# Have you ditched Reaper and are glad you did?



## Colin66 (May 18, 2022)

I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?

I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.

Interested to hear the thoughts of ex-Reaper users!


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## Trash Panda (May 18, 2022)

I keep trying to like Studio One, particularly due to sound variations being so helpful, but I keep finding myself coming back to Reaper. 

What do you find clunky about it?


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## Colin66 (May 18, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> I keep trying to like Studio One, particularly due to sound variations being so helpful, but I keep finding myself coming back to Reaper.
> 
> What do you find clunky about it?


It just feels like nothing is intuitive. I get that "intuitive" can be a bit of an individual thing, and as I said I'm quite new to DAW's in general, but it just feels awkward, no workflow that is obvious. I feel like I spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to do stuff. Then when I do figure something out it often feels like there could be an easier way to achieve a particular task. It doesn't feel inspiring, it often leaves me feeling frustrated.


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## tc9000 (May 18, 2022)

I love Reaper! I can do pretty much anything I need to with it. Sure - there are little gripes but these are usually due to my own lack of knowledge of it. The more you put into it, the more it will reward you.


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## tack (May 18, 2022)

REAPER is visually clunky, no doubt. But that's superficial. From an out of the box perspective, the defaults are all wrong for a MIDI composer and that is undoubtedly contributing to the frustration. IMO if you do the things listed here (apart from perhaps the note arpeggiation mouse modifier which frankly doesn't work right) , you'll be further ahead.









HOW TO: Set up Reaper's MIDI Editor for Better Workflow


At first glance, REAPER's MIDI Editing capabilities may seem cumbersome or bare-bones compared to other DAWs. This is completely understandable, as REA...




seventhsam.com





Another aspect of the clunky feeling might just stem from how absurdly customizable it is, and that will contribute to an overwhelming sense of drinking from the firehose. There often isn't one obvious way to do something -- there are several ways to do it, and that's going to be problematic for new users.


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## Colin66 (May 18, 2022)

tack said:


> REAPER is visually clunky, no doubt. But that's superficial. From an out of the box perspective, the defaults are all wrong for a MIDI composer and that is undoubtedly contributing to the frustration. IMO if you do the things listed here (apart from perhaps the note arpeggiation mouse modifier which frankly doesn't work right) , you'll be further ahead.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info, I'll have a read through it in the morning.


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## NuNativs (May 18, 2022)

Yes, the whole infinitely customizable nature is it's Achilles heel. I spent a good deal of time trying to gel with it, many many months. The breaking point was the Track Inspector script, being so funky and fiddly I longed for ANY daw with a straight forward interface. The whole things reeks of Linux to me reminding myself of the days of youth when I'd spend a month and a half compiling programs and finding code to sync my Palm Pilot with the desktop, so I could win the battle against the evil Microshaft Empire!

If tracks out the door is your goal, I would look elsewhere.


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## sostenuto (May 18, 2022)

Not a frikin' chance ! 😇


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## EgM (May 18, 2022)

(Sorry for the long post)

I started REAPER in 2006 or so, probably before since we hung around on IRC. If you search my posts on their forums I was very vocal on MIDI development since I was coming from SONAR. Things progressed very nicely in the early days but everything MIDI felt secondary so I tossed it on the side and moved to Logic and Mac (2011)

I still check REAPER around and their forums for the updates but it does feel like MIDI is still clunky albeit a lot of things can be done through scripting and mangling but that's not my thing.

Today, I mainly use Studio One (Used Cubase briefly before that, but its UI should come with an anti-depressant prescription included)

I sacrificed a lot of features moving onto Studio One from Cubase and REAPER but to me the easy workflow of Studio One wins all. In the end, I just want to compose faster and more efficiently and Studio One for me does just that.

*Answer:*
Glad I ditched it? Yes

Will I come back? Doubt it, If they hire a UI professional and completely revamp the interface so that I don't have to script my way out, maybe. (I'm a programmer since 1987, so I don't want to deal with that in my DAW). But there are other underlining issues such as weird midi editor zoom randomness that I just can't work with.


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## fakemaxwell (May 18, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> as I said I'm quite new to DAW's in general,


I don't think a top level DAW exists that doesn't have a steep learning curve for anybody completely new to production. They're all difficult to get acquainted with. I've taught formal classes on Pro Tools and informal tutorials on Reaper and most people start pretty wide eyed. They can be intimidating pieces of software.


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## LA68 (May 18, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> I don't think a top level DAW exists that doesn't have a steep learning curve for anybody completely new to production. They're all difficult to get acquainted with. I've taught formal classes on Pro Tools and informal tutorials on Reaper and most people start pretty wide eyed. They can be intimidating pieces of software.


Idk, I think some are definitely easier to get started with than others. Live or Waveform seemed much less intimidating to me than for example Cubase, which was the first DAW I tried. But it probably comes down to with what you're trying to do with it. 

If you're just some hobbyist like me that paints notes on the piano roll whenever he's in the mood and maybe records a performance every now and then Mixcraft might all you ever need. It's IMHO the easiest DAW to pick up by far, and while it might not be considered "top level" it is very capable. And cheap.


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## So1968 (May 18, 2022)

What I like about Reaper is the extensive community of developers that offer added tools, and support in ways that no other DAW does. The core may be closed, but on top of that it's almost infinitely scriptable in a way no other DAW is.
And, yes the graphics in the initial download are a bit clunky, but you can change that or check out the dozens of free user-created screens. Google Reaper Themes.


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## timbit2006 (May 18, 2022)

I had recently considered crossgrading to Cubase and Nuendo but I was looking at the feature list and I would be missing out on quite a bit of stuff that I can currently do in Reaper but wouldn't be able to in Cubase and Nuendo.


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## fakemaxwell (May 18, 2022)

LA68 said:


> Live or Waveform seemed much less intimidating to me than for example Cubase


Not a dig on those DAWs, but I would not put Waveform or Live in the same category as Pro Tools, Reaper, or Nuendo/Cubase. They're much more targeted to do one thing well, whereas the others try to be good at a lot of things. So I would expect the learning curve for an Ableton to be lower while also not having as much depth.

Which obviously can work well for some people! But this forum is fairly composing-for-picture oriented so I wouldn't necessarily recommend a DAW that can't handle picture well to somebody here.


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## zwhita (May 18, 2022)

Ditch Reaper? I just upgraded! The Midi editor was clunky in version 4, I would agree. Things are much improved for midi now. I chalk up things not being intuitive the same way I approached Linux in college: It's just another way of working. Worth your time to get your head around it. I figure if I'm too impatient for that, then I should stick to noodling on synths for the rest of my life.


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## creativeforge (May 18, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...


Loved by many, I know. I was in the same boat, in my case frustrated with the workflow and hyper busy GUI, and that's when I moved to using Mixcraft (7 at the time). I'm still in love with Mixcraft, which I find visually intuitive.

Plus, it simply served the VSTis without having to do much work. *It just worked*. All the MIDI connections with soundcard and keyboards? Boom. detected and activated by default.

I'm running v8 right now, although I purchased the upgrade to v9, but v9 has turned it into another "ultramodern" GUI which is simply too sterile for me. So I'm waiting, maybe v10 will offer me something I can't say NO to.

I think you can run a 14-day demo, and they often have very affordable upgrades discounts. Worth a try!









Download


Developers of the award-winning Mixcraft music recording software. Acoustica makes the best and easiest to use recording software.




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You'll find many YT videos displaying their features. (our friend Venus Theory has done a few, if I recall).

Good luck,

Andre

UPDATE: Yep, Cameron create the v9 demo song and he goes through it here for two of the Mixcraft versions, Standard and Pro.









Future Garage Tutorial: How I Made The Mixcraft Pro 9 Demo Track


Hey internet! Today we're here to break down my new track Icarus which is the official demo project for Mixcraft Pro Studio 9! This is a cool little future garage and ambient track that I'm very proud of, as I really think I nailed the exact atmosphere and mood I was going for. As with most...




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The Making of the Mixcraft 9 Demo Track


Hey internet! Today we're here to break down how I made my new song 'As Skies Grew Dark' which is the official demo project of the new Acoustica Mixcraft 9! Acoustica Mixcraft is actually the first DAW I used way back in the day, and it was an honor to be selected for this project, and I had a...




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## tressie5 (May 18, 2022)

I'm an old school Cubase user, go all the way back to SX, so 1999? 2000? Anyway, this and that happened and I ended up on the street in 2012. By the time I got a place eight years later, much had changed. Slowly, I dived back into recording and demo'd all the Windows and Linux DAW's - Cubase, Reaper, Waveform, Studio One, Ardour, Mixbus, Bitwig, Samplitude, etc. For various reasons, none intrigued me as much as Studio One, so I used that for a year or so even though now my main one is Cubase 12.

There are things in Reaper I like, like the script files that greatly expands its usefulness in regards to score correction and snap to scale ability. What did have me pulling out my hair, though, was the way it was setup to handle midi files and VSTs. The thing is, if I have to jump through hoops for something as simple as that, what about when more complicated things come along? I suffer from bipolar disorder, so I basically have little to no patience. Studio One came to the rescue, but now that Cubase 12 is out - and stable! - I'm back with it since I was already familiar with its flow.


