Audio recording details

Setting up the audio track

Selecting audio input(s) and defining mono or stereo

Select audio input(s) for the track from the Audio Input drop-down list.

Selecting audio inputs for the Audio Track.

At the top of the drop-down list you can select whether you want to use mono or stereo inputs. Depending on your selection, the LED meter switches to a stereo or mono display. Further down in the drop-down list you can select the audio interface input(s) you want to use for the track.

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If you are using the Propellerhead Balance audio interface, selecting any of its input channels in the drop-down list will automatically switch on the corresponding Ready LEDs on the Balance front panel. Also, if you have selected “Mono Input” in the Audio Input drop-down list, the Audio Track will show a CS (Clip Safe) symbol to the right of the LED meter.

Setting input level(s)

Before you start recording audio on the track it’s very important to set correct input level(s). The input signal should be loud enough to minimize noise and provide high quality, but not so loud that it causes clipping and distortion.

If you’re using a 24-bit audio interface (recommended), aim at having the level of the input signal around -12dB on the track Input Meter according to the picture below. For 16-bit audio interfaces you may want to raise the level another couple of dB’s.

To get a better view of the input levels, use the separate Recording Meter Window, see “The Recording Meter Window”.

If you are using the Propellerhead Balance audio interface you can use the special Clip Safe function to protect your recordings from accidental audio input clipping, see “Recording using the Clip Safe function in Propellerhead Balance”.

Always adjust the input level at the source (e.g. the preamp connected to, or built-in to the audio interface).

If the input signal level should exceed 0dB (red clipping LEDs to the right) on the track Input Meter at any time during recording, there could be audible distortion in the recording:

If the input level should clip, at any time, the red clipping LED(s) in the Input Meter will be constantly lit until you click on the Input Meter. This is to notify that there is, or has been, too loud an input signal present on the track.

The input level cannot be adjusted using the Channel strip controls in the Main Mixer. The Channel strip controls are used only for adjusting the level and characteristics of the monitored signal and/or the playback signal of an existing recording on the track.

Using the Clip Safe function with Propellerhead Balance

Note that the Clip Safe function only works together with the Propellerhead Balance audio interface.

If you use the Propellerhead Balance audio interface together with Reason, you will have access to the Clip Safe function. The Clip Safe function lets you record a mono signal with an additional “invisible” headroom. This is done by using both AD converters in Propellerhead Balance for the same mono signal, with the second AD converter dedicated to the additional headroom.

When recording with the Clip Safe function, Reason records the mono signal in parallel using both AD converters. The original AD converter records the signal at normal level and the second AD converter records the same signal “padded” at a lower level.

In practice this means that if the input signal should exceed the normal 0dB clipping level during recording, the program will allow you to use the “padded” signal from the second AD converter and replace the clipped/distorted audio. The padded signal will be amplified in Reason so that its level accurately reflects the original recording level. In other words, the resulting signal will be just as loud as the original signal - but without any clipping or distortion.

Proceed as follows to activate the Clip Safe function:

1.	Select “Mono Input” in the Audio Input drop-down list on the Audio Track and then select either “Balance 1/L” or “Balance 2/R”.

The CS (Clip Safe) symbol appears to the right of the level meter on the Audio Track.

2.	Press the Clip Safe button on the Propellerhead Balance front panel.

The Clip Safe button on the Propellerhead Balance audio interface.

A Clip Safe request signal is sent from the Balance interface to Reason. Depending on what audio inputs are selected on the record enabled Audio Track(s), the following happens:

•	If the Balance 1/L or 2/R input is selected as audio input (Mono) on one single record enabled Audio Track, the Clip Safe LED on the Balance interface turns green and the CS symbol on the Audio Track is lit.

When the Clip Safe LED on the Propellerhead Balance audio interface is green, the Clip Safe function is enabled. If the 1/L input is selected as audio input (Mono), the Right channel on the Balance interface is used for the additional headroom, and vice versa.

•	If the Balance 1/L and 2/R inputs are selected as Stereo Input, the Clip Safe function is disabled and the Clip Safe LED on the Balance interface turns red. The CS symbol on the Audio Track also disappears.

The Clip Safe function requires both inputs to be available. Also, if the Balance 1/L (mono) and 2/R (mono) inputs are selected as audio inputs on other record enabled Audio Tracks, the Clip Safe function is disabled.

See “Recording using the Clip Safe function in Propellerhead Balance” for more information about using the Clip Safe function.

Monitoring

Monitoring means listening to the input signal of an audio track. Monitoring works according to the following principles:

•	By default, monitoring is automatically enabled as soon as an audio track is record enabled.

