More than 18 months have passed since we last had a new full Reason update to tell you about, but now Propellerhead has taken the wraps off version 9, which includes new devices, sounds and creative tools.

There are three new Player devices, all of which are MIDI processors. Note Echo creates rhythmic, pitched delays; Scales & Chords turns melodies into harmonies and chords; and Dual Arpeggio takes your chords and creates rhythmic patterns out of them (from the standard 'up and down' to the polyphonic and polyrhythmic).

These devices can help you at the ideas stage, but the new Pitch Edit mode is designed to be called upon when you need to fix up out-of-tune vocals, add vibrato to them, change their timing, create new melodies from an existing recording, change the dynamics and more. It sounds like Melodyne-style stuff; the Audio to MIDI feature, meanwhile, enables you to convert vocals to MIDI notes.

The Reason soundbank has also been beefed up with 1000 new sounds, and there are workflow enhancements across the rack. You can even switch to a darker theme that's more appropriate for your late-night studio sessions.

If you purchased Reason 8 on or after 1 May 2016 then you'll be entitled to a free upgrade to version 9 - otherwise it'll cost €129/$129 to move up from any previous version of Reason. The full software will cost €405/$449, while the cutdown Reason Essentials 9 will retail for €120/$129.

Reason 9 will be released on 21 June. Find out more on the Propellerhead Software website.