How To Use A PraiseCharts Reason File

This article will help familiarize yourself with exactly what to do with the new Reason Files you can purchase from PraiseCharts.  For more information about Reason files, click here.

Unpacking the ZIP File

When you first download the zip file, double click on the file.  This will open the zipped folder to reveal both  the Reason session, as well as a short write-up with a few notes for the user.

When you open up the Reason session, you may see a window stating that the computer can't find certain sounds.  This simply means that there are patches in the session that are not where the computer thinks they should be.  These will often be the sounds associated with the click track, or perhaps with one of the refills that need to be downloaded.  

Locate the Sounds

If you know where the patches are located, you can push the button "Locate the Sounds".  If you don't know where the sounds are, you  may need to download a refill - please see the blog on where to download sounds here.

If you decide to open the session without the missing sounds, simply push the button that says "Open Without" and your session will open, looking something like this:

At the top of the page you have the 'rack'.  This simply shows the devices that have been used in this session.  At the top of the 'rack', you will see your mixer.  This is where you can adjust the levels for each individual instrument used in the session.  

At the bottom of the session, you'll see the 'sequencer'.  This is where you can actually see (and edit if you'd like) the different instrument tracks.

Listening to the Track

You are now ready to listen to the track!  Simply push play at the bottom of the screen, or hit space bar and you should hear the track begin to play. 

You may notice that the track entitled "Click" is muted.  If you would like to have that channel play, simply scroll down the sequencer page until you find "Click" and unmute it, by clicking on the red "M".  This will unmute the track.

The Rack and Sequencer Windows

Something that you may want to do to make things a little bit easier, is to separate the 'rack window' (ie - the place where you see all of the different devices and modules) from the 'sequencer window'.  To do this, simply click on the "Window" tab and then click on "Detach Sequencer Window".  Reason will then separate the Rack from the Sequencer - you can work in either window.

To join the two windows together, simply repeat the above process, but click on "Attach Sequencer Window".

You are now ready to begin working in Reason!  You can mute or unmute any tracks you want, by following the same process that you used to unmute the Click track.