Overview | Reason Studios

#Adding Reason Rack Plugin in your project

Reason Rack Plugin comes in two flavors: Reason Rack Plugin (for use as an instrument) and Reason Rack Plugin Effect (for use as an audio effect, processing the sound from other instruments or audio tracks).

Add Reason Rack Plugin instances to your project like you would with other VST plugins.

You can add as many instances of Reason Rack Plugin as your computer can handle.

#The Reason Rack Plugin window

The Reason Rack Plugin has three main areas:

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The Browser

The Browser is where you create devices, browse patches and load samples. This area is folded by default, but you can unfold it by clicking the circle button in its top left corner:

It will also automatically appear when you click the Browse button on a device. See the “Sounds, Patches and the Browser” chapter for more about browsing patches and samples.

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The Rack

The Rack is where you build your sound, by placing instrument and/or effect devices.

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The Tutorial area

This contains tutorials showing you how to use Reason Rack Plugin. You can fold and unfold this area by clicking the circle button in its top corner:

The Reason Rack Plugin window can be resized vertically by dragging the lower window edge, which is quite useful if you add many devices to your rack (and have a large monitor).

Scrolling in the rack is done by using scroll wheel, Page Up/Down buttons on your computer keyboard or by clicking and dragging the side panels up or down.

Above the rack you'll find the Global Panel, which holds some important functions such as Undo/Redo, Flip Rack and a button for opening the Settings dialog. To the right is also a MIDI In indicator:

#Zoom

It’s possible to choose a suitable zoom level for the Reason Rack Plugin. This can be useful if you are using a very high-resolution screen and want to make Reason Rack Plugin larger. Since all built-in rack devices and most Rack Extensions are high-resolution, you will not lose any image quality when you enlarge Reason Rack Plugin.

Click the Zoom button and select the desired Zoom factor:

Note that the first time you select a new Zoom level, all devices in the song will recalculate their high-resolution panels in the background, which might take a little while.

#About different Themes

In Reason Rack Plugin you can choose from a couple of different visual themes, i.e. how the user interface should be visually presented. The selected theme affects the Browser, Global Panel, Settings dialog and Tutorial area.

To select another Theme, click the Settings button and select an option from the Theme menu in the dialog that appears. For the changes to take effect, you need to quit and relaunch your DAW host.

#Editing parameters

Since devices in Reason Rack Plugin are largely laid out like "real" hardware synths and effects, almost all controls are designed like their real world counterparts - mixer faders, effect unit knobs, buttons, etc. How to adjust these controls is described in the following paragraphs.

#Knobs

To “turn” a knob, point at it, hold down the mouse button and drag up or down (as if the knob was a vertical slider).

Dragging upwards turns the knob clockwise and vice versa.

If you press [Shift] and drag, the knob will turn slower, allowing for higher precision.

You can also adjust the knob precision with the “Mouse Knob Range” setting in the Settings dialog.

To reset a knob to its default value (usually zero, center pan or similar), press [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and click on the knob.

#Faders and sliders

To move a fader or slider, click on the handle and drag in the fader/slider direction.

You can also click anywhere on the fader/slider to instantly move the handle to that position.

If you press [Shift] and drag, the fader/slider will move more slowly, allowing for higher precision.

To reset a fader/slider to its default value (usually zero, 100, center pan or similar), press [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and click on the fader/slider handle.

#Buttons

Many functions and modes are controlled by clicking buttons. Many of the buttons in Reason have a “built-in” LED, or the button itself lights up, indicating whether the button is on or not.

#Fold/Unfold buttons

Fold/Unfold buttons are distinguished by a small triangle at the top to the left on a device. Clicking on a Fold/Unfold button will unfold the device panel so that more controls are visible and can be accessed for editing on the screen.

On some devices, such as the RV7000 Advanced Reverb, there are more than one Fold/Unfold button. Clicking on the second Fold/Unfold button on the unfolded front panel will open up the Remote Programmer panel from which more parameters can be accessed:

The Fold/Unfold buttons on an RV7000 Advanced Reverb device.

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Pressing [Alt](Win) or [Option](Mac) and clicking a Fold button will fold or unfold all devices in the rack.

