So I would like to dedicate this post to one of my all time favourite Refills makers, of whom I use his patches in almost every single piece I write, and I suggest you check his work out too if you haven’t already.

His name is Daniel Thiel, AKA eXode. If you can think of any synth lead / bass / pad / poly sound, you are likely to find one, or similar, in one of eXodes many refill packs.

I especially love his Moog refill packs, there are all kinds of leads and basses. The best part is, most of them are free.

Run on over to the Propellerheads Free Refill section, and look up the Massive Synthesis Refill by eXode. In that 76MB download is a collection of all his refill packs up until that collection was made.

Check out his Soundcloud here.

You may remember not so long ago I plugged a new online community called Reasonheads, for all those who were missing Reasonstation. Unfortunately that has now gone the same way.

A brave effort for all those involved in getting it up and running, and to be honest it was a nice looking site with some very attractive features, but sadly it has now come to an end.

If anyone has any other suggestions on unofficial Reason forums then I would be happy to hear about them, just leave a comment below.

Anyone who is purchasing Reason 6.5 now will be entitled to a free upgrade to 7.

Any Reason owners who are currently on 1-5 can upgrade now to 6.5 and get your free upgrade to 7.

Apparently, and alternative way to upgrade is to purhcase and register a Balance audio device. This counts as an upgrade to 6.5 and thus entitled to Reason 7 upgrade.

Alternatively, the upgrade price for all current owners of Reason is 129 Euros, or $129 USD.

But the Propellerheads don’t want you to be bored of all of that already. They want you to get excited about Reason 7, and excited you should be.

It’s the usual thing, some further improvements on what is already there, plus some new tools. Reason 7 looks to have improved further on certain aspects of the music making procedure. They have tweaked the audio recording to allow for some automated editing, from snipping single notes to quantizing. But, for the first time, the have introduced MIDI out. Intriguing.

They’ve also improved the mixing desk, but more importantly on this one, they have included a spectrum analyzer, something that has been asked for for some time. Well, at least I have anyway.

The new rack tool they have introduced is something called the “Audiomatic Retro Transformer”. No details on this yet, but apparently its going to make Reason more, ‘fun’. More news to come on this.

Any release date?
Not as yet, but if I know Propellerheads I would say not too long in the future. I reckon by the end of Summer.

Read more about Reason 7 here.

But this one is for you big Prog Rock fans out there.

Its the Rotor, spinning your sounds and sending it back to the 70s, adding cheese to your organs more than Jerry would be able to do (that is, Jerry from Tom and Jerry. Cheese? Get it? Ok…).

Check out the Soundcloud examples.

Swing over to Reasonheads.org and check it out. There is also an active forum there, again similar to what Reasonstation had, where you can find some useful answers to those questions you’ve had for Reason.

Started by ex Reasonstation members (much like this site), totally dedicated to users of Reason. Looks pretty awesome, check it out.

The answer is yes, with a few minor requirements:

• You must have the latest version installed, which is currently 6.5.3. Easily upgradable from your Propellerheads account.
• Once Reason is installed, update your Codemeter software up to 4.50 or later. Download can be found here -> http://www.codemeter.de/us/service/downloads.html

I’ve not taken the brave step of upping to Windows 8 just yet, but apparently this will get Reason 6.5 working on Windows 8.

Check the Propellerheads Support page for more information.

During my search for a new MIDI keyboard myself, I thought I would keep tab on the keyboards I have found that will be suitable for Reason 6.5.

MIDI Keyboard controllers for Reason 6.5

M Audio MIDI Keyboard Controllers
M-AUDIO Oxygen 25
M-AUDIO Oxygen 49
M-AUDIO Oxygen 61

M-AUDIO Axiom 25
M-AUDIO Axiom 49
M-AUDIO Axiom 61

Novation Products
Novation Impulse 25
Novation Impulse 49
Novation Impulse 61

Korg products
Korg Microstation 61
Korg Microkey 25
Korg Microkey 61

Nektar Panorama – made specifically with Reason in mind, apparently. And they look SWEET.
Nektar Panorama P4
Nektar Panorama P6

Updated: 25/01/2013

I will carry on updating this list, if you have ideas or recommendations of any that are missing that you would like to make it known leave a comment or drop an e-mail over.

Except, I’ve never been able to use it as I’m an android user. The day Apple get money out of me is the day I fly a Pterodactyl, sporting a cape and casting magic spells from my spear of doom.

While that will never happen, I asked the Propellerheads on whether or not they are considering an Andriod release.

Here’s how the Twitter feed went:

@mathewhasker We never comment on the future but here’s what Ernst had to say about Android a while back: ow.ly/fGqOk

— Propellerhead (@PropellerheadSW) November 29, 2012

An online acquaintance / friend / collaborator DJ Abacus had also mentioned this in the past, and of all people to have responded, it was Mattias from the Props (who in my opinion has one of the best jobs in the world, computer game composer and seller / demonstrator of Reason) who had this to say on Reddit. Please note that he clearly states this is not an official statement from the Propellerheads or their developers.

So perhaps we won’t see Figure on the Android for some very good reasons that the Propellerheads have been very open and up front about. But could it hint towards an entirely different product for release on Android?

With the release of the Nexus, it may be a good opportunity. More concerning though is Windows 8 – I know that Microsoft are very eager for developers to come on board and start flying some applications through the Windows Store. They will have a very similar approach to Apple when it comes to helping developers get their products out on a development platform that makes sense. Look at what they managed with the XBox over the Playstation 3.

Unfortunately for me though, the day I spend money in the Microsoft Store will be the day I…well you get it.

So Reason lovers who are loyal to the Android system, the answer is development on the platform isn’t easy, so don’t hold your breath. But it’s a fair decision by the Propellerheads.

Would you like to see Figure on the Android? Or a similar release from the Propellerheads for the Android?

It’s actually quite straightforward – to edit Tempo or Time Signature automation in Reason 6, simply right click on either the Tempo or Time Signature in the Transport panel, and low and behold, the Automation option is there.

From there, you can edit Tempo automation like you would for anything else (CV, volume etc.). The Time Signature works slightly differently in the way you choose what Time Signature you would like use, much in the same way you would choose a pattern for a Redrum section.

Tempo Automation Editing

Time Signature Editing