Hello, my name is Greg Savage, I’m a music composer/sound designer for TV/Film Video Games and Software Applications. Over the years, I’ve gone through quite a few production setups, ranging from traditional Hip-hop configurations: Mpc 3000, Triton, and synths to all-in-the-box solutions and hybrids.
What I’d like to share in this article is my workflow for using the Reason Rack and Reaper (DAW). Hopefully, the following tips will both enlighten and inspire you.
Reason Rack Plugin And Reaper Workflow
Now, the easiest thing to do once Reason is installed is load the Reason Rack (RRP) as you would any other plugin.
This is accomplished by dragging the Reason Rack from the plugin list (find the plugin) onto a pre existing track or the track panel area.
Select the instrument you want to use and you’re operating in the same way you would with any other plugin. The same is true for FX.
It’s that simple, but that’s not where the magic is.
The magic is using Reason’s Players and getting the midi from the plugin into your DAW, where you can further control and manipulate the MIDI information.
We’ll get there, but first, let’s go through the fundamentals. Let’s import MIDI data into Reaper’s Sequencer from ReDrum and Dr. Octo Rex.
- Insert the Reason Rack Plugin into a channel
- Load ReDrum or Octo Rex
- Program your pattern (or use the loop as is)
- Notice the music icon with the down arrow under it?
- Left-click (on the icon) and drag that from the rack onto your DAW
Let’s go one step further with the MIDI in your DAW and divide those notes/drum hits or sounds by pitch. In some DAWs, this is referred to as “note explosion or split by pitch”. By using this function, each sound is given its own channel.
In Reaper, this is known as “Explode MIDI Note Rows.” Bind the function to a shortcut for a quicker workflow.
Now, let’s move on to the good stuff, getting the Player’s data (MIDI) into Reaper. Unfortunately, there is no DRAG and DROP method as of yet, but there are two ways to accomplish this.
Here’s Two Ways You Can Set That Up The first way- Create a new track
- Load the Reason Rack Plugin onto your new track
- Load up a player and a MIDI out unit directly underneath the player
- Insert an instrument plugin you’d like to use after the Reason Rack
- Right-click the record button in Reaper, set the recording output to MIDI
- Arm the track to record, press record
Done! Now you’ll see MIDI being recorded on the channel. From here, you can disable the player and work with the MIDI, or drag it to another channel to control a different instrument.
Now, let’s look at the second way
- Create a new track
- Load the Reason Rack Plugin onto your new track
- Load up a player and a midi out unit directly underneath the player.
Here’s where things change a bit
- Create another channel containing the instrument you’d like to use
- Right-click the instrument channel’s record button and set the record output to MIDI
- Create a send from the RRP Channel to the Instrument Channel (click and drag)
Now whatever your RRP channel plays will be heard from the instrument track through your chosen instrument.
Hit record and watch the magic happen.
A quick side note!
If your instrument of choice is a Reason instrument, load it in a separate RRP and treat it like a typical 3rd party plugin.
This may seem like a lot of effort to some of you. Fortunately, you only need to do this once because Reaper lets you store track templates that can then be loaded with a single click or keyboard shortcut.
Even better, I did the labor-intensive job for you. The channel strip is available for download here.
About Author: Greg Savage is a music composer/sound designer, and music business mentor with over 20 years of experience in the industry. For information on the music business and mentoring, please visit
Site: https://www.diymusicbiz.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/diymusicbiz/
