So, the Reason Rack Plugin for Logic Pro X
is here.
The Reason Rack Plugin comes as a part of
Reason 11 and allows us to use all of Reason’s
sounds and effects inside the DAW of our preference.
For me, I’ve always had an affection for
the sounds of Reason the samples and the synths,
it’s what I grew up with.
Yet I prefer to arrange and mix inside of
Logic Pro X.
The Reason Rack Plugin allows us to combine
the two DAWs and now makes that workflow a
whole lot more streamlined.
Reason Studios provided me with an early copy
and have sponsored this video so that I may
provide you, an overview of the plugin, when
used inside of Logic Pro X.
Reason 11 has a 30 day free trial.
It’s the full version, with all of its instruments,
loops, effects and of course, the Reason Rack
Plugin itself.
So this is not a review so to speak, today
I’m here to show you its features and how
it can be used inside of Logic Pro X.
So inside of Logic we can add the Reason Rack
as an Instrument.
Where we can add multiple Reason instruments.
Effects.
Players and utilities.
And hook them up via Reason’s open cabling
to design the very sounds we hear in our heads
or to experiment and hope for the best.
This same open cabling allows us to route
audio out of the Reason Rack Plugin and into
Logic Pro X however we like.
We can use it to create multi-output instruments,
like for our drum machine here.
Or to create a split keyboard mapping multiple
instruments across the keyboard and routing
them out to separate Logic channels.
Great for live performance, string quartets
and things of that nature.
But it also allows us to pull in audio from
any track and use it to create new instruments.
Here i’m pulling in audio from a sample
on another track and using it as the modulator
for my vocoder.
And a synth here as the carrier, playing the
chords.
This open cabling allows us to create many
number of custom racks to achieve things,
we would often be hard pressed to achieve
in other DAWs or it would be difficult or
long winded to achieve, I might add.
Check out this Trap Hat Kit I made in a few
minutes by using a Kong Drum Machine and hooking
the CV out from each channel into its own
arpeggiator.
I put these devices inside of a combinator,
where I was able to define what notes trigger
each arpeggiator.
Hook these up to some smart controls in Logic
Pro X and you’ve got yourself a comprehensive
note repeater.
I managed to achieve this in Logic Pro X but
it took many days of hacking to figure out.
The Reason Rack Plugin also comes with an
effects plugin that we can use as an insert
on MIDI, audio and aux channels.
We can use one Reason effect or many in a
chain working from top to bottom.
In the same fashion the audio that comes into
the Rack is effected by whatever is above
it in the chain.
But we can also use Logic’s side chain feature
to pull in audio from another track similar
to my vocoder example.
This is perfect for Sidechain compression.
We can load a compressor into our track and
have it only trigger when the kick plays for
example.
So the workflow is a little longer than say
with individual effects plugins but it’s
fair to say we have more freedom on what we
do with that audio coming in to the rack from
the second track.
As I briefly touched on earlier, we can use
Logic’s smart controls in conjunction with
the Reason Rack Plugin and define what prerameters
we’d like to control.
This can be useful in sound design if you
prefer a more hands on approach and of course
automation.
And Logic’s smart controls presents an easy
way for us to do this.
And of course we can save our Racks in numerous
ways, to use in our sessions going forward.
As patches which combine any smart controls
with instruments and effects into a single
file we can easily load from within Logic
Pro X itself.
We can save the racks at the instrument or
effects level and access them both respectively
within the library.
Or we can save our channel strips.
For the moment the Reason Rack does not support
MIDI out, so although we have the players
and can create some amazing things with them,
they’re limited to only working with the
sounds inside the rack.
This means we can’t use these players for
Logic Pro X stock sounds or other third party
sounds.
This all means we cannot yet copy drum patterns
from the Redrum into Logic’s arrange window.
And this is why I didn't touch on the Redrum
itself because it's a great step-sequencer
and far better that what Logic has in my opinion.
For those keen on aesthetics we have the option
to change the theme of the plugin as we can
inside of Reason Standalone, default, blue
and dark.
And we also have a few other minor settings
to alter the experience to taste.
All in all, if you’re somebody that uses
Reason and Logic Pro in conjunction, well
i’m surprised you’ve gotten this far in
the video as I’m sure you can see how the
Reason Rack inside of Logic Pro X can drastically
streamline your workflow.
But, if you’re a pure Logic Pro 10 user
looking to vastly expand your sound library
or plugin collection in one fail swoop.
Then the Reason Rack Plugin gives you another
serious option to consider.
The workflow capabilities it introduces is
one thing, but the vast amount of quality
sounds and plugins you get is also something
else to keep in mind.
Again, it comes with a 30 day free trial so
if I were you, plus if you’re watching this
between the 22 of November and 2 of December
2019 then you can also enjoy $100 off Reason
11 and Reason 11 Suite, so if I were you i’d
take full advantage of the demo and give it
a try.
I’ve been Stefan and as always,
Happy Beat Making.