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## TonalDynamics (May 18, 2022)

tack said:


> REAPER is visually clunky, no doubt. But that's superficial. From an out of the box perspective, the defaults are all wrong for a MIDI composer and that is undoubtedly contributing to the frustration. IMO if you do the things listed here (apart from perhaps the note arpeggiation mouse modifier which frankly doesn't work right) , you'll be further ahead.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's the rub frankly, as I see it:

I don't think many people got into composing or music in general to be programmers or script writers.

Some have an affinity for it and that's perfectly fine, but hard-gating user friendliness behind software and coding skills is not something that any company should be doing if they are making software for _musicians_ and not software engineers/I.T. people.

An anecdote from my own personal experience:

I've worked with loads of 'creative' software, all the adobe stuff, Cinema 4D, Figma, Webflow, etc.

There is _nothing_ in the popular visual design apps that comes close to the level of depth, complexity, and bugs that I have experienced using DAW software, workflows and plugins as an audio engineer/composer-not even in the same ballpark, IME.

As I see it, Reaper is kind of like the 'ultimate' expression of that failure for music software to actually be-imagine this- enjoyable and efficient for _musicians_.

BUT, if you are a more technical oriented person it might be right up your alley! I just happen to be on the opposite side of their design philosophy:

i.e. "Build it yourself", where my take is "Build it for me so I can use it to make music"

Cheers

P.S. After working with it for a few days, I've gained an understanding of your FlexRouter script and am already reaping the benefits in my own workflow with enhanced sample triggering features. Thanks for doing N.I.'s work for them!


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## ReleaseCandidate (May 18, 2022)

I use Reaper for audio only, the MIDI part is just, well, not what Reaper had been made for.
Ableton with 11 has _exactly_ the MIDI functions I often need (retrospective record, MIDI comping, MIDI warp, retrograde and inversion,..) and it's features are implemented in a, well, way more intuitive way then in Reaper.


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## Alex Niedt (May 18, 2022)

Gotta echo others here. I've tried making Reaper work multiple times over the years, and every time I've spent a week customizing and configuring to bring it to a roughly usable state. Even then, I detest how it looks, regardless of themes. It feels like buying a shell of a DAW and designing your own on top of it. That's appealing for some, but I just want to make music, not tweak a UI for 100 hours first. Gave Reaper one more shot before jumping to Cubase. Really wanted to like it. Then the moment I tried Cubase, it was like a slap in the face realizing how much time I'd wasted in Reaper only to have it pale to Cubase's default. But YMMV...


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## Cheezus (May 18, 2022)

I appreciate the hell out of Reaper for its powerful scripting and audio editing capabilities but for composing, producing, mixing etc I’m sticking with Studio One.


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## AlbertSmithers (May 18, 2022)

I like Reaper because I can mod it like skyrim :D


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## cloudbuster (May 18, 2022)

Long time reaper user here but got frustrated with the half assed Midi implementations and finally switched to Bitwig about two and a half years ago ... way less clicks and headaches plus all the fantastic modulation options and the 'grid', couldn't be happier. 
Anyway, I'm still using reaper to record samples but mainly for nostalgic reasons


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## Markrs (May 18, 2022)

Like other Reaper users I am torn as to whether I love it or hate it. 

I love the quick loading. I love that any track can load any type of media item. I love that there is a portable version of Reaper. I love the simplicity of the license. I love how small it is in memory. I love the community and that the community contributes so much to Reaper. I love that if you need to do something someone as probably written a script to do it. There are some scripts that can do things you can’t do in other DAWs.

I hate how you need to search for scripts to do functionality in other DAWs. I hate the lack of flexibility in the MIDI editor. The fact that so much functionality needs to be created by the community and the risk that comes with that if they are not updated. The lack of decent UI for Reaper and the scripts.

On paper there is more I love than hate, but the things I hate are a real barrier to using it as a full DAW. The great work of the community real makes up for the shortfall. Things like OTR and Reaticulate, and ReaLearn which are amazing work.

I have a Cubase 12 license so I plan to give that a real good and see. I also have Mixcraft 9, Cakewalk by BandLab and Studio One 5 Artist that I plan to try out. I recently resisted a cheap 2nd hand deal on Ableton 11 to try out.

Which shows I haven’t yet settled into using Reaper as my permanent DAW but at the moment it is the one I use the most.


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## Colin66 (May 19, 2022)

TonalDynamics said:


> I don't think many people got into composing or music in general to be programmers or script writers.


This is exactly me! I want to make & record music in the easiest way possible. The UI needs to work, scripts are for people interested in software, I'm not. A workflow should reveal itself quite quickly and not leave me feeling like I'm in a sandpit with infinite possibilities.
Seriously thinking of trying Ableton! Or Studio One, it looks amazing!!


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## Brasart (May 19, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> This is exactly me! I want to make & record music in the easiest way possible. The UI needs to work, scripts are for people interested in software, I'm not. A workflow should reveal itself quite quickly and not leave me feeling like I'm in a sandpit with infinite possibilities.
> Seriously thinking of trying Ableton!


No one would blame you for trying out Ableton, which is a great DAW in regards to sound design and music production.
Different people enjoy different DAWs, there's no ultimate DAW out there, you just need to find the one you click with the most!


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## TomislavEP (May 19, 2022)

I used PT for almost a decade before switching to REAPER full time. Definitely one of the best decisions that I've made. The biggest highlights and advantages for me:


price and update policy
active development
flexibility and customization
stability and small footprint
plenty of unique and advanced features
plenty of useful and capable plugins bundled

I see many comments on how the MIDI department in REAPER is lacking. I'm a rather demanding MIDI user and don't have any serious objections. Especially after v6 introduced CC curves. Not to mention the ecosystem of various add-ons, extensions, and scripts that exist.

I agree that the GUI could be a bit streamlined and refreshed. The v6 theme is quite decent and uniform, but various menus, preferences, and settings look rather Windows 9x-2000-ish. But this is pretty much my only bigger complaint about REAPER for the time being. I don't see myself jumping ship anytime soon, especially since the learning curve can be steep with this DAW.


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## DANIELE (May 19, 2022)

AlbertSmithers said:


> I like Reaper because I can mod it like skyrim :D


Exactly this!! 

Anyway there is not a universally acclaimed choise, based on everyone workflow and needs there is a right DAW choice.
I love customizing everything and in the first place I felt overwhelmed by Reaper but once I start mastering it it was an awesome experience and it is right now.
I cannot think to work the same with any other DAW. There is some things that still need a lot of work but I customized everything to fit my workflow. In any other DAW I know you have to like the workflow they put together for you and you are not able to customize it. It could be a good thing for some people but not for me.

That said Reaper is hard in the beginning and may require a lot of time to adjust it but it will pay you after. Try other DAWs aswell, this is the only way you could understand what fits you the best.


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## Ozinga (May 19, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...


I am not a user but every few months I read some feature about it , I download, launch and ditch it in 5 minutes 
I just can not pass the initial barrier that never happened with any other DAW I tried.


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## d.healey (May 19, 2022)

I ditched Reaper a few years ago and switched to Ardour and Qtractor. I did this for philosophical reasons rather than technical, I still think Reaper is technically the best DAW and one of the most well written pieces of software.


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## cedricm (May 19, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...


There are so many great daws to choose from.
If you think Ableton can be for you, you can try it for free for 1 month and find videos to learn it. You can get a groove3 1 month sub.

Ditto for most DAWs.


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## Artemi (May 19, 2022)

I think that Reaper's initial setup is very unintuitive, and if you can go past that the rewards are huge, there custom action for almost anything you could think of.
And yes there is now a retrospective record function (like Abletons midi one)
You can check out mpl retrospective in the ReaPack.


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## ReleaseCandidate (May 19, 2022)

cedricm said:


> If you think Ableton can be for you, you can try it for free for 1 month


3 Months (well, 90 days) now



Artemi said:


> And yes there is now a retrospective record function (like Abletons midi one)
> You can check out mpl retrospective in the ReaPack.


Oh, I see. 





MPL Dump Retrospective Record log (no JSFX required) - Cockos Incorporated Forums


MPL Dump Retrospective Record log (no JSFX required) ReaScript, JSFX, REAPER Plug-in Extensions, Developer Forum



forum.cockos.com




Last time (about a year ago) I've tried it it has been are (not really working) plugin.


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## Voider (May 19, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?



Does Reaper frustrate you or just learning a new DAW? Because to learn a DAW always can be frustrating in the beginning, as with just any other complex program. Of course there are workflow differences. I've started out back then with FL-Studio and moved to Cubase in 2017. I was really good and comfortable with FL-Studio, fast workflow. Changing to Cubase was really painful in the beginning, Cubase felt way more clunky. A few years later when I was really good and comfortable with Cubase and revisited FL-Studio, it was the other way round: Now FL-Studio feels clunky, with all the loose windows, and I am not used to the note editing workflow anymore and like the one in Cubase way more.

So the bottom line is, as soon as you get comfortable with a DAW it doesn't matter that much, in the end the given features are important and if they're enough for you. You could now try to demo all the other DAWs out there but that would probably cost you some time and frustration too. 

But to roughly split the DAWs into what most people use them for:

Ableton is usally used more for electronic music production and where it stands out is probably the live-performance feature where you can easily record new clips that connect into an ongoing loop - good for jamming and having real time fun.

Cubase is usallay used more towards soundtrack / songrwriting music, or anything that is a bit more complex, as it benefits from really deep (note) editing options. 



