Transport Panel details

At the bottom of the Reason window is the sequencer’s Transport Panel. From here you control the sequencer transport functions. You can also set tempo, time signature and various other parameters.

Keys

Click this button to bring up the On-screen Piano Keyboard floating window.

See the “On-screen Piano Keys” chapter for more information.

Groove

Click the Groove button to bring up the ReGroove Mixer.

Refer to “The ReGroove Mixer” chapter for more information.

Q Record

Click the Q Record (Quantize during recording) button to quantize notes as they are being recorded.

When the Q Record button is on, all recorded MIDI notes will be quantized to the currently selected quantization grid. Refer to “Quantize” for more information on quantization.

Quantize value

Select the desired quantization value from the drop down list.

Refer to “Quantize” for more information on quantization.

Quantize

Click the Quantize button to quantize the notes in the selected clips to the selected Quantize value - after they have been recorded.

Refer to “Quantize” for more information on quantization.

Sync Mode

Here you can set the desired synchronization mode for the Reason sequencer: Internal, MIDI Clock (if applicable), Ableton Link (if applicable) or ReWire (if applicable). You can also choose “Send MIDI Clock” to sync other applications/instruments from Reason (if applicable). See the chapter “Synchronization and Advanced MIDI” for more information about synchronization.

Song Position

The current song position is shown in the display. The song position is where the Song Position Pointer in the Ruler (see Ruler details) is at the moment. The display is divided into Bars, Beats, 1/16th Note and Ticks (there are 240 Ticks for each 16th note) segments. You can edit the position of the Song Position Pointer, and thus change the song playback position, according to the descriptions in “Transport Panel segment displays”.

About subticks in the Song Position display

When editing notes and automation events in the sequencer you have a resolution of 240 ticks per 1/16th note, which allows for very accurate positioning. But for the Song Position Pointer, the internal resolution is even higher (15360 ppq) which means that the position can end up on a fraction of a tick, a so called subtick.

If the Song Position Pointer value is on a fraction of a tick, this is displayed with an asterisk (*) in the Tick section of the Song Position display.

To adjust the Song Position Pointer to the closest tick value, press [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and click on the asterisk in the display.

The Song Position Pointer will now adjust to the closest tick value and the asterisk disappears.

Time Position

The current position of the Song Position Pointer in the Ruler (see Ruler details) is shown in time format (hours, minutes, seconds and milliseconds) in the display. You can change the position in time of the Song Position Pointer, and thus change the song playback time position, according to the descriptions in “Transport Panel segment displays”.

Click On/Off

Click this button to hear an audible metronome click as the sequencer plays.

The click will sound on every beat, with the first beat in every bar accented (higher pitched). See “Click and Pre-count” for more details.

Pre(-count) On/Off

Click the Pre button to hear a pre-count (count-in) click sound before recording.

Pre-count will only be present before recording - not before regular playback. See “Click and Pre-count” for details about selecting number of pre-count bars etc.

Click Level

Adjust the audio level of the metronome (and Pre-count) with this slider.

See “Click and Pre-count” for more details.

Tempo

The current song tempo is shown in the display in BPM (Beats Per Minute) and 1/1000 of a BPM. You can edit the tempo according to the descriptions in “Transport Panel segment displays”. The Tempo range is 1.000-999.999 BPM.

Tap Tempo

Instead of setting the Tempo with the Tempo control (see above), you can manually tap in the desired tempo in real-time.

Click the Tap button repeatedly to set desired sequencer tempo.

The tempo is defined by averaging the time between a minimum of two clicks and a maximum of 16 clicks. The more clicks, the more “steady” the tempo. The time-out between two series of clicks is 2 seconds. The detectable tap tempo range is 30-999.999 BPM.

Signature

The current song time signature is shown in the display. You can edit the time signature according to the descriptions in “Transport Panel segment displays”.

The available Signatures are: 1/2-16/2, 1/4-16/4, 1/8-16/8 and 1/16-16/16.

Rewind and Fast Forward

Click on the Rewind or Fast Forward buttons to move the Song Position Pointer in steps of one bar (from its current position).

To move the Song Position Pointer several bars at once, click and hold the mouse button depressed.

Instead of clicking the buttons, you can use the computer keyboard:

Press [4] on the numeric keypad for Rewind and [5] for Fast Forward.

