This is basically an edited compilation from some of the more usefull posts on the board. Hopefully it will be of great help to newbies just getting to grips with Reason. The Equalization Frequencies at the end will be useful to Starters & Experienced Users of Reason alike.
Content
1. Get 'Clean' sounding Devices
2. Getting a 'Distinct' sound from Reason
3. Reason Panning=Mono Results
4. Getting Sliding Notes with Subtractor / Matrix
5. Adding Devices to other Songs with Cut & Paste
6. Using multitimbral synths
7. Making that 'Reggae Bassline'
8. Equalization Table
1. Using Eq & Compressors to get 'Clean' sounding Devices in the O/A Mix
To clear up the mud of some devices, you have to use eq. Not the channel strip eq on the mixer (which is weak in Reason) but the parametric eq (PEQ-2). Take the sound you want to be more defined and patch it through a parametric eq. Now Solo that channel and turn the gain on the eq up, sweep the frequency from left to right, and listen for the area that really defines that particular device. When you hit the right spot, the device will seem way louder and more distinct.
Now make a note of what your frequency is set to and reset the gain to zero. Do the same on whatever device/s might be adding the mud, setting them to the same frequency area except turn the gain all the way down on their eqs. By doing this you have notched a frequency range from one or more devices for each other. If you have 2 devices that really need that same frequency area you will have to use panning to create a place for them in the stereo mix.....remember - eq is your friend.
Use a compressor (COMP-01) correctly to keep something constant in the mix, and pan things on the mixer (and redrum unit) to give them their own space. If a sample is low in volume, use the unit level (master level on whatever, NN-19,etc.) and increase with that, or if you have the sample as a WAV or whatever, increase its level extrenally.
Finally - Panning, panning, panning! & Use an audio editing program to finalize it.
2. Getting a 'Distinct' sound from Reason
It was really due to my lack of experience with Reason that made all my stuff sound like it was made with the same program. You need to use compressors and eq's, add a little grit to your stuff. Run two things through the same compressor, and mess with the settings. For each compressor, make an eq and bring out the frequencies that got squished when you did the compression. It will start to sound more and more like a nice hardware track. Also, mess with throwing a compressor on the main output of the mixer, and then from the compressor back to the hardware interface. You can bring out some really nice, albeit unexpected sonic textures and polyrhythms this way.
3. Reason Panning=Mono Results
Some notes on panning and stereo in Reason that may be of interest to all you wild stereo-effect-makers out there.
Take careful note that when you patch a sound in stereo to one track in the mixer, the pan knob does not independently remix the two channels, it only boosts and reduces the left and right channels, without "moving" the left channel to the right or vice versa. For example, if you pan a stereo track full left, you are *only* hearing the left channel of the source, not a mix of both channels. Your result is not a mixdown to mono of your stereo source. Similarly, if you pan halfway to the left, you are hearing much more of the source's left channel than its right channel.
If you want to keep "all the stereo" in your source, be it ambience, effects, whatever, then use two mixer inputs in mono. For a center mix, pan one of the channels full left, the other full right. To adjust the panning from this point, move one of the channels closer to center, or all the way to the other side. The mono panning in Reason is a SPL-based pan, in other words, it correctly maintains perceived volume across the stereo image (unlike a lot of software out there which only attenuates one of the channels of the result). Thus you will get the full volume of both the left and right source channels, but panned somewhere in the stereo mix.
(A nice way to experiment with these techniques and observe the differences, is to connect one subtractor to the left channel of a mixer and another to its right channel, then play around with panning as the subtractors play. Then connect them each to their own channel by contrast.)
Using the "2 mono track input" technique, you can also have fine control over the wideness of the stereo image for a sound; to reduce the wideness, move the panning knobs closer to center, say at 10 and 2 o'clock. Combined with some careful reverb, this is useful to make wide stereo sounds appear further away in the mix.
Furthermore...A stereo sample loaded in the redrum and panned full right only plays the right channel of the source. The way to avoid this would be to use the solo drum output to two mono mixer tracks.
I also just discovered a couple of things about Reason that are a lot worse. First, you would think that panning a sound "full left" or "full right" would ensure silence on the other channel. Not the case in Reason. It only seems to attenuate a maximum of 48dB. In other words, you get leaking into the other track for some bizarre reason.
Second, the "Left (mono) Audio Output" jack in the Redrum is a misnomer. If you load a stereo sample into a drum, then only connect the left output of that sound to a mixer, you will only hear the left channel of the source.
4. Getting Sliding Notes with Subtractor / Matrix
There are several ways to create note slides. Here is a simple one: On the subtracktor, wack the polyphony down to one, switch it legato mode. On the Matrix, define a continuous note that covers more than one seperate pitch. Now increase the portamento knob on the Subtracktor till you get a slide speed you like (more portamento = slower pitch slide). Hours of fun.
&
Yeah, light up the "Tie" button on the matrix (just next to where it says 'Gate' at the bottom near the left side) and when you draw in your notes in the matrix, they will slide.