Colin66 said:


> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.


That's probably because you see skilled people who are comfortable with their workflow, you'd probably find some great Reaper videos where people fly through the setting and do everything seamlessly too.


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## ReleaseCandidate (May 19, 2022)

Voider said:


> Ableton is usally used more for electronic music production


Which is true if you define 'electronic music production' as 'not recording a band' (for which Reaper _is_ a fantastic DAW with a great workflow - after you've set it up).


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## Gerbil (May 19, 2022)

TomislavEP said:


> various menus, preferences, and settings look rather Windows 9x-2000-ish


I'm going to admit that that's one of the things I like about it! Plus, a lot of those useful, archaic-looking fx plugins are very easy to get around.

For audio-only work, I can't imagine not using Reaper now, but for midi-based stuff, Studio One has turned my head. It's really well thought-out and easy to use, especially with its remote ipad control.


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## Rapollo (May 19, 2022)

I confess that I switched from Reaper to Cubase for music making specifically. As a dedicated audio production programme, Reaper takes the cake by a long shot so it forever has a place in my toolkit. Whilst it’s definitely possible to make work for music production, out of the box there are better options - and even with configuration I never found it to be as fluid as Cubase, Logic, Studio One and the like just because it’s designed to be so flexible rather than a dedicated music making programme.


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## Learningtomix (May 19, 2022)

Reaper 5 user here. I find the work flow fine and I can accomplish what I need to. The midi functionality could be improved. 

What I find frustrating is its error handling. Some vst plugins can cause Reaper to crash and when it does it can be difficult to troubleshoot. Yes you can try opening the programme and add the vst plugins 1 by 1 to try and find the vst that is causing a problem but this is tedious. It would I'm opinion be better if Reaper caught errors and provided error messages rather than crashing to the desktop.


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## TonalDynamics (May 19, 2022)

Markrs said:


> I love that if you need to do something someone as probably written a script to do it.
> I hate how you need to search for scripts to do functionality in other DAWs.


You really came full circle there Mark, haha


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## MarcusD (May 19, 2022)

Reaper can be great if you put the time into customising it. But that’s the thing, when all you want to do is write music, spending lots of time tinkering (especially if you’re new to any DAW) makes it feel like your miles away from the creative objective. For many, customising a DAW to meet their workflow, is a powerful feature to have. 

Personally I don’t get along with reaper, and that’s not to say it’s bad. 

I think the easiest DAW to get along with is Studio One. Tried Ableton but couldn’t get used to the workflow, it’s a little different to how other DAWs work. But if you’re new, it won’t matter too much because any DAW will involve a learning curve.


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## DANIELE (May 19, 2022)

MarcusD said:


> But that’s the thing, when all you want to do is write music, spending lots of time tinkering (especially if you’re new to any DAW) makes it feel like your miles away from the creative objective.


This is why Reaper is great. Your workflow very rarely stand still because you evolve during your life, and the workflow evolves with you. Working with a tool that stay the same could be good at first but lately you could face some obstacles and you could feel the need of changing something. I keep evolving regularly and Reaper is able to follow me, I keep changing my template, my shortcuts, my custom actions etc...


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## Colin66 (May 19, 2022)

MarcusD said:


> Reaper can be great if you put the time into customising it. But that’s the thing, when all you want to do is write music, spending lots of time tinkering (especially if you’re new to any DAW) makes it feel like your miles away from the creative objective. For many, customising a DAW to meet their workflow, is a powerful feature to have.
> 
> Personally I don’t get along with reaper, and that’s not to say it’s bad.
> 
> I think the easiest DAW to get along with is Studio One. Tried Ableton but couldn’t get used to the workflow, it’s a little different to how other DAWs work. But if you’re new, it won’t matter too much because any DAW will involve a learning curve.


Thanks for the input. I'm tempted to try Studio One with their Sphere monthly option for a couple of months and see how it feels.
(I know some have an issue with subscriptions but for me personally it's OK for a couple of months)


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## MarcusD (May 19, 2022)

DANIELE said:


> This is why Reaper is great. Your workflow very rarely stand still because you evolve during your life, and the workflow evolves with you. Working with a tool that stay the same could be good at first but lately you could face some obstacles and you could feel the need of changing something. I keep evolving regularly and Reaper is able to follow me, I keep changing my template, my shortcuts, my custom actions etc...


True. However, most DAWs have everything one needs anyway. It’s just how the features and workflow are packaged. 

There isn't really any major differences between most DAWS that ultimately stop someone from creating music.

Its all about which DAW allows one to get from A to B the easiest (or suits their approach), with the least amount of headaches. Everyone has different needs.


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## DANIELE (May 19, 2022)

MarcusD said:


> True. However, most DAWs have everything one needs anyway. It’s just how the features and workflow are packaged.
> 
> There isn't really any major differences between most DAWS that ultimately stop someone from creating music.
> 
> Its all about which DAW allows one to get from A to B the easiest (or suits their approach), with the least amount of headaches. Everyone has different needs.


True. I was speaking for myself, I love to keep manipulating the software I use but I understand that someone else could prefer other things.


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## Kent (May 19, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...


I like to say Reaper is best as your third DAW:

#1 to learn how to use a DAW
#2 to see how things could be better... or worse
#3 (Reaper) once you know what you like and how you want to work. 

It does not hold your hand! But you can do basically _anything_ with it and it is very stable.


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## andyhy (May 19, 2022)

Every time I consider ditching Reaper I find a good reason to stick with it. This month I started to use a Stream Deck as my midi controller, created hotkeys for all my favourite Reaper shortcuts and finished a set of reabanks for my main librararies. KISS is a good maxim. Music first, technical stuff later.


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## NuNativs (May 19, 2022)

Alex Niedt said:


> Then the moment I tried Cubase, it was like a slap in the face releasing how much time I'd wasted in Reaper only to have it pale to Cubase's default. But YMMV...


YES, YES, YES!!!


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## robgb (May 19, 2022)

I, frankly, couldn't live without Reaper. But it is a little different from other DAWs, which is partly what makes it so great. I cannot imagine going back to Studio One, Cubase, Logic or Sonar—all of which I used for extended periods of time. I have been spoiled by Reaper.

By the way, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to use Reaper. You aren't required to use all of the customization functions or do any scripting yourself. Just follow Kenny Gioia's basic tutorial guide on the Reaper website and you'll be up and running within hours. You don't ever have to go beyond that.

And the complaints about midi on Reaper are unfounded. I work almost exclusively in midi and have had zero problems with it. I'm not sure why people like to bash this DAW, but hey, your loss.


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## Scripter (May 19, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> I keep trying to like Studio One, particularly due to sound variations being so helpful, but I keep finding myself coming back to Reaper.
> 
> What do you find clunky about it?


Haha yes I love S1 besides the lack of video capabilities... and Stem Export of Reaper


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## NuNativs (May 19, 2022)

Kent said:


> I like to say Reaper is best as your third DAW:
> 
> #1 to learn how to use a DAW
> #2 to see how things could be better... or worse
> ...


I never understand why composers want to use multiple DAW's.
In the video world you master Premiere OR FCP.
I guess if you're talking Adobe, you would add After Effects, Photoshop etc.
But you usually focus on one main editor.
DAW's are complex pieces of software.
On top of that you may want to build template(s), create custom presets and the like.
Doing that for multiple DAW's is so much work and to keep track of.
In my opinion, Mastery takes time and focus.
If you're spreading that out over 3-4 DAW's, how do you get anything done?
Perhaps tinkering with systems is it's own reward?


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## Trash Panda (May 19, 2022)

NuNativs said:


> I never understand why composers want to use multiple DAW's.
> In the video world you master Premiere OR FCP.
> I guess if you're talking Adobe, you would add After Effects, Photoshop etc.
> But you usually focus on one main editor.
> ...


I think he meant it's the third DAW to learn once you've gotten your feet wet, similar to how you probably wouldn't jump straight into DaVinci Resolve as your first video editor, but start with something simpler to learn first.


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## chibear (May 19, 2022)

Speaking as a hobbyist, sometimes I don’t power up my DAW for a month. When I get back into it I need a DAW that is intuitive enough that I can hit the ground running without having to constantly referring to the manual. I began with Mixcraft 4 and as I became more sophisticated auditioned new DAWs each time Mixcraft upgraded and didn’t include the features I wanted. PT and Reaper were just foreign to me. Fruity loops was harder to use than Mixcraft. I went to DP for a year and it might be the best DAW on the market right now, but is so unintuitive to me I felt like a beginner every time I booted it up. I am now on Studio One 4 (from Mixcraft 8)which I can pick up any time without looking at the manual. It addresses most of my complaints about Mixcraft and has a lot of workflow pluses that I never even thought of before.


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## DANIELE (May 19, 2022)

andyhy said:


> Every time I consider ditching Reaper I find a good reason to stick with it. This month I started to use a Stream Deck as my midi controller, created hotkeys for all my favourite Reaper shortcuts and finished a set of reabanks for my main librararies. KISS is a good maxim. Music first, technical stuff later.


I have two stream decks and using them with Reaper is awesome, I did so many custom shortcuts. With the midi plugin it's a must have.