#Multi Mode selectors

Some parameters allow you to select one of several modes. There are two different graphical representations of this in Reason.

The multi mode selector type below consists of a button with the different modes listed above it:

Click the button to step through the modes or click directly on one of the modes printed on the panel, or click on the corresponding LED, to select mode.

The currently selected mode is indicated by a lit LED.

The multi mode selector type below is a switch with more than two positions:

To change mode, click and drag the switch, or click directly at the desired switch position (just as when adjusting a slider).

#Numerical controls

In Reason devices, numerical values are often displayed in numerical displays with “spin controls” (up/down arrow buttons) on the side. Some parameter values, such as oscillator and LFO waveforms, are displayed graphically in the displays. There are two ways of changing values in these types of controls:

By using the up and down buttons on the spin controls.

To adjust a value in single steps, click on its up or down arrow button. To scroll a value continuously, click on an arrow button and keep the mouse button depressed.

By clicking and holding the mouse button depressed in the actual display and then dragging the mouse up or down.

This allows you to make coarse adjustments very quickly.

#Menus and alpha-numeric controls

In Reason, alpha-numeric values and/or device presets are displayed in alpha-numeric readouts with “spin controls” (up/down arrow buttons) on the side. There are two ways to change alpha-numeric/preset values:

By using the up and down buttons on the spin controls.

To scroll continuously, click on an arrow button and keep the mouse button depressed.

By clicking and holding the mouse button depressed in the actual alpha-numeric display and selecting from the list that appears.

This allows you to make coarse adjustments very quickly or to immediately change to a preset anywhere in the list.

This type of control is used to select, e.g., patch and reverb algorithms and some oscillator waveforms.

#Tool Tips

If you hover with the mouse over a control on a device panel and wait a moment, a tool tip appears. The tool tip shows the name of the parameter associated with that control and its current value. This helps you fine-tune settings, set several parameters to the same value, etc.

You can turn off the Tool Tips function by deactivating the option “Show parameter value tool tip” in the
Settings dialog (see “Show parameter value tool tip”).

#Context menus

Context menus are “tailored” to contain only menu items that are relevant to the current circumstances. Using the various context menus allows you to work more quickly and more efficiently with Reason Rack Plugin.

To bring up a context menu, right-click on the desired object, section or area in Reason Rack Plugin.

If you're using a Mac with a single-button mouse, press [Ctrl] and click.

The contents of the context menus depend on where you click. These are the primary types of context menus you will encounter in Reason:

#Parameter context menus

Depending on the host DAW implementation there may or may not be parameter context menus. If available, the host DAW defines what items are available.

#Device context menus

If you context-click anywhere on a device in the Rack (but not on a parameter or display), the context menu will contain the following items:

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Undo and Redo functions.

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Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete and Duplicate Device items, allowing you to rearrange and manage the devices in the rack.

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Submenus for creating new devices (Instruments, Effects, Utilities or Players).

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Combine and Uncombine are used when you want to use the selected device in, or exclude it from, a Combinator setup.

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Auto-routing and Disconnect functions.

This allows you to automatically route (connect) or disconnect a selected device in a logical way.

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Reset Device resets all parameters to their default values and removes any loaded samples.

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If the device supports patches, the menu contains functions for copying, pasting and browsing patches.

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At the bottom of the menu are Flip Rack and Hide Cables items.

These work the same as the buttons on the Global Panel at the top of the rack.

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Additional device-specific items.

There may also be additional device-specific functions, for managing samples, handling patterns and more.

#Empty rack context menu

If you click in an empty area of the rack, the context menu will contain the following items:

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Undo/Redo.

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A Paste item, allowing you to paste any copied or cut devices.

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Functions for creating new devices.

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Flip Rack and Hide Cables.

#Undo and Redo

While virtually all DAW hosts have Undo and Redo functions, many don't allow you to undo changes done within plugins. This means that you might create a plugin instrument, change some parameters in the plugin and select undo - only to have the program remove the plugin you created in the first step. The parameter changes aren't part of the DAW host's undo history.

To avoid this, Reason Rack Plugin has its own Undo and Redo functions. These are available as buttons on the top Global Panel, and as functions on the context menus:

Each instance of Reason Rack Plugin has its own Undo history.