Propellerheads will be releasing Reason 6 in September. In an interesting twist and what seems like an admission Record is now gone and fully integrated into Reason. I think it’s a great idea. The best thing about Reason is it’s a tight individual package. New effects: Pulveriser, a compressor, filter and distortion. The Echo, an analog tape echo emulation. Lastly, Alligator which is a pattern based gate. Overall I think it’s a solid and smart upgrade.

“With version 6 Reason reclaims the spotlight. Combining all the features from Record, version 6 adds audio recording and editing into Reason, along with Propellerhead’s acclaimed mixing console with masterfully modeled EQ and dynamics on every channel, multiple parallel racks, all the effects you know and love plus new ones to fall in love with, and much more of what you’ve always wanted in Reason.” – propellerheads.se

For more info: propellerheads.se/reason6/

What’s better than ReBirth on the iPhone? ReBirth on the iPad. Get it: click here

“ReBirth, the legendary Techno Micro Composer, is on the iPad now! In this video ReBirth guru Kurt “Peff” Kurasaki gives us a walkthrough of the new iPad features, teaches beat-making Rebirth style, and shares his thoughts on the legacy of the app.” – PropellerheadSW

For more info: propellerheads.se

James from Propellerheads shows us another workhorse tip in his latest 52 Reason / Record Tips. These prefab clips with automation data are great time savers.

“Whenever I’m working on music, one thing that I’ve had in my personal bag of tricks is an “automation clip toolbox.” Basically, it’s a palette of controller data curves and waveforms which can be applied to automation lanes like level, pan, filter cutoff, etc. Thanks to the new “stretch clip to tempo” function (Option+Drag for Mac or Control+Drag for Windows) I can resize these automation clips to whatever speed I want. This week I’m giving this toolbox away and showing you how to use it. These clips will breathe new life into an otherwise static pad or provide the creative spark for a new idea entirely. Enjoy!” – James Bernard

File download: http://www.propellerheads.se/stuff/JB34.zip

For more info: propellerheads.se

I had a great time speaking on the “Geek Out” panel at this weekends IMSTA FESTA. The event put on by Shocklee has pro-audio companies show their stuff in different recording studios at SAE Manhattan. As I approached the street entrance a young guy stopped me and asked if I would buy one of his hip-hop CDs. I was surprised because I didn’t think I looked like a good target audience for him. I asked if he was coming inside and I was surprised again when he told me he had no idea what I was talking about. I let him know he should come up and there would be producers, djs and lots of stuff to check out. He looked a bit afraid and I got the idea he was probably 15 years old or so. Anyway I went in without him and wondered if there was anything at all on the CDs he was trying to sell.

On the 9th floor of SAE there were about 10 security guards in the halls. Once I meandered into the recording studios I knew why: there was lots of nice equipment inside! Immediately I ran into Fady Hayek who is the National Sales Manager for SSL. I was a regular at the Club Cubase meeting he ran when he worked for Steinberg in the 90s. James Bernard had a nice audience watching him go through some amazing tricks and tips with Reason and Record. I love watching him demo stuff. He really gets the software, knows the shortcuts and makes you want to run home and do it yourself.

In the VIP room I met Peter Kirn (Create Digital Music) for the first time face to face. We spent some time thumbing through the latest Keyboard Magazine where Peter wrote the lead story about Moog. We instantly got into the Voyager XL and how it doesn’t make any sense and how awesome it is. I met the Micah Frank from Puremagnetik who apparently I had some emails correspondence with in the past but forgot. Sorry Micah! I briefly met Julie Covello (DJ Shakey) from Warper and we moved to the panel room. We decided to each chat about the one thing that’s blowing us away these days. Peter chose Pure Data and explained in other words it’s the code he’s got a passion for. That it can be on his old desktop machine or his phone and it’s been with him a long time. He’s pure geek for sure! Julie picked SoundCloud and YouTube. I didn’t even consider a non-tangible object so props to her because I think we all spend more time in Social Media than making music (shame on all of us!). I thought her pick was a right on. Micah picked Renoise the old school Tracker that was recently updated. I made the obvious choice to everyone that knows me… iPad! What was unexpected is upon polling the crowd we found that only two people there owned iPads besides me. I showed off iElectribe, SynthPond and SoundPrism. We had a short Q&A where we learned Micah translates earthquake data into sample packs. Yep… he’s a geek too. Propellerheads let me give a few shirts and hats away and it was a wrap. Thank you Jo-Anne for inviting me I enjoyed it greatly!

