Reason and Rewire

Although Reason is an exceptional item of music software, the fact that its sequencer doesn't support audio tracks is for some people a significant disadvantage. However, thanks to ReWire you can combine Reason with another sequencer (such as Cubase or Logic) and enjoy the best of both worlds. ReWire was devised by Propellerheads Software to allow Reason to run in perfect, sample accurate sync with another audio program.

1. Open Reason and choose Edit >Preferences. In the menu box choose the Audio page and select No Sound. Then choose the Midi page and select No Midi Input.

2. Now exit Reason and open Cubase. choose Panels>ReWire. In the ReWire dialogue box select the channels you want Reason to use when in Cubase.

3. For every channel you select in the ReWire dialogue box you will see a corresponding red strip in the VST channel mixer. ReWire channels 1 and 2 are stereo, the rest are mono. ReWire channels have no input but are otherwise identical to the standard VST audio channel mixer strips.

4. Now that you have selected your ReWire channels in Cubase open Reason and the song you wish to use. By clicking in the output column of the relevant Cubase midi tracks you should now see that all the devices in your Reason song are available for allocation.

The transport controls of the two programs are now linked, as are loop settings. As for tempo, this is controlled by the Master device (Cubase) when using automated tempo changes, otherwise you can change the tempo from either program.

5. The final step in the ReWire process involves routing your Reason song devices into Cubase via the hardware interface at the very top of the Reason rack. Currently all of your Reason song is routed from the Reason mixer to channels 1 and 2.

6. Flip the Reason rack and take a look at the back of the hardware interface panel. Route the devices you wish to use in Cubase to the relevant channels here. Should you add more devices to your Reason song simply add more channels in the ReWire dialogue box as outlined above.

Important: When commencing a ReWire session always open Cubase first, and when ending a session always close Cubase last.

(For the latest info on which audio programs are compatible with ReWire visit the Propellerhead website Propellerhead Software | Reason and Rewire)