music group see propellerheads . for the hat see propeller beanie . propellerhead software type private 1 industry technology founded 1994 headquarters stockholm area served digital audio production products reason recycle record rebirth rb 338 figure website www.propellerheads.se propellerhead software is a music software company based in stockholm sweden and founded in 1994 . 1 it produces the studio emulation reason . contents 1 history 1.1 name 2 use of the internet 3 current products 3.1 rack extensions 3.2 technologies 3.3 reason refills 4 external links 5 references history edit propellerhead software was founded in 1994 by ernst nathorst b s marcus zetterquist and peter jubel who still hold prominent positions within the company . 1 their first release was recycle a sample loop editor that could change the tempo of a loop without affecting the pitch . the export medium was propellerhead s own rex format . recycle was launched in conjunction with steinberg who marketed it as a companion to cubase as it brought a simple way of gaining control over tempo and timing of audio loops . 2 in 1997 propellerhead released rebirth rb 338 a step based programmable sequencer which emulated classic roland instruments commonly associated with techno tb 303 bass line synthesizer and the tr 808 and tr 909 drum machines . it was hailed as an affordable alternative to buying old unreliable hardware devices . roland corporation requested that an acknowledgment be added to the rebirth packaging and splash screen ; the unofficial endorsement became a marketing boost for propellerhead and they have retained a close relationship with roland ever since . 3 rewire was developed jointly between propellerhead and steinberg for use with their cubase sequencer . released in 1998 it provided a virtual audio and synchronization connection between cubase and rebirth . in january 1999 the protocol was opened for general use by third parties without any license fee 4 to allow communication between different sequencers . propellerhead soon focused their attention on their new product the award winning 5 reason released in 2000 . reason was an entire studio emulation complete with virtual cables and representations of a subtractive synthesizer sampler and drum machine alongside a rex file loop player a pattern step sequencer and a multitude of effects units . making reason s appeal even greater was the ability to create as many of each device as a computer could handle and a simple sequencer for notes and device automation . additionally reason could run on average spec computers and was extremely competitively priced . citation needed in may 2009 propellerhead announced a new product record . 6 designed for recording arrangement and mixing record is made along the lines of reason and continues the tradition of emulating hardware and the rack . record emulates a recording studio with a mixing desk a rack of virtual instruments and effects and an audio sequencer similar to traditional midi sequencing . it is also made to work alongside reason ; if record is installed on a computer with reason on it the modules from reason will be usable inside of record . 7 released 9 september 2009 record has been praised for its stability seamless integration with reason and sound quality 8 and has received a number of awards including future music s platinum award 9 computer music editor s choice and performance awards 10 and the musictech excellence award . 11 in april 2010 propellerhead released their first app for mobile platforms ; a remake of their rebirth rb 338 software for the apple iphone ipod touch and ipad . developed together with retronyms 12 it s a 100 % port of the original with added functionality for sharing song files with other iphone users zooming and panning . 13 in july 2011 propellerhead announced plans for reason version 6 which includes all the features of record 1.5 . this allowed propellerhead to discontinue record and create two different versions of reason . 14 in march 2012 propellerhead announced rack extensions and the rack extension store a software architecture that will allow 3rd party developers to use their own instruments and effect devices inside of reason . this technology was announced to appear alongside reason 6.5 as a free update . rack extensions will be sold in an app store similar in a fashion in which apple inc. sells applications for the popular ios platform . hosted by propellerhead software developers are free to use their own dsp and existing code to develop instruments and effects for use in reason . when purchased the rack extensions appear in reason as a native reason instrument or effect module and are privy to all of the features that reason offers in its native instruments and effect devices . 15 name edit the name propellerhead comes from the pejorative term used to deprecate science fiction fans and other technophiles who are stereotypically drawn wearing propeller beanies . the company is not related to the british big beat musical ensemble propellerheads . use of the internet edit from early on propellerhead used the internet as both a marketing tool and as a method of ensuring they could communicate with their user base . an alpha version of rebirth was made available for free download on the propellerhead website in december 1996 and the company even searched the internet for active users of the tb 303 and sent them invitation emails to try the new software . 