Reason (software)

Background

Propellerhead Software was founded in 1994 by Ernst Nathorst-Böös, Pelle Jubel and Marcus Zetterquist and launched with ReCycle. They became popular in 1996 after releasing the ReBirth RB-338, described by MusicRadar in February 2011 as "one of the most important virtual instruments in the history of electronic music". By the late 1990s, advancements in technology meant that it became feasible for home users to build their own virtual studios from software, and so in 1999, Propellerhead ended development on ReBirth to work on Reason.

Release history

Reason was first released in November 2000. MusicRadar described it in 2011 as "broadly similar to the likes of Logic and Cubase, but" with its "user interface mimick[ing] a rack full of equipment, allowing instruments, effects and mixers to be linked together in order to create a complete production setup". Subsequent versions came out in September 2002, 2005, September 2007, August 2010, September 2011, April 2013, September 2014, June 2016, October 2017, September 2019, September 2021, and June 2024. Early versions of the program lacked the ability to record audio, and in September 2009, Propellerhead released Record to work alongside Reason; Record was later merged into Reason 6. The success of the program prompted Propellerhead to rebrand itself as Reason Studios in August 2019.

Reviewing Reason 12, MusicRadar questioned how useful Reason 11 users would find it, but noted that it looked "the best it has in years", while Musictech.com described it as a "brilliant buy" for producers looking for a new digital audio workstation. Pcmag.com noted that "existing fans [...] should take a close look", though criticised its user interface, saying that it had "aged considerably" compared to its competition.

Notable users

The following producers and musical acts have at some point used Reason:

• Beastie Boys
• MGMT
• Toro Y Moi
• The Prodigy
• Michael Oakley
• LCD Soundsystem
• Flying Lotus
• Tyler, the Creator
• J. Cole
• Future Islands
• Sir Mix-a-Lot
• The Knife
• Owl City
• BT
• S3RL
• Stromae
• DJ Khalil, DJ and producer for e.g. Kanye West, Drake and Eminem
• Symbolyc One, producer for e.g. Beyoncé, Kanye West and Eminem
• Nascent, producer for e.g. Chance the Rapper, Kanye West and SZA
• DJ Toomp
• DJ Pierre
• DJ Mustard
• Skrillex
• Ian Kirkpatrick, producer for e.g. Selena Gomez and Dua Lipa
• Kool Kojak, producer for e.g. Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj
• Mike & Keys, producers for e.g. Nipsey Hussle and Eminem
• BlaqNMild, producer for e.g. Drake and Beyoncé
• Cool & Dre, producers for e.g. Lil Wayne, Jay-Z and Beyoncé
• Nana Rogues, producer for e.g. Drake, Zara Larsson and Stormzy
• Key Wane, producer for e.g. Drake, Beyoncé and Big Sean
• Larry Klein, producer for e.g. Herbie Hancock and Joni Mitchell
• Illmind, producer for e.g. Nicki Minaj, Ludacris and 50 Cent
• Kshmr, DJ and producer
• A Guy Called Gerald
• Digital Mystikz
• Goddard.
• Todd Rundgren
• Jlin
• Shigeto
• Dan Deacon
• ConcernedApe, maker of Stardew Valley
• The Flaming Lips
• Niki & the Dove
• Serj Tankian of System of a Down
• Rostam of Vampire Weekend
• Claude VonStroke
• Com Truise
• Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
• Mark Nevers, producer for e.g. Lambchop and Bonnie "Prince" Billy
• The Dust Brothers, producers for e.g. Beastie Boys and Beck

Much of The Prodigy's Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned was made using the program. MGMT has said "pretty much everything" on their debut album Oracular Spectacular was made using built-in Reason synths.

Video game creator ConcernedApe has stated that "the entire Stardew Valley soundtrack was made using Reason."

Kshmr produced "Like a G6" by Far East Movement as well as "Tsunami" by DVBBS using the program.