This makes it possible to hear what you will be recording - before and during recording to disk.

•	During playback of an audio track, monitoring is automatically disabled.

During playback, you will only hear the recorded signal - not any input signal.

Note that you can manually activate or deactivate monitoring for a track by clicking the Monitor button.

The input signal is monitored after the Channel strip and Master Section in the Main Mixer which means that all mixer parameters, including any Insert Effects, Dynamics etc., will also be applied to the monitored signal.

Note that the Main Mixer parameters will only affect the monitored (and/or played back) signal - they will not affect the signal being recorded to disk.

Depending on the technical specifications and/or settings in your hardware audio interface, the latency of the monitored input could become a problem. If this is the case, it’s probably better to monitor the input signal before it reaches the Reason program, i.e. directly on the external audio interface/mixer/preamp. If you don't want to monitor through the Reason program you should select "External" or “Manual” in the Monitoring section on the Audio tab in the Preferences dialog:

Select “Automatic” to select automatic monitoring of the Audio Track in Reason.

Each time you select and/or record enable an Audio Track in the Track List, monitoring in Reason will be automatically enabled. It’s possible to manually disable monitoring in this mode if you like.

Select “Manual” to manually select if monitoring should be on or off.

This mode should be selected if you prefer to have manual control over monitoring, or when you are monitoring through external mixer or audio interface. In the latter case, you would select "Manual" mode and just don't click any monitor buttons.

Select “External” to deselect automatic monitoring of the Audio Track in Reason.

When you select and/or record enable an Audio Track in the Track List, monitoring in Reason will be automatically disabled. It’s not possible to manually enable monitoring in this mode.

Using the Tuner

An audio track also features a built-in tuner function. The Tuner detects and displays the input pitch of a connected instrument - an electric guitar, for example.

1.	Click the “Enable Tuner” button below the device icon to switch to Tuner mode.

The Input Meter switches to a Tuner.

An audio track in Tuner mode.

2.	Play a note on the connected instrument and watch the Tuner.

When the input pitch is detected, the Tuner lights up and indicates how far the pitch is from the displayed note value to the right of the Tuner. The center LED on the Tuner Meter indicates a perfectly tuned note pitch. The green arrow LEDs on either side of the Tuner Meter indicate how the connected instrument should be tuned. The left arrow LED means raise the pitch and the right means lower the pitch.

Note that the input note needs to sustain for a little while before the pitch can be detected.

The Recording Meter Window

The main purpose of the Recording Meter floating window is to provide a good overview of recording levels and/or tuner values when you are located some distance away from the computer screen. The Recording Meter mirrors the information from the input level meter and Tuner of the currently selected record enabled Audio Track.

Toggle the Recording Meter window on and off by selecting “Show/Hide Recording Meter” from the Windows menu.

If you are using the Propellerhead Balance audio interface you can also press the Meter/Tuner button on the front panel to toggle the Recording Meter window on and off:

The Meter/Tuner button on the Propellerhead Balance audio interface.

Move the Recording Meter window by clicking on the window background and then dragging.

If you have manually record enabled several Audio Tracks in the sequencer, you can choose which track to display in the Recording Meter window by clicking the right/left arrows on either side of the Audio Track name.

By default, the first record enabled Audio Track in the sequencer is displayed in the Recording Meter window.

Click the pitchfork symbol in the Recording Meter window to bring up the Tuner for the selected Audio Track.

A large Tuner display is shown at the bottom of the Recording Meter window.

See “Using the Tuner” for more information about the Tuner.

Recording audio

To minimize the song saving time, we strongly recommend saving the song before recording many or large audio recordings.

1.	Set up the audio track according to the descriptions in “Setting up the audio track”.

2.	Record the track according to the descriptions in “General recording procedure”.

3.	When the recording is finished, the audio clip on the track shows the recorded audio as one or two continuous waves inside the clip, depending on whether the input was in mono or stereo:

An audio clip with a stereo audio recording.

Recording using the Clip Safe function in Propellerhead Balance

If you are recording using the Propellerhead Balance audio interface, you can utilize the Clip Safe function to protect your recordings from any accidental input signal clipping. The program can then take care of and heal any input signals that accidentally exceed 0dB.

See “Using the Clip Safe function with Propellerhead Balance” for more details.

Note that the Clip Safe function can only be used when recording in mono (single audio input) and only on one record enabled Audio Track at a time.