16 the user forum has always been at the forefront of the propellerhead community with many employees checking them every day . 17 allowing users to make requests and suggestions directly to the developers led to the first downloadable rebirth update in 1997 and still today registered users of propellerhead software can download updates and much additional content online . in november 2013 the forums were shut down indefinitely due to security concerns with the forum software . on 17 december they were resurrected with 4 new forum categories beginner advanced user rack extensions and post your music . 18 on 16 january 2014 propellerhead software announced that they will close down the 15 year old reason community forums shifting online customer interaction to their social media accounts instead . 19 the unofficial new forum run by reason users rather than by propellerhead is reason talk . 20 though this is an independent forum many propellerhead employees post there regularly and the forum has recently begun to host the official reason beta test forum . current products edit reason reason essentials an entry level version of reason with fewer devices record incorporated into reason as of version 6 recycle reason adapted a cut down version of reason distributed as part of various software bundles figure an ios app that utilizes some technology from reason s thor synthesizer and kong drum machine . it allows users to compose short loops by drawing figures on a touch screen device . rebirth for ios an ios app that brings almost all of the functionality of the desktop version of now discontinued rebirth rb 338 . 21 rack extensions edit audiomatic retro transformer 22 parsec spectral synthesizer 23 polar dual pitch shifter 24 pulsar dual lfo 25 px7 fm synthesizer 26 radical keys 27 radical piano 28 rotor 29 a list acoustic guitarist 30 a list electric guitarist 31 technologies edit rewire rex2 remote a communication protocol for use between control surfaces and software applications first incorporated into reason 3 . rack extensions a software platform that allows the use of instruments and effects developed by 3rd party companies for use inside of reason . reason refills edit refills compress sounds settings and instrument configurations into single files and are the only way of mass importing additional sounds into reason . reason pianos reason drum kits reason electric bass refill rdk vintage mono refill electromechanical 2.0 refill strings refill abbey road keyboards discontinued developed with abbey road studios 32 external links edit official website rebirth museum learnreason website references edit a b c propellerhead software . 2007 . quick company facts . propellerhead software a company on a mission . available online 1 accessed 23 august 2007 . propellerhead software . 2007 . interview man of reason . available online 2 accessed 21 january 2010 . rebirth museum . 2005 . the roland seal of approval . the debut . available online 3 accessed 23 august 2007 . walker m. november 1999 . rewired for sound . sound on sound . volume 15 issue 1 . available online 4 accessed 23 august 2007 . musikmesse international press award . 2002 . software instruments . mipa 2002 winner . available online 5 . accessed 23 august 2007 . http www.soundonsound.com news newsid 11529 http www.musicradar.com gear all computers software digital audio workstations daws record 215617 review 4 http www.musicradar.com gear all computers software digital audio workstations daws record 215617 review http record you uk.blogspot.com 2009 08 record reviewed in future music.html http record you uk.blogspot.com 2009 08 computer music front cover and editor.html http record you uk.blogspot.com 2009 08 musictech magazine give propellerhead.html http news.cnet.com 8301 13526 3 20004046 27.html tag hottopicsbody .1 http createdigitalmusic.com 2010 05 01 rebirth reborn as synths in your hand qa with ernst nathorst boos more 10827 http www.propellerheads.se products reason http www.propellerheads.se news rackextensions rebirth museum . 2005 . rebirth for the masses . the birth of rebirth . available online 6 accessed 23 august 2007 . johnson d. october 2005 . beta testing reason . sound on sound . volume 20 issue 12 . available online 7 accessed 23 august 2007 . http www.propellerheads.se forum info https propellerheads.se forum http www.reasontalk.com http rebirthapp.com http shop.propellerheads.se product audiomatic http shop.propellerheads.se product parsec http shop.propellerheads.se product polar http shop.propellerheads.se product pulsar http shop.propellerheads.se product px7 fm synthesizer http shop.propellerheads.se product radical keys http shop.propellerheads.se product radical piano http shop.propellerheads.se product rotor https shop.propellerheads.se product a list acoustic guitarist https shop.propellerheads.se product a list electric guitarist power chords abbey road studios . june 2007 . abbey road and propellerhead software announce abbey road keyboards for reason . abbey road news . available online 8 accessed 23 august 2007 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title propellerhead software & oldid 743713981 categories software companies of swedenelectronic music organizationsmusic equipment manufacturershidden categories use dmy dates from december 2013all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from july 2016 navigation menu personal tools not logged 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