Configuration articles and guides for software and hardware. These settings are mandatory unless otherwise stated
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v1.0.0 – 2020-March-12
In this little Reason Studios Reason User Guide you will find the instructions to get our plug-in to work with Reason Studios Reason with ease. This is universal tutorial for all of our plug-in, but we are using our Roland JP-80×0 Editor in this guide.
Checkout the Editor user manual prior to this guide, so you have the knowledge to setup the Editor properly.
Also, as we are not Reason Studios Reason experts, we engourage you to read the Reason manual in order to fully understand your DAW.
We hope you have taken all the necessary precautions prior to using our product, like making a full backup of your synthesizer memory.
DISCLAIMER
Our company & plug-in has nothing to do with Reason Studios company, so please don’t bug them if you encounter issues with the Editor – open a support ticket in your account page in such case. You can find support details at the end of this document.
Support is free to anyone who has bought the license from our store
Reason Studios Reason
Preferences
Open your DAW and enter Preferences. We will make sure that MIDI ports are disabled for those ports, where your synthesizer is connected at. This will ensure that your DAW won’t crash and we won’t be getting double data in to the DAW processing loop.
Edit -> Preferences…
Reason Studios Config – Open Preferences
MIDI Port Setup
Open Control Surfaces tab in Preferences. Locate the Input port, which receives MIDI from your synth. Now check that the physical input port has the checkbox toggled OFF so that is not Enabled.
Example: My JP-8000 MIDI Out sends MIDI to RayDAT Port 1 Input. I did previously disable that port, so therefore it is not even showing up anymore.
Windows: Do the same for JP-8000 vMIDI Out [1] we created in Setting MIDI Devices User Guide.
Reason Studios Config – Adjust MIDI Input and Output Ports
Windows: Now we can add the master keyboard connection in. If you already have the master keyboard connection from your synthesizer, we made the plug-in for, remove it. Create new connection – see below.
Add manually [1], Manufacturer [2] to < Other >, set Model to MIDI Control Keyboard, name it and set the MIDI Input [3] to JP-8000 vMIDI In (or which ever vMIDI port you’ve created). Click OK to add it.
Reason Studios Config – Add New Control Surface
Now the new master keyboard is in and it is receiving MIDI data from loopMIDI port / MIDI-OX routing.
Reason Studios Config – Add New MIDI Keyboard if Needed
Before we close Preferences, open Sync tab. Check and make sure that the hardware physical MIDI port is not assigned in External control busses [1] or in the MIDI clock sync [2] dropdown menus.
Reason Studios Config – Make Sure our Hardware Port is Not Assigned
NOTE #1: Check our support site for additional guides like Setting MIDI Devices to learn how we added JP-8000 vMIDI In and JP-8000 vMIDI Out ports in the DAW.
You can adapt the settings to your Hardware!
Insert the plug-in
Click to view the Rack and choose the “+ ADD DEVICE” option.
Reason Studios Config – Click to Add New Device
Locate the plug-in you are using from the plug-ins drop down menu. See image below.
Reason Studios Config – Locate Our Plug-in from Instruments List
Rack unit is now in place, click “OPEN” [1] to view the plug-in interface.
Reason Studios Config – Click to Open Our Plug-in from Wrapper Window
Plug-in window will now appear.
Reason Studios Config – Plug-in Window Appears
MIDI IN / MIDI OUT
Now we can select the Physical MIDI input port which receives MIDI data from your synthesizer.
Reason Studios Config – Assign MIDI Input Port
And then we choose the Physical MIDI Out port which sends data to the synthesizer MIDI input.
Reason Studios Config – Assign MIDI Output Port
Plug-in will now attempt to establish connection with the synthesizer, so it might take some time if your settings are not right or if you chose a wrong MIDI port by mistake. You should see plug-in saying PROCESSING… somewhere in the plug-in interface and also ABORT PROCESS button will appear.
Reason Studios Config – Editor Attempts to connect
If all of the settings are correct, you will see “Plug-in is ready to go!” [1] message in the plug-in display.
Reason Studios Config – Connection Established
If something is wrong with your settings, plug-in will say “No response from JP!” [1] and that indicates something is wrong with your synth settings, MIDI device or Reason Preferences.
Reason Studios Config – Failed Connection
Once the connection is in, you should sync the data with your hardware. Usually this function can be ran from the patch librarian tab / page of the plug-in & “Sync Data From HW” button. Check the plug-in user manual to learn more.
We can now close the plug-in window and move on.
Note #1: Check troubleshooting from the Editor, DAW or synthesizer manual if you can not establish connection. You can also seek help from our support site if you can’t find out what is causing error in your setup.