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## Chris Harper (May 19, 2022)

Reaper is my main DAW. I use Studio One occasionally, especially when I have a VSL instrument that I haven’t gotten written to setting up articulations in Reaticulate. The ability of Sound Variations to communicate with Synchron and some other players is a phenomenal feature. Reaticulate works great, but managing the configuration text file gets cumbersome with a lot of libraries, especially less common ones.

Sometimes I open S1 just to change things up. Different workflows lead to different results, and can spark creativity.

Also, it’s nice to have the factory library of S1 to quickly find a one-off sample that isn’t critical enough to necessitate digging through a vast number of Kontakt libraries and synths. Chances are, I have it in Kontakt or Omni or whatever, but finding it is another story.

But for me, Reaper is all about performance. It can handle a lot before it gets bogged down. It is pretty rock solid for me. In S1, resource management becomes a bigger thing.

Flexible and complex routing is another area where Reaper can’t be matched. S1 is inadequate for my needs when making stems. Having every stem bus routed through a stack of limiters on a multi-channel track where the parameters of all the limiters are synchronized and each limiter is side chained with the full mix is not possible in S1. That’s probably something that only a crazy person would attempt, though.

The game changer in Reaper, for me, was integrating the StreamDeck with some of the more obscure tasks in the Actions menu. Almost everything I do when making a cue can be done with the press of a single button. Any time I do something more than once, I stop and assign it a bulky key combination I’ll never use (Ctrl + Alt + Shift + { or something similar) and assign that to a button in the StreamDeck. All those are sorted into subfolders based on context, so all MIDI editing is on one page, all track audio editing on another, etc. Having every feature you use at the press of a button overcomes most of the clunkiness.

That being said, it isn’t for everyone and I totally get why many people don’t like it. If it hamstrings your creativity, drop it like it’s hot.


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## Kent (May 19, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> I think he meant it's the third DAW to learn once you've gotten your feet wet, similar to how you probably wouldn't jump straight into DaVinci Resolve as your first video editor, but start with something simpler to learn first.


yep, this


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## RogiervG (May 19, 2022)

I have used it briefly once (like a few weeks) a few years ago, but i could not gel with how it worked.
(even customizing it, didn't help)

back then the midi options where not implemented in a less than great manner, or in an odd way.

So yes, i was/am glad to be back with Cubase (even on a hackingtosh i had back then: logic was better than reaper), so is Reason and even bitwig, they all gel with me more.... it's more ehm.. logically implemented for my brain anyway


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## fakemaxwell (May 19, 2022)

DANIELE said:


> I have two stream decks and using them with Reaper is awesome, I did so many custom shortcuts. With the midi plugin it's a must have.


Stream Deck + Reaper has been a game changer. Those little buttons are the best thing I've bought in a decade.

I'm surprised you use MIDI for commands though, have you tried with OSC?


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## zigzag (May 19, 2022)

I went from Reaper to Cubase for composing and I don't regret it. While scriptability of Reaper is great (much better than in any other DAW I tried), there are issues in Reaper, that you cannot fix with scripts. For example, you cannot alt-tab between Reaper's windows, which means you cannot have maximized MIDI Editor and mixer windows open and switch between MIDI editor and arrange view with alt-tab. Screen sets fix some of window management problems, but overall, it's still clunky.

Even so, I often use Reaper for audio only things. Reaper and Cubase complement each other really well.


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## zigzag (May 19, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> Stream Deck + Reaper has been a game changer. Those little buttons are the best thing I've bought in a decade.


Totally agree. Stream Deck is a must-have for Reaper.


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## aaronventure (May 19, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> Stream Deck + Reaper has been a game changer. Those little buttons are the best thing I've bought in a decade.


I firmly believe that if you're doing anything other than browsing the internet, the standard purchase of a computer, which has for decades now consisted of a case/tower, a screen, a mouse and a keyboard, should these days include a Streamdeck. 

I even think it should be integrated into laptops, especially the bigger one.


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## fakemaxwell (May 19, 2022)

aaronventure said:


> a keyboard, should these days include a Streamdeck.


What if....whole keyboard Streamdeck????


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## MarcusD (May 19, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> What if....whole keyboard Streamdeck????



Now we're talking.


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## DANIELE (May 19, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> Stream Deck + Reaper has been a game changer. Those little buttons are the best thing I've bought in a decade.
> 
> I'm surprised you use MIDI for commands though, have you tried with OSC?


No I didn't.

Once I don't have keys combinations available anymore I start using midi CCs as hotkeys to call actions or custom actions. You can use unused midi channels and you have a lot of CCs available at your disposal.

I have one standard Stream Deck and one Stream Deck XL. For example by pressing one button on the XL I load 15 custom buttons on the normal one, those are 15 different midi cc lanes setup I load to be visible in the midi editor to quick edit CC curves I need.

Another great usage is to set a library everytime you update it. For example I use some startup settings for SM S&ES, everytime they drop an update I don't have to set everything from scratch again, I press one button on my SD after updating the instrument and all the knobs I want go to the startup position I need.

Another thing is: load TEC Breath Controller software, minimize the window, load Reaper. All in one button. Or maybe switch the various TBC profiles. And so on...

A real workflow changer.


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## Trash Panda (May 19, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> What if....whole keyboard Streamdeck????


Like this?  






Optimus Popularis







www.artlebedev.com


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## fakemaxwell (May 19, 2022)

DANIELE said:


> Once I don't have keys combinations available anymore I start using midi CCs as hotkeys to call actions or custom actions. You can use unused midi channels and you have a lot of CCs available at your disposal.


Right that's why I was asking. When you use OSC you don't need to assign hotkeys or MIDI anything, you can call actions directly from their actionID. So no limit and faster to assign/reassign buttons.


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## DANIELE (May 19, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> Right that's why I was asking. When you use OSC you don't need to assign hotkeys or MIDI anything, you can call actions directly from their actionID. So no limit and faster to assign/reassign buttons.


Yeah but you have to use a smartphone if I remember correctly.


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## MarcusD (May 19, 2022)

DANIELE said:


> No I didn't.
> 
> Once I don't have keys combinations available anymore I start using midi CCs as hotkeys to call actions or custom actions.


Hold the phone, did I read that right? You can use MIDI CCs with Stream Deck to program buttons to perform DAW commands?


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## DANIELE (May 19, 2022)

MarcusD said:


> Hold the phone, did I read that right? You can use MIDI CCs with Stream Deck to program buttons to perform DAW commands?


Sure, in Reaper you can assign keys or MIDI CCs to action to perform everything the DAW let you perform. You have literally hundreds of actions, you can build custom actions, you can wrote or download scripts to perform more complex actions, you can use Cycle Editor to perform loop actions (I use this to lock/unlock tracks by putting all the FXs offline/online, instant template loading) and many other things. I downloaded an old script to randomize notes and I edited it with the built-in script editor to accomodate it to my needs. I also extended a glissandi script to perform scales and chords based on menu selections.

I installed many scripts to shape the CC curves in many different ways. I configured contextual toolbars to my needs. I drew many icons for special functions on my toolbars.

Etc etc..

Every time a workflow improvement comes to my mind Reaper let me do it.

Plus it is very light and stable as some others said.

EDIT

And yes, there is a plugin for Stream Deck that lets you perform some very interesting midi actions.


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## dts_marin (May 19, 2022)

I love REAPER but can't use it for my work sadly. Not until Cockos improve the film scoring workflow. It's really hard to sync picture reliably and cue conforms are a hell.

I had created a pretty nice workflow besides the film scoring part. Custom OSC remote, some web remote for track selection. Lots of scripts that did some cool stuff I truly miss since abandoning REAPER.

The only annoyance was Reaticulate (no offence to @tack his work is great). It just was really tedious to configure banks on the fly. 

I was a DP user before trying REPAER so I've gone back to DP. I only use REAPER when I want to batch edit audio, do certain repetitive tasks or for the odd quick audio edit because DP takes quite a while to launch.


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## Tim_Wells (May 19, 2022)

To me, all advanced DAWs have a steep and difficult learning curve. After switching around a few times, I've come to the conclusion that I just need to pick a good one and stick with it.

I'm on Cubase, but I'm fairly certain I'd have been fine with Reaper... once I got past the learning curve. YMMV


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## tack (May 19, 2022)

dts_marin said:


> The only annoyance was Reaticulate (no offence to @tack his work is great). It just was really tedious to configure banks on the fly.


When you say "configure banks" are you talking about actually creating new banks for libraries, or just mapping an existing bank onto a track? I have plans to deal with the former, but if the latter has been causing a UX challenge I'm interested to learn more so I can look at improving it.


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## Trash Panda (May 19, 2022)

tack said:


> When you say "configure banks" are you talking about actually creating new banks for libraries, or just mapping an existing bank onto a track? I have plans to deal with the former, but if the latter has been causing a UX challenge I'm interested to learn more so I can look at improving it.


For me, creating new banks via the text editor has proven to be a non-starter for adopting Reaticulate. It's a bummer too, because I'd just permanently uninstall Studio One if I could get past this roadblock by having a UI to build Reaticulate banks.


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## Ricgus3 (May 19, 2022)

For me reaper is very intuitive. For me it does exactly what I expect it to do. I tried cubase but found it frustrating. I have studio one on my office computer that I am trying I learn. But to me studio one is clunky


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## tack (May 19, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> It's a bummer too, because I'd just permanently uninstall Studio One if I could get past this roadblock by having a UI to build Reaticulate banks.


