Propellerhead Reason User manual

INSTALLATION MANUAL

The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the
part of Propellerhead Software AB. The software described herein is subject to a License Agreement and may not
be copied to any other media expect as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publication
may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for any purpose, without prior written permission
by Propellerhead Software AB.
©2012 Propellerhead Software and its licensors. All specifications subject to change without notice. Reason,
Reason Essentials and Rack Extension are trademarks of Propellerhead Software. All other commercial symbols
are protected trademarks and trade names of their respective holders. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
4
Introduction 7
Welcome! 8
About the Reason documentation 8
About the Reason operating system versions 8
What is in the Reason box? 9
The Reason installation DVD 9
The Ignition Key 9
Product authorization 9
The Reason download version 9
If you are upgrading from an earlier Reason version 9
Using the Reason download version while waiting for the box 9
Installation 11
Requirements 12
Mac OS X 12
Windows 12
About the Audio Hardware 13
Audio hardware and Mac OS X 13
If you are using the Propellerhead Balance audio interface 13
If you are using the built-in audio hardware in your Macintosh 13
If you are using other audio hardware with your Macintosh 13
Audio hardware and Windows 13
If you are using the Propellerhead Balance audio interface 13
If you are using other audio hardware with your Windows PC 14
About MIDI Interfaces 14
MIDI Connections 14
Installing the Software 15
Upgrading from an earlier Reason version 15
Running the Installer 15
About the Sound Banks on Mac OS X (DVD version only) 16
Authorization and the Ignition Key 16
Registering and authorizing Reason 16

TABLE OF CONTENTS 5
Running Reason with the Ignition Key hardware 18
Running Reason with Internet Verification 18
Running Reason in Demo Mode 19
Setting Up 21
About this Chapter 22
First run - Reason Setup Wizard 22
About the Preferences 24
Setting up the Audio Hardware 25
Mac OS X 26
Windows 26
About Latency and other Audio Settings 26
Setting up MIDI 27
Adding a Control surface 28
If your control surface model isn't listed 30
About the Master Keyboard 30
Master Keyboard Input 31
Other functions 31
Setting up the Default Song 32
Opening the last Song at program launch 32
Reassigning the Function Keys in Mac OS X 33

TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Chapter 1
Introduction

INTRODUCTION
8
Welcome!
Thank you for choosing Reason!
Whether you're a songwriter, beat maker, recording your band, or just love to make sounds, this is the
beginning of a beautiful friendship. New in this version of Reason is Rack Extensions, Propellerhead's
brand new plug-in format. Don't forget to visit the Propellerhead web site at www.propellerheads.se and
read up on all the new Rack Extension instruments and effects created by ourselves and others that you
can add to your rack.
A driving force for us at Propellerhead is communication with all the people around the world that use our
programs to realize their musical ideas. And a big part of this communication takes place on our own user
forums. This is a unique meeting place where professionals and beginners meet on equal terms to
exchange ideas. But even more importantly, it's a forum open to you. We think you will enjoy talking to
other Reason users all over the world, just as much as we'll enjoy talking to you.
Yours truly,
The Propellerhead Team
www.propellerheads.se
About the Reason documentation
This is the Installation Manual where installation of Reason and basic setting up procedures are described.
Detailed features and operations in Reason are described in the Operation Manual pdf. This and other pdf
documents are installed with the program - you find them in the Documentation folder inside your Reason
application folder. The Operation Manual also contains reference descriptions of all Reason devices and
commands.
About the Reason operating system versions
Reason runs under Mac OS X and Windows (for operating system details, see “Requirements”). All Reason
packages contain program versions for both platforms. Everything said in the manuals applies to both
platforms, unless explicitly stated.

INTRODUCTION 9
What is in the Reason box?
If you have purchased the boxed version of Reason, the package contains the following items:
The Reason installation DVD
This DVD contains the main Reason program installer which include the Reason application, Help System,
Demo Songs and documentation. In addition, the Windows partition of the DVD also contains an installer
for Adobe Acrobat Reader.
The Ignition Key
Reason comes with a protection hardware - the Ignition Key - which is a part of the Reason protection
system. The Ignition Key hardware is built-in in the Propellerhead Ignition Key (USB stick) which should be
plugged into a free USB port on your computer.
The Ignition Key hardware needs to be authorized before use, see “Authorization and the Ignition Key”".
Product authorization
The license number and registration code required for the installation are printed on the DVD sleeve. The
registration code is a one-time code used to register your Reason license to your Propellerhead user
account. Once you have registered Reason to your account and authorized the Ignition Key, you don't need
it any more.
!Note that if you bought Reason from the Propellerhead web shop, it is already registered
to your account.
The Reason download version
If you are upgrading from an earlier Reason version
!If you are upgrading from an earlier version of Reason, there are some important things
to consider before installing the new version, see “Upgrading from an earlier Reason version”.
If you are upgrading from Reason 6 or later (or from Propellerhead Record), you already have an Ignition
Key and won’t need the boxed version. After you have downloaded the Reason upgrade, unpacked the file
and installed Reason, refer to “Registering and authorizing Reason” for details on how to authorize Reason.
Using the Reason download version while waiting for the box
If you have purchased the boxed version of Reason and are waiting for the shipment, you could meanwhile
use the download version of the program and run it with full functionality using Internet Verification. Refer
to “Running Reason with Internet Verification” for details on how to proceed.
If this is your first acquaintance with audio recording and music production software, you might also want
to check out the “About the Audio Hardware” and “About MIDI Interfaces” sections before continuing.
!When you receive the Reason box you should NOT reinstall the Reason program - every-
thing you need has already been installed from the download version. However, you
might want to authorize your Ignition Key hardware, see “Authorization and the Ignition Key”.

INTRODUCTION
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