Reason 10
Fresh from its VST-toting update, the original virtual studio is returning with a load of new instruments
Having added VST plugin support by way of Reason 9.5 earlier this year, Propellerhead Software are back to focusing on first-party content with the announcement of Reason 10. This comes with two brand new synths, three sampled instruments, and a couple of devices that were previously only available as paid-for Rack Extensions.
Considering Propellerhead’s track record with synths, we’ve got high hopes for the new ones. To things kick off, there’s the Europa ‘shapeshifting synthesizer’, a dynamically-generated wavetable instrument that enables a wide range of modulation to be applied to the waveform. This deep but supposedly accessible synth also offers spectral filtering, harmonic processing and the option to draw your own waveforms. Reason users will hope that this could be Propellerhead’s answer to wavetable super-synths past and present (by which we mean Massive and Serum).
The Grain ‘sample manipulator’, meanwhile, uses granular synthesis. Drop a sample into it and you can start working with its multiple algorithms, modulation features, routing options and effects.
Away from the two new synths, there are three sampled instrument collections that have been produced in collaboration with Soundiron: Klang Tuned Percussion features ten melodic percussion instruments; Pangea World Instruments contains 11, er… world instruments; and the Humana Vocal Ensemble is full of choirs and solo vocals.
Also joining the Reason 10 fold are Radical Piano and Synchronous Effect Modulator, which arrive from the Rack Extension store to form part of the standard rack. The former is a “flexible and bendable” piano instrument, while the latter enables you to create quick sidechain effects or draw your own LFO curves to control filter, delay, reverb, distortion and level.
There’s also more than 3GB of new sample content via two new ReFills. A hefty update in terms of noisemakers, then – and plenty to check out in our upcoming review. Reason 10 will be hitting the virtual shelves on October 25, 405 Euros as new or 129 Euros as an upgrade from any previous version.