The rack is where you create and configure your devices, and make parameter settings. This section describes all the procedures for managing the rack, that is, procedures and techniques common to all devices.
The rack houses all the devices you use in your song. To make it easier to overview the devices, the rack can contain several rack columns next to each other. To navigate in the rack, use one of the following methods:
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Press the [Page Up] and [Page Down] buttons on the computer keyboard to move the view one “full screen” up or down in the rack column currently in view.
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Note that the rack area must have Edit Focus, i.e. there must be a frame surrounding the rack area. Set Edit Focus by clicking anywhere in the rack area.
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When you select a track in the sequencer, or click the “Rack” button below a channel strip in the Main Mixer, the rack will automatically scroll to bring the associated device into view.
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Resize the rack area by clicking and dragging either of the gray horizontal headers above or below the rack area, or by dragging the vertical Browser divider.
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Dragging the divider to the left will expand the Rack Navigator area and enlarge the devices, making it easier to get a good overview of all devices in your rack.
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You can detach the rack area from the other areas altogether by holding [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) and pressing [F6], or by clicking the “Detach” icon in the gray rack header.
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This will place the rack in a separate window. (See “The Rack” for more info.)
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See also “Creating new rack columns” for information on how to create several rack columns.
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When the rack is detached, it also features a second instance of the Browser. The Browser is available to the left in the detached rack.
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The Browser in the detached rack can be navigated independently from the Browser in the Song window, except only one can have browse focus at a time (see “Setting browse focus”).
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A Device Group is a series of interconnected devices that “belong together”. A Device Group could be, for example, an instrument device connected to an effect device and then to a Mix Channel device.
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A Device Group is only defined by the connections between the devices - it has nothing to do with the physical location of the devices in the rack.
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By default, when you create an Instrument device, a new (or currently unused) Mix Channel device will be automatically connected to the Instrument device, as described in “Creating devices”. In this situation, the Instrument device and the connected Mix Channel device will now be considered a Device Group - with the Instrument device as the Source device.
If you want to keep all devices in a Device Group physically together in the rack (e.g. if you want to move all devices in the group), there is an option “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” on the Options menu.
The advantage of using the “Auto -group Devices and Tracks” option is that it’s much easier to get a good visual overview over what devices are connected to each other and associated with specific sequencer tracks and with a specific channel strip in the Main Mixer. It’s also easier to rearrange devices in the rack since all devices in the Device Group will move together if one device in the Device Group is moved.
The example below shows two ID8 devices connected to one Mix Channel device each. Let’s say you want to move the ID8 1 device to another position in the rack. This is what will happen:
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Make sure the “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” is selected on the Options menu - if not, select it from the menu or hold down [Ctrl]+[Shift](Win) or [Cmd]+[Shift](Mac) and press [G].
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As you can see, both the ID8 1 device and its connected Mix Channel device are moved together, as a group, to the new destination.
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If you want to view what devices belong to a specific Device Group, select a device and then select “Select All in Device Group” from the Edit menu or context menu.
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Devices can be created in a number of different ways. These first methods apply to any device types:
The devices are sorted in three different groups: Instruments, Effects and Utilities. The Utilities group contains device types such as mixers, modulation devices, etc. In each device type group the devices are listed in the following sections: Reason Essentials Devices, and then by Rack Extension manuafacturer in alphabetical order.
A device can be dropped in the rack or in the Track List in the Sequencer. As you drag a device to the rack or Sequencer Track List, a +-sign is shown together with an orange divider to indicate where the device will be placed:
When you drop a patch in the rack or in the Track List in the Sequencer the corresponding device is automatically created in the rack.
Any device type can be created. The “Create” menu is available both on the main menu and on the rack and device context menus and is divided into the three groups Instruments, Effects and Utilities. At the top of each group (Instruments/Effects/Utilities) are the devices you create most often. Below are all available devices, on submenus per manufacturer.
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When you have created an Instrument or Effect device that can load patches, it automatically gets “browse focus” (orange indicators). This means that the Browser automatically displays patches for the device you just created. See “Loading patches” for more information.
