Customer Reviews

Power Tools for Reason 3.0: Master the World's Most Popular Virtual Studio Software (Power Tools Series)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Peff's (as Kurasaki is more widely known as) book is a great journey through Reason's deeper mysteries for those who have cut their teeth on the virtual studio software and want to see just how deep the hole goes.

Beginners need not apply - read the very good documentation that comes with Reason first - but intermediate level users who have a song or two under their belts and know their way around Reason's virtual rack will find a wealth of information and techniques that will prove indispensible in their later music projects.

Organized like a sort of 3000-level college laboratory class where the subject is Reason, each chapter of the book opens with theory explaining the chapter's topic (CV Routing, Reverb, Redrum Techniques, etc.) and then dives headlong into 15-30 minute hands-on exercises designed to illustrate the various techniques you can use to milk more of Reason than you ever thought possible. By the time you finish this very in-depth, well organized class, you will be able to do a great many, very wonderful things.

Be careful, though. Many of the chapters build on lessons contained in previous ones. For example, many of the chapters dealing with effects such as Filter Techniques assume you have read the chapter on The Combinator, because most of the intricate filter effects you create will be housed within Combinators for easy access. Don't expect to jump in halfway and immediately understand perfectly everything that's going on. But of course, this should be self evident.

Also, beware that this book will give you great powers. With great powers come great responsibility. Please do not use what you learn in this book for evil.

This is a fun and stimulating book to read. The examples are very explicit and create interesting and even useful patches. I suppose the book is not a beginner's book but then the title sort of implies that, no? The Reason manuals are enough to get you started then this book takes off where the manuals end. I really enjoy working through this book.

For people new to electronic music and recording, there are a lot of terms and concepts that can be daunting and confusing. This book does happen to explain most of the jargon as it goes along, but I would like to find a general reference for electronic music production.

I got this book a couple a weeks ago and have to say that it is pretty cool. It is not for beginners. It will show you more advanced concepts of Reason 3.0. Still working my way through the book. Very cool.

This book is very well written, clear and informative. It consists of step-by-step examples, and concise explanations of audio engineering concepts, that are essential reading for anyone serious about making electronic music with Reason

The text is laid out in a logical sequence, starting with sections on fundamental concepts such as keyboard shortcuts, and Control Voltage (CV) usage, both of which are required reading for the sections on effects, mastering, drum programming etc. The result is a text that builds upon itself, slowly re-enforcing the earlier information as the book progresses. I recommend treating it like a text book, following it from start to finish, and performing each example in turn.

Considering the complexity of the subject matter, I find it remarkable how clearly the concepts are explained in this book. I've been using Reason for 4 years and am realizing I've only scratched the surface of what is possible. I wish I'd had this book from day 1.

Note: For the full benefit I recommend using Reason 3.0 with this book as opposed to an earlier version

As already mentioned, this is not a beginners book, but then again, there are plenty of beginners books on Reason around. What is rare is an intermediate to advanced manual that is, well, actually intermediate to advanced. Kurt Kurasaki has filed the bill with a course that TRULY takes the intermedate user into deep territory.

If you are familiar with Reason, this manual will not be that daunting, and will show you techniques that achieve things that you never thought were possible with Propellerhead's superb software studio. Get through the course, and you will truly have mastered Reason. I found myself repeatedly scratching my head and thinking, "Why didn't I think of that?!"

Now a word about Reason 4.0, and whether the book is useful with the new version. It's out now, and many might ask, "Will this book help me learn Reason even though I have Reason 4.0?" My answer is an unqualified, "Yes!" The book covers all aspects of the program other than the new features, those being the THOR synthesizer, the RPG-8 arppegiator, the groove mixer and the sequencer changes. Virtually all of the techniques learned in the book transfer over to the new modules, as they still use the same back panel elements as previous modules. The techniques I learned in the book have greatly helped me in the use of the Thor synthesizer, as well as the other modules. The exception to this is the groove mixer and sequencer, (in Reason 4.0, they are integrated). Still, this isn't a huge problem, as most of the book deals with module use rather than sequencing, (there are sequencing techniques in the book, but even there, there's a fair amount of carry over, and they translate well to 4.0). Kurt has stated that he is working on a version for Reason 4.0, but if the new book follows previous patterns, it will focus heavily on the new modules while focussing more lightly on the old ones, so it's a good idea to get this book while it's still available, as the 3.0 upgrade was truly a huge one.

Bottomline, if you are an intermediate user looking to become advanced, whether you have 3.0 or 4.0, this is the book for you!

This book is chock full of interesting ideas and strategies for sound-designers and composers using Reason. It's fairly well written, and provides excellent logic-diagrams and tips for building devices using the Combinator that I hadn't thought of. Many examples are multi-device applicable - so even people that don't exclusively use Reason can learn things about general synthesis and sound-design. As other people have noted: THIS IS NOT FOR BEGINNERS. Highly recommended for sound-designers, medium/advanced users and performers.

This book will teach you some very useful and practical synthesis techniques that are used in popular electronic music. Almost all the examples he walks the reader through ends with "oh! that's how they do that!" I have been doing electronic music off and on for over 10 years and was wanting to learn some new techniques and this book definately did the job. As a double-wammy, if you're familiar with synthesis you can apply everything you learn to other programs and hardware.

This book really covers the program in incredible detail. It's not a book that can be skimmed through. You really need to have your highlighter handy as you read it. There's a lot to absorb even for someone who has used Reason before. The chapters on "Essential Shortcuts" and "Control Voltages" alone are worth the price of admission.

Let me start off by saying I'm glad I got this book for free from a friend. This book completely lost me after sifting through the first few chapters. I understand Reason to a fair extent, but had an immensely frustrating time trying to pick out any bits of useful information because this book is obviously written for professionals. Unless you consider yourself a grand-master of Reason, you should look for something else, because I guarantee that you're not going to understand a majority of the complicated techniques presented here. There are two things I will commend about this book. For one, it certainly DOES illustrate the fact that Reason is a much more powerful piece of software than most people will believe. Secondly, the information itself is very good, and I'm sure will be a great reference tool for those who already have a strong background in audio engineering. The bottom line is, don't get this book if you're looking to learn the basics, that's what the instruction manual is. This book was written with the professional industry veterans in mind.

Pro: This guy is amazing for what he's done with Reson. All the routing, CV signal manipulation I never would've dreamt..it's all here. Very helpful to get a deeper understanding of the software. Keep in mind this is a very technical book. Musicians with no interest for the technical side beware!

Cons: As above, very technical. It would have been great if there were tutorials of real world project applications. (But then Kurasaki's more of the technical side rather the musical..hence my suggestion - he need to get some one from the other side involved to get a complete book for MUSICIANS)