The big upgrade to Propellerheads Reason and Record has just been released. The new Reason has the Kong Drum Designer, Dr. Octo Rex, Live Sampling, Blocks and more. The big new deal in Record is the Neptune pitch corrector and voice synthesizer. I’ve mentioned before I always have Reason ReWired into Ableton Live. There are several things I do with Reason that I really can’t acheive any other way. The best thing about Reason is it’s one of the most fun pieces of software to use.

“The name propellerhead comes from the pejorative term used to deprecate science fiction fans and other technophiles, who are stereotypically drawn wearing propeller beanies.” – Wikipedia

Propellerheads have a great YouTube channel: click here

For more info: propellerheads.se

As I say often Reason is my Ableton’s good looking girlfriend. My start-up template always has Reason ready to go to pretty things up. The Swede’s are moving faster with updates than they used to and here we have Reason 5 and Record 1.5. There’s some good new features: sampling (direct into Re-Drum!), Neptune vocal tuning, sequencer “blocks”, Dr. Octo Rex, the new Kong groovebox and more.

“Sampling in Reason is simple and straightforward. Hit the sample button and Reason starts sampling. Reason will detect the sample start automatically. You can sample when Reason is running too if you like – no need to stop the music.” – propellerheads.se

For more info: propellerheads.se

Here’s an evolution in music software I like: Dr. Octo Rex. The .rex format is an old format which allows you to auto splice a sample and therefore make it easy to rearrange the pieces. It also allowed some slowing down speeding up of the clip long before Ableton was born. Sampled sounds have a certain punch to them. I think they are number two in the pecking order for chest thumb behind pure analog and leaps and bounds over virtual instruments. I can sit and play for hours with the Rex loop player in Reason. I wasn’t ever expecting it to be updated but here it is.

“The upgraded Dr. Octo Rex loop player loads eight REX loops into one player and lets you switch between them on the fly. This makes arranging a breeze – load the drum loops into one player, the guitars into another and use the sequencer to select what loop to play in a pattern-like fashion. With eight loops to switch between, the new rex also comes ready for the experimental minded. Set the player to retrig the loops on the beat, on the bar or on the 16th note. Or program the loops manually like in the original rex player.” – propellerheads.se

For more info: propellerheads.se

Surprise! The software that made Propellerhead famous has returned: ReBirth for the iPhone. Who wasn’t amazed to have Roland TB-303s, 808s and 909s on their 1990′s computers? Now we can have it on our phones. It’s $6.99 and you can download it now: click here

“ReBirth is back…In your iPhone! Propellerhead Software’s legendary Techno Micro Composer has been reincarnated. This time around, ReBirth takes the form of a seriously block rocking iPhone music app. Released in 1997 and discontinued in 2005, Propellerhead ReBirth was the first music software to reproduce the sound and behavior of those three classic Roland devices that defined the sound of early Techno and Acid House: the TB-303 Bassline Synth and the TR-808 and TR-909 Rhythm Composers.” – rebirthapp.com

For more info: rebirthapp.com

Well this is a strange way to show off Reason. I’ve never seen the mirror in the dark technique.

For more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insanity

EMF (Electronic Music Foundation) Studios (link), 307 7th Ave. Ste 1402 NY NY 10001 ( between 27th and 28th, a couple buildings down from 28th. There’s a 1 – 9 subway stop right at 28th and 7th. It’s just a few blocks down from Penn Station.)

Dates: April 26th (With James Bernard), May 31st (With Gerry Basserman), June 28th, July 26th, and August 30th

Time: 6PM – 10PM (light refreshments will be on hand).

The venue will only hold approx. 20-30 people at a time so please RSVP with a timeslot that you would like to attend (6-7PM, 7-8PM, 8-9PM, 9-10PM).

RSVP:
4/26 – james.bernard@propellerheads-us.com
5/31 – gerry.bassermann@propellerheads-us.com
6/28 – TBD
7/26 – TBD
8/30 – TBD

I’ll be at some of these… see you there!