Month: November 2013

The Reason101 Visual Guide to the Reason Rack is a book loaded with information. Part technical manual, part creative resource, and part practical “how-to” guide, this takes you on a tour through the past 10 years of my Reason experience, and provides it to you in one comprehensive 360-page volume. Use it as a reference to save you time, and shorten your Reason learning curve.

I’ve shown you the video and a few still shots from the hard copy. See my previous post for that. So what are you going to get when you purchase?

The book is divided into two main sections:

1. The Core Reason Devices & 8 Rack Extensions outlined fully front to back (see the image below for all the devices covered).
2. 101 in-depth Tutorials that cover Basics, Utility Construction, Sound Design, FX Design, Advanced Setups, and Rack Extension Integration. (see the PDF Table of Contents for a listing of all the Tutorials).

Both of these sections are cross-referenced, so that it’s easy to navigate between the two sections. For example, when you are reading about the SubTractor device, all the tutorials related to the SubTractor are outlined (by number) in the SubTractor heading section. When you are in a specific Tutorial, all the devices used in that Tutorial are outlined in the Tutorial’s heading section.

Note: There’s also a Companion ReFill that will be provided with “premium” options, containing 250 patches. These patches serve to complement the Tutorials. There’s also several additional routing and sound ideas in there for you to explore.

I wanted to give you a few samples from the book. So I’m providing them here as free PDF files:

Table of Contents

Book Introduction

“Hardware Interface” (Device Section)

“Random Audiomatic Kong FX Selector” (Advanced Tutorial)

That should give you a pretty good idea of what you get with the book and the book’s layout. Now for a visual listing of all the devices covered in the first half of the book:

I think you’ll agree that this is unlike any other Reason book on the market. This is the only Reason book you’ll find that offers a Coil-Bound, full Color purchase option. And the only book that provides a full copy PDF with all purchase options.

You can pick up your copy of the Reason101 Visual Guide to the Reason Rack  exclusively at http://www.reason101.net/shop

A picture is worth a thousand words. 864 pictures and 312,000 words on 360 pages becomes an invaluable story. Especially when that story conveys the inner workings of the software tool used to get the music in your head out to the world. And especially when that story is packaged in a logical, easy-to-follow book. That’s what you’ll find in the Reason101 Visual Guide to the Reason Rack

Want to know a bit more? Here’s a video that should answer most of your questions about what it is and why you should invest in it:

Here’s a little preview of some of the test copies I got back from the printer. 51 devices are covered top to bottom, and there are full visual outlines of how every parameter on each one of them functions. And all this is cross-referenced with the 101 Tutorials on everything from basic to advanced sound design, effects design, and utility construction.

The idea was to create a dual purpose book whereby the Device section can be used as a quick reference as well as completely cover all front and back panel parameters. The Tutorial section can open up new ideas on how all the devices can be integrated together to create different sounds, effects, and utilities. A complete course in a book.

As I progressed with the devices, I found that you could explain most all of them in a very concise way over 3-4 pages each. Of course, some devices took considerable more space, such as Thor and Kong, which are each about 9 pages. But each page had to be laid out according to the device’s design, not a “one-size-fits-all” book layout. Each page was hand-crafted, and required completely different layouts, balanced against the consistency of the headings, fonts., page size, and other elements to give the book its flow.

I’ve been a technical writer for 12 years, and that often involves working on your own layouts and graphic design. I was very mindful of this when crafting the book to give you the best learning experience I could. Part technical manual, part creative index of ideas, and part practical “how-to,” I hope this book encourages you to push your limits with the Reason software.

One of the most important aspects of working on this project was ensuring that all the visuals presented the devices in full view as you would see them on-screen. I wanted to make everything easy to follow and simple to navigate. I didn’t want to intrude too much on the imagery. Therefore, all the call-out lines are simple and don’t cover any important device areas.

As you can see, all the tutorials have full visuals as well, so you can follow along and recreate exactly what I’m explaining. And with 101 Tutorials, there’s plenty in there to work on. Many of these tutorials also have alternative ways to accomplish something, or additional ideas and tips. This isn’t a rehash of what you’ll find on my website. There are many new tutorials, as well as expansions and re-workings of many of the most popular articles found on my site.

Well, that’s a quick look at the actual copy. Let me know what you think.

You can pick up your copy of the Reason101 Visual Guide to the Reason Rack  exclusively at http://www.reason101.net/shop

More details to come. . .

Robert Anselmi’s Reason101 Visual Guide to the Reason Rack

When I first started working with Reason, I was amazed at the breadth and depth of the program. It had such a wide array of devices and options, it made my head spin. And the visual design of the software was truly stunning. I was excited and wanted to learn more. I had longed for a book that would walk me through all these Rack devices, and more importantly, would explain how to connect all these devices together to create what I wanted. It had to be highly visual as well, doing justice to the fine artistic efforts put into the Reason software design. I searched everywhere for a concise and comprehensive book that would teach me all the possibilities. Yet, nothing like that existed at the time. And it was at that point I decided to eventually write that book. I’m more than happy to provide it to you now, a decade later.

What I will present to you on December 1^st, 2013 is the book I always envisioned for the program, and I want to invite you to stand over my shoulder and see why I find this software such a compelling and creative tool for anyone with a love of music and audio. I guarantee two things will happen when you invest in it: 1. It will save you time when seeking out answers to how the software operates; making you more efficient, and 2. It will teach you something new; no matter what level of expertise. These are bold claims. And I promise to deliver.

Reason is a gigantic Lego set, and you’re free to construct anything you can think up. Using the devices, audio, CV, and all the related sliders, rotaries, and buttons as your building blocks, you’re free to construct an endless amount of sounds, effects, and utilities.

But without an understanding of how these blocks fit together, it’s difficult to build anything. And that’s where this book comes in. The first half will provide you with the theory. Every core device and 8 Rack Extensions are comprehensively outlined in a clear, concise, and visual way. You’ll learn how each device operates, front to back, A-Z. It can be read straight through, or used as a desk reference when you are seeking out how a particular control or connection works.

The second half of the book will provide you with the practical side of Reason, and can be thought of as a complete course, from basic to advanced, over the span of 101 in-depth lessons. You can read them straight through, or focus on specific tutorials that interest you. To help you navigate through these two sections, I’ve cross-referenced them. This way, you can see the tutorials that relate to a specific device in each device section, and which devices are used in a specific tutorial in each tutorial section.

I wrote the Reason101 Visual Guide to the Reason Rack so that I could convey all the amazing things this program can do in a logical, easy-to-follow way. I wanted to shorten your learning curve, and at the same time share my 10-year Reason journey with you. I hope you enjoy learning about Reason as much as I do.

You can pick up your copy of the Reason101 Visual Guide to the Reason Rack exclusively at http://www.reason101.net/shop

More details to follow in the coming days. . .