Prodigy (Reason, PT)

dfusion · Post by **dfusion** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 7:18 am

In the Prodigy interviews Liam says he used Reason as a scratch pad to write tunes, replaced the low end/bass with samples from his MS-20 and Oberheim, then REX'd them, brough them into Dr. Rex, used Redrum and some Maelstrom for drums and high end, and finished the song. Then goes to Pro Tools for more editing.

Wouldn't it be safe to say this whole entire concept can be consolidated by using Live instead of Reason/Recycle/Dr. Rex?

If you have some outboard gear, can't you sample those as session clips? Then you can export all your session clips as audio files to have your own sample library, start dropping them in the arrange view (if that's how you compose a song). Am I making sense?

I guess Reason is what was known and available to him at the time. Just seems easier and better to use Live if you're all about sampling outboard gear into phrases and composing a song.

pmestrez · Post by **pmestrez** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 9:58 am

Hello,

I think it's not true...
It's only for marketing and advertising !

You know, a lot of artist says in some interview that they use Reason, Live ans others softwares to produce their music... i don't think their whole producing process is done with these softwares...
They use a lot of gear in addition of softwares... Some kind of synth and valaves compressor we can not pay.

When they say "we use this or that", it's just to have free softwares from companies...

BUT, they using live for live is still the best thing to do !

You know no famous cooker says their secret !

Pierre.

claudek · Post by **claudek** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 10:22 am

whatever he last used..it was not that great

painseeker · Post by **painseeker** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 10:45 am

claudek wrote:whatever he last used..it was not that great

LOL

I agree.

olafmol · Post by **olafmol** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 10:46 am

sounds like an endorsement thing.....at first i though Liam was really speaking the truth when he was boosting reason .... but then i read the crap he was talking about: bringing a laptop with reason, PLUS an MS20 and vintage hardware compressor plus some more hardware stuff to the park..haha.... i guess he forgot to take a diesel-generator i guess.....

Eza · Post by **Eza** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 12:07 pm

claudek wrote:whatever he last used..it was not that great

with regards to his new album i absolutely agree too. i think he was either under too much pressure (but he's had enough time) from the record company to perform, or that the breaks scene has overtaken the prodigy and alot of breaks guys are doing it all alot better.

or maybe it's because he's using reason

don't get me wrong, you can tell it's the prod, but that's because he's using the same old beats to determine his sound.

oh dear, and i always admired the prodigy.

maybe he's missing keith & co

MarkH · Post by **MarkH** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 6:32 pm

claudek wrote:whatever he last used..it was not that great

You are referring to Fat of the Land? Baby's Got a Temper (single)? Or the new Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned album?

djadonis206 · Post by **djadonis206** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 6:57 pm

I'm surprised sometimes with what some people use to write so very in depth off the hook tracks - Like Reason alone or Acid - I was tripping when I heard alot of techno / house producers just use Acid but it's true

I'm sure Liam got a free copy of Reason and hence the endorsement but at the same time...what if

Yes, Live to me seems like the only way to go but everybodies different - different strokes for different folks I guess

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 7:06 pm

I don't really think Liam cares if he has to pay for Reason or not.

I think the interview is genuine - but don't let that fool you into thinking that he gets his SOUND from Reason alone now, just that he uses it for arranging. He's sampling great outboard synths (as opposed to using the terribly, terribly crap ones that come with it), using Reason to arrange (this is where he goes to the park, without the synths and compressors) and then he takes it to a studio with speakers the size of a house, a large ProTools rig and most likely an analogue desk with EQ and compressors for mixing. And then he has it professionally mastered. IMHO this doesn't endorse Reason as much as it highlights all that it CAN'T do!

-Paws

drush · Post by **drush** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 7:34 pm

claudek wrote:whatever he last used..it was not that great

or whatever he used ever.

Amberience · Post by **Amberience** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 8:22 pm

Why the fuck has this turned into a "bash Reason" thread??

Liam used Reason. He used Pro Tools. He also used his vintage synths for instrumentation. Scream 4 is all over those guitars on the new album, and there is extensive use of the DDL unit - Heard the end of "Girls" ??? That trick is a DDL with the delay-time set to MS. He's automated from 2000ms to 1ms over a period of 8 bars. I've done it before. I know how its done.

My point is Reason is capable of more than you think. Recycle was probably used extensively too. I'm not delusional to imagine that Liam replaced all his hardware synths with the Subtractor, but I'm sure he must've used it at least once - its a very capable synth.

Anyway, Pro Tools was used because it has the word "Pro" in its title: I've used Pro Tools, and I hate it. Its not conducive with my inspiration.

Paws, you do realise that no-one releases a track without it being mastered don't you?? Your comment is irrelevant. Just because he used Reason doesn't make the mastering process anymore or less important: Everyone has it done, thus the relevancy of it toward the composition phase is next to zero.

People would laugh at you if you did an interview and said you only used Live 4. They'd be all like "hahaha! So what about synths? Or what about samples? Where did he get those, huh?" and at the end of the day... it doesn't matter what you use. The end product is whats important.

This is a technical argument and it only serves and brain-fodder and mental masturbation.

drush · Post by **drush** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 8:29 pm

Amberience wrote:Why the fuck has this turned into a "bash Reason" thread??

actually, i was bashing Prodigy.

noisetonepause · Post by **noisetonepause** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 8:42 pm

Amberience wrote:Paws, you do realise that no-one releases a track without it being mastered don't you?? Your comment is irrelevant. Just because he used Reason doesn't make the mastering process anymore or less important: Everyone has it done, thus the relevancy of it toward the composition phase is next to zero.

Shirley that is a rhethorical question, mate? Of course I know this. You will notice if you read my post again that I was saying that he didn't use Reason for mastering nor mixing.

You see, *not* everyone has their albums mixed on a ProTools system with - I'm quite sure - analogue desks, EQs and processing and top notch monitoring. I'm *quite* sure you're not hearing Reason in there as much as you're hearing Reason plus a bunch of stuff.

But then I haven't heard the new album yet... so I don't know what I'm defending, really. I'm just bashing Reason's sound quality like I do at any given moment... I really, really don't like the sound of that programme, nor the interface. Horses for courses.

Having just re-read your post properly

I'm wondering if you read mine!

-Paws

djadonis206 · Post by **djadonis206** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 8:46 pm

noisetonepause wrote:
Shirley that is a rhethorical question, mate?

-Paws

Whose Shirley and why haven't I meet her?

claudek · Post by **claudek** » Thu Aug 19, 2004 9:40 pm

I was not bashing Reason..Just saying whatever he used last, including his brain..was not very good. Reason is a great program but without good ideas and all..it aint gonna be that great..Your brain is main real machine.