Get to Know Reason's Combinator - Your gateway to huge sounds

It's Reason's most popular and most powerful device in the Rack and yet many new Reason users might not even know they're using it. In this video we're going to take everyone from Combinator noob to Combinator expert, with all you need to know to make great music in Reason with Combinators or even to build your own custom sounds and patches with mind-bending flexibility.

[@84legit]

Wow 🤩 one of the most informative videos on the combinator to date .. you have now open me up to the next level ..😩🤩🤩😝. I’m now gonna explore more design with confidence. Thanks 😊

[@ReasonStudios]

Awesome! That's exactly what my goal was. Explore. Design. Enjoy! /ryan

[@D.RockDailyDose]

i watch a lot of videos, very rarely do i watch the whole video. I agree also, nice job.

[@tokyotrap2579]

This dude is one of the greatest explainers of all time lol! So patient and clear

[@ReasonStudios]

Hey thanks! /ryan

[@tokyotrap2579]

@@ReasonStudios Ryan the unsung goat!! Many thanks good sir!

[@blockeight7496]

Yeah it's true... I like the concepts he give to us very clear

[@GabeAguilarMusic]

20:38 I totally agree that he’s one of the best instructors I actually looked for him before even knowing what he was gonna talk about because I knew I’d learn something

[@JamesBermingham]

Combinator was and still is a great utility. One of the great Reason core innovations.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

Yes they are great fun. Now I get to add My grafic desighn skills to.

[@LelandLavinci]

This...This is why no matter how much I've used FL Studio in the past years why I'm obsessed with Reason. Its colorful, it feels like youre in a studio and you can be as simple or complex as you want. All the sounds are top notch, I hardly ever get close to maxing our my CPU/DSP load and being able to flip the rack around and connect cables and everything makes it just so much fun for me. For so long I was in the trap of using what all the other famous producers were using but enough of that. Reason inspires me every time I open it up and I notice that I make different music that I want to instead of emulating what everyone else is doing. Thank you Reason for bringing me to enjoying the art of music production. 😀

[@niqulusviii987]

I just had an affair with Reason and....I don't think I can go home to FL, Reason.... she's good to me, she understands, she knows my thoughts and helps me express the deepest parts of my soul. Plus, she sounds and feels like studio! That mixer has character, balls! It's way to easy create at moments, like with combinator you can make a thumbprint and save it 😂 whew.... reason and I have some fun moments so far 😂

[@Noldy__]

@@macbrain4333 Is there a tutorial going over this? I'd like to explore

[@nomad1517]

Because it looks like a machine that can do some damage. It looks artist friendly, and not eye bleeding like ableton, and not confusing like fl studio. Its the perfect balance. Its inspiring.

[@niqulusviii987]

@@nomad1517 man, reason has changed my life! I don't work for them so this is not an ad 😂 seriously, that SSL is an instrument on it's own! I want so badly to talk to the folks at Reason Studios!

[@LelandLavinci]

@@niqulusviii987 I watched a tutorial on how to create my own mid/side mastering channel rack and while it was a little complex, it was so much fun learning the routing and cabling of everything.

[@RandomNoiseMusic]

The new Combinator is so much fun!! It reignited my passion for finding new and interesting ways to make sound and music while creatively exploring my way through "designing" my own dream racks easily! 👏

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

I'm am a musician but can and have done alot of grafic desighn and making great looking combonators is a must for Me. I'm gona get very creative .

[@ThomasCorfield]

I don't have enough life left to explore all this.

[@eagletown8977]

fr 😩

[@kaj-nagibe]

I was waiting for someone to explain the new combinator coherently thanks Ryan.

[@RC-lr3dn]

Where was this guy when I needed tutoring in school ?? What a great tutor ! Thanks for the video

[@LoveIsWhoWeAre]

I spend hours each day on KZbin, and I’ve got to say you are indeed one of the best presenters I’ve seen. And outstanding video production as well. Kudos! God bless.

[@steuph1976]

Ryan really is the man, you listen to him for 20 minutes and you want to dive into these instantly !

[@emmanueldubois5882]

There is so much to Reason (even after 2 years from posting) that videos like this one are much welcome guidance. Thank you!

[@spartahill]

This is the absolute best Reason tutorial I've viewed to date. I was so on the fence regarding upgrading to Reason-12 based on other comments and videos. However, the capacity you've demonstrated via the combinator accompanied by another video of yours (Mimic), has pushed me over the edge. This will make a nice addition to my workflow and evolving creative prowess. Thanks

[@tonescapes9673]

Really clear and concise.bought it reason 12 yesterday.big jump from reason 4.,but I've been watching alot of tutorials before I got it.cheers

[@gregblue8113]

Fantastic! I'm really looking forward to more of these types of videos!

