Version 11 introduces Reason as a plug-in. Bring Reason’s synths, instruments, effects and sounds anywhere you want with the Reason Rack Plugin. Your favorite Reason instruments can now be used in your favorite DAW, complete with the free routing and great sounds you’d expect from Reason.
Reason 11 offers many workflow enhancements including curved automation for smooth mixing, audio-clip crossfades, and improved individual vertical zoom with expanded and per-track zoom level in the sequencer. Mute MIDI notes to try out variations by muting and unmuting individual notes. A new pen tool allows you to draw multiple notes, which greatly speeds up your workflow. Additional features include Show Played and Selected Notes in Key Edit, as well as Absolute Snap, Draw Automation Point at Same Level, and Shortcut for Moving Notes an Octave.
Rack extensions opens the Reason rack to third-party developers, Reason 11 now accepts VST plugins. Both VST and Rack Extension plugins function in a similar manner in that they plug in to the rack but retain the same hierarchy as any other Reason component. Load them into Combinator, route CV cables on the back, automate all parameters, and experiment with the safety of Undo. Reason 11 is compatible with Ableton's Link technology, allowing you to sync Reason across WiFi to other computers, hardware devices, and portable devices such as phones and tablets. Keep everything in time or change the tempo on the fly without wires or worries.
Users can record to an unlimited number of instrument or audio tracks, and record-ready channels can be created in an instant. A composite editor assists in building the perfect track simply by selecting the parts that work and muting the ones that don't. Non-destructive time stretching allows for recording first and picking a tempo later, while non-destructive pitch change is done with a mouse click.
The software includes MIDI-out support to bring the sound of hardware synthesizers and beat boxes to the Reason rack. MIDI is handled by an external MIDI instrument device, which is fully integrated into the Reason environment. Automating MIDI equipment from Reason's sequencer or even from control voltages in the Reason rack is very simple to set up. Additionally, the software can automatically slice audio recordings into single notes or hits, for further creative control and to quantize a take, tweak timing to perfection, or drastically change the recording using time stretching. The sliced-up audio can also be converted to REX files for playback and further treatment in Reason's Dr. Octo Rex Loop Player, samplers, or the Kong Drum Designer.
A fast and flexible sequencer comes with vector and tempo automation, count-in, multiple lane tracks, and Blocks mode. The floating window provides fast access to detailed editing functions that you may use all the time, such as: quantize, transpose, note velocity, note length and legato. When creating songs, many musicians tend to think of music in terms of intro, verse, chorus, breakdown, and buildup, etc. With Blocks mode, the sequencer allows the sequencing of songs using a pattern-based approach, with the segments of the song laid out in an arrangement as individual building blocks. The ReGroove Mixer is a real-time, non-destructive groove management device that can lock all the tracks together into one unified feel, and allows you to apply different settings to create up to thirty-two musical elements in a song.