Reason Studios

mode works with Multi-Pitch mode to open up
eight sample slots, so you can carefully build an
utterly unique sample instrument.
While these features may seem relatively
straightforward by modern sampler standards,
they provide just the basic approaches to the
device, with its major draws being its
astoundingly fun time-stretching and pitch-
modifying capabilities. Getting our hands dirty
here with a series of one-shot samples, and a
longer patch we’d created elsewhere, shows this
potential. Stretching our one-shot demonstrates
no discernible artefacting, with the resulting
time-stretched sound perfectly elongated in a
natural way, while some deft re-pitching of our
atmospheric patch gives us the tone we’re
searching for in no time. Mimic’s ease of use
– and the speed of getting what you need from
your samples – is enough to make up for its
relative simplicity when compared to juicy
sample-processors like UVI’s Falcon 2. The
easily-switchable onboard efects (and its ive
manipulation algorithms – Tape, Advanced,
Vocal, Melody and Grain) are more than enough
for most of us layperson samplists.
Combine harvester
By quite a long way, Reason’s Combinator is the
most widely used of all its devices, and the core
tool that carves Reason’s appeal. Really, its
function is to mesh together the sounds of the
other devices, instruments and efects in
interesting new chains. Its centrality to patch
creation has been boosted in Reason 12, with the
newly enhanced Combinator granting more
power to shape the front panel in a way that
suits you – adding rotaries, wheels, sliders and
more to your own bespoke Combinator UI, you
can even add your own background images for
a completely self-tailored system.
In addition to this comes 1000 updated and
100 new Combinator patches, that pre-weave
interesting combos together as potential-
indicating start points. It’s here that Reason’s
galaxy-size sonic scope is laid bare.
Combinator’s increased personalisation will
deinitely appeal to those sound designers
looking to craft new instruments, and we’ll
undoubtedly see third-party device builders
revelling in its customisable scope.
Got a reason?
While Mimic and the advanced Combinator are
the two tentpoles of Reason 12, the other major
improvement is the fact that the software’s
graphics across the board – from Racks to
rotaries – are now in full high res, and look
gorgeous on 4k+ displays. They’re also
completely scaleable; while Reason has never
been particularly modern-looking (intentionally,
we’ll add), it’s beneicial to see every increment
of our devices’ controls in detail, especially
when ine-tuning your sounds across multiple
Combinator’ed devices, with the ability to zoom
right in. Speed increases and a slicker browser
are welcome too, though the lack of meta-data
categorisation in sample browsing is still a little
under-developed, particularly next to neatly
organised repositories like Loopcloud.
All-in-all though, this update provides a
further, major, incentive to use Reason with
Mimic, a more efective way of controlling its
myriad devices via the reined Combinator, and
its upgraded 4k graphics. Reason remains one
of the most muscular and lexible sound
crafters, and while the upgrade has certainly
augmented it, we’d argue that it’s still that
previous iteration’s new game-changing ability
to use it as a plugin within another DAW that has
most fundamentally prolonged its life.
Web reasonstudios.com
Verdict
For New Mimic Sampler is a fantastic
sample manipulator
Enhanced Combinator paves the way for
greater customisation and creativity
Slick 4K-ready interface
Speed increases across the board
Still one of the best music-making suites
Against Not the best primary DAW
Lack of tagging in the browser
This expanded version of Reason
underlines the software’s competency as a
fantastic musical playroom, with new
sound discovery at its heart
8/10
Alternatively
Ableton Live 11
294 » 9/10 » £319 (Standard)
Also values sound-crafting, while
its sample-editing via its Simpler
device allows similar waveform-
tweaking and time-stretching
Komplete 13
290 » 9/10 » £539
More allowances for organic
instrumentation than Reason’s
ofering – maybe use in tandem?
Reason 12 comes in two versions.
There’s the full version, which you can
buy outright at £399, or you can sign up
for Reason’s subscription service,
Reason+, for a ixed $19.99 (around £15)
per month. This will give you access to
Reason 12 and a whole arsenal of
additional sonic tools, including all
Reason Studios standalone devices
(including Friction, and Complex-1), 150
patches and songs and ten new sample
packs a week. As with all subscription
services however, as soon as you
unsubscribe, your access to all of this is
gone immediately, as you’re paying for
a license to use their tech, as opposed
to owning it. If you’re interested in
trying out Reason without committing
to it, you can also try Reason+ for free
for a seven-day span.
Pick your poison
The ability to load Reason as a VST or AU plugin in
another DAW has massively enhanced its appeal
You can try all of Reason 12’s new features for free by signing up to the Reason+ 7-day trial
“Reason is an
experimentalist’s
dream, with emphasis
on instruments, tools
and efects”
December 2021 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 73
reason studios reason 12 / reviews <
CMU302.rev_Reasaon_12.indd 73CMU302.rev_Reasaon_12.indd 73 14/10/2021 15:4814/10/2021 15:48