good day to you! like yourself i am new on this site, but have been a sound engineer for a number of years now. The initial setup with Reason sounds ok. I would, however, consider using Reason with Cubase right from the beginning of your projects. Doing this will enable you to have greater power of any MIDI sequencing you have to do. Within Cubase, under Tools (i think) you can load Reason in to cubase via ReWire. This makes Cubase interact with Reason quite nicely. You then route each MIDI channel out to the reason plugin...simple! ~(trust me)
As far as recording vocals tracks goes, there is a number of ways you can do this, it depends on where you start your compositions. When i decide to remix or create new tracks using the Cubase and Reason method, i tend to want the vocals last. That way i can record the vocals around the structure of the track that i have created.
Personally, i would create my new track, and then using the Audio Mixdown within Cubase, i would then export it as a .aiff file, 44.1kHz, 16-bit...which is CD format quality. Having done this, i then import it into ProTools. Now depending on how much money you are willing to spend, this is a great option. Pro Tools is shipped with a variety of hardware, ranging from 2 in 2 out, all the way to 48 in 48 out. Of course, you only need 2 in 2 out. This would suggest to me that the best product you could buy would be the MBOX. The original MBOX came with Focusrite Pre amps built in and you can pick them up regularly on eBay at quite a cheap prices (around $150 inc software)
Microphones.......Again, this relys on how much money you wanted to spend, but in my personal experiences, i have found that there are 3 different mics that are excellent at recording vocals. Call me old-school, but the Shure SM-58 is a great Mic. I would use this mic for artists which may be a little shy at performing. Using a hand held mic will help the performer calm down, no nerves, means good performance!!!
If the performer is a little more confident, then the
Rode NT1a or
Rode NT2 are great mics for recording a vocalist. They give a great warm sound, catching some room ambience at the same time. Give these a thought, they arent too expensive either! (in uk money i have jus picked up 2x
Rode NT1a's for £229)
Good luck and hope this helps you...anymore questions just ask!