[@noisecrime]

13:24 Would love to see this level of UI enhancement added in the future, it is a potentially nice clean method to convey to users of the combi exactly what a control is affecting and the range it applies to. Granted it would have to be limited as you couldn't just keep adding circular rings of information, and would be challenging to implement, but still it has very clear benefits.

[@EannaButler]

Thought the very same!

[@dallas-cole]

I started my production path using Rebirth back in the day, when moved into Reason I remember being blown away by the Combinator. It is really something more than 10 years later to still see Combinator tutorials. Its been a long time since I used Reason, but when I look back to this old friend I can only smile.

[@RussDnB]

Ryan, you and the team always put together such fantastic and insightful videos. I REALLY hope you plan to dig deep into a part 2, and follow up on this one. Wonderful inspiration, thank you.

[@RyanHarlin]

Thanks Russ! I put a lot of work into these so I'm glad to know they're appreciated.

[@RussDnB]

@@RyanHarlin That's very apparent. The prod quality is top notch mate :) I imagine some of these can take weeks to script, practice, prepare, record and then edit and compose. A bit like creating a Combinator patch. The end result can look simple, maybe even effortless. But the secret sauce is in the planning and under the hood.

[@gregserenade6653]

fantastic! this is just about everything I've ever wanted from the combinator. seamless integration with hardware controllers will make this indispensable. still a game changer 💜

[@magnustorque5528]

Another great , lucid, and inspiring tutorial. I have never touched the combinator. That's all about to change big time. The potential here is unlimited.

[@EdeP79]

Mimic and the new combinator are amazing! I use mimic to do all my kicks and it's so intuitive, I get exactly what I want.

[@mimikova390]

The mimic workflow is so fast and the results are great. slicing is so old school. Some results are imperfect and that makes for character.

[@EdeP79]

@@mimikova390 totally agree. Reason still manages to keep that analogue vibe alive while innovating in the digital world and that's pretty impressive.

[@SeeDVicious]

The video that i was waiting for, regarding the new combinator. It's all i expected and more! Beautiful!

[@michaeljohn2029]

WOW...Im truly amazed...I knew what it was but never looked further than presets....This could be so much fun and allowing to alter switches and backgrounds...Just ace !!!! Truly blown away with all this.... Just shows we never stop learning...Ive used reason for Years but im still staggered at the updates, players, etc etc,,and now combinators....WOW....

[@gesslr]

These videos are soooo well done. The instructional design behind them is just superb. And they are inspiring. Many kudos.

[@mattriddell8983]

"save bookmark to Reason Tutorials folder...check." Good video. I've been using combinators since 4 but still learned a lot.

[@alternatingbitmusic]

I'm ashamed to admit I've been using Reason since at least version 5 and I've never messed with combinators beyond some pre-made ones with a very basic understanding. This was a crucial tutorial that once again reminds me of how mind blowing it is that this DAW isn't among the top dogs in popularity but hey, it's their loss. Thanks so much for this user friendly tutorial.

[@JaceEverettTV]

You make some of the most concise, clear, and useful videos of anyone out there. Gracias!

[@xentrifuge]

learned more in 20 minutes than almost 20 years experience with reason from this guy right here! Thank you! Please keep these vids coming!

[@DreamDeepCR]

I started with Reason+ just yesterday - OMG it is awesome. Amazing work guys and another brilliant video!!

[@srikandiwarion1422]

I love the richness and cleanliness of this combo setting!! Great tutorial, thank you!!🙏🙏💜 I'll be lost for 6 hours in the process of creating/designing my own patch on just Combinator alone, dude! LOL

[@yenthesage2717]

Ryan, You my friend are phenomenal at explaining not only Reason's devices, but other music related concepts as well. Your video explaining FM synthesis with Algoritm is by far the best I've seen and I appreciate you for that. I need more videos like this. Thanks!

[@J2XU2]

I use the combinators as templates for my hardware gear so i have all the routings done so when i want to access CC details its already set up and i can tweak straight away. Even the players are great for connecting to outboard gear. Reason user from Day 1. :)

[@bringdabass1]

Man... What a wonderful and informative "Get to Know" video. I always knew the Combinator was powerful but boy was I clueless on the expansion of this great tool in REASON. I'm still running REASON 10 but this information makes it feel like I've ungraded to REASON 12 (okay maybe a little). Thank you for this information, it served its purpose... it helped.