References

References

1. (2019-08-27). "You can now use Reason as a plugin in any DAW".
2. February 2011, Future Music02. (2 February 2011). "A brief history of Propellerhead Reason and Record".
3. (25 August 2010). "Propellerhead Software Reason 5 review". [[MusicRadar]].
4. (18 September 2011). "Reason 6 for Record Reason Duo Users". youtube.com.
5. (3 April 2013). "James Wiltshire teaches Paralell Processing in Reason 7[sic]". Gearjunkies.com.
6. (7 August 2014). "Reason 8 A 'Radical Rethinking Of Reason's Workflow'". Synthtopia.com.
7. (20 May 2016). "Propellerhead creates new musical tools for Reason 9 update". Factmag.com.
8. (9 May 2018). "Review - Ten Best Things About Reason 10". Soundbytesmag.net.
9. "Reason 11". gearnews.com.
10. "Reason Studios announce the release of Reason 12". Macprovideo.com.
11. "Reason 13 is coming in June – with a host of workflow improvements and thousands of new patches, samples and loops".
12. (11 May 2009). "Propellerhead Record In-Depth Preview: Recording, Reason-Style; Beta Test Now". Cdm.link.
13. "Propellerhead Reason 6". Soundonsound.com.
14. (26 August 2019). "Propellerhead becomes Reason Studios and releases Reason 11 as a plug-in". Gearnews.com.
15. (9 September 2021). "Reason Studios Reason 12 review". [[MusicRadar]].
16. "Reason 12 : the classic modernises but offers few new tools". Musictech.com.
17. (12 April 2022). "Reason Studios Reason - Review 2022". Uk.pcmag.com.
18. Murray, Robin. (2015-04-30). "While We're Young: Adam Horovitz".
19. Reason Studios. (2010-09-12). "Artist Interview: Adam "Adrock" Horovitz (Beastie Boys)".
20. (2024-02-15). "We've Got A File On You: MGMT".
21. Reynaldo, Shawn. (2013-01-21). "In the Studio: Toro Y Moi".
22. "The Prodigy". Soundonsound.com.
23. (22 May 2020). "Artist Feature: Michael Oakley".
24. Kleinfeld, Justin. (2007-03-01). "Straight Shooter". Electronic Musician.
25. "x.com".
26. "Tyler, the Creator's 'Yonkers' - Discover the Sample Source".
27. Musicianpublished, Electronic. (2019-12-04). "J. Cole shares his production secrets behind the album Born Sinner".
28. Moldof, Zach. (2015-02-18). "Days of Future Islands Past".
29. "Sir Mix-A-Lot".
30. Truants. (2018-02-08). "Truancy Volume 204: Olof Dreijer".
31. "Owl City".
32. (2020-09-06). "Show Off Your Studio: BT's multi-rig synth utopia". [[MusicTech]].
33. (2015-06-06). "What Gear/Software do you Use S3RL?".
34. Stingray Music. (2015-04-01). "Stromae talks writing music, Reason 8 and playing a character".
35. Reason Studios. (2020-08-18). "Episode 19: DJ Khalil!!! Your Reason to Stay Inside".
36. "Symbolyc One - X/Twitter account".
37. Rouhani, Neena. (2023-02-10). "How Five Top Producers Are Making Music in 2023".
38. Reason Studios. (2008-11-19). "DJ Toomp - beats for Kanye West, Jay Z and more on Reason".
39. Gilbert, Adam. (2015-03-03). "DJ Pierre".
40. "Beat Construction: DJ Mustard".
41. (2014-11-11). "Interview: Skrillex talks production, plug-ins and power edits {{!}} Skrillex {{!}} Tech News {{!}} MusicRadar".
42. "Inside Track: Dua Lipa 'Don't Start Now'".
43. Reason Studios. (2014-02-13). "How I found my sound: Kool Kojak (Flo Rida, Ke$ha, +more)".
44. Reason Studios. (2020-02-24). "Introducing Beat Map, the Algorhythmic Drummer (with Mike & Keys)".
45. ProducerGrind. (2018-11-10). "BlaqNMild Talks Making Beats For Drake, New Orleans Bounce Music + More".
46. "Cool & Dre".
47. Genius. (2017-12-01). "The Making Of Drake's "Passionfruit" With Nana Rogues {{!}} Deconstructed".
48. Reason Studios. (2017-07-13). "How I found my sound: Key Wane (Beyonce, Drake, Big Sean, Ariana Grande)".
49. "Walter Becker".
50. (2011-08-15). "BeatTips Shop Talk: !llmind and the Evolution of His Production Setup".
51. "KSHMR: Producing EDM".
52. Trusspublished, Si. (2024-09-08). ""I didn't know anything about drugs or any of that stuff. For me, acid was a chemical that stripped away paint": A Guy Called Gerald on the birth of acid house".
53. Taylor, Ken. (2010-11-30). "Building an Iconic Sound: Mala".
54. "Meet Drum and Bass Artist Goddard in His Interview With Albawaba {{!}} Al Bawaba".
55. (2013-04-03). "Todd Rundgren talks new album, State, track-by-track".
56. (2016-12-05). "Jlin on Finding her Sound".
57. Jackson, Glenn. (2013-08-19). "In the Studio: Shigeto".
58. "Dan Deacon: Performing Electronica Live".
59. Faulkner, Cameron. (2024-03-19). "Here's what ConcernedApe uses to work on Stardew Valley and to unwind".
60. Drummer, Modern. (2004-05-12). "Steven Drozd Interview".
61. Reason Studios. (2017-02-13). "How I found my sound: Niki & The Dove".
62. Musician's Friend. (2010-05-21). "Serj Tankian (System of a Down) Home Studio Tour & Interview Part 1 of 3".
63. "Song Exploder: Rostam - Bike Dream".
64. (2012-03-15). "Bass, how low can you go?".
65. (2015-01-13). "Com Truise talks '80s inspiration, outboard, Reason and remixing".
66. "TEED regrets 'abandoning' Reason as his main DAW: "I think I can hear Ableton and that bothers me"".
67. "Mark Nevers".
68. "The Dust Brothers".
69. Hirway, Hrishikesh. (2016-01-19). "Song Exploder episode 62: MGMT - Time to Pretend (podcast transcript)".
70. Reason Studios. (2022-04-04). "Reason Livestream with Stardew Valley Creator/Composer ConcernedApe".
71. XLNTSOUND. (2024-12-18). "What it Takes To Make A Hit "Like A G6" Official Project File Breakdown".
72. XLNTSOUND. (2024-12-11). "KSHMR Opens Original Tsunami Project File".