Proceed as follows to set up and activate the Clip Safe function:

1.	Select the desired Audio Track for recording.

2.	Select audio input in the drop-down list.

Note that you can only select the Balance In L or R (Mono Input) for the Clip Safe function to be available.

3.	Press the Clip Safe button on the Balance front panel.

The Clip Safe LED on the Propellerhead Balance audio interface turns green. The CS indicator to the right of the input level meter on the Audio track is lit:

The Clip Safe LED on the Propellerhead Balance interface and the CS indicator on the Audio Track.

4.	Record the track according to the descriptions in “General recording procedure”.

We recommend that you aim at -12dB maximum recording level, even if you are using the Clip Safe function. Recording high input levels will result in very loud audio on the track, which could be problematic to mix with the rest of the instrument tracks in your song.

When the Clip Safe function is active, the Input Meter on the Audio Track, as well as the level meter in the Recording Meter window get their red LEDs replaced by yellow ones. The Recording Window also gets a Clip Safe symbol to the upper right:

The Input Meter on the Audio track and the Recording Meter gets yellow LEDs instead of red ones.

5.	When the recording is finished, the audio clip on the track shows the recorded audio as a continuous wave inside the clip.

The red vertical line(s) at the top of the of the audio clip indicate that Clip Safe was activated since the input level exceeded 0dB. The selected audio clip also gets an additional Heal (CS) button on its upper right hand side:

Audio recorded with the Clip Safe function active.

6.	Play back the track and hear where the signal clips.

You should hear this when the playhead passes over the red vertical line(s) in the audio clip. Sometimes, though, if the clipping is moderate it might not be audible.

7.	To permanently heal the audio clip and use the Clip Safe audio, click the Heal (CS) button to the upper right-hand side of the audio clip. Alternatively, select “Heal Clip Safe Clips” from the Edit menu or audio clip context menu.

Now, the clipped/distorted audio has been replaced by the “padded” Clip Safe audio and the recording should not clip or distort anymore. The area above the audio clip disappears, as does the Heal (CS) button.

If you like, you can zoom out using the Waveform Zoom Level buttons to view the resulting waveform in its entirety in the Audio Clip (see “Waveform Zoom Mode”).

The healing operation can also be performed on several selected audio clips in one go. Just select the desired clips and click a Heal (CS) button on one of the clips.

If you want to remove the Clip Safe parts and keep the clipped/distorted parts, just undo the healing operation using the standard [Cmd](Mac)/[Ctrl](Win)+[Z] command.

If you want to permanently delete the Clip Safe audio and keep the clipped/distorted audio, select “Delete Clip Safe Audio” from the Edit menu or audio clip context menu.

•	In Edit Mode, the audio clip will have the same graphical appearance (the clipped/distorted parts indicated by red vertical lines, plus the Heal (CS) button to the right in the Clip Overview).

Recording audio in Loop mode

Recording audio in Loop mode is very useful if you want to record alternative takes of the same part of the song. For example, let’s say you want to sing a couple of takes of the chorus part of your song to later create the perfect chorus by selecting the best parts of the different takes.

To minimize the song saving time, we strongly recommend saving the song before recording many or large audio recordings.

Proceed as follows to record audio in Loop mode:

1.	Set up the audio track according to the descriptions in “Setting up the audio track”.

2.	Set the Left and Right Locators to span the chorus part of your song.

3.	Enable the Loop function by pressing [L] or by clicking the Loop On/Off button on the Transport Panel:

Loop mode activated on the Transport Panel.

4.	Click the L button on the Transport Panel to move the Song Position Pointer (play head) to the Left Locator.

5.	Record the track according to the descriptions in “General recording procedure”.

6.	Start singing to record audio on the track.

When the Song Position Pointer has reached the Right Locator, the recording starts over from the Left locator again and you can now record a second take. The audio recorded in the previous take won’t be heard but is saved in the “background” on a Comp Row.

Continue recording for as many loop cycles as you like.

7.	When the recording is finished, the audio clip on the track shows the last recorded audio take as one or two continuous waves inside the clip (depending on whether the input was in mono or stereo).

If you recorded the last loop cycle throughout the entire clip length, the audio clip will be a Single Take clip. If you stopped recording the last loop cycle somewhere in the middle of the clip, the clip will be a Comp Clip.

8.	Double-click the clip to open it for editing.

•	If the last loop cycle was recorded throughout the entire clip length, the clip opens in Slice Edit mode.

If so, open the clip in the Comp Editor by clicking the “Comp Edit” button in the Toolbar.

