Kong

Okay, so amidst the debates and long battles with one another over which program is the most superior, which should be shut down, and which is easier to use when producing beats and instrumentals on, there seem to be more people that protect Propellerhead's Reason and give it more merit than other software programs.  Yet, when you take a look at various polls, it's clear to see that there are more people that support FL Studio and Cubase over Reason.  So will that change with the release of Reason 5.0 coming along soon?

One can only guess and assume if Reason 5.0's long awaited release will help boost the Stockholm, Sweden based company once it's finally out on the market.  I can honestly say that I am and always will be a FL Studio (Fruity Loops) user and fan.  I've tried Reason before from a friend, but playing around with it gave me a headache.  Okay, let me be fair.  I think Reason 4.0 is a powerful tool, and I am firm to stand on saying that I believe it's not about the software that makes great music as much as it is the musician or music producers that make great music out of what they use.  There have been many a person who has used Reason boasting on how great it is, and then present music that doesn't give the program a good name.  By the same token, there are others who don't say much and can make Reason or FL Studio sound like an instrumental or hip hop beat was created with hardware and Pro-Tools strictly... yet, there was no hardware or Pro-Tools software used.  Back to what I was saying about Reason.  While to me, it stands as a decent and potentially powerful tool, there are some issues that aren't the greatest about Reason that sort of shuts itself down into picking up more followers and supporters.  It seems that Reason 5.0 fails to also correct these areas.

The sequencer to me, has, and seems to always stand out as a sore thumb.  I like the ease of use of the sequencer in FL Studio in that, when I play music with my Midi Controller (Axiom 49) onto FL Studio, I can then with ease, go into the sequencer and edit or fix any notes I need to.  There are also a series of different options that help me to humanize my music even further.  With Reason however, the options seem to be less, and editing within the actual sequencer itself can be very difficult and tedious, something that turns me off immediately upon creating music.  I'd hope to think the sequencer in Reason 5.0 has been improved from this standard the other upgrades had, but I'm not really sure.  I think the tools that amazed me from when I was able to use it, still has to be the flexibility of the NN-XT plugin that allows you to map out your WAV samples or to even load up soundfonts into it as well.  The Thor plugin seemed to work rather nicely too though it takes some getting used to.

Another major issue with Reason 5.0 that seems to proudly remain the same, to no avail or benefit of the program, is the inability to use 3rd Party VST Plugins to add into your beats or instrumentals to tweak to your liking.  Let's face it.  All of the other contenders, such as FL Studio, Cubase, Logic, and even Reaper and Sonar, allow for the use of adding and loading up VST Plugins that are either instruments such as VSTi's, or effects plugins that are VST formatted.  This ability gives you numerous tweaking abilities and mixing and mastering benefits.  Reason however, forces you to rely on what IT has to offer within the racks offered.  While Reason supports a nice variety of its own plugins, it is limited to only those for your mixing.

There are benefits to Reason 5.0 as well, which brings forth the variety of plugins it includes.  Some of the audio sounds very crisp and clear, and rack plugins like the Combinator help bring a uniqueness and variety to more sounds and instruments to bring to life in your hip hop production or other music productions.  Newer tools to be added into Reason 5.0, such as the improved Rex editor, the Dr. Octo Rex, allows you to switch up between eight different Rex files at any given time to bring you further editing and music production.  Another nice touch is Neptune, an advanced auto pitch adjuster / tuner to help tweak vocals and missed notes on a music project.  It also acts as a deeper adjustable "vocoder" plugin.  Reason is also bringing sampling back with more tools to allow you to sample or record off of your microphone, turntable, or any other tool you can think of that you can connect onto Reason.  Another powerful tool brought to the table is Kong, a drum designer that allows you to tweak and fine tune drum sounds within the kits given to you, to create your own for use in your own rap music production, electronica music, or whatever other music production crosses your mind and ears.  So with that said, there are some benefits and excitement for Reason lovers and users to look forward to. 

The one thing I do wish that Propellerhead would do is to allow their customers to purchase the upgrade for a lower price.  To say that spending over $300 bucks on Reason the first time and to then have to shell out over $100 dollars more just to upgrade, and to probably spend another $100 plus on Reason 6.0 is sort of disappointing.  It would be nice to see if this price was either ended altogether, or if there must be an upgrade fee, that it be reduced to something between $20 and $40 dollars.  Still, for the Reason lovers and users, there is no doubt that Reason 5.0 will not disappoint those that love to use it and those who make great music with it.  For those that are just plain tired of FL Studio or Cubase and are trying to think of converting over... be alerted, while some of the plugins look amazing on Reason, you will be more limited in other aspects that you may not be used to, given the freedoms that are allowed with Cubase and FL Studio. 

If you're looking to try a program for the first time, Reason may be worth the try if you can get a download demo version to test before you shell out the $300+ dollars on it.  If you've never bought any music production program before and are looking to make hip hop beats, you may also want to consider FL Studio's option and you may be able to save 10% off FL Studio in the process, which may still be cheaper and more open than the Reason option.  In the end, it's really a matter of preference and what you feel most comfortable in.  Remember, it's not the tool you use, but how you use it.  There are dudes out there that can bang on pots and pans and make better rap beats than some kats who swear up and down that Reason or Pro-Tools is a REQUIREMENT to make hott beats, and that anything else is not even possible.  You be the judge.  Feel free to leave your comments on the blog entry.