Reason vs MPC, I would like your advice

Hi,
I have been producing for the past 1.5 years, and I need help deciding what equipment is best for me. I have been using Reason 4, and a Novation Midi keyboards with knobs and sliders. The problem is, I havnt made any complete, good songs in the past 1.5 years. I have been trying to produce and spend as much energy and time as possible on it, but for some reason I havnt been able to work out anything interesting.

I have been wondering if its just be the laptop/keyboard set up that is limiting me, and maybe I would be better suited with an MPC, or weather I am just not that good of a producer and need to spend more time with reason. Some background, I play guitar, drums, a bit of keys, mostly just messing around on the Novation. I don’t like reason because of all the possibilities, I spend forever doing one small thing, and then I never work on the big picture all together. I feel like I would be much more at home with a hands on device like the MPC, although I have never used one.

If you could offer advice on if you think I should try out an MPC or wait and stick with Reason, that would be great.

Thanks

abeblinkin wrote: but for some reason I havnt been able to work out anything interesting.

lol "for some reason" pun intended

well you play real instruments... if you only have reason and not something to record those... maybe that isn't helping.

what computer type are you using?


the mpc is fairly basic, but remember... it's a sampler. it is a totally different world then reason which comes PACKED with sounds and synth patches... the mpc is basically empty until you either load or record sounds into it. Now I love both ways of working...


I am a fan of reason, however I never liked how it was harder then other DAWs to load up your own sounds or record new ones. That is why I used cubase and fl studio a bit more... one other major reason also is because I like VST instruments and fx pluggins which reason cant make use of.


here is the deal though if you get an mpc, try and get a deal on a second hand one. You will invest a lot less, you can still get a great machine, and you can resell it for close to what you paid if it isn't for you (if not make a profit) and the other nice thing is how you can use reason and the mpc nicely together.

The more simplistic nature of pattern-based sequencing in the MPC may be just what you need.