Why do Reason beats sound so thin?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Shaw-King
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People are mentioning the 2 mono chanels panned to the left and right to fix the "thin " sound. Isnt this technique used to get more volume out of a sound? In reason panning in a certain direction gives more output than centering. I may be wrong. but this is what I think


peace.
 
No, you're absolutely right, the only quantifiable difference is a 3db gain.

However, to quote Peff's original article:
In theory, there really is no audio quality difference between using stereo or dual mono connections, but let your ears be the judge. The dual mono connections seem to have a noticeable effect on the mix in the following example. Certain elements of the mix seem to stand out more clearly with more definition which lends to an improvement in the fidelity.
Having tried it out myself, I have to agree with this assessment. There's definately more presence to the sounds that Reason produces when it's routed this way.
 
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my question is, why do keyboards sound fatter than reason when they are both using digital technology to create their sounds? If they both use the same sampling rate and bit rate, why does REASON sound thinner than the other keyboards?
 
BecaUse





Because the keyboard sounds are already tweaked. They have presets set on them reason doesnt. If you go on the workstation &take the tweaks/presets off the sounds they sound just as thin/dry
 
Reason has unbelievable drums, but lacks (from personal experience) a certain depth to their samples of instruments
 
LOL always somebody complaining about something.

It has nothing to do with Reason.

A good tip I got off of youtube mix everything through a line mixer that goes to the main (whatever it's called) and then connect your actual mixers to that line mixer mono and pan one completely right and one completely left.
 
First of all you dont need hardware to do anything to that guy above. Most people use Software (Pro Tools) to mix and master entire albums. Second of all the reason your drums sound thin compared to a professionally mixed cd is because you're not a engineer and dont have the ear for it. You're trying to compare yourself to guys that have been mixing and mastering tracks for 20 + years.

he didnt say anything about hardware, and Subpar is right, i use reason as well and i make electronic music, mostly house/dubstep and it seems as though reason just needs another program to make all the sounds come alive although it isnt entierly impossible. You just have to study the reaction of your sound to what your doing with it, try making bus's with all your synth tracks and your bass tracks and master them seperatly.
Heres an example of someone that makes (house) music entirley on Reason mastering, producing, and mixing... no other programs, and even if you dont like house music you can certainly appreciate the crispness and clarity of it
look up : "Luckydate" on soundcloud or youtube (i still cant post links lol)

---------- Post added at 01:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:06 PM ----------

ya tht actually helps the fullness of the sound alot, makes everything sound fatter, but if you have any lfo's using pan or a delay thats leaning to the left or right it might mess with the dynamics of it.
you should split the mixer channels of the things you want to sound fatter like the drums, bass, maybe the ocasianal synth
 
i dont use reason so im not 100 percent sure on how it works.. but all softwares are pretty much the same in my opinion. just different navigation and plugins. But its probably in your mix, any program will have a dry and shallow sound if the beats arent mixed properly, did you use a good selection of high mids and lows? Try to open up a equalizer and see where all the energy from the track is going, hopefully you have a well balanced screen. If so then focus on mixing. Make those "sounds" sound big! Trust me, if you can mix properly you can make almost anything sound decent!
 
I also think the layering of sounds will obviously make the sounds fatter and give more variety. I notice that my keyboard has a section for tones where the preset has 4 different tones on the preset. You can also tweak those tones to add more variety.
 
The thing... Reason just aint enough.

Its a POWERFUL mixing tool (only one I use) and EQ and Compression are good in moderation, but the fact remains that its a MIXING tool.
{EDIT} BTW, could you send a link to some of your tracks? I could maybe (or not) help you out more if you need.

I run Reason 4 and have been so for a few yrs now. Its a great tool for those that know how to effectively use it. Not saying you dont, but to me it sounds like you havent fully unlocked its potential.

The beats of today arent anything drastically difficult to create. Couple of creative melodies and some dope drums and your off. In the case of the "thin" vs i assume "thick" sound is that the people that mix those records are trained professionals.

Plus once the enitire "record" is complete its sent off to be mastered to reach its peak. Reason 2 im unfamiliar with but Id advise you to upgrade to something higher. It has 2 different Eq's, 2 Compressors, stereo imager, maximizer(limiter) and of course you fx, such as basic reverd and advanced reverd, delays and distortion (Scream).

If you learn how to mix properly and are able to use the resources inside the program you can create a decent sound. If you must "master" their is a template here posted by DeRanged. I've used it an tweaked to my own likeings but it will help a bit.

Panning only does so much...Sometimes i will take a synth, add 2-3 different reverbs(light), then a stereo imager, then add a merger/spliter and split the signal into 2 or 4 diff. channels adding diff fx for each 1. Then pan each accordingly and turning down.

#Trilltrax Follow @Trillone1
 
I have been using reason for about 4 years and the beats do not sound thin. It is all about the sounds you are using and the EQ/effects being applied.
 
Clipping is a huge problem that I hear with alot of FL studio users because (I assume) that they think that if they just turn it up, it'll all just get louder. Its not the case.

Church!
 
I completely agree on Reason not being thin.
You just gotta know how to propperly mix, eq and master.
Reason has some preset patches that suck and a lot that rock.
Other than that, you have tons of propper refills, you can sample your own sounds or you can synthesize your own sound.
But mostly that's not the problem if ppl ***** about "Reason sound".
If you're putting a whole song of different instruments together, you gotta know how to technically make the sounds work together.
It has an SSL console which you can work with, layering, a ton of effects, eq, compression, etc.
Ppl bitching about not getting pro sounds out of Reason clearly haven't grasped the full potential of Reason.
It doesn't apply any effects, eq, compressioin or whatsoever from the start, you gotta add those all yourself!
There's enough tutorials, youtubes and text out there to give you an idea of what to do to get the professional sound.
There's also a lot more than panning , reverb the mclass and all that. The effects map is majorly improved since 6 and is even easier to use now with a ton of propper effects making it even easier to sculpture your sounds to sit right in the mix. Since Reason 6, record has been integrated with that SSL like console, which makes it even better to sculpture all sounds to get them to work together.
I'm getting tired of ppl bitching about Reason while they clearly don't fully understand how to work Reason!
Hey, if it's not your program and you like/understand FL better, or Logic, or any other program, fine, stop giving off on other programs than!
Instead you could ask how to get a fatter sound in Reason... As some did in this topic.

Anyway, as proof, check this section :
http://www.propellerheads.se/substance/artist-stories/

There's some ppl there that don't use anything else than Reason...
Big names in the industry...

Other than that there's a ton of material online completely made in Reason that sound as pro as any other DAW. Don't hate the software, hate the producer, if crap sound is coming out of your DAW...
 
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