samples) so it can be used to play all the recorded live drum loops of a track, or you can construct them yourself with single hit samples. Along with the 'machines' as they were called in Buzz (plugins that create sound), there are a set of effect's that you route the machines through, including reverb, delay, distortion, chorus, phaser, EQ and compressor. These not only give an incredibly professional sound to the finished track, but are very powerful in producing new sounds (ideal for industrial music, or if you are seeking a fully produced end product). Each of the 'machines' and effects are essentially plugins, that you add when you need, and can have as many as you like (depending on processor power) which gives an unrestrictive element to the production. They all place into a rack, like in a studio. You can then turn them around, and see the wires connecting them all, so you can control how they are all connected, as in a real studio. These are only a handful of the many features, for instance in each machine you can add dynamic controls for every single feature they contain (which tends to be a lot!), allowing changes timed precisely during the track.

There are of course issues, most of which relate to the intended purpose (dance music). It is incredibly easy to produce a piece of purely electronic music in Reason, but if you have the time and patience, you can also produce superb music of any genre. Possibly my biggest problem is that the working window cannot be sized horizontally, which i feel gives a slightly distanced feel to it. The rest of the problems I have had with it, I have overcome with time and experimentation, which I think also proves it's power.

Reason looks incredibly professional. After using Buzz which looks very primitive I felt like I was using a fancy version of ReBirth (by the same company funnily enough), but that feeling left me very soon when i realized that unlike ReBirth, you are not restricted to only 2 Roland style drum machines and 2 808's, which really did mean it was only possible to write electronic music. The actual composition section of the screen can be dragged vertically, to take up the whole screen (useful if you are using a large scale of notes) or none of it (leaving the view containing only the machines).

While it may take time to get used to, and learn how to use it to full advantage, if you have the money to spend on it, and are interested in composing tracks without the rest of your band around, or whether you need effects and a professionally produced sound, it can be one of the most worthwhile purchases. Proof of it's use for industrial music can be illustrated by the fact Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails uses it: "...we have another Mac that's just up to run things in real time, running Reason or Reactor... Reason is from Propellerhead--it's spectacular. There's a lot of gear just being reduced to a PowerBook." And that's the benefit of Reason, it essentially allows you, no matter what genre of music you are producing, to have an entire studio running on one machine! Reason is available in both Mac and Windows versions, and is also very stable, I haven't experienced a crash yet, in over a year of use!

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