5. Adding Devices to other Songs with Cut & Paste
Highlight the device rack that you wish to copy from, in the edit menu select all (or shift click to select only the devices that you want), and then in the edit menu copy device('s)(or right mouse click). All your instruments, including wiring can now be simutaniously pasted wherever you like in your master document. Select the mixer that you just copied over and choose autoroute device to chain it to your master mixer(read the manual!) The same copy/paste can applied to your sequencer tracks, but be sure to clearly label everything as the sequencer is not automaticly routed to your devices in the rack when you paste it's contents.
(or you could just start writing your songs within one document, muting the tracks that you don't want to hear,and deleting the material that you dont want!)
6. Using multitimbral synths
Don't be scared! "multitimbral synths" just means that you have two or more synthesizer "voices" being triggered at the same time by the same midi note. For example, you could blend together an church-organ-type voice from one synth with a bass-guitar voice from another synth and form an entirely new organ-bass instrument of your own. I originally learned this trick from danman on the Propellerheads software message board. Thanks danman!
In your advanced midi in settings (under edit>preferences>advanced midi) set all the bus inputs to the same "midi in" - (probably the one you use for the regular keyboard input.)
Create 4 subtractor synths in your rack
Delete all the sequencer tracks that were automatically inserted when you created the synths (yes delete them) but keep the synths in the rack
On the "midi in" device (at the very top of the reason rack) set bus A chan 1 to synth 1
Set busB chan 1 to synth 2
Set busC chan 1 to synth 3
Set busD chan 1 to synth 4 ok...now all four synths will "sing" (or screech) together when you play your keyboard. obviously, you don't have to use exactly four synths, (you could just use two), but experiment with different patches in each synth...or use the same patch in each synth but with different settings on each patch. for example, you might try different waveforms or cutoff points, filter settings, pitch up or down, etc. this technique seems to work best for quickly getting some phat, original sounds when you like what you hear...
Create a sequencer track and assign synth 1 to it
Record any set of notes you like on this sequencer track
Duplicate that track three times and set each new track to one of the other three synths. all of the synths will then play your recorded notes simultaneously! feel like a pro yet?
7. Making that 'Reggae Bassline'
Try this. Use a sine wav for a very low hum. Try to keep the groove on 8th notes for starters and for some simple fills change it up to triplets. Accent this with the occasional 16th. Try to keep the bass locked though. Try staying, for starters again, on the fifths of the chord. Easy way of doing this is to count up or down the keyboard 5 keys. The best way to figure this stuff out is to listen to others music and take a peek at their sheet music or sequencers if possible. Look for some midi files on the web. Pick up a bass guitar. Do anything that will lead you to a greater understanding.
8. Equalization Table
Frequency Uses
50Hz 1. Increase to add more fullness to lowest frequency instruments like foot, toms, and the bass.
2. Reduce to decrease the "boom" of the bass and will increase overtones and the recognition of bass line in the mix. This is most often used on loud bass lines like rock.
100Hz 1. Increase to add a harder bass sound to lowest frequency instruments.
2. Increase to add fullness to guitars, snare.
3. Increase to add warmth to piano and horns.
4. Reduce to remove boom on guitars & increase clarity.
200Hz 1. Increase to add fullness to vocals.
2. Increase to add fullness to snare and guitar ( harder sound ).
3. Reduce to decrease muddiness of vocals or mid-range instruments.
4. Reduce to decrease gong sound of cymbals.
400Hz 1. Increase to add clarity to bass lines especially when speakers are at low volume.
2. Reduce to decrease "cardboard" sound of lower drums (foot and toms).
3. Reduce to decrease ambiance on cymbals.
800Hz 1. Increase for clarity and "punch" of bass.
2. Reduce to remove "cheap" sound of guitars
1.5KHz 1. Increase for "clarity" and "pluck" of bass.
2. Reduce to remove dullness of guitars.
3KHz 1. Increase for more "pluck" of bass.
2. Increase for more attack of electric / acoustic guitar.
3. Increase for more attack on low piano parts.
4. Increase for more clarity / hardness on voice.
5. Reduce to increase breathy, soft sound on background vocals.
6. Reduce to disguise out-of-tune vocals / guitars
5KHz 1. Increase for vocal presence.
2. Increase low frequency drum attack ( foot / toms).
3. Increase for more "finger sound" on bass.
4. Increase attack of piano, acoustic guitar and brightness on guitars (especially rock guitars).
5. Reduce to make background parts more distant.
6. Reduce to soften "thin" guitar.
7KHz 1. Increase to add attack on low frequency drums ( more metallic sound ).
2. Increase to add attack to percussion instruments.
3. Increase on dull singer.
4. Increase for more "finger sound" on acoustic bass.
5. Reduce to decrease "s" sound on singers.
6. Increase to add sharpness to synthesizers, rock guitars, acoustic guitar and piano.
10KHz 1. Increase to brighten vocals.
2. Increase for "light brightness" in acoustic guitar and piano.
3. Increase for hardness on cymbals.
4. Reduce to decrease "s" sound on singers.
15KHz 1. Increase to brighten vocals (breath sound).
2. Increase to brighten cymbals, string instruments and flutes.
3. Increase to make sampled synthesizer sound more real.
Edited by Clootie,
All excerpts taken from original musings by various members of the Reasonstation Board
* Taken from elsewhere on the net, copyright uncertain