Otherwise, it opens in the Comp Editor right away. In the Comp Editor, you can see that there is one Comp Row for each of the recorded loop cycles (Takes):

Audio recorded in Loop mode with 5 loop cycles (Takes) recorded.

From here, it’s easy to assign the best parts from the different takes and comp them into a final clip. See “Creating a comped audio clip” for details.

If you have recorded using the Clip Safe function with the Propellerhead Balance audio interface, any clipped parts are displayed with vertical red lines above each Comp Row. If you decide to heal the audio clip using the Heal (CS) button or “Heal Clip Safe Clips” from the Edit menu or context menu of the selected audio clip, the recordings on all Comp Rows are healed in one go.

Overdubbing audio using the “Dub” function

Back in the tape recorder days, overdubbing was used to record additional takes on additional tracks on the same section of the tape, to create a complete arrangement. For example, recording a vocal chorus part could be done by overdubbing the singer three or four times on additional tracks. Overdubbing in Reason works in a similar way, but with much better control, and much better editing possibilities afterwards.

After you have recorded the first take on an audio track, click the “Dub” button on the Transport Panel.

This will create a new audio track with a duplicate of the original audio track settings, including the channel strip settings (with insert effects etc.). Now, you can continue recording on the new audio track as described in “Recording audio” and “Recording audio in Loop mode”. Afterwards, you can edit the new track completely independently of the original track.

The “Dub” function can also be used on-the-fly while recording.

Duplicating audio tracks using the “Alt” function

Closely related to the “Dub” function, described in “Overdubbing audio using the “Dub” function”, is the “Alt” function. This function can be used to create a new audio track with an identical copy of the selected audio track’s settings. The only difference between the “Alt” and “Dub” functions is that the Alt function will automatically mute the original audio track.

Select the audio track you want to duplicate and then click the “New Alt” button on the Transport Panel.

This will create a new audio track with a duplicate of the original audio track settings, including the channel strip settings (with insert etc.). Now, you can continue recording on the new audio track as described in “Recording audio” and “Recording audio in Loop mode”. Afterwards, you can edit the new track completely independently of the original track.

The “Alt” function can also be used on-the-fly while recording.

Recording over or into an existing audio clip

If you start recording over an existing clip on an audio track, the new recording will incorporate (replace, but not erase) the previous recording in the clip. When you open the audio clip in the Comp Editor afterwards, there will be one Comp Row for each of the takes, the same result as when recording audio in Loop mode (see “Recording audio in Loop mode”).

Let’s have a look at the following example:

In the picture below, we have the original audio clip spanning bars 1-8 on the track:

An audio track with an existing clip.

Now, we want to redo (re-record) the part that spans bars 5-6. We place the Song Position Pointer at bar 5 and record 2 bars:

A new recording made on bars 5-6 on the audio track.

The new recording is made over the original clip. The recording in the original clip has therefore been incorporated into the start of bar 5 to the end of bar 6.

You can also see that the clip has become a Comp Clip, as indicated by the symbol (gray dots) at the lower right corner of the clip.

Now, let’s double-click the clip to open it in the Comp Editor:

The new and original recordings (takes) in Edit Mode.

The new recording has incorporated bars 5-6 of the original recording. However, the original recording in bars 5-6 has been left totally unaffected. The entire original audio recording now resides on the “Take 1” Comp Row and the latest recording resides on the “Take 2” Comp Row. The resulting clip will now play back the “Take 1” recording in bars 1-4 and 7-8. Bars 5-6 will play back the “Take 2” recording.

See “Creating a comped audio clip” for details on how to extract parts from individual takes and comp into a final clip.

Recording audio from Mix Channel outputs

Besides recording external audio from the inputs of your audio interface, it’s also possible to record audio internally from the outputs of Mix Channel or Audio Track devices. Typical applications for this could be:

•	Recording the audio from an Output Bus (sub mixer) Mix Channel.

You might have the individual drums of your drum kit on separate tracks and these tracks are routed to a Mix Channel which is set to work as an Output Bus (see “Output Busses”). You then want to record the audio from the Output Bus onto a new Audio Track.

In this situation, all you need to do is create a new Audio Track, activate the Rec Source button on the Output Bus Mix Channel device, and then select the Output Bus in the Select Audio Input drop-down list on the Audio Track in the Track List. Then, record the audio from the Output Bus as described in “Recording audio”.

•	Re-recording of an audio track with effects applied.

•	Recording when playing back an instrument or audio track while making live manipulations of effects or parameters.

If you want to record the audio from an Instrument track onto an audio track, without making any live manipulations, you can also use the “Bounce Mixer Channels” function - see “Bouncing Mixer Channels”.

