We’re very excited to announce that Reason Free is now available to everyone. Heck, you can go grab it right now and load up the Reason Rack in your DAW of choice and make some music! But if you’re up for some light reading, let’s dive into exactly what this means and why it’s awesome.
It’s almost a cliché by now, but Reason has always been about “democratizing music making” by getting the tools needed in the hands of more people. When Ernst, Marcus, and Pelle started, the idea was to make great gear affordable and running on the computer you already owned. No need to buy expensive hardware or rent studio time. Of course, this was 30 years ago and a lot has changed since then.
Today, making music on a computer is not a bold new thought and there are plenty of paid and free options to do so. What hasn’t changed in the company is the belief that more people should have access to creative tools. With Reason Free, we’re taking a big chunk of Reason and making it available to everyone. No trial or demo, no watermark, no expiry. Just free music software. Yours to keep.
Reason Free includes 15 Devices, carefully curated to be useful for all kinds of music and represent the unique sound, design, and quality we’re known for. The powerful Europa Spectral Synthesizer and old-school Monotone Bass Synthesizer cover an incredible range of synth tones, whether you use the hundreds of included Patches or design your own. Coupled with the legendary Kong Drum Designer and workhorse ID8 Instrument Device, there’s a wealth of useful sounds—from bread and butter to unexpected and unusual. Add the included Scales & Chords Player MIDI effect and you’ll be getting ideas in no time.
Music production wouldn’t be as fun without effects though. We crammed Scream 4, The Echo, RV7000 MKII, Audiomatic, and the MClass Maximizer into the Rack to make sure you could add instant character to your sound. Of course these can spice up any Reason instrument, but it’s just as fun to use the Rack as an effect plugin in your DAW of choice and see what Ableton’s Operator sounds like through Scream 4 (spoiler: it sounds awesome).
Finally, Reason wouldn’t be Reason without the cables. Pulsar Dual LFO and Spider Audio/CV round out the Devices and enable the signature modular routing and modulation within the Rack. Once you’ve created your masterpiece nest of wires, the Combinator is there to combine it all into one Patch with a custom panel and macro controls.
I think this selection of instruments and effects will augment the sonic palette of any DAW out there. Just load up Reason Rack Free as a VST3, AU, or AAX plugin, add some Devices to the Rack, and find your sound. No cost, no strings attached. Of course, Reason is also a powerful DAW and Reason Free is too. With 16 audio and/or MIDI tracks, the same set of 15 Devices, and no other feature limitations—it’s ready for your ideas.
Another great thing with Reason Free is that it doesn’t stop here. If you love it (and we think you will!) you can expand the Rack in a number of ways. You can subscribe to Reason+ or buy a Reason license for more Devices. Reason Free also supports Rack Extensions, meaning you can head over to the Shop and grab any add-on you might want. There are plenty of incredible Devices exclusively available for Reason to check out, both free and paid. We want everyone to be able to enjoy Rack Extensions, and with Reason Free that just became a whole lot less expensive.
This is an exciting release in many ways. Personally, the greatest joy of working on Reason has always been hearing what music you make with it. I’m expecting there to be a lot more where that came from with Reason Free out in the world.
Happy music making!
Mattias Häggström Gerdt
Senior Product Manager
