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Instrument Tracks, ReWired...
Over the last few weeks I have been asked several times how to get Reason to work with the new version of Pro Tools. That’s not too surprising given Reason’s widespread popularity, and it is something that I am happy to share with everyone. The advantage of bringing the audio in from a Reason song, is so that you can use the superb editing and mixing facilities of Pro Tools. Being able to use TDM and/or RTAS plug-ins go a long way in enhancing and getting the most out of your Reason tracks.
In this week’s installment, I will explain how to bring the main/master output of Reason as a stereo input into Pro Tools 7. Next week, we will bring in the individual outputs of each Reason device into Pro Tools separately for greater flexibility, especially when mixing.
Before starting, make sure that you have the latest version of Reason (3.0.4 at the time of this writing) available on the Propellerhead website, and that it has been properly installed so that it runs without a hitch as a standalone application.
1. Make sure Reason is not open, launch Pro Tools 7, and then create a stereo instrument track (tick-based).
2. In the Mix window, click on the first Insert and choose Reason (Stereo).
After you have selected Reason for the Insert, the Reason application will automatically launch.
3. Starting from a completely empty Reason Song file choose:
Create > Mixer 14:2
Create > SubTractor Analog Synthesizer
Create > NN19 Digital Sampler.
A mixer, synthesizer and sampler will be added to the rack. Load a patch into SubTractor and NN19.
4. If you press the Tab key Reason will turn its back to you, not to be rude of course, but to let you see all the cabling going on to connect all the devices.
Notice that main (mono) output of SubTractor is connected to the left input of Input 1 on the mixer, and that the main (stereo) outputs of NN19 are connected to the left and right inputs on Input 2 on the mixer, and that the main (stereo) outputs of the mixer are connected to the main inputs Input 1 and Input 2 of the Hardware Interface. This is how the inputs of all the devices on the rack are mixed together and sent to the main (L and R) inputs of the Hardware Interface to be routed via ReWire into Pro Tools. This is an important concept, which we will be revisiting for next week’s continuation of our little saga.
5. Return to Pro Tools and make sure that the Reason pop-up menu on the ReWire plug-in is set to Mix L - Mix R, which correspond to the main outputs of the Hardware Interface in Reason.
6. Make sure you are viewing the Instrument view in the Mix window (a new view in Pro Tools 7), by choosing View > Mix Window > Instruments. Choose your MIDI controller (keyboard) for the MIDI input, and choose SubTractor for the MIDI output [Instrument I/O].
7. Record enable the track, and sequence a part for the SubTractor. After you are done recording, click the Record Enable button to disable recording for the track.
Note: By default the Input for the Instrument track is set to No Input, and herein lies a potential problem. Some software instruments will not sound when inserted on an Instrument track unless they have a valid hardware input and/or MIDI output assignment (e.g. A1-2).
8. Finally, create a MIDI track (tick based) for the NN19. Choose your MIDI controller (keyboard) for the MIDI input, and choose NN19 for the MIDI outputs [Track I/O]. Sequence a part for the NN19. After you are done recording, click the Record Enable button to disable recording for the track.
When you playback the Pro Tools session, you will hear the output of both SubTractor and NN19 from the Instrument track. If you add more devices controlled by additional corresponding MIDI tracks (ReWire supports up to 64 channels of audio), using this method they will all be heard from the Instrument track.
9. When you are done, make sure to quit Reason before quitting Pro Tools.
One last thing to mention before we wrap-up here...Instead of using an Instrument track, you could still use an Aux track to instantiate the Reason ReWire plug-in as an Insert, and a separate MIDI track to control each Reason device (a lá Pro Tools 6.x). Either way, you still only instantiate one instance of the Reason ReWire plug-in. The advantage of using an Instrument track in this case, is that we save one track of screen real estate because the Aux and a MIDI track are combined for the first device. However, as you have seen you still have to create MIDI tracks to control additional devices.
Pro Tools Tidbits for the Week
- Celemony has released a new public beta of Melodyne 3 for registered users.
- Cycling’74 has released Hipno, a collection of granular, spectral, and filter/delay-based RTAS plug-ins.
If you have a Pro Tools related question that you would like me to take a shot at answering or have any feedback, please send it to scott@audioMIDI.com. I will do my best to select the questions that seem to stump the most people.
As always, stay tuned to the audioMIDI.com eNews for the latest reviews and new product info.
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