How to setup Cubase SX & Reason for ReWire

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KruciaL
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How to setup Cubase SX & Reason for ReWire

Post by KruciaL »

Okay - based on the enormous response for help with this, i have decided to write this up in hopes that it would help you guys make some killah beats !!

First off:

Cubase needs to be opened first, then reason. If you are using a previosuly made track in reason then once both programs are launched, and the song is opened (in reason), switch to Cubase and go to 'Devices' menu. Find the 'Reason' option in the menu list, then once selected a new popup appears with 64 'power-on' buttons. These buttons activate the Cubase/Reason rewire link. Most tunes in reason are routed thru Reason's own mixer desk, then out of he desk and into the 'Hardware' rack at the top. When you press tab in Reason to see the back of the machines, The mixer is automatically rewired into the ports 1 & 2 of the top rack (switch back to check and see what i mean). Now in Cubase you can activate more of the Reason 'Hardware'-toprack sockets by just clicking them on. The extra channels appear in the mixer desk in Cubase.

if need be, try this....

1) Run Cubase, once done..

2) run Reason

3) Open a blank template in Reason (so no mixer desk or anything)

4) Still in Reason, hold 'Shift' and right clcik the 'blank-rack' area, and create a subtractor.

5) Still in Reason, press 'Tab' to turn the racks around

6) From the output of the Subtractor, click the socket and a virtual-wire will appear - take the other end of it up to the 'Hardware-toprack' and put it in 'Socket 1'.

7) Now press tab to turn back

...now for the fun bit....

Go to Cubase, go to 'Devices' menu and choose 'Mixer'

9) Now you should be able to see some VU meter channels. On SL (i think if the same as SX and Nuendo), there should be a list of icons on the left. Turn them all on so you see no channels (will look like a blank mixer) - basically this stops confusion.

10) Now turn 'off' hiding rewire channels on the mixer desk (if not sure which icon it is hover over each to find the correct one) - when you do only one channel should appear which is the audio signal from Reason's Subtractor.

...even more...

11) now you can either ...
a)make your edits in Reason using the sequencer, but i find it not very informative or helpful with the colourings, so we can do...
b) close the Cubase mixer desk, go to the Cubase sequencer.

12) On a MIDI channel, select it and go to the inspector on the left. You should see MIDI Input dropdown and a MIDI Output dropdown - you can have your MIDI instrument listed as going in, or leave as All Inputs.

13) On MIDI Output dropdown, click it and you should see a list of devices, including Reason Subtractor 1!!! Choose Subtractor 1, then draw in a MIDI event (any size)

14) Double click the MIDI event, to get the keyboard edit screen (keys on the left, drawn notes area on right) - press a key or just run the mouse up and dopwn the notes, you should here te subtractor coming thru Cubase via Rewire!! You can make midi edits here exactly how you would in Reason, all controllers recognised (due to being MIDI), plus you have the advantage of colouring the edit blocks whatever colour you prefer, and you can label the events, to make life a lot easier!!

15) when you make a track edit etc, you do need to save both Cubase edits and Reason rack setup.

If you want to add in more instruments from Reason, just go thru the process again, ie ad a Rex machine, take the left to channel 3 of the Hardware toprack, right to channel 4 (just to make it easier for remembering stereo pairing, odd for left...), MIDI it in Cubase or Reason, etc etc...

Basically using this method, you are using Cubase as the new improved Reason Mixer desk, with added extras (like all the Dierct X and VST effects, plus VST instruments on top!!).... how dark is that?

At the moment, ive been trying out the ReFX Slayer VSTi on top of beats in a Rex using a pattern from a refill (that i cannot extract unless i resample, re-rex, save, put it in... too much work), and puking hard over the sounds!!

You can mix down totally inside Cubase (as long as the card is full duplex capable = play & record at the same time). There's just so many ways to do stuff now, the choices are endless - this is just one of the methods i use.

Alternatively you can resample the sounds out of Reason when not rewired, solo the track you want in your Reason .rns file, say the breakbeats, 'export song as audio file' from Reason and name it accordingly ie MYDANCETRACK-BEATS.wav, then go thru the song again, solo a different channel like a bassline, export... again as MYADNCETRACK-BLINE.wav...and so on, then you can import the WAV files to Cubase and use the effect on top in there, this more like a tape recorder method - like using 8track or 16 track, all samples are the same length, same bpm, all start in the same place, so no need to line up. Separate tracking can be beter if you want to do a remix using the wavs!!

See what i mean? thats two methods now... totally up to you how you use it, basically i treat it as there are no rules to writing beat, you can be limited in what you can do by what you use, but you can find one person does one thing, someone else does another method, yet both come up with a beat!! My mate is a Dr.Rex fan totally, and uses it like a sampler, most his tracks are just rex machines, plus a couple of effects...madness!!
I would use samplers in my tracks cos thats the way i perfer to do stuff, so boundaries are endless....

hope this helps out, bit of a crash course for some, if you want more help give me a shout !
Last edited by KruciaL on Jan 28 2005 01:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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KruciaL
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Posts: 93
Joined: May 9 2002 11:41 pm
Location: in the shadows

Post by KruciaL »

next installment - how to make beats in 5.1 dolby prologic

new tutorial / walkthrough coming soon ... how to sample DVD channels directly from a DVD in surround mode!! Keep your eyes peeled for this one!!
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