I guess this is more of a question related to making music in general and could go on a forum for Reason, but maybe it fits here too. My question is, how do people make techno music with Reason? I have the program and have played around with it but I can't make a complete song. I make some cool sounding loops but I can't continue them because when I try to add to them it doesn't go together well. I have no experience with piano or any sort of musical education, but I use a MIDI keyboard. Do you start making music with an idea in your head, and then implement that idea? Or do you play around and let the song compose itself as you go along? I have had lots of cool ideas for songs in my head, but I can't just sit down at my MIDI keyboard and play it out because I have no musical experience. So I have to play around to come up with a song. Also, I have a question about something that's been on my mind for a while: if I make a song with Reason and export the audio, is it my copyright? Or is it Propellerhead's copyright, because it supplied the samples and the software I guess? It would be cool to use techno music I made in Reason in my games, but if I ever released them I wouldn't want any copyright issues.

Take a song you like, and try to make something similar into your software. Before you can make even a simple good sounding original song you'll have to master the software you use.

Owning the exported file/song of your compilation/project depends on the End-User-License-Agreement of the software and the sample libraries used.

If you own Reason, and only use factory libraries (orkester + reason factory) then you're safe to say you own the music track/file. Mostly, if you paid for the samples, you own the end copyright. If you downloaded it, or obtained it without an official EULA (aka paid for the "agreement") then you don't have a right to the copy at all.

In general.


With regards to writing music in Reason, the general rule is you can't learn to write until you learn how to sequence. It's not really as easy as 123, and it does take some time to get used to.. in all honesty.

Sometimes a simple layering and basic chords are all you need. Mixing and matching, and you end up with something sweet. Sometimes not so sweet ;-) If you're curious, my last 'techno' project can found at http://scottedward.com/temp/synth1.wma It's 100% Reason, but also uses some samples from the Sonic Reality libraries.

Thanks for the input. Very helpful!

Hey, just thought i'd put my two cents forward about the creative side of techno

I myself am an Ambient/Hip Hop Producer and i find Techno very easy to create.
but to be honest i dont even like it that much ;)

when creating ambient or hiphop its best to have the performance right and keep
quantization's to the minimum but with techno its an exception. it must be SUPER tight! so quantize EVERYTHING.

the basic element is a four-to-the-floor beat, this means one kick drum per quarter note. Tempo sits around 120-140, (125-130 is usually where i set mine).
so draw out your kick drums on a sequencer track and have a hi-hat on the off-beat when the track gets more intense. you can also include a snare or clap every second beat but this is optional.

a single bar would look like this


Snare ----0-------0---|
Hihat --0---0---0---0-|
Kick -0---0---0---0--|
1 2 3 4

what i like to do is program my drum sounds via synth (subtractor mostly)
and layer them with my own kick, snare and hi-hat samples
but often i find that my kick's go out of phase so be careful here

the melodies are really simple, usually they involve the notes of a
major or a minor triad depending on how you want the mood to be

www.myspace.com/theamnioticexperiment, have a look at Aliens in the Sky. I have a better example of what i was talking about on my computer if your interested

also notice how i use the filter in the intro, this is also effective used as a breakdown. lastly, use your compressor and put the kick in the side-chain. Every Techno producer i know uses this trick to make everything a slave to the kick :)

if you want some reason patches, samples, or techno session files feel free to email me at jjac7212@hotmail.com

Hope that helps!

Reason can be a difficult program to learn if you are brand new to digital music production. I took a class at music school and learned it pretty quickly. I suggest referencing youtube video's for Reason tutorials. :)