Yeah, a long standing UX issue to be sure. That's coming in the next major release. And then a better mechanism to share existing banks between users.


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## Ricgus3 (May 19, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> For me, creating new banks via the text editor has proven to be a non-starter for adopting Reaticulate. It's a bummer too, because I'd just permanently uninstall Studio One if I could get past this roadblock by having a UI to build Reaticulate banks.


Otr for reaper has en I build GUI that makes banks for you . Super easy to use


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## fakemaxwell (May 19, 2022)

DANIELE said:


> Yeah but you have to use a smartphone if I remember correct


Nah, no phone necessary! I use the whole thing with Companion rather than the default Elgato software but they both have OSC built in.


MarcusD said:


> Hold the phone, did I read that right? You can use MIDI CCs with Stream Deck to program buttons to perform DAW commands?


You can send MIDI CC, keyboard shortcuts, or OSC. Most of the DAWs out there can use at least one of those for commands.


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## dts_marin (May 19, 2022)

tack said:


> When you say "configure banks" are you talking about actually creating new banks for libraries, or just mapping an existing bank onto a track? I have plans to deal with the former, but if the latter has been causing a UX challenge I'm interested to learn more so I can look at improving it.


Editing existing banks e.g. rearrange articulation cells from the GUI. 

I love me some text editors but not when I'm composing. It would be a lot faster and intuitive if some changes could be made directly from the plugin.

Don't get me wrong Reaticulate is amazing in some of its aspects. e.g. Multiple concurrent articulation groups (only Cubase supports this besides Reaticulate), very advanced mapping configurations.

Nowadays more DAWs have catched up: Digital Performer, Studio One.

Anyway, I don't want to influence your design since I no longer use REAPER.


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## EanS (May 19, 2022)

I started with Reaper which thankfully gave me a good basic learning curve to understand Studio One right out of the box, Artist came free with a controller, then upgraded to Pro.

It's just easier with S1, I mean I get that you customize tf out of Reaper and can do everything but in S1 it's just simpler and I appreciate that. The arrangement bar, score view, midi editor and sound variations on the spot are quite nicer too.

So in the end a "drag & drop" vs menu/SWS extensions /open script/add line A&A&&^%$A*_A_ (I'm exaggerating) to get to the same place, it's just easier. Besides I ended paying 180 bucks for Professional on Black Friday (upgrade from free Artist via bestservice). 

But Reaper is essential to have and will always stay there for double checking anything that might give issues on any other DAW. Any misbehavior can be easily checked on a DAW that has minimal print and fires up right away. If I just want to activate plugins for using later, I do it via Reaper since it scans and loads in a jiffy. 

I also use Mixbus 32c for mixing, it's all there again, channels strips in each channel, busses, tape saturation, all there and the GUI is like a console. 

This is my latest customized Reaper, not quite bad I think


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## CoffeeLover (May 19, 2022)

I used reaper as a vst host in protools way back 
Today use it as a scetching tool when I want to throw something down very quick. It feels very light all the time and cubase is never this quick to load up an empty project.


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## Learningtomix (May 19, 2022)

Respect to the power users of Reaper!! Thanks also for putting Stream Deck on my radar.


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## tressie5 (May 19, 2022)

Is it fair to say if your workflow involves mainly recording audio, then Reaper is for you, but if it's heavy on the midi tip, then Studio One or Cubase? Or am I reaching here?


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## robgb (May 20, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> Is it fair to say if your workflow involves mainly recording audio, then Reaper is for you, but if it's heavy on the midi tip, then Studio One or Cubase? Or am I reaching here?


Way overreaching. Reaper's midi functions are excellent. As I said above, I work almost exclusively in midi and have never had a single problem using Reaper's piano roll. Plus there are a multitude of developer and user made "actions" in the midi editor that make your life and workflow easy.

People bagging on Reaper's midi capabilities really have no idea what they're talking about.


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## robgb (May 20, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> For me, creating new banks via the text editor has proven to be a non-starter for adopting Reaticulate. It's a bummer too, because I'd just permanently uninstall Studio One if I could get past this roadblock by having a UI to build Reaticulate banks.


I use Storyteller's bank creator for now, while I'm waiting for @tack to implement his own. It works like a charm as a pop-up GUI and requires very little effort.


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## Trash Panda (May 20, 2022)

Ricgus3 said:


> Otr for reaper has en I build GUI that makes banks for you . Super easy to use





robgb said:


> I use Storyteller's bank creator for now, while I'm waiting for @tack to implement his own. It works like a charm as a pop-up GUI and requires very little effort.


Thank you for the reminder! I always forget about OTR, even though I got it back when it required payment, because it feels like you need to take a college level class to understand how to use it. After spending some time with the OTR editor for Reaticulate, it is serviceable and I can just copy over the Reabank file to my normal Reaper instance.

@tack if you are not already set on a direction for the creation/editing UI, I would highly recommend checking out Studio One's sound variation UI. Happy to chat via PM if you want to know specifics.


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## S R Krishnan (May 20, 2022)

robgb said:


> Way overreaching. Reaper's midi functions are excellent. As I said above, I work almost exclusively in midi and have never had a single problem using Reaper's piano roll. Plus there are a multitude of developer and user made "actions" in the midi editor that make your life and workflow easy.
> 
> People bagging on Reaper's midi capabilities really have no idea what they're talking about.


I get audio dropouts when opening midi events of multiple tracks (Say 10+). My PC is pretty powerful and this never happens in Cubase or Studio One. Any solution for this?


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## robgb (May 20, 2022)

S R Krishnan said:


> I get audio dropouts when opening midi events of multiple tracks (Say 10+). My PC is pretty powerful and this never happens in Cubase or Studio One. Any solution for this?


I use a Mac. Audio is rock solid. Maybe it's your ASIO driver—something I fortunately don't have to deal with.


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## fakemaxwell (May 20, 2022)

S R Krishnan said:


> I get audio dropouts when opening midi events of multiple tracks (Say 10+). My PC is pretty powerful and this never happens in Cubase or Studio One. Any solution for this?


When you're working with multiple MIDI tracks in this manner you want to toggle "allow anticipative FX on tracks with open MIDI editors." I think it's enabled by default to allow for more responsive editing of MIDI events, but you want it off if you're looking at more than a few tracks because they essentially act like they're record enabled.


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## S R Krishnan (May 20, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> When you're working with multiple MIDI tracks in this manner you want to toggle "allow anticipative FX on tracks with open MIDI editors." I think it's enabled by default to allow for more responsive editing of MIDI events, but you want it off if you're looking at more than a few tracks because they essentially act like they're record enabled.


Hi this worked I guess. Now I don't have that issue when I turned the option on for midi tracks.


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## CATDAD (May 20, 2022)

I left Reaper when I was pretty new because it felt clunky... but then I returned to it later after working with other DAWs and saying the phrase "I bet there's a way to do this in Reaper" one too many times. At first I used it as a sort of backup to other DAWs for those times when I couldn't figure out how to route something a specific way or do some rendering in a specific way, or when I was having some MIDI>audio timing issues with hardware, or what have you.

But then I just started doing more regular things in it out of convenience and now I've found myself fully back in it again. I haven't even really done a whole lot to customize it, mostly just whenever there's an action I need that it doesn't have enabled by default, I find it in its action list somewhere and add a shortcut. With an occasional extension added that someone else has already made for a feature that I want such, as @tack's lovely Reaticulate. (and actually I wouldn't have even sought that out if Studio One hadn't tipped me to such slick articulation management!)

As anyone who has used a bunch of DAWs will tell you, they're all a little clunky in their own way. It's part of the exchange for having flexibility and power, which most of them have by now.

I will say though, I think using a bunch of other DAWs has made my Reaper experience better because they gave me ideas in how to better organize Reaper's functionality. I would not have thought of some workflow/configuration changes if it weren't for other DAWs having them done that way by default!


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## Colin66 (May 21, 2022)

EanS said:


> I started with Reaper which thankfully gave me a good basic learning curve to understand Studio One right out of the box, Artist came free with a controller, then upgraded to Pro.
> 
> It's just easier with S1, I mean I get that you customize tf out of Reaper and can do everything but in S1 it's just simpler and I appreciate that. The arrangement bar, score view, midi editor and sound variations on the spot are quite nicer too.
> 
> ...


That does look great. Wish I had mine looking like that! Is there a template I can download to get mine looking like that?
I'm thinking of trying S1 Sphere for a couple of months but the 140GB space requirement is a bit off-putting.


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## easyrider (May 21, 2022)

No Retrospective Record in Reaper.....So no....And I just want my DAW to work without faffing with scripts etc...


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## Chris Richter (May 21, 2022)

dts_marin said:


> I love REAPER but can't use it for my work sadly. Not until Cockos improve the film scoring workflow. It's really hard to sync picture reliably and cue conforms are a hell.
> 
> [...]


Would you mind to elaborate on that part?
Why do you find it hard to sync to picture and why are those conforms hell? What DAW do you think handles this better?

I have found cue conforms to be hell no matter what xD


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## dts_marin (May 21, 2022)

Chris Richter said:


> Would you mind to elaborate on that part?
> Why do you find it hard to sync to picture and why are those conforms hell? What DAW do you think handles this better?
> 
> I have found cue conforms to be hell no matter what xD


I have no experience using Pro Tools Ultimate or Logic. So I'd say Cubase and DP handle this much better than Reaper.

