Reason for Mac

Reason for Mac provides you with the digital instruments required to create dance, electronic, and hip-hop beats. It is also a handy tool for professional composers and songwriters in the film, television, or commercial industries.

Pros

Huge range of instruments: Reason offers hundreds of instruments, loops, and effects, and even more ways to customize each of those sounds to make them truly your own. You can interface with the instruments via an external keyboard, or by just using your mouse or computer keyboard.

Lifelike visual interface: The instruments and effects panels appear like they would in an actual rack system. Anyone that has worked with physical equipment before should have no problem leaping right in and starting to mix with this software.

Features that actually help: In competing software, many of the complex features actually hinder you, unless you know exactly how to use them. In Reason, features are easy to understand and work with.

Cons

No standout features: Reason for Mac exists in a very competitive space, with a lot of big-name professional software like Pro Tools and Logic competing with it. The only real drawback to Reason is that it doesn't do anything to make it leap to the head of the pack.

Bottom Line

If you're new to the world of creating digital music, Reason for Mac is an excellent app. It allows you to explore your creativity, by providing you with an almost endless supply of instruments and tools in an easy to utilize interface.

Editors' note: This is a review of the trial version of Reason for Mac 8.0.