The example below describes how to capture and record the audio from an ID8 device, but the general method can be used for other recording scenarios as well:

1.	Create an instrument track for the instrument device you want to record according to the descriptions in “Creating an instrument track”.

You won’t actually be recording on the instrument track in this situation. However, you will need the instrument track to be able to play the instrument device from your connected master keyboard.

2.	Create an audio track according to the description in “Creating an audio track”.

3.	In the rack, locate the Mix Channel device connected to the ID8 instrument device and click its “Rec Source” button.

The “Rec Source” button on Mix Channel devices is used for real-time audio recording of devices connected to the Mix Channel device.

The “Rec Source” button on Audio Track devices are used for real-time re-recording of audio tracks.

Enabling the Rec Source button on the Mix Channel device in the rack.

4.	Locate the audio track and select “Stereo Input” and “ID8 1” as input source in the “Select Audio Input” drop-down list.

All Mix Channel and Audio Track devices that have their “Rec Source” button enabled will appear in the list. In this example, we only have the Rec Source button active on the “ID8 1” Mix Channel.

“Stereo Input” and “ID8 1” selected in the “Select Audio Input” drop-down list.

5.	Select the instrument track, in this example the ID8 1, so that it has Master Keyboard Input (red frame around the device icon) and disable the “Record Enable” button.

Select the ID8 1 track and disable the Record Enable button.

6.	Locate the audio track and record enable it by clicking the Record Enable button.

Engage Record Enable on the Disk Channel track.

Don’t set Master Keyboard Input to the audio track - only click the “Record Enable” button on the audio track! This way, the ID8 1 instrument track will still have Master Keyboard Input.

7.	Play the master keyboard and set the input level to the audio track by adjusting the Level Fader on the ID8 1 Mix Channel strip in the mixer.

Adjusting the instrument’s level to the audio track.

A Volume setting of -0.0 dB on the instrument device and a Level Fader setting of -0.0 dB on its corresponding Mix Channel strip in the mixer is often the optimal setting to avoid audio signal clipping. As when recording external audio, it’s the track’s Input Meter that should be observed for any clipping.

8.	Start recording audio on the audio track according to the description in “Recording audio”.

By using the recording method described above, it’s also possible to record the audio from previously recorded note clips on instrument tracks.

Recording a mixdown of several audio tracks

Another useful feature is to record a real-time mixdown of several previously recorded audio tracks onto a new, additional audio track. This is sometimes also referred to as recording stems or sub-mixes. Let’s say we have four backing vocal tracks that we want to mix down and record on a new audio track. We can do this as follows:

1.	Create a new audio track according to the description in “Creating an audio track”.

This is the track we’re going to use for recording the mixdown. We name the track “Mixdown” to make it easier to distinguish.

2.	Locate the Master Section device in the rack and click its “Rec Source” button.

The “Rec Source” button on the Master Section device.

This will allow you to record the output from the Master Section onto the new audio track.

3.	Locate the four backing vocal Audio Track devices in the rack, or their corresponding channel strips in the mixer, and click their “Solo” buttons.

The four backing vocal Audio Track devices soloed.

Since we’re going to record the four backing vocal tracks through the outputs of the Master Section, we only want the backing vocal tracks to sound. All other tracks in the song should therefore be muted.

4.	Select the “Mixdown” track in the sequencer and select “Stereo” and “Master Section” from the “Select Audio Input” drop-down list.

“Stereo” and “Master Section” selected as Audio Input source.

Selecting “Stereo” makes it possible to pan the backing vocal tracks in stereo before recording on the mixdown audio track.

5.	Adjust the parameters of each of the backing vocal track channel strips as desired.

Don’t forget to set the panning of each of the tracks to spread them in the stereo panorama.

6.	Select the “Mixdown” track in the sequencer and click the “Rec” button on the Transport Panel to start recording the mixdown.

Recording the mixdown of the four backing vocal tracks to the “Mixdown” track.

During recording, you might want to perform real-time adjustments of the backing vocal tracks’ channel strip parameters to create a “live” mix.

7.	When you have recorded the mixdown, click “Stop” on the Transport Panel.

8.	Before you play back the song with the mixdown track, remember to un-solo the four backing vocal Audio Track devices/channel strips. Also, mute the four original backing vocal tracks in the sequencer to avoid “double” sounds.

Playing back the Mixdown track with the original backing vocal tracks muted in the sequencer.

Another alternative, if you want to record several Audio Tracks or Mix Channels onto a single audio track, is to create a sub-mixer setup - see “Output Busses”.