When dealing with live players you need count-in bars with the same tempo as the starting tempo of your cue. Problem is you don't know the starting tempo until you have finished scoring the cue. In DP it's super easy. You insert bars before the starting timecode and you are done. You change your cue's tempo? No problem. delete those old bars and repeat the process.

In REAPER this was a nightmare. You can't do it reliably. Using timecode calculators etc. are silly non-solutions. Nobody has time to do such things.

Cue conforming is a bit easier in DP because it handles timecode much better. REAPER has a tendency to favor beats over SMPTE. Sometimes you can't work interchangeably between timecode/beats as well as you can in DP. 

There is so much more nuance to this topic that I can't cover here.


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## Rossy (May 21, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...


I feel the same and I am sure people who can really use it well can create some amazing music but I struggled for a long time and then watched a YouTube video on studio one and bought it, Never looked back and I feel my composition is way better. I didn't realize how much the right DAW can open up your creativity.


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## Colin66 (May 21, 2022)

Rossy said:


> I feel the same and I am sure people who can really use it well can create some amazing music but I struggled for a long time and then watched a YouTube video on studio one and bought it, Never looked back and I feel my composition is way better. I didn't realize how much the right DAW can open up your creativity.


Yes, this is my biggest issue. It's not that I'm saying Reaper isn't good. It's that I can't get as creative as I want. I feel Reaper is a barrier because I don't know it and it isn't easy to use out of the box.


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## CATDAD (May 21, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> Yes, this is my biggest issue. It's not that I'm saying Reaper isn't good. It's that I can't get as creative as I want. I feel Reaper is a barrier because I don't know it and it isn't easy to use out of the box.


Definitely give some other DAWs a shot, they often have one month fully functional trials, or you could do a one-month subscription, or something similar. 

Just be sure to go through your whole creation process with the ones that you like before you buy a license so you can be sure there aren’t any unexpected hang ups with them.


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## DMDComposer (May 21, 2022)

This thread has been great to read. I'll share some findings after spending about a month in Reaper and why I haven't fully made the switch over from Reaper to Cubase. Although, I'm still trying too, and perhaps will as I watch the frequent updates for new additions.

*Pros:*

Performance & Stability lightyears superior to Cubase
ReaScript API & Scripts
File size is 4x SMALLER than Cubase
Loading time on a project is 300% faster than Cubase
Theme/look almost completely customizable
Routing Matrix
Everything is a Track, so you can combine MIDI / AUDIO on a single track. Easier management
Customize project folder management
Where to save audio and/or midi

Price point is amazing compared to the bloated price of Cubase
Frequent UPDATES, literally almost every 1-2 weeks there is an update with loads of fixes or additions.
*Cons:*

Time Signature, not moveable flags like Cubase. Hard to visually see in timeline.
Graphics rendered by CPU, so can get a little sluggish the more tracks/visual going on
Midi Editor Window is not as sleek, and intuitive as Cubase
Even with all the customizations, it doesn’t feel as smooth, feels clunky

Can’t color midi notes the same as track colors, they’re a different shade which is extremely frustrating to those who are used to Cubase where track color = note color
Tracklist although great, is also cumbersome with too many tracks.
Would be stronger if there was an option to only show the tracks with the items selected, instead of showing all tracks within the project

Can’t have multiple mixer windows
No top divider in arranger like Cubase
No multiple markers/regions tracks
Learning Reascripts/API is a steeper learning curve with Midi Automation compared to Cubase PLE/MLE
Tracks can only output 64 outputs, meaning in VEPro you’re forced to have a limit of 64 outputs per instance. Have to reduce when used to larger templates with loads of outputs.
Can't Lock Tempo Grid
The main reason I want to switch to Reaper from Cubase. Performance & Stability, plain and simple.

The major reason for me for not switching as of yet, is Time Signature flags, multiple marks/regions, and the clunky Midi editor. I can forgive the midi editor as it could be I'm just so comfortable and used to Cubase. However, for the other two, I just rely heavily on having multiple markers and being able to drag multiple time signature flags and move them around when needed. It’s a couple of things that I didn't think I would miss as badly as I did until I tried living in Reaper for a month.

Also, this could maybe be done with in the WALTER method, but time signatures are ridiculously hard to read in Reaper. It's so tiny in the timeline bar and my poor eyes have a hard time seeing it.

Hopefully, my pros/cons list helps some readers. Reaper is crazy cool, and I think everyone should really give it a chance. I do agree though, it’s a program that is super powerful and customized that its not as user-friendly as others. Ultimately, it can be daunting to work with at first, but just like most things, it just takes time.

Cheers,
DMDComposer


----------



## Chris Richter (May 21, 2022)

dts_marin said:


> I have no experience using Pro Tools Ultimate or Logic. So I'd say Cubase and DP handle this much better than Reaper.
> 
> When dealing with live players you need count-in bars with the same tempo as the starting tempo of your cue. Problem is you don't know the starting tempo until you have finished scoring the cue. In DP it's super easy. You insert bars before the starting timecode and you are done. You change your cue's tempo? No problem. delete those old bars and repeat the process.
> 
> ...


Thank you for taking the time to type this out. I need to take a look at this.


----------



## marius_dm (May 21, 2022)

robgb said:


> Way overreaching. Reaper's midi functions are excellent. As I said above, I work almost exclusively in midi and have never had a single problem using Reaper's piano roll. Plus there are a multitude of developer and user made "actions" in the midi editor that make your life and workflow easy.
> 
> People bagging on Reaper's midi capabilities really have no idea what they're talking about.


I second this. People just like to repeat out of date info that they read on the internet. I'm actually experimenting with Logic because I like how it does comping better than Reaper, but I think Reaper's MIDI functionality and flexibility is unparalleled, really. In what other daw can you drag the play-bar with the mouse while playing all midi notes forward or backward at the exact speed you are dragging? To me that's godsend when working on counterpoint stuff or even to get inspired while just dragging randomly left and right to get ideas, and it's a lot of fun. Also, the multi-midi editing (editing multiple midi events in the same window) is simply unparalleled in the way you can show/hide/lock/allow edits/etc.
I have to say though that Logic is quite a bit more buggy compared to Reaper so I might go back, but I record bands quite a bit and the comping in Reaper is pretty annoying (all those little splits created when overdubbing get VERY messy).


----------



## robgb (May 21, 2022)

marius_dm said:


> I have to say though that Logic is quite a bit more buggy compared to Reaper so I might go back, but I record bands quite a bit and the comping in Reaper is pretty annoying (all those little splits created when overdubbing get VERY messy).


This might help:


----------



## Chris Richter (May 22, 2022)

dts_marin said:


> When dealing with live players you need count-in bars with the same tempo as the starting tempo of your cue. Problem is you don't know the starting tempo until you have finished scoring the cue. In DP it's super easy. You insert bars before the starting timecode and you are done. You change your cue's tempo? No problem. delete those old bars and repeat the process.
> 
> In REAPER this was a nightmare. You can't do it reliably. Using timecode calculators etc. are silly non-solutions. Nobody has time to do such things.


I took a look at this. You are right, there isn't a way to do this through the menues. From what I can see this might be a workable solution:

1. At the end of the project create a time signature marker with equal tempo and time signature to the start of the project.
2. Create a region starting at the new marker with a length of the amount of measures you want to add.
3. Drag the region to the start of the project. Everything in the project should move back that way.
4. Move the edit cursor to bar 1.
5. Go to project preferences and hit the button "set 0:00 at edit cursor". If you would like bar 1 to start at a specific timecode, go to reapack and install "Set timecode at edit cursor". Use that action to set the timecode at bar 1 to your starting timecode.

In my little test project this worked just fine. From what I can see it should work great with subprojects, as the start indicator will be moved back so there is no need to adjust anything in the master project.

Would this solve the issue for you or are there other requirements to meet your workflow?


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## zigzag (May 22, 2022)

robgb said:


> People bagging on Reaper's midi capabilities really have no idea what they're talking about.





marius_dm said:


> People just like to repeat out of date info that they read on the internet.


Why the need to be so dismissive of other people's experiences? In total I have spent probably more than a few weeks just tweaking Reaper's MIDI workflow. I have also written a few custom scripts, again spending from few hours to several days per script. And I still can't the workflow and features to same level I get in Cubase (almost) out of the box. In fact, according to Reaper's scripting API docs, it is impossible to implement fixes for some issues with scripts, so it's not just a matter of how much time you are willing to spend to customize Reaper (and after certain amount of time it becomes questionable, if it's time well spent).

I'm not saying that Reaper's MIDI capabilities are useless. It's certainly capable enough to create wonderful compositions (many do it all the time) and it also has some unique MIDI features, not avaliable elsewhere. But overall, I find that missing MIDI features (that are important to me) outweigh Reaper's unique MIDI features and that I'm more productive in Cubase when composing. That is however highly dependent on my workflow, so it may not apply to other people's workflows. 

We need to be able to point out weak points of each DAW in order to help people make informed decisions and in hope that developers will hear us and improve their DAWs. I have no problem pointing out Cubase's flaws and I prefer Reaper to Cubase for many non-MIDI tasks.


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## Chris Richter (May 22, 2022)

zigzag said:


> [...] And I still can't the workflow and features to same level I get in Cubase (almost) out of the box. [...]


Would you mind to elaborate on what you think works better in Cubase?


