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THE
SOUNDS
 Reason
comes with two different CDR's packed with
sounds and presets for every single
instrument and effect device. The most
important one has the obvious but
nevertheless useful title Factory Sound
Bank. The other one is intimidatingly called
"Orkester".
Let's deal with the Orkester Disc first.
Propellerhead surely knows how to be
original. That is the first impression you
get, after checking out the Orkester. It
really is an Orkester! Professional
classical musicians have played their
instruments in the Swedish Atlantic Studio.
And they've played them all!
There must be some reason as to why
Propellerhead decided to pack a CDR full of
material that will not be directly
associated with the very nature of Reason
and most of it's users: the producers of
electronic music. A good subject for a long
winter evening with a philosopher, perhaps.
However, don't let all of this intimidate
you. After all, these are just sounds and
you don't buy 
Reason for these sounds. And it doesn't mean
you shouldn't check them either. Because
they're packed with some really impressive
horn sections, for example. And percussion
instruments of various kinds, too. Worthwile!
The Factory Sound Bank obviously needs a
little more investigation. It contains all
the pre-sets for the Advanced Effect
devices, loops, sounds and the rest. And the
sounds, of course.
The following sound example has a brass
sample running through
the Sampler and a guitar loop taken out of
the Factory Sound Bank running through the
Dr Rex. The two Guitar Loops have a
different tempo than the track itself, but
as you can hear, something sounds really
okay here!
SOUND EXAMPLE 1: CLICK
HERE TO DOWNLOAD
SOUND EXAMPLE 2: CLICK
HERE TO DOWNLOAD
Talking about loops, fortunately the
Factory Sound Banks has them galore. The Dr.
REX Loop Player simply won't play without
"REX-Files", which can be created
by using Propellerhead's Recycle software.
And since not all of us have that software,
the dr. REX player is virtually useless
without prepared files.
The Sound Bank comes with a number of
loops, also a special "Dub"
series. The tempos on the loops are between
60-90 BPM. Most people would prefer to have
the same loops mapped as 120-180, and
because you can't tell dr REX that you want
it that way, the loops are of little use.
However, you can also load them in the NN-XT
Sampler.
The percussion loops are very
interesting. They contain a variety of
rhythm instruments from all over the world,
which you will not find in your General Midi
set. What to think about the Dharbouka, the
Dholki and the Kahon?
There's an enormous collection of
different drum and percussion kits
available, too. Electronic and acoustic
instruments are presented in a balance that
leans more towards the electronic side than
the acoustic. The NNXT Sampler has a lot,
really a lot of very interesting sounds. The
usual, necessary instruments are there in
unusual high quality. Especially when you
take into consideration that this is
literally the Factory Sound Bank, you get
the most of that fe real!
Lets give our current Riddim some Piano,
Organ, Guitar and Brass. This is a standard
instrumentation for a Reggae Studio Band.
We're letting it play as instrumental, and
then apply a little DUB mixing after that,
just for fun. The Spring Reverb, by the way,
is our own pre-set that we created from
scratch.
SOUND EXAMPLE 3: CLICK
HERE TO DOWNLOAD
The sounds are more, more, much more then
okay. They are more than what you can expect
of a "Factory Sound Bank". Does
Propellerhead like to describe their
products with understatements, or don't they
realize they have made the tool for the
computer-based DUB producer to develop
themselves to higher heights?
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