Assign MIDI tracks to Reason arrangement
Now, in order to send MIDI notes to the synthesizer, we need to have MIDI tracks in the DAW.
Click the “+ ADD DEVICE” option in the rack window to show the menu again.
Reason Studios Config – Adding New Devices
Choose Instruments -> Built-in Devices -> MIDI Out Device.
Reason Studios Config – Locate MIDI Out Device from the List
Assign MIDI Out port [1] where your synthesizer is connected. If you use Windows and you’ve setup vMIDI Out port, choose that instead of physical MIDI port. See image below.
Reason Studios Config – Assign MIDI Output to Virtual Port (Windows)
Rename the device to reflect your unit and add the channel id to it. Easier to spot it in the arrange later on. I’ve renamed my device to “JP-8000 ch1” which sends to my JP-8000 Lower layer.
Reason Studios Config – Rename the Device
Now I’m going to duplicate the device. Right click on the MIDI Out device [1] and choose “Duplicate Devices and Tracks” [2].
Reason Studios Config – Create Duplicate of the Device if Needed
Choose the MIDI out channel [1] to reflect the next part / layer in the hardware and rename [2] the devices to reflect the hardware setup. I’ve renamed my device to “JP-8000 ch2”.
Reason Studios Config – Rename and Change Channel Number
Now MIDI setup is done, and we can move on!
Note #1: Assign MIDI Channels so that they match your synthesizer part / layer MIDI channels. I have set JP-8000 Lower to MIDI channel 1 and JP-8000 Upper to MIDI channel 2.
Note #2: MIDI out is pointing to JP-8000 vMIDI Out, which I’ve created in our Setting MIDI Devices guide. macOS users can point the MIDI out directly to physical MIDI port of synth.
Note #3: If you have multitimbral setup / use with your synthesizer, which most can do, then add more MIDI tracks and point them to respected MIDI channels.
Note #4: You should always put MIDI blocks in the MIDI tracks because our plug-in can not talk to DAW about delay compensation. This is because we do not generate any audio with our plug-in.
Automating Plug-in Parameters
Open the plug-in interface and click “Automate” [1]. See image below.
Reason Studios Config – Click Automation Toggle
“Automate” [1] button is now active, and you can click any parameter to toggle the parameter in the arrange automation lane view. I’ve selected “Filter Cutoff” [2].
Reason Studios Config – Move Parameter to Bring it Up
Now there is a new track below the instrument track indicating Filter Cutoff [1] automation with lane on the arrangement.
Reason Studios Config – New Track Appears in the Arrangement Window for Automation
Note #1: You can add as many parameters as you wish. System Exclusive (SysEx) parameters and system buttons can not be automated.
Note #2: With some Editors, it is not yet possible to draw automation in DAW when moving the knob from the hardware. Move knob from the Editor user interface instead.
Start drawing in OR move the knobs in the plug-in while recording to make automation! Before you start to pursue with MIDI blocks, read the next chapter!
Finishing it up!
Final step is to add Audio track, so we can hear the synthesizer in action. Click to view the “Mixer” window. Right click in the mixer view and add “Create Audio Track”.
Reason Studios Config – Create New Audio Tracks
Select appropriate Audio Inputs [1]. Remember to select the inputs where your synth Audio Output is connected!
Reason Studios Config – Assign Audio Input
Rename the track [1] to identify it in the arrange and toggle on Monitoring [2] for the Audio Track. Now you should hear the Audio from your synth while making some MIDI blocks and you have some sort of automation (if needed).
Reason Studios Config – Enable Input Monitoring
Reason Studios Config – Everything Works like well Oiled Machine
Note #1: You might have routed your Audio Output from the synth itself to external mixing desk or speakers, so make sure you power those units on. Otherwise there won’t be any sound because our plug- in does not transmit any audio data to the DAW.
Thats it for the Reason Studios Reason user guide. We hope you find this useful.
Troubleshooting
loopMIDI and MIDI-OX are both shipping their own user manuals, so please refer to their documentary to learn more about how they work.
Editor User Manuals: https://docs.auraplugins.com/
Editor Updates: https://auraplugins.com/downloads/
Check our Knowledge Base for documentation regarding to the Editor and Hardware configurations.
Use the website search to find answers / solutions to possible issues.
You have some suggestions? Yes please!
We are always open for new suggestions and ideas regarding to our products. Send your suggestions to us because it will make our products better.
Head down to our main site and drop your idea in, we will have a look at it and let you know if it can be done.
If you have found an error in this document, open a support ticket or join our Discord server so we can have it fixed.