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## zigzag (May 22, 2022)

Chris Richter said:


> Would you mind to elaborate on what you think works better in Cubase?


Some issues I have with Reaper:

Switching between which MIDI clips are visible the in MIDI Editor and auto zooming to MIDI notes is clumsier in Reaper (I would have to open and test both DAWs to pinpoint what exactly is different)
There are so many combinations of options on how this works in Reaper, that I can't be sure that it wasn't my configuration that was suboptimal at the time.

No hierarchy in track manager (for quick collapsing of folder tracks)
Collapsed folders don’t hide tracks completely by default.
Can be fixed by a theme & startup script, but this startup script causes that the first project appears modified, even if no edits were made

No multiple Marker/Region "tracks" (there's Heda's Regions Tracks script, but it's still not as good as in Cubase. Regions/markers lane in Reaper can get crowded).
Only one docker toggle (no way to toggle just bottom, left, right zones). Screensets save too much info about windows (for example: specific midi event opened in MIDI editor))
Window management (not possible to alt-tab) between open sub-windows
PROPER TOGGLEBETWEEN WINDOWS - Cockos Incorporated Forums

No chord track
Not possible to color notes depending on current scale/chord

No retrospective recording
No switching between musical/true-time for tracks
Not separating between audio and MIDI track type limits routing options as Reaper is trying to prevent feedback loop (Reaper sees feedback loops where there are none)
(if I remember correctly) it's easier to wrap project tempo in Cubase when scoring to picture
I just remembered that there is Warp grid with SWS

Combined, these little things can slow you down. Too much in my case.


EDIT: added some more
EDIT 2: Added Warp grid with SWS solution, I forgot about.
EDIT 3: Crossed out some invalid critique


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## Chris Richter (May 22, 2022)

That's an awesome list, thank you very much 



zigzag said:


> No switching between musical/true-time for tracks


The SWS extension gives me actions to do this from what I can see (Set selected tracks timebase to time/beats). It's also possible to set this for individual items in the item preferences.


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## zigzag (May 22, 2022)

Chris Richter said:


> That's an awesome list, thank you very much
> 
> 
> The SWS extension gives me actions to do this from what I can see (Set selected tracks timebase to time/beats). It's also possible to set this for individual items in the item preferences.


Yea, I wasn't completely sure about this one without testing again. I crossed it out.


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## Ivan Duch (May 22, 2022)

zigzag said:


> Collapsed folders don’t hide tracks completely by default.
> 
> Can be fixed by a theme & startup script, but this startup script causes that the first project appears modified, even if no edits were made



Could you share a link to that script? I've been wanting to do that in Reaper for years.


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## zigzag (May 22, 2022)

Ivan Duch said:


> Could you share a link to that script? I've been wanting to do that in Reaper for years.


Scripts link. I have also attached them here.

Copy bfo... scripts to Reaper's "Scripts" directory
Open Reaper
Append contents from "__startup.lua" to your "__startup.lua" file located in "Scripts" directory (if you don't have one just copy the provided file).
In Reaper, open Actions list and find the bfo... scripts and right click on each script and choose "Copy selected action command ID" and in "__startup.lua" replace CommandID with ID you copied from Reaper.
Save "__startup.lua" and restart Reaper


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## Tempfram (May 22, 2022)

DMDComposer said:


> *Cons:*
> 
> 
> Graphics rendered by CPU, so can get a little sluggish the more tracks/visual going on


Does this mean Reaper could become slower than other DAWs once the track count increases?


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## DMDComposer (May 22, 2022)

Tempfram said:


> Does this mean Reaper could become slower than other DAWs once the track count increases?


This is absolutely the case, yes.

I wouldn't fear having large templates (really depends on the computer though). Mainly, it performs perfectly if not better than Cubase with equivalent track counts in terms of playback, strictly audio performance.

However, roaming through the large template; Or, for example, seeing multiple faders light up with that high of track counts in your template will bog down Reaper faster than it would of equivalency in Cubase.

To me, the performance/stability gains outweigh the nuance of a little sluggish UI from time to time because of larger templates. There are options that do help though with performance for the most part. Another user from VI-Control posted about it which when I switched it on it helped a bunch!

disable "Run FX when stopped"
change the “Thread Behaviour” to 0 (Relaxed)
Cheers,
DMDComposer


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## Ivan Duch (May 22, 2022)

zigzag said:


> Scripts link. I have also attached them here.
> 
> Copy bfo... scripts to Reaper's "Scripts" directory
> Open Reaper
> ...


Thank you! I'll test it in the morning.


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## Tempfram (May 22, 2022)

DMDComposer said:


> This is absolutely the case, yes.
> 
> I wouldn't fear having large templates (really depends on the computer though). Mainly, it performs perfectly if not better than Cubase with equivalent track counts in terms of playback, strictly audio performance.


So the performance in the audio department is kept separate from the graphics side?


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## DMDComposer (May 22, 2022)

Tempfram said:


> So the performance in the audio department is kept separate from the graphics side?


The answer to your question is no. They're both processed by the CPU, but Reaper prioritizes audio over graphics. This is why the audio performance in Reaper is lightyears better compared to other daws like Cubase.

Cheers,
DMDComposer


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## robgb (May 22, 2022)

DMDComposer said:


> *Cons:*
> 
> Time Signature, not moveable flags like Cubase. Hard to visually see in timeline.









DMDComposer said:


> Graphics rendered by CPU, so can get a little sluggish the more tracks/visual going on


Haven't noticed this to be a problem, especially since Reaper doesn't suffer from the bloat of other DAWs. Reaper actually uses about half the CPU of Cubase overall.



DMDComposer said:


> Midi Editor Window is not as sleek, and intuitive as Cubase
> Even with all the customizations, it doesn’t feel as smooth, feels clunky


Define clunky? I have noticed ZERO difference between the Midi Editor window in Reaper and Cubase. Not sure what this imaginary smoothness is.



DMDComposer said:


> Can’t color midi notes the same as track colors, they’re a different shade which is extremely frustrating to those who are used to Cubase where track color = note color


There's a menu at the bottom of the midi editor screen that allows you to change note color in a number of ways: Velocity, Pitch, Source, TRACK, Media Item, Voice. Just set that to track and you're good to go.



DMDComposer said:


> Tracklist although great, is also cumbersome with too many tracks.
> Would be stronger if there was an option to only show the tracks with the items selected, instead of showing all tracks within the project


The point of the Track List is to give you an overview of the entire project. You can always use a filter to view only the tracks you want at any given time. Or you can use the action to Toggle showing selected tracks in your TCP and Mixer.



DMDComposer said:


> Can’t have multiple mixer windows


This is one I agree would be nice. Maybe in the future.



DMDComposer said:


> No top divider in arranger like Cubase


Another one I'll give you.


DMDComposer said:


> No multiple markers/regions tracks


Not sure what you're trying to say here. You can have multiple markers and regions in Reaper.



DMDComposer said:


> Learning Reascripts/API is a steeper learning curve with Midi Automation compared to Cubase PLE/MLE


Again, not sure what you're trying to say. Midi Automation is not difficult at all. Just add ReaControlMidi to a track (you can make this default if you want) and automate CCs to your heart's content.



DMDComposer said:


> Tracks can only output 64 outputs, meaning in VEPro you’re forced to have a limit of 64 outputs per instance. Have to reduce when used to larger templates with loads of outputs.


I don't consider this a sacrifice, but okay. 64 outputs per track is ALOT of outputs.



DMDComposer said:


> Can't Lock Tempo Grid


In what way? If you want to lock an item to the grid so that it doesn't change if you change tempos (your video, for example), you merely select the item's properties and change the timebase to "time." It will then be locked and won't change when you change tempos.


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## Tempfram (May 22, 2022)

DMDComposer said:


> The answer to your question is no. They're both processed by the CPU, but Reaper prioritizes audio over graphics. This is why the audio performance in Reaper is lightyears better compared to other daws like Cubase.
> 
> Cheers,
> DMDComposer


I meant can the graphics lag without the sound lagging at the same time?


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## robgb (May 22, 2022)

zigzag said:


> Switching between which MIDI clips are visible the in MIDI Editor and auto zooming to MIDI notes is clumsier in Reaper (I would have to open and test both DAWs to pinpoint what exactly is different)


Drag the marquee tool to select the notes you want to zoom to and assign "zoom to selected notes" action to a hot key. Easy peasey.



zigzag said:


> Collapsed folders don’t hide tracks completely by default.
> Can be fixed by a theme & startup script, but this startup script causes that the first project appears modified, even if no edits were made


I'm pretty sure this is by design so that you know you're dealing with a folder. The fully collapsed folder track has tiny slivers of the tracks beneath it for that reason. I actually prefer it that way.



zigzag said:


> No multiple Marker/Region "tracks" (there's Heda's Regions Tracks script, but it's still not as good as in Cubase. Regions/markers lane in Reaper can get crowded).


This isn't a problem I've encountered. How many regions or markers do you have?



zigzag said:


> Only one docker toggle (no way to toggle just bottom, left, right zones). Screensets save too much info about windows (for example: specific midi event opened in MIDI editor))


I use screensets regularly and unless I'm not understanding you correctly, this hasn't been an issue. You can adjust screensets to save only the information you want them to save.



zigzag said:


> Window management (not possible to alt-tab) between open sub-windows
> PROPER TOGGLEBETWEEN WINDOWS - Cockos Incorporated Forums


Are you talking about toggling between tabs? You can certainly do that. You can also toggle between windows via screensets with ease.


zigzag said:


> No chord track
> Not possible to color notes depending on current scale/chord


? Not something I'd ever use, but okay.


zigzag said:


> No retrospective recording


User came up with this back in 2015. 





