Importing audio Audio formats, sample rates and tempo matching The Reason sequencer supports import of mono and stereo audio files of various formats, sample rates and resolutions. Reason also supports import of REX (ReCycle rcy, rex and rx2) files. You can import several audio files at the same time, with each audio file ending up on a separate Audio Track in the sequencer - or on separate Comp Rows in a selected Audio Clip. You can import files of different formats on the same Audio Track - or even in the same Audio Clip. One audio file could be an 8-bit mono file sampled at 22.05 kHz, the next a 24-bit stereo file sampled at 192 kHz, etc. Reason automatically converts sample rates and resolution with preserved audio quality. If the imported audio file includes tempo data that Reason supports, Reason automatically matches (stretches) the audio file to fit the current Song Tempo, without affecting the pitch. • if the imported audio files’ sample rates differ from the current audio hardware sample rate, Reason will automatically sample rate convert. This will first be done with a real-time algorithm, allowing for immediate playback. In the background, a high-quality sample rate conversion is performed. This is indicated by the CALC indicator on the transport panel. When done, Reason will automatically switch to playing back the high-quality version and the CALC indicator will go out. The CALC indicator indicates when Reason performs high-quality stretching of audio. About tempo matching imported audio When you import an audio file, which has tempo data that Reason can read, the audio will be automatically stretched to fit the current tempo in the song. However, if the tempo in the imported audio is unknown, you could manually tempo match (stretch) the imported audio in a couple of ways: • By using the Scale Tempo “tool” to manually stretch the audio clips, see “Tempo scaling Clips”. • By using the Scale Tempo function in the Tool Window, see “Scale Tempo”. • If the imported audio has a steady - but unknown - tempo, you can adjust the imported audio to the song tempo as described in “Matching imported audio to the song tempo”. Importing audio to the sequencer To minimize the song saving time, we strongly recommend to save the song before you import many or large audio files. To import one or several audio files to tracks in the sequencer, proceed as follows: 1. Select “Import Audio File...” from the File menu, or hold down [Ctrl]+[Shift](Win) or [Cmd]+[Option](Mac) and press [I]. The “Import Audio File” function gets browser focus: 2. Browse and select the audio file(s) you want to import. When you select a single audio file, information about length, format, size and tempo (if included in the file) is shown in the information section, below the Browse list. If you like, you can also preview selected audio file by clicking the “Play” button in the “Audition” section. If you select several audio files, the total number of files and their total size are displayed in the Details section. You will not be able to preview the audio files when several files are selected. You can also import samples from the Song Samples location in the Browser. If you select a REX file, this will be rendered to audio when imported and all information about slice positions etc. will be lost. The Song Tempo and any Tempo Automation starting at the Song Position Pointer will be taken into account during the import. After the import, the REX file will behave just like any imported audio file. If you are going to edit the imported REX file inline, and work with slices, audio quantizing, stretching etc. Reason will automatically detect the transients in the audio and generate new slice markers that might not correspond to the original slice distribution of the imported REX file, see “Editing audio in Slice Edit mode”. 3. Click “Import” to import the audio file(s). Depending on the where the edit focus was when you selected “Import Audio File” from the Edit menu, the audio file(s) will be placed a little differently. In all scenarios, the imported audio file(s) will be placed at the current song position: • If an audio track has edit focus in the sequencer track list and you have selected only a single audio file, the imported audio file will be placed in a new clip on this audio track. • If you selected several audio files when using the Import Audio File command, each audio file will be imported to new audio tracks in the sequencer - in the order the files were selected in the Browser. • If you selected only a single audio file and the edit focus is elsewhere in the application, a new audio track will be created for the imported audio file. You can also drag one or several audio files from the Browser and drop in the sequencer track list. The audio files will then be imported to separate audio tracks in the sequencer: A + sign and a divider indicate where in the track list the imported audio file(s) will be placed. You can also drag one or several audio files from the Browser and drop on an audio track on the Arrange Pane. The audio files will then be imported as separate audio clips, after one another, on the corresponding audio track. If Snap is active in the sequencer, this will be taken into consideration: A waveform sign and an insertion point divider indicate where on the audio track the imported audio file(s) will be placed. Import audio file(s) to an open Audio Clip It’s also possible to import audio files to open Audio Clips in the Comp Editor in the sequencer. Proceed as follows: 1. Open the Audio Clip you wish to import the audio file(s) to in the Comp Editor. 2. Select “Import Audio File...” from the File menu, or hold down [Ctrl]+[Shift](Win) or [Cmd]+[Option](Mac) and press [I]. The “Import Audio File” function gets browser focus. 3. Browse and select the audio file(s) you want to import. You can also import samples from the Song Samples location in the Browser. If you select REX files, these will be rendered to audio when importing. The Song Tempo and any Tempo Automation starting at the Clip position will also be taken into account. 4. Click “Import” to import the selected audio file(s). The audio file(s) will be imported as new recordings on new Comp Rows. The Comp Row(s) for the imported audio file(s) will be named “<filename.extension> (Imported)” where <filename.extension> is the name of the imported audio file with the appropriate extension. Depending on if you selected one or several audio files, the following will happen: • If you selected a single audio file, it will end up on the topmost Comp Row in the audio clip. • If you selected several audio files, the first selected file will end up on the topmost Comp Row. You can also drag one or several audio files from the Browser and drop it/them in the Comp Row area in the Comp Editor. The audio files will then be imported to new separate Comp Rows in the Comp Editor. The horizontal divider indicates where the new Comp Row(s) will be inserted and the vertical divider indicates where the audio will begin. If Snap is active in the sequencer, this will be taken into consideration: A + sign and a horizontal and a vertical divider indicate where in the Comp Row area the imported audio file(s) will be placed. If you like, you could now edit the Audio Clip and comp the recordings on the different Comp Rows according to the description in “Creating a comped audio clip”.
