User Manual

INTRODUCTION
32
Reassigning the Function Keys in Mac OS X
When you work with Reason, you will do a lot of navigating between the three main areas - the main mixer, the rack
and the sequencer. The quickest way to switch between these areas is to use the function keys F5, F6 and F7 (see
“Navigating between the areas” for details). Also, the F2, F3, F4 and F8 keys are shortcuts for showing and hiding the
Spectrum EQ window, Browser, On-screen Piano Keys window and the Tool Window, respectively.
However, on many Macintosh models (especially MacBooks), the function keys double as hardware control buttons.
For example, they might control the volume of the built-in speaker, the display brightness or keyboard backlight. To
make these keys actually work as function keys for software such as Reason, you need to hold the "Fn" key while
pressing them.
This can work perfectly OK, but to get the best workflow in Reason we recommend that you change this behavior, so
that pressing e.g. the F5 key actually sends "F5" to Reason (and you hold down the Fn key to get the hardware con-
trol functions instead). Here is how you change this:
1. Open the System Preferences in Mac OS X and select the "Keyboard" item.
The "Keyboard" preferences are shown.
2. Select the "Keyboard" tab and make sure the checkbox "Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys" is
ticked.
Now you can use F2-F8 for controlling functions in Reason. To use hardware control features such as volume and
display brightness, you need to hold down the "Fn" key before pressing the function keys.
Some function keys might also be pre-assigned to Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts, which will have priority over soft-
ware such as Reason. This is easily changed:
3. Click the “Keyboard Shortcuts” tab in the “Keyboard” window.
The Keyboards Shortcuts window shows lists of keyboard shortcuts assigned to system functions. For example,
[Cmd]+[F5] is in the Accessibility group assigned to turn VoiceOver on or off. In Reason, this is the keyboard
shortcut for detaching the main mixer into a separate window.