Propellerheads have really done something great with their virtual drum machine, Redrum. The Redrum is a combination of easy drum samples sequencing, loading and manipulation.

There are ten drum samples in every instance of Redrum. In fact, you can load up multiple instances of the window to really have as many as your processor can handle at any one time. But one window at a time to start with, of course! Now, there are ten strips, with each one having their own controls. This means that you can modify ten samples at the same time, and make each complement the others. To the side of the Redrum instance, there is a volume dial that modified the volume of that instrument as it pertains to the entire project that is currently open.

One of the most useful options present in each and every channel strip is the Length control, which can trim the tail off long samples and shorten any other samples to the extent you want. I've found this really helpful when modulating hi-hats and snares. These drum samples sometimes don't get to the point as quick as one might like, so this is one possible use for this control.

Going a bit further in our analysis, we're presented with the Pan control. This really speaks for itself; it pans the drum samples! In an early mixing stage, you can organize your drums as they pertain to panning - and quite easily so. Another great feature of Redrum is that everything is on the same screen. Have you ever gotten frustrated going through twenty different menus looking for something? Not with Redrum - it's all on the same page. While it can be confusing to some people that have not used it extensively, it quickly becomes a necessity - something you won't be able to forget when trying different programs out in the future.

You might think that picking out ten different drum samples by yourself every time will be a tiresome task, you could be right. It all really depends on the person and how much patience you have at that point in time. But relax! There is something that will help you. Redrum comes with many pre-selected and pre-matched samples ready for your picking, and they are included in the factory Refills that are included with the sound libraries that comes with Reason. These samples have all been selected because they complement each other, so it's unlikely that you'll have to go looking much further.

One last thing about the Redrum interface that we have not touched on is the drum samples sequencer. It is laid out in step fashion which is very intuitive. Since you are never able to see and compare the entirety of device-specific tracks at the same time, you will be forced to listen with your ear and only make decisions on a sonic level. This is absolutely great for training the discerning musician and audio engineer in you. Redrum works very well to provide you an overview of the way things work in the real world.