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Automatic browse focus can be switched off if you like. This is done on the General tab in Preferences, see “New devices get browse focus”.
Depending on what type of device you’ve created, and also the “Auto-Group Devices and Tracks” setting, the results will differ:
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If “Auto-Group Devices and Tracks” on the Options menu is not selected, the new device is added directly below the currently selected device in the rack.
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If “Auto-Group Devices and Tracks” on the Options menu is selected, devices will not be created in the middle of existing Device Groups (except if they are effect devices - see “Effect devices specifics”).
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This will show the Instruments palette in the Browser. Here you can choose the Instrument device you want to create - see “Create Instrument/Create Effect”.
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If you have created an Instrument device, a new sequencer track will be automatically created. Also, a new (or unused) Mix Channel device will be connected to the Instrument device. The Mix Channel device’s channel strip will appear in the Main Mixer.
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The track, the Mix Channel device and its channel strip will be given the same name as the created Instrument device. Master Keyboard Input will also automatically be set to the new track, allowing you to immediately play the created Instrument device via MIDI (see “Master Keyboard Input”). By default, the Instrument device and Mix Channel device will be treated as a “Device Group” from here on (see “About Device Groups”).
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By default, the automatic creation of a sequencer track and Mix Channel device only applies to instrument devices, not to mixers or effect devices.
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If you hold down [Alt](Win) or [Option](Mac) when you create an Instrument device (except when you drag and drop from the Browser), a sequencer track will not be created.
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If you hold down [Alt](Win) or [Option](Mac) when you create a Mix Channel device (from the Create menu or Browser), a sequencer track will be created for the device.
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This will show the Effects Pallette in the Browser. Here you can choose the Effect device you want to create - see “Create Instrument/Create Effect”.
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If an Audio Track (device or channel strip), or a Mix Channel (device or channel strip), was selected when you created an effect, the effect device will be added and connected as an insert effect, inside the Insert FX container for that Audio Track or Mix Channel device.
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If an Instrument device was selected in the rack when you created an effect device, the effect device will be added and connected as an “insert effect”, between the Instrument device and the Mix Channel device.
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If a Mixer 14:2 or Line Mixer 6:2 was selected when you created an effect, the effect device will be added and connected as a Send Effect, on the first available Send FX connectors of the mixer device.
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Some operations, e.g. cutting, copying, moving and deleting devices (see “Cut, Copy and Paste devices” and “Deleting devices”), require that you select one or several devices in the rack. This is done according to the following:
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You can also use the arrow keys on the computer keyboard to select the device directly above, below or next to the currently selected one.
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When you use this method, Reason Essentials will automatically scroll the rack so that the selected device is fully visible. This is a quick way of “stepping through” the rack. Narrow devices (e.g. half-width devices such as some effects) are ordered left-to-right, i.e. pressing the down arrow key will step through the devices from left to right before moving on the next device row.
When you create an instrument device it automatically gets a corresponding sequencer track, and Master Keyboard Input is set to that track so you can play the instrument device from your MIDI keyboard. You can change Master Keyboard Input by selecting another sequencer track, but you can also change Master Keyboard Input from the rack. This is useful if you, for example, have the rack detached and maximized, so you can’t see the sequencer area.
When you select a device in the rack it is surrounded by a colored border. At the top left of the border is a Master Keyboard Input tab:
Master Keyboard input is automatically switched in the sequencer as well and you can now play the device from your MIDI keyboard:
When you play the device, incoming MIDI is indicated by the Master Keyboard Input symbols on the device in the rack as well as on the sequencer track.
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If a selected device doesn't have a sequencer track (e.g. effect devices), one will be automatically created if you click the Master Keyboard Input tab.
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If you have selected a Source device or a Mix Channel device and the “Auto-Group Devices and Tracks” on the Options menu is selected, an alert appears asking if you want to delete the device or the whole Device Group, including sequencer tracks and channel strips. (See “About Device Groups”).
