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I'm brand new to audio production as of this week and I could do with a hand! I know that the basic answer is 'yes' but I want to know how specifically I can make the connection, the only connection I have between my DM6 and my PC is the USB lead, is that sufficient or do I need extra hardware? And if that is sufficient, how do I get Reason to recognise my DM6 as a control surface? Thanks!

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I'm not familiar with the Alesis DM6, so this is general advice. If the DM6 is recognized as a MIDI device, then you are in business. You can route MIDI From Reason out to the DM6 if you want to sequence the DM6 sounds. You can route MIDI in from the DM6 to the Reason synths if you want to use the DM6 to trigger Reason. – ObscureRobot Sep 15 '12 at 4:46
You definitely do not need more hardware. Have you successfully gotten any other MIDI control surfaces to interface with Reason? – JoshP♦ Oct 10 '12 at 23:27
Couple more things... a piece of software just pointed out to me might be able to help troubleshoot the MIDI communication with the computer (leaving Reason out of it). Also, once you get it working, you may run into a few mapping issues – JoshP♦ Oct 10 '12 at 23:44

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

This is a fairly simple process. There are other ways to do this, and I am assuming that you just want to control Reason's sounds with your drum kit (recording the actual audio from your DM6 is a separate question), but here is the simplest way to get started.

ON YOUR DM6: Press PATTERN to select Pattern Select Mode Press VALUE +/- to select "--n"

This will send the GM Standard MIDI note messages to Reason.

In Reason, go to Preferences/Controllers (sorry, I'm not in my studio...I will edit this later for clarity), and choose the DM6 (it may show up as a generic interface) as your main controller.

Now when you highlight a track that's assigned to a device, it should play right off the bat. Try a synth first to make sure all of your pads are transmitting. Sometimes, the Reason drum presets are missing some assignments.

This should at least get you started.

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up vote 0 down vote

It should play right off the bat, but in case it doesn't click RIGHT on the track and select "Lock [name you've given e-drum kit] to This Device."

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