looking for something like a software mixer

[marian]

hi fellas,

 

i'm making my music almost exclusively with reason and i'm looking for a solution for playing live, improvising, something between djing and creating songs on-the-fly.

 

what i would need for this purpose is something similar to a software mixing tool, preferably accepting audio streams from different instances of the same program (reason). now i know this sounds kind of weird and impossible but shouldn't there be a solution to this, as long as everything is being mixed on a software level? i reckon one would need something like a virtual audio card driver with multiple channels.

 

if anyone might point me in the right direction i'd be most grateful. frankly i'm not even sure what to google for as searching for "software mixer" or similar expressions just gives me crap to dj my mp3s.

 

thanks in advance,

marian

[enki]

Reason supports Rewire (naturally, as they are products of the same company), which is a protocol for routing audio and MIDI between different applications on the same computer. Using Rewire, you can route the audio from Reason to any compatible host, such as Cubase, Logic, Acid, or a bunch of others, and use their mixing environments to add effects, record, or do whatever you want to do to it. I've even heard that using something like Logic to mix down Reason projects instead of exporting them directly from Reason yields better sound quality, but I'm skeptical that anything could actually make Reason sound "good".. :P

[marian]

first, thanks a lot for the quick response. the problem is that while working with rewire cubase is trying to be in sync with reason, which fails when 2 instances of reason are open (the 2nd just won't play). so basically what i would need is an option in cubase to just forget about the whole transport thingy altogether and just work as a mixer. i dont know whether that is possible. is there some sort of quirky option buried in the menus or should i go check out logic or acid or sth.?

 

as for reason sounding shitty etc., i've heard that many times and personally see lots of room for critique in reason, but it usually suits my workflow very well. i've tried tons of other stuff but except for cubase for sampling/recording purposes and the once-in-a-while tracker song i always get back to reason.

 

marian

[enki]

Ah, I see what you mean about the two instances. Not sure what can be done about that. And as for me criticizing Reason, it was all in jest. I've certainly had my fun with the program and plenty of folks seem to get a lot of mileage out of it. Best of luck!

[BCM]

i don't think this can be done without writing your own application. basically what you are trying to do is load reason up twice and sync the two reasons together on one laptop whilst mixing seperate audio outputs from each reason. ie you need a standalone audio mixer that can accept realtime digital audio information from two incarnations of the same program running on the same computer. not possible! you need two laptops both running reason and a hardware mixer. you might also be able to accomplish the same effect with a computer with 2 soundcards.