[@ChristopherJenkins73]

IMO.. Fricktion At the Very Least, Should Have Definitely came with Version 12!

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

Yes I think so to.

[@TheValueOfN]

It would incentivise more of us to upgrade for sure. I'd already bought Friktion though. I upgraded... then requested a refund because benefits of 12 didn't match up with the cost. When they announced the price hike, I upgraded from 11 suite again, ONLY because I might acquire a 4K screen in the future and I didn't want to pay such a massive amount of money for so few gains. If Reason Studios don't sort out the shitshow that is the equivalent of a beta dot upgrade to Reason 11, then I'm done with Reason Studios forever.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

@@TheValueOfN That fact that a large percentage of Reason 11 users had already payed for Friktion is why they left it out of the upgrade. They will probably add Friktion to in 13 or 14.

[@magnustorque5528]

It would have been nice, but I'm fine with purchasing it separately so that it helps keep Reason development moving forward. If everything is free, who pays for all that innovation.

[@mimikova390]

@Europa Nostra nope. they just have a clinky workflow.

[@soundmathematicsmusic]

Awesome. Definitely diving deeper into creating and saving custom patches. Major time saver.

[@courtlaw1]

This alone makes reason a must have. You should be required to put out a whole series just for Combinator.

[@Higgzmusik]

Ryan I hope you live forever ! Bless this day I found out this information

[@marcom.]

This is why I love Reason. Endless possibilites with an intuitive interface. The new combinator is dope! I can't understand why people complain about the R12 update. For me this new combinator alone is worth the money.

[@kybr-5-dagger]

Excelent Tutorial. Now i love Combinators. I realized that i am combining already a lot of stuff in my Tracks. But this method is really cool. Makes much more sense. Appreciate it.

[@Farmatique]

What a brilliant tutorial! Thank you, Ryan, I really enjoyed watching this video. "What I really really want" 😄

[@RedKnight-fn6jr]

I have 8 devices from Comb II already and it's great! Bringing Reason back to what it's meant to be IMO! Two requests - preset controls (option buttons/preset knobs) and scaling options for control tool tips.

[@cathywilson1273]

This video presentation is one of the best created that I have ever seen!! The visuals along with the precise and detailed explanation of components in Reason, helps me so much in understanding the combinator, and other facets of Reason. I have not used my Reason (v. 9) -at all - due to its complexity of operation. Its been unused for a very long time. This gives me a better understanding of this product and I will have to revisit this. Thank you for your excellent presentation and your time!! :D

[@gustavoruiz5637]

Ryan, your videos are added value to the whole Reason experience! Ask for a rise 🙂 Great sounds, tools, graphics, tutorials and amazing workflow makes Reason a great choice for making music! 😎

[@lxvesick2267]

so much love was put into combinator, this is awesome

[@mraduanemc]

I love that you've upgraded the Combinator after all these years. I've always said it's Reason's greatest tool. However, I'm going to wait to upgrade until you add at least 2 of the following: stepped knobs, radio buttons, cycling buttons, momentary buttons, x-y/joystick controls, group editing(i.e. being able to select 16 knobs and turn them into faders in one click, instead of building the thing, deciding you really should've used faders instead of knobs and then having to change it one control at a time), value-responsive displays, per-patch remote map exporting, and, of course, double the amount of current possible controls(from 32 to 64).

[@mraduanemc]

@@macbrain4333 What is patcher?

[@manalainen]

Combi2 is pretty damn dope already but yeah, would love to see those implemented too. 👌🏻

[@driverv86]

Love the combi, main reason I use this DAW. I've created some ethereal beautiful combis that I love.

[@treforward6999]

Thank you for a really informative tutorial Ryan. I'm really looking forward to creating some of my own Combinators after watching that. The new Combinator was well worth the price of upgrading to Reason 12.

[@RandomNoiseMusic]

Wow, I wasn't aware of that "map to Combi" tip!! 😳😱 12:59

[@kyma1999x]

very interesting add on to the good old combinator device....reason is always more powerful in live likewise studio, great job.

[@apolloxproductions]

Great video! You did a good job giving people an understanding of the depth of customization that is possible. Looking forward to trying out the new features keep up the good work @Reason team!

