Specifications

SONG FILE HANDLING
106
Exporting as an Audio File
When you have created a complete song, you may want to mix it down to make
it playable for other people (who don’t use Reason). Of course, you could con-
nect the audio outputs of your audio hardware to a tape recorder or similar, and
simply record the song. But if you are planning to burn an audio CD or create
mp3 files, it’s much more convenient to mix down to an audio file, using the Ex-
port functions.
You can either export the whole song (from the start to the “E” marker), or only
the loop (the area between the left and right locator in the sequencer). Proceed
as follows:
1. Make sure only the main stereo outputs are used.
That is, no devices should be connected to individual outputs (output socket
3 and higher in the Hardware Interface device). The export function will only
include audio routed to the stereo outputs.
2. Make sure the Loop/End markers are at the correct positions.
If you want to export the loop, you need to set the left and right locators to
encompass the desired area. If you instead want to export the whole song,
make sure the End (E) marker is at the desired end position.
The E marker informs the program of where the song ends.
✪ If you are using reverb or delay, you may want to adjust the right lo-
cator or End marker so that the reverb/delay “tails” are included in
the exported file.
3. Check that the song (or loop) plays back properly.
It’s especially important that no clipping occurs during playback (see page
46).
4. Pull down the file menu and select Export Song as Audio File (or
Export Loop as Audio File).
A file dialog appears.
5. Specify a name, location and file type (AIFF or Wave) for the audio
file, and click Save.
This opens a Settings dialog.
6. Use the pop-up menus to select a sample rate and bit depth (reso-
lution) for the audio file.
16 or 24 bit audio is supported, at a number of different sample rates. The
exported file will always be a stereo audio file.
D If exporting to 16-bits you have the option of applying Dither.
Dither is a type of noise added to a digital signal, which improves low level
sound quality when exporting to a lower bit resolution.
✪ Which format to select depends on how you are planning to use the
file. If you are planning to burn an audio CD, you should select 16
bit, 44100 Hz. If you are planning to open the file in another applica-
tion, you should select a format supported by this application. Also
note that the higher the resolution and sample rate, the larger the
file.
7. Click OK.
The program creates the audio file. Depending on the length of the song/
loop, this may take a while, during which a progress dialog is shown.
! If you are using ReWire, you may want to use the Export function in
the ReWire master application instead. This allows you to include
audio from both applications in the exported audio file.