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An alert appears asking you to confirm the deletion. This will delete the devices together with the associated sequencer track(s) also if the “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” option isn’t selected. (It’s possible to have devices without associated tracks but it is not possible to have a sequencer track without an associated device.)
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To delete devices and tracks without alerts, hold down [Ctrl](Win) or [Cmd](Mac) before selecting “Delete Devices and Tracks” from the Edit menu or the device context menu.
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If you want to move an instrument device to another position in the rack, you probably also want its Mix Channel device and connected effects to move along with it. If the “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” on the “Options” menu is selected, all devices in the Device Group will follow along when you drag and drop a device included in a Device Group. However, it’s still possible to re-order devices within each Device Group. See “About Device Groups” for more details. See also “About the “Sort Selected Device Groups” function” for information about automatic sorting of several Device Groups.
If the “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” on the “Options” menu is not selected, you can re-order and move devices individually in the rack - even outside the Device Groups:
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An orange line indicates where the device(s) will be positioned. Note that when re-ordering devices with smaller width, the line can be to the left of a device (indicating that the moved device will be placed before the other device) or to the right of a device (indicating that the moved device will be placed after the other device).
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Note that if you start to move a device but change your mind, you can abort the operation by pressing [Esc] while keeping the mouse button depressed.
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Moving devices in the rack does not affect the order of the sequencer tracks or channel strips and vice versa. If you want the sequencer tracks and channel strips to be re-ordered as well, see “About the “Sort Selected Device Groups” function”.
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If you hold [Shift] and drag a device to a new position in the rack, it will be re-routed (as if you deleted it and created it in its new position).
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This allows you to e.g. change the order of effect devices in a signal chain by Shift-dragging them.
It’s possible to move devices, or Device Groups, to new rack columns. This is very useful if your rack starts to get crowded, or if you want to arrange your devices in separate rack columns to get a better overview.
By default, when you create a new empty Song document, the rack consists of a single rack column featuring the Reason Essentials Hardware Interface and the Master Section device. When you create new devices from the “Create” menu, these will automatically be placed in that rack column.
By dragging and dropping devices to either side (left or right) of the original rack, you can move the devices and at the same time create a new rack column. You can create as many rack columns as you like - the only condition is that at least one device must be present in a neighboring rack column. In other words, you can’t create empty rack columns.
A large white arrow symbol appears on the right wooden rack side of the original rack column to indicate that the device is about to be moved to a new rack column.
When you are working with Device Groups (see “About Device Groups”), there is a very nice feature which allows you to visually organize and re-order the Device Groups, Main Mixer channel strips and sequencer tracks. With the “Sort Selected Device Groups” function on the Edit menu, it’s possible to sort Device Groups and Main Mixer channel strips according to the current sequencer track order - or vice versa, depending on what’s currently selected. To sort the Device Groups in the rack, and the channel strips in the Main Mixer, according to the current sequencer track order, proceed as follows:
Now all Device Groups and channel strips in the Main Mixer will be automatically re-ordered according to the current track configuration in the sequencer. The topmost sequencer track will have its associated Device Group moved to the top in the rack. The remaining Device Groups will be re-ordered according to the remaining track order in the Track List. The Main Mixer channel strips will also be re-ordered according to the sequencer track order.
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If you have devices in several rack columns, the sorting will begin in the leftmost rack column and continue to the right through the rest of the rack columns. The number of devices in each rack column will not be changed.
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If you select several Device Groups in the rack and choose “Sort Selected Device Groups” from the Edit menu or device context menu, the tracks in the sequencer and the Main Mixer channel strips will be re-ordered according to the current Device Group order in the rack.
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If you select several channel strips in the Main Mixer and choose “Sort Selected Device Groups” from the Edit menu or channel strip context menu, the Device Groups in the rack and the tracks in the sequencer will be re-ordered according to the current channel strip order in the Main Mixer.
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The new device is automatically routed like the previous device. The Mix Channel now also gets the name of the current patch in the new device. The new device also gets “browse focus” in the Browser, see “Loading patches”.
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You can also drag and drop devices on existing device icons in the Sequencer Track List. The result is exactly the same as dropping devices on existing devices in the rack.
