Dré Bowman Adopts Reason on Projects with Outkast, Rhonda Smith and Others

André "Dré" Bowman is a man of many hats: producer, programmer, bassist, songwriter, sound designer, and engineer. As a producer and a player, he's logged time with James Brown, India.Arie, Black Eyed Peas, Maceo Parker, and Ashlee Simpson. Over the last several years, Dré has adopted Reason, rewiring it into Digital Performer to access Reason's vast sound palette.

Dré says that he had explored other virtual instruments before getting into Reason. "My good friend and production partner Keith Harris [Black Eyed Peas' drummer] told me about Reason, which he had started using as his main production rig while on the road. I kept bragging about all the different VI's I had, not realizing that he had the same thing in one program that was way easier to use! He sent me some stuff he had done entirely in Reason. I think at that moment I went headfirst into virtual instruments, and some of my hardware started taking a backseat—although I try to incorporate both worlds in my productions. But Reason supplies that icing in my productions; it's my ace in the hole."

Reason's ease of use and extensive sound library were just a few things that sold Dré on the program. And in switching over, he happily discovered that it didn't inhibit his creative process. "It's easy to access an infinite, expanding library of sounds and manipulate them to make your own 'sound'", he explains. "I have a rather large library of sounds to pull from. The Favorites section is a lifesaver for me when I may happen upon a crazy sound while sifting through a couple hundred gigabytes of Reason data! I wish every VI had a favorites section… it's easy to get lost in your sound library. Plus, it's easy to use, not only as a stand-alone but also alongside a DAW or hardware sequencer of your choice. Most importantly, Reason sounds great and the sounds are mix-ready."

One of the best examples of productions he's worked on that Reason played an important part was Ashlee Simpson's hit single, "L.O.V.E.", voted #1 on MTV's "TRL" show in January 2006. "I did all of the programming, keys and bass work," he remembers. "Again, Reason had those 'icing on the cake' sounds that I love to use. The sounds I used from Reason you just can't get in any popular synth."

So, what's in his Reason rack? "Well I've been really experimenting with the Combinator recently—it is SICK!" he says. "It's a big concept with endless possibilities, so I'm just seeing how crazy I can get!"

Look for Dré's handiwork on upcoming projects by Outkast, Rhonda Smith, G.A.G.E., Mica Twins, Fhena, and many others. For more info on Dré and IIIG Music Productions, go to: www.myspace.com/drebowman