Propellerhead is now soliciting beta testers for version 3.0 of its wildly popular synth workstation software Reason. As reported on Music Thing,
Propellerhead has been titillating its Reason users by leaving tiny
fragmented images of a new module in the upcoming version, which forum
members bravely sorted out and reconstructed into the 'Combinator'
Device. Bizarre publicity stunt, but there you have it. (Now, if you
read every 10th letter of the 2nd news story . . .)

So what the heck is this Combinator which the image claims "will change Reason forever"?

It seems to be a device that answers the trickiness of routing complex
sound patches in Reason by centralizing programmed patterns and signal
chains. Translation: you can probably make trippy beat-driven sounds
more easily and with greater complexity than ever before. I'm guessing
Propellerhead may have fiddled a lot with the interface, because the
screenshot here doesn't make sense — there don't seem to be enough
buttons for it to do what it looks like it does. Then again, maybe I'm
just not deep enough for the Time and Space-Warping Power of the
Combinator. Whatever it is.

You can bet there will be other devices in Reason, too. Stay tuned for
details when they're made public, or sign up for the beta and be the
first to know! And who knows, maybe Propellerhead have more surprises
in store . . . "Riddle me this, Batman!"