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You can also drag other device patches from the Browser, Windows Explorer or Finder (Mac) and drop on a device in the rack or Sequencer Track List to replace existing devices, see “Loading patches”.
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Note that Instrument devices can only be replaced by other Instrument devices. The same goes for Effect devices. Utility devices cannot be replaced using these methods!
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Duplicating devices will have different results depending on the “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” setting on the Options menu (see “About Device Groups”):
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If “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” is selected, a copy of the entire Device Group will be created with all connections preserved. A new track will also be created in the sequencer.
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A duplicate (copy) of the device(s) or Device Group(s) will be created. New tracks for the device(s) or Device Groups will also be created in the sequencer.
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If you hold down [Shift] when you duplicate devices, Reason Essentials will attempt to automatically route them, just as when you move devices.
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Selected devices or Device Groups can be moved or duplicated using the Cut, Copy and Paste Device functions on the Edit menu or device context menu. This allows you to copy one or several devices (such as an instrument device and all its “insert” effects) from one Reason Essentials Song document to another. Cutting/Copying and Pasting will have different results depending on the “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” setting on the Options menu (see “About Device Groups”):
That is, Cut moves the devices/Device Groups to the clipboard (removing them from the rack) while Copy creates copies of the devices/Device Groups and puts these in the clipboard memory, without affecting the rack.
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To Cut, Copy and Paste a Device Group, make sure the “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” is selected on the Options menu. Then, select a device in the Device Group and proceed with the Cut/Copy and Paste procedure.
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All devices in the Device Group will be cut/copied and pasted with preserved connections (in the same Song or in another Song document).
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As when creating devices, you cannot paste a Source device into an existing Device Group if “Auto-group Devices and Tracks” is on. It will be inserted below the Device Group.
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The rules are the same as when moving or duplicating devices by dragging and dropping. See “Routing Audio and CV” for more information about automatic and manual routing.
Each device has a “tape strip” which shows the name of the device. When you create a new device it is automatically named according to the current patch in the device. Devices that don’t use patches are automatically named according to the device type, with an index number (so that the first ID8 device r you create is called “ID8 1”, the next “ID8 2” and so on). If you like, you can rename a device by clicking on its tape strip and typing a new name (up to 16 characters).
For instrument devices connected to Mix Channel devices, the device names are automatically copied to the tape strips for the corresponding Mix Channel devices and their channel strips in the Main Mixer, as well as on their corresponding sequencer tracks. Similarly, the names of the FX Returns in the Main Mixer show the names of the effect devices connected to the corresponding FX Return inputs.
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When you create a device for which an associated sequencer track is created, the track in the sequencer will be assigned the same name as the device. Renaming the device will also rename the corresponding sequencer track, and vice versa.
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Note that the mixer channel tape strips always show the patch name (or device name) of the source device connected to the Mix Channel device! This means that if you have an instrument device routed through one or several effect devices, the Mix Channel tape strip will show the name of the instrument device (as this is the Source device).
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You can rename Mix Channels manually, for example, if you use multiple outputs from a sampler device going to separate Mix Channels. If you later delete the custom name, the Mix Channel will default to showing the Source device's name. For audio tracks, the Audio Track device is always the Source device and will never change name unless you manually rename it.
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If you delete your custom device name, the name reverts back to the default name, i.e. the patch name or device name (for non patch devices).
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If you don’t need to edit the parameters for a device, you can fold the device to make the rack more manageable and to avoid having to scroll a lot.
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In rack rows containing devices of smaller width, the “Fold/Unfold” button is placed to the left of the leftmost device and affects all devices in the row:
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Hold down [Alt](Win) or [Option](Mac) and click the “Fold/Unfold” button of an unfolded device to fold all devices in the current rack column.
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Conversely, hold down [Alt](Win) or [Option](Mac) and click the “Fold/Unfold” button of a folded device to unfold all devices in the current rack column.
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However, if you want to make a connection to a folded device, you can drag a cable to it and hold it there for a moment. This will cause the folded device to automatically unfold and let you make the connection.