However, if you have a large number of automated controls, you may wish to use the pop-up menu to select exactly which automation graphs are displayed (see top screen overleaf).
The rightmost button is usually the most useful, allowing you to display all the automated parameters on that device, leaving un-automated controls hidden. The screen shows the view controls for automation, with labels for what each button or menu does. The sequencer will switch to viewing the controller lane for the fader and you'll see a graph representing the movements you recorded (see screen below). There are a number of buttons and menus in the sequencer toolbar that govern how controller data is viewed, but there's a shortcut if you just want to jump straight to a particular parameter: option-click (Mac) or Alt-click (Windows) on the fader you automated. The next step is to view the automation data in more detail. Now return the sequencer to the start and play through what you recorded: you'll see the fader retrace the movements you recorded. Secondly, a green box will have appeared around the fader that is now automated (see screen, right).Ħ. Firstly, there will be pale-blue blocks running the length of the sequencer track, with darker blue areas showing where there is automation activity. After you stop playback, you'll see two indications that some automation was recorded. Start Reason recording by clicking Record, then Play, then use the mouse to move fader one up and down a few times.ĥ. The new track is already record-enabled, as indicated by the red circle to the left of the track name.Ĥ. Change the name of the track to Mix Automation and you're ready to try recording some automation. Next, from the pop-up menu to the right of the track's name, choose the Remix mixer as the Out destination (see the screen above).ģ. Go to the Create menu and choose Sequencer Track a new track will appear in the sequencer.Ģ. For the purposes of this article, we're considering a song with one Remix 14-channel mixer, but you can automate multiple mixers using multiple sequencer tracks.Īutomated controls are indicated by green boxes. This doesn't happen with other devices, such as mixers and effects, so before you can automate the mixer you must create a track for it. When you create an instrument in Reason, a sequencer track is provided for it automatically. Recording Mixer AutomationĪs automation in Reason is MIDI CC data, it must be recorded on a sequencer track. Each sequencer track has many 'sub-tracks', called Controller Lanes, allowing control changes for each parameter on a device to be displayed separately. In the next section we'll go through this step by step. If a device's MIDI track is record-enabled in the sequencer and Reason is recording, any control changes made on the device (with a MIDI controller or the mouse) are recorded on that device's track. Every instrument and device in Reason, including the mixers, is treated like a separate MIDI module, and most parameters can respond to MIDI controller data, either from an external source or from the built-in sequencer. In Reason, automation is MIDI Controller data, but with some specialised tools for handling the data and playing it back.
This type of automation system is different to using MIDI Continuous Controller (CC) data, which is traditionally used to control parameters on MIDI synths, but can also be used to automate software synths and sometimes mixer parameters.
These systems are akin to automation on professional hardware mixing consoles, allowing you to put individual tracks into various automation modes.
If you use a sequencer package such as Logic or Pro Tools, you'll probably be aware that your mixer page has a dedicated system for automation. Reason 's fast and straightforward automation system also makes it simple to use as a compositional tool: mixer automation is sometimes a faster and more spontaneous method of arranging parts of your songs. Automating effect send levels is also common, as is creating a fade-out by automating the master fader. There are many reasons for wanting to do this, such as riding the levels of instruments to 'even out' volume changes and to allow different parts to take prominence during the song. Like most of the heavyweight sequencing environments, Reason allows you to record, edit, and play back control movements made on its mixer (or mixers). We offer a simple guide to making the most of it. Mixer automation lets you create more dynamic mixes, but also provides a fast alternative to arranging all your tracks in the sequencer.
In order to record mixer automation, you need to assign a sequencer track to the mixer.