[@ProckGnosis]

The Combinator rocks, no doubt, but I don't really have any complaints with the way it worked in version 3 through 11 either. Was a groundbreaking idea for Props Reason when it came out, and it let you build some amazingly complex stuff to easily re-use and share.

[@vadimshevchenko8227]

Awesome new combinator concept!

[@Rollur1234]

Thank you ❤❤❤❤ I am loving my tablet as an automation mixer for 3rd party VSTS 🤓🤓🤓

[@Warunicorn]

I get so overwhelmed with so many options that my head nearly explodes in a spectacular display of gore. lol

[@emmanueldubois5882]

Thank you for demystifying combis! So helpful!

[@Ariel1Dominguez]

Dude too much possibilities, the patches already sound amazing to me.

[@prinzkoenigkaiser]

man.. ..you're the most sympathic teacher i've ever seen. and i had a lot. 😃 😅

[@DNGMaestro]

The new combinator is very nice. Now, please address and fix the obscene amount of bugs and crashing problems of this unfinished update.

[@nomad1517]

I wish you guys made a video on how to use reason for live performances, because I think reason can totally be used for live performances, its just very underground with the info. It would be amazing if you guys developed a live mode, like with ableton, or something that is for performance. Just a thought. Everything else is brilliant, so not much to complain on.

[@edmiddlebrooks1696]

I use it in live performances all the time. In fact even though I can open it as a vst in Ableton where I use click tracks, I typically slave reason standalone to Ableton via rewire and send most of my Panorama P4 controls through Ableton and into Reason 12. This allows me to have my keyboard control both Reason AND Ableton with a dedicated filter knob on the Ableton Live Audio track which all my synths come through while having various sounds from reason assigned to other tracks in Ableton. This is all controlled live via keys, a Looptimus pedal, volume pedal for controlling multiple parameters etc etc... ...and I'm a guitar player, not primarily a keys/synth guy. I to all of this including vocal processing live.

[@darrinwood7809]

That was a super interesting video. Side note, my brain also melted!

[@miltmanmusic_BCS]

Reason just keep on strumming the strings of the mad scientists' heart👍👍🔥🔥

[@stevehernaman6534]

absolute world class video. thank you so much

[@mnieuwhof]

After years the combinator becomes the device it should have been for years... I really like Reason as a plugin... amazig toolbox!

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

I littraly use the same two custom commentators downloaded in 2007 still to this day. Commentators made by sound designers where already incredible back then. While I'm not a sound desighner but I do experiment but I also do grafic desighn so I'll be making some very nice looking combornators but it will be up to over people to see if they like the sounds I come up with.

[@freethinkers-inc.]

Great Video. Always a pleasure watching you. Thanks so much for sharing.🤗

[@Luther777Williams]

Great video's man! I love Reason and you're opening up a lot of new doors with these video's. Well done!

[@tomking8286]

I hope they add a “Radio button” type for selecting patterns on Redrum etc.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

I'd just use switches, in rows.

[@mimikova390]

@@HOLLASOUNDS you can map drum pads on your controller to do this. pretty easy. hit me back if you want help setting it up.

[@mimikova390]

I would also like drum pads that can be assigned to multiple things in the combi. could make for some fun playable things. not that you cant already trigger loops and players it would just be added control.

[@tomking8286]

@@HOLLASOUNDS This gets a bit messy as the previously pushed buttons don't deactivate when you push the next one, requiring two clicks to go back to the previous pattern.

[@HOLLASOUNDS]

@@tomking8286 Switch deactivation from one switch when a different switch is pressed? Well while intresting I can't think of any real music equipment that does that apart from old 80s keyboards and tape players. What's the actual point of that function?

[@hexaet]

thx for this - combinator2 is awesome - but i will wait until R12 updates so that often stated VST troubles are overcome - great vid tho

[@ryan5mm]

the new combinator is great, but guys there are so many glitches in 12 it's bananas. i can no longer get through a project without it crashing...please please please fix these glitches.

[@anosoumusic]

We're working on it! Got fixes for several issues, particularly related to VSTs, coming this week barring any unforeseen circumstances. /Mattias

[@ryan5mm]

@@anosoumusic happy to hear that! i love reason, thanks for the years of wonderful music making joy ^_^

[@Dr-Stu]

@@anosoumusic good to hear 👍

[@OmkaraHellcore]

Good to know. I'll stick to v11 until the bugs are gone.

[@The-Musicians-Edge]

@@OmkaraHellcore Careful, the price is going up in a few days. Do you really wanna pay $199 on Oct 1st?

