Trying, buying and installing Rack Extensions
This tutorial describes how you try, buy and install Rack Extensions with Reason 6.5 and Reason Essentials 1.5.
Read more and visit the Propellerhead Shop: http://shop.propellerheads.se
>> One very common comment I get, looking at the Rack Ext shop is that it is nice, well designed and lots of good products, but that it is way to expensive – and to be honest I tend to agree; 50 € for an effect plug-in…Quite sure we will soon see some discounts and Sales in the Prop shop 
Propellerhead has announced that Reason 6.5, Reason Essentials 1.5 and the Rack Extension Store are now available
Propellerhead has announced that Reason 6.5 and Reason Essentials 1.5 are now available. What’s more, the Propellerhead Shop, in which you’ll be able to purchase the heavily trailed Rack Extensions, is now open for business.
Updates to the new versions of Reason are free – full pricing details are below. Propellerhead’s Pulsar Rack Extension is free to everyone who upgrades before 30 September.
Reason 6.5/Reason Essentials 1.5 and Rack Extensions press release
Propellerhead today released new versions of their award-winning music making platform: Reason 6.5 and Reason Essentials 1.5. New in these versions is the introduction of Rack Extensions—a groundbreaking new technology from Propellerhead that opens up the rack to third parties, enabling developers to create their own instruments and effects for Reason and allowing users to expand their collection of instruments and effects with the Reason devices they want.
Propellerhead has also opened the doors to the Propellerhead Shop—the central location for all Rack Extensions. All Rack Extensions are full Reason rack citizens, delivering the same ease of use and total integration as all other devices in the rack, including automation, unlimited undo and cables on the back as well as integration with Reason’s patch browser. In the Propellerhead Shop users can get fully functional thirty-day trial versions of all available Rack Extensions, downloaded and installed into the rack with a single click.
“Rack Extensions combines all the things that musicians love about Reason with the creativity and inspiration that comes from having tons of instruments and effects at your fingertips. And it manages to do all that without any of the drawbacks of old plug-in technology. It really is the best of both worlds,” says Ernst Nathorst-Böös, Propellerhead CEO. “Reason 6.5 is an incredible update to Reason, changing the world of music making on computers, again.”
Reason 6.5 and Reason Essentials 1.5 are available as free upgrades for all owners of Reason 6 or Reason Essentials version 1, downloadable from the Propellerhead web site today.www.propellerheads.se/download/reason-upgrade
To get people started, Propellerhead offers the Pulsar Rack Extension—a dual LFO and mono synth with plenty of character—as a free download in the Propellerhead Shop to everyone who upgrades before September 30, 2012: shop.propellerheads.se
UK Pricing and availability
Reason, Reason Essentials and Balance are available now for purchase at the following suggested retail pricing:
- Reason – £349/€405/$449
- Reason Essentials – £99/€120/$129
- Balance with Reason Essentials – £349/€429/$449 (Includes a free upgrade to Reason 6.5 for any registered Record or Reason owner)
- Reason Upgrade – £139/€149/$169 (From any Reason version, and Balance)
- Upgrade for Adapted/Limited/Essentials Owners – £229/€299/$329
New teaser related to the upcoming release of Reason 6.5
This time from FXpansion and a sneak preview of their edition to Propellerhead’s Rack Extension – the Etch Red filtering effects unit
Check it out and let us know what you think of it
“FXpansion Etch Red: an exciting and great-sounding filtering effect based on DCAM circuit-modelled technology and now available as a Reason Rack Extension.
Etch Red features dual filters with 38 available filter responses, realistic audio-rate FM, flexible routing, additional drive & compression stages, and our unique TransMod modulation system with 2 LFOs, envelopes and more.
For more informations go to http://www.fxpansion.com or http://www.propellerhead.se“
Announced today: Polar – old school harmonizer coming to Reason 6.5
Propellerhead today announced Polar, a new Rack Extension audio effect to be available at the launch of the next versions Reason and Reason Essentials later this month.
Polar is an old school harmonizer and pitch-shifter effect with a host of modern tricks up its sleeves. Designed for classic harmonizing, stereo widening, and real-time pitch shifting, Polar also invites users to experiment with buffer looping and audio freezing to create otherworldly effects.
Consisting of selectable dual pitch-shifters with classic, smooth and looping algorithms, Polar is created for singers, producers, guitarists and remixers looking for transparent pitch-shifting as well as creative ways of turning bland recordings into wide, evolving soundscapes. The built-in LFOs, auto-panning, envelope and buffer lock provide further sound sculpting possibilities, while delay and feedback turns single-note recordings into arpeggios.
For more information about Rack Extensions, Polar, and to listen to audio examples, visit www.propellerheads.se/go/74B1DC9D
Pricing and availability
Polar will be released simultaneously with version 6.5 of Reason and version 1.5 of Reason Essentials Q2 2012, at a price of USD $69/EUR €55. Polar will be available for purchase in the Propellerhead Shop.