If you click and hold the Rewind or Fast Forward buttons, or press and hold the [4] or [5] keys, the positioning speed will be faster after the first 20 bars.

Play and Stop

Click the Play button to start playback from the Song Position Pointer’s current position.

Alternatively, press [Enter] on the numeric keypad on the computer keyboard.

Click the Stop button to stop playback (or recording).

Alternatively, press [0] on the numeric keypad or [Shift]+[Return] on the computer keyboard.

By default, if you click the Stop button or use the keyboard “Stop” commands when the song is already stopped, the Song Position Pointer is moved according to the following rules:

•	Clicking/pressing Stop the first time moves the Song Position Pointer to where playback was last started.

•	Clicking/pressing Stop a second time moves the Song Position Pointer to the beginning of the song.

•	If the Song Position Pointer already is at the beginning of the song, nothing happens.

This means you can always click twice on the Stop button in “stop mode”, to return to the beginning of the song.

Press [Spacebar] on the computer keyboard to toggle between Play and Stop.

•	To have the Song Position Pointer automatically return to its last start position when you hit Stop, select “Return to last start position on stop” in the Miscellaneous section on the General tab in Preferences, see “Return to last start position on stop”.

Record

Click the Record button to begin recording on the selected track/lane in your song.

Alternatively, press [*] on the numeric keypad or hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and press [Return] on the computer keyboard. If Pre-count has been activated (see Pre(-count) On/Off above), the recording will begin after the set number of pre-count bars.

Nothing you play during the pre-count period will be recorded.

Dub and Alt

Clicking on any of these buttons will add additional audio tracks or note lanes for overdub purposes. Refer to “Overdubbing audio using the “Dub” function” and “Recording notes using the “Dub” and “Alt” functions” for more details about these functions.

Loop On/Off

Click the Loop button or press [L] to activate the Loop function.

When the loop function is activated, recording and playback will be continuously looped between the Left and Right Locators. Some general rules regarding loop mode are these:

•	If the Song Position Pointer is to the left of (before) the Right Locator when playback is started, the song will play to the Right Locator and then immediately jump back and seamlessly continue from the Left Locator.

•	If the Song Position Pointer is to the right of (after) the Right Locator when playback is started, the Locators will be ignored and the song will continue to play “un-looped”.

•

If the Left Locator is to the right of the Right Locator, i.e. in “reversed” order, the song will play to the Right Locator and then immediately jump and seamlessly continue from the Left Locator, skipping the part of the song in-between the Locators. The song will then continue to play “un-looped”.

Go to Left and Right Locators

Click on the “L” or “R” button to move the Song Position Pointer to the Left or Right Locators respectively.

Alternatively, press [1] on the numeric keypad on the computer keyboard to move the Song Position Pointer to the Left Locator or [2] to move to the Right Locator.

Left and Right Locator Positions

The current positions of the Left and Right Locators in the Ruler (see Ruler details) are shown in the displays. The display is divided into Bar, Beat, 1/16th Note and Ticks (there are 240 Ticks for each 1/16th Note). You can change the positions of the Locators, and thus change the loop playback region, according to the descriptions in “Transport Panel segment displays”.

Transport keyboard commands

Below is a complete list of the computer keyboard shortcuts for the Sequencer Transport functions:

| Function	| Key command
Stop, Go to start position, Go to start of song	[0] on the numeric keypad or [Shift]+[Return]
Play	[Enter] on the numeric keypad
Toggle Stop/Play	[Spacebar]
Rewind	[4] on the numeric keypad
Fast Forward	[5] on the numeric keypad
Record	[*] on the numeric keypad or [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac)+[Return]
Go to Left Locator	[1] on the numeric keypad
Go to Right Locator	[2] on the numeric keypad
Go to the start of the song	[.] on the numeric keypad
Move forward one bar	[8] on the numeric keypad
Go back one bar	[7] on the numeric keypad
Tempo up	[+] on the numeric keypad
Tempo down	[-] on the numeric keypad
Loop On/Off	[/] on the numeric keypad or [L]
Click On/Off	[C] or [9] on the numeric keypad
Pre-count On/Off	[Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac)+[P]
Set the Left and Right Loop Locators to encompass selected clips.	[Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac)+[L]
Set the Left and Right Loop Locators to encompass selected clips and start playback in Loop Mode.	[P]

If you are using ReWire for remote controlling Reason, the transport functions can be handled by either application. See “ReWire” for details.