[@erock.steady]

combinator was a brand-new beast the last time i took a look at reason.

[@vaudronphilippe5415]

Great job! In french : c’est le taf que je fait a créer des rack ds ableton live 11 ! Mis à mon sens plus accès sur le son car plus intuitif et avec le push 2 on oublie le côté ordi souris etc et on écoute ! Les maccros sont mieux foutu sur live ! Par contre niveau son etc c’est good ! J’ai reason 11 donc pas de blêmes ok juste un vis perso pour accès le taf sur le son ! Vouala ! Don’t give up it’s great passion

[@StockMusicMusician]

Great video Ryan! Super clear!

[@RyanHarlin]

Thanks Evan!

[@hasznoneother]

To say you are good just isn't enough...you are the Jarvis of Reason my man! You speak for Reason just like Jarvis does for Tony Starks only you're far more charismatic and easy to listen to!

[@monogramadikt5971]

reason studio needs to create deep dive tutorials for all their devices synths etc for the benefit of new users and also to attract new users into the reason ecosystem. i remember when i began using it back in the day it was so frustrating trying to learn how to use the devices with no prior knowledge of using synths etc and the stuff that was around at the time was often directed at people who already had a good working knowledge of using synths and effects etc.. things are better these days but theres plenty of room to improve things. i mean even an in depth series of short tutorials that shows how to use subtractor/malstrom/thor back to front from creating a simple to a more advanced combi patch would be a great place to start for beginners. video tutorials are so much easier to understand than reading complicated technical manuals etc

[@anzatzi]

Ryan--I think a Combinator part 2 is in order--thank you!

[@kwakuasantefrimpong8784]

Ryan is a great teacher! Love the content!

[@lxworld]

Love the vibe of this video

[@Professor_Pat]

Thank you for doing this!

[@abj358]

OMG! My music writing days will be over the minute I start playing with the Combinator because once I start, I'll never again come up for air. --- drownedclown

[@vishescheElectronic]

Ryan i had wanted this new combinator for so long man...and you guys delivered too...but a little too late man...now my workflow is Ableton and RRP...and its much simpler to just save any RRP patch as a vstpatch in Ableton...you know...maybe a few years ago i would have been excited like a child over this new combinator...use to be a dream to design me own hybrid instruments complete with a faceplate and proper controls and stuff...also after seeing so many complaints about Reason12 on the forums, its very sad that reason has lost its dependability as a software...which had always been why i always preferred reason over other stuff out there...maybe if you guys could bring back the stability of reason back by version 13 or 14, I'll upgrade then after a few years...as if now i think id rather have a stable version 11 than the new version which could be buggy...you know...sorry man...will upgrade after a couple of years...

[@MrSkunky2009]

Interesting stuff !!! Very insightful....

[@therubbscreative]

Simply beautiful tools

[@nigelbalcarres585]

Excellent tutorial

[@PlugInsCloud]

New HD graphics... just perfect!

[@williammatthews8684]

Very helpful video!!

[@gainesdominique]

15:19 why I love Reason at the end of the day

[@AdriaanJABreukel]

Briljant. Thank you.

[@andyhsong]

i came for the synths, i stayed for the combinator!!!

[@niklawrence5778]

You're a very good educator.

[@ischimmelbusch]

Awesome - thank you

[@blogout412]

the device button, finally I found it

[@tonedecoder633]

I'd give this 10 thumbs up if I could -- such a great video :)

[@HaroldRey03]

Reason Studio es genial, me siento transportado al futuro, una herramienta muy versátil para músicos, que lástima que halla pocos Tutoriales en español,

[@emanuelnyahoe2380]

Thanks Great tutorial 👍👌

[@awdhaan]

This is awesome

[@UltimateMoralizer]

Awesome video! Very educational!

[@philthy.basement]

I have SOOOOOOOOOOOO many combis I’ve made and saved over the decades…. yes, DECADES. I still can use them in Reason today 😎🥃

[@KickbackCouture]

The combinator is better than the Ableton Live rack. Yeah I said it.

[@abtheaudicrat]

This video was superb

[@hgmoved6591]

I HAVE USED REASON BEFORE YOU COULD MAKE VOCAL TRACKS WITH IT AND THE MORE I FIND OUT ABOUT IT THESE NEW DISCOVERIES KEEEP ME DEDICATED TO THE REASON FAMILY!!!!!!😃😃😃😃😃😃

[@Darrylbpoagent]

Been a Reason user since version 3. Never realized how many problems the combinator solves.