3rd party developers talk on the new Reason Rack Extensions Reason Essentials
For more information on Rack Extensions, visit: http://www.propellerheads.se
Meet some of the developers bringing Rack Extension devices to Reason’s rack! Rack Extensions allow 3rd party developers to bring their expertise, sounds, and inspiring workflow into Reason by merging some of the best elements of typical plugin expandability with the best elements of Reason’s ongoing commitment to stability, efficiency, and musicality.
In this video you’ll get a look at some of the first Rack Extensions to arrive in Reason’s rack, hear direct from the developers themselves and, most importantly, see just how massive this expansion will be for your music.
Reason 6.5 – Pulsar audio demo
http://youtu.be/n1ZX5XphTSI
“Here’s a short audio demo that I did using the Beta version of the new pulsar Rack Extension that will be available in Propellerheads Reason 6.5”
How to make your drums punchy – Reason Sound Design
More info on Reason: http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/
In this Reason Sound Design video Propellerhead product specialist James Bernard give you some tried and tested engineering tips to help get your drums punching through your mix. It may seem redundant at first. After all, drums are punchy by their very nature so why do we need to MAKE them punchy if they already ARE punchy. The simple answer is that when you layer other instruments on top and everything starts fighting for the same sonic frequency space, your drums can get lost in the process.
James will show you through proper EQ, compression, and parallel processing how you can lift your drums back out of the mix and have them punching through your song exactly as you hope for.
Pulsar – new dual LFO and mono synth for Reason 6.5
Propellerhead today announced Pulsar LGM-1, the second “Rack Extension” instrument, to be available with the launch of Reason 6.5 and Reason Essentials 1.5 in Q2 2012. Pulsar is a dual LFO (low frequency oscillator) and mono synth with cross-modulation, lag, shuffle and a flexible envelope, and is said to offer “a fresh take on modulation — from rigid and predictable to groovy and evolving.”
Pulsar integrates perfectly with all Reason devices, opening up new possibilities for creative modulation within the program — i.e. with Pulsar it’s reportedly easy to create a shuffled tremolo that changes speed as different notes are triggered, or come up with ever-changing wobbles that respond to playing. Using its audio outputs, Pulsar transforms from a low frequency oscillator to a synth. The waveforms designed for modulation, combined with the unique lag and shuffle controls, reportedly result in tons of unique synth tones. For users that are not versed with the modular aspects of Reason, Pulsar also comes with a set of pre-made patches, containing everything from lush evolving pads to gritty bass.
To celebrate the release of the Rack Extension platform, Pulsar will be gifted to everyone who is using Rack Extension compatible versions of Reason and Reason Essentials for the first three months after release — a $49 value. Click for more information about Rack Extensions and Pulsar LGM-1.
More info on Propellerhead´s upcoming Rack Extensions
The guys at Propellerhead has released some more info on their upcoming Reason 6.5 release (free for registered users) including the newly announced Rack Extensions, here’s what they have to say:
It’s not just third parties who are getting into the creation of Rack Extensions. On release day, Propellerhead will be releasing their own Rack Extension devices for Reason 6.5 and Reason Essentials 1.5. Below is some early information on what we’ll have on offer.
Radical Piano
The premise is simple. The results are stunning. We’ll give you three basic pianos paired with the technology to make an infinite number of your own. Based on a custom blend between sampling technology and physical modeling algorithms, Radical Piano affords songwriters, producers, and sound designers an unprecedented level of control to craft a realistic piano that is 100% unique.
Pulsar
Pulsar LGM-1 is a dual channel modulation power house for the Reason rack. We call it a dual LFO but it’s also a powerful little synth in its own right. More info coming soon.
Polar
Polar is a classic harmonizer/pitch shifter with a host of modern tricks up its sleeve. Use it for old school harmonizing and stereo widening effects, or use it to go totally granular filtered pitch shift repeater on your music. More info coming soon.
When Reason 6.5 and Reason Essentials are released, we’ll also be launching the Propellerhead Shop. It will be the central location where users can try and buy Rack Extensions with single-click ease. While many companies have begun developing Rack Extensions for the Reason platform, we’ll leave their own product announcements up to them. Below is a small sample of companies that are currently planning to launch Rack Extensions in the Propellerhead Shop:
Uhe, Rob Papen, Softube, Peff, KORG…
Ableton Tutorial – Robot Drums Rack Emulating ‘Figure’
Propellerhead’s Figure app has been a big success and inspired many to similar type stuff:
In this tutorial Danny J Lewis shows you how to create a rack that emulates the mechanics behind the way the drum patterns switch in the recently released ‘Figure’ app.
DATAMASKIN