Retrospective Record for Reaper(JS+Script) - Cockos Incorporated Forums


Retrospective Record for Reaper(JS+Script) ReaScript, JSFX, REAPER Plug-in Extensions, Developer Forum



forum.cockos.com







zigzag said:


> No switching between musical/true-time for tracks
> Not separating between audio and MIDI track type limits routing options as Reaper is trying to prevent feedback loop (Reaper sees feedback loops where there are none)


This is the very first time I've encountered anyone saying that the routing options in Reaper are limited. I believe you can toggle the feedback loop protection to off, however, if you're so inclined.



zigzag said:


> (if I remember correctly) it's easier to wrap project tempo in Cubase when scoring to picture
> I just remembered that there is Warp grid with SWS


----------



## tack (May 22, 2022)

robgb said:


> This is the very first time I've encountered anyone saying that the routing options in Reaper are limited. I believe you can toggle the feedback loop protection to off, however, if you're so inclined.


It would be nice not to have to though, because feedback loop protection is legitimately important.

I've run into this one in the past. It's one of the main reasons I go with a Kontakt instance per instrument (track), as opposed to loading up and sharing single instances across instruments. It's important to me that I have MIDI and FX processing (and automation, etc.) on the same track, but because MIDI and audio aren't differentiated in loop detection, this kind of routing can't be done without, as you point out, disabling loop detection altogether.



robgb said:


> There's a menu at the bottom of the midi editor screen that allows you to change note color in a number of ways: Velocity, Pitch, Source, TRACK, Media Item, Voice. Just set that to track and you're good to go.



I think DMDComposer's point is that the notes aren't exactly the same as the track color. REAPER will dim unselected notes, and only selected notes will take the exact track color. (And this isn't themeable.)

Not an issue for me personally, though I do wish scripters had more control over event colors. (I'd use that for Reaticulate.)


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## Farkle (May 22, 2022)

dts_marin said:


> I have no experience using Pro Tools Ultimate or Logic. So I'd say Cubase and DP handle this much better than Reaper.
> 
> When dealing with live players you need count-in bars with the same tempo as the starting tempo of your cue. Problem is you don't know the starting tempo until you have finished scoring the cue. In DP it's super easy. You insert bars before the starting timecode and you are done. You change your cue's tempo? No problem. delete those old bars and repeat the process.
> 
> ...


I call bullshit. I did *exactly* what you're describing above in REAPER, using subprojects, a couple of tempo scripts from SWS, and pre-calculating tempos using a digital click book. And I composed, inputted, produced and mixed 60 minutes of Alan Silvestri style orchestral music in 4 weeks, using Reaper, for a feature film. You can absolutely do it reliably. Timecode calculators are not silly non solutions. I absolutey had time to do such things.

Mike


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## Trash Panda (May 22, 2022)

Y’all. It’s ok for someone to not like Reaper. 🤣


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## DMDComposer (May 22, 2022)

robgb said:


> Moveable Time Signatures:


Ah, yes I should've mentioned multiple time signatures at once. Unless that's still possible? But opening Reaper now I couldn't get it to work with ctrl or shift+click. Perhaps there's a script but I haven't look as of yet.



> Haven't noticed this to be a problem, especially since Reaper doesn't suffer from the bloat of other DAWs. Reaper actually uses about half the CPU of Cubase overall.



Reaper has been far superior, yes. In my test projects 1:1 projects that had Cubase over 60% cpu usage would be 15-20% tops in Reaper.




> There's a menu at the bottom of the midi editor screen that allows you to change note color in a number of ways: Velocity, Pitch, Source, TRACK, Media Item, Voice. Just set that to track and you're good to go.



Yes you are correct, however what I'm speaking of doesn't exist currently. Although, I really hope it gets implemented in an update as it seems simple to fix. I made a post here asking about it, and then there is a feature request for it. And yes, Tack, that is what I meant thank you. =) https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=265372



> The point of the Track List is to give you an overview of the entire project. You can always use a filter to view only the tracks you want at any given time. Or you can use the action to Toggle showing selected tracks in your TCP and Mixer.



That makes perfect sense. Coming from Cubase I'm used to cycling through only those I want to see, so maybe there is different way to achieve that as I like to have both options.



> Not sure what you're trying to say here. You can have multiple markers and regions in Reaper.



Multiple marker lanes or tracks maybe better to describe. Currently, Reaper only supports one marker and one region lane. In Cubase you can have several of these. There is a script by a user on the forum that kind of makes tracks that can act as multiple marker lanes, but its just not the same. And, you don't have the top divider so then you can't see it pinned to the top. 



> Again, not sure what you're trying to say. Midi Automation is not difficult at all. Just add ReaControlMidi to a track (you can make this default if you want) and automate CCs to your heart's content.



Midi automation scripting is vastly harder compared to PLE or MLE. Especially, for those who have no scripting experience. I have strong scripting experience on the other hand and having to learn coding with midi is not something I enjoy learning and cyphering through. I specically mean dealing with binary language, midi messages in bytes. Here is Stephan Roemer's increase CC function in lua for context. Coding something like this isn't as simple as coding 








ReaScripts/sr_Increase CC function.lua at master · StephanRoemer/ReaScripts


Reaper Scripts. Contribute to StephanRoemer/ReaScripts development by creating an account on GitHub.




github.com







> I don't consider this a sacrifice, but okay. 64 outputs per track is ALOT of outputs.



I work with massive templates that range over 256 outputs per VEPro instance. Cutting in half may have been no problem, but a quarter of the size was a vast overhaul of rearranging. For now though, I'm sticking with 64 outputs so I can continue playing with Cubase and Reaper back and forth.



> In what way? If you want to lock an item to the grid so that it doesn't change if you change tempos (your video, for example), you merely select the item's properties and change the timebase to "time." It will then be locked and won't change when you change tempos.



Cubase has a lock feature on the tempo grid that won't allow you to make alterations to the tempo. I personally just enjoy this as once I have a cue locked in, I lock the tempo. This way I can't accidentally screw something up down the road. Just a personal thing and I imagine I'm a rarity who actually locks the tempo.



> Define clunky? I have noticed ZERO difference between the Midi Editor window in Reaper and Cubase. Not sure what this imaginary smoothness is.



After the fact of setting up the midi editor, prefences, mouse modifiers, key commands to be identical to Cubase. Perhaps overall, its just being used to Cubase after years of use. Which isn't a good answer, I admit. From what I can think now and put into words is the following: 
Cubase midi editor is graphically sharper. There are the midi color notes which I mentioend above that throws me off. The grid lines are more easier to read and the note blocks themselves are perhaps more vivid and easier on the eye. I've spent days in WALTER and the theme config matching Reaper to Cubase but you can only get so far as there are still some limitations in Reaper's coloring inside the midi editor window. In the end, maybe personally what I do mean is visually clunky and a bias to being used to Cubase. From my knowledge at least, Reaper can do everything if not more than what Cubase can do in the midi editor in terms of functionality. That being you know how to script in bytes with Midi to take advanatage of some advanced functions. Visually, Cubase just feels smoother.

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my comments. My cons list are just my findings and I want it to be clear, I'm for team Reaper. =)

Cheers,
DMDComposer


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## tack (May 22, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> Y’all. It’s ok for someone to not like Reaper. 🤣


Even those of us who use it. 

With several tens of thousands of lines of code written specifically for REAPER, I've got to be in the 99.9th percentile of REAPER scripters (by volume anyway), and I am keenly aware of all the ways that REAPER drives me to rage.

But then I fire up demos for Bitwig or Studio One, say, and after a few agonizing minutes of being a stranger in a strange land I am desperate to return to REAPER for the single most important reason of all: I know it well.


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## storyteller (May 22, 2022)

dts_marin said:


> The only annoyance was Reaticulate (no offence to @tack his work is great). It just was really tedious to configure banks on the fly.


It was mentioned earlier in this thread, but Orchestral Template For Reaper provides a GUI for editing Reabank files.


Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...


Also mentioned earlier in the thread, check out Orchestral Template for Reaper: www.orchestraltemplateforreaper.com. It is basically a hotrodded portable install of Reaper that I've built for my own workflow and released for public use. It originally was released in 2017 as a for-pay model, but over the years, I have continued to upgrade it and transition it into a donation-only model. It is on version 2 and there are now ~1500 custom scripts and actions in addition to the countless other under-the-hood additions I've added to make Reaper function quickly, efficiently - and most importantly, intuitively.

I personally run four Mac VEPro servers synced with VideoSync Pro 5 with it. I used Reaticulate to build out 1200+ articulation maps for my orchestral template (though I produce pop/rock/country/mainstream tracks as well using OTR). *There are also a number of well-known composers who have transitioned to Reaper+OTR from their previous DAWs. *Just some food for thought...

FWIW, I have had zero problems with anything mentioned in this thread regarding timecode and time sigs.

Lastly, for the visually impaired, the upcoming 2.3 update will include a ton of new functionality specific for those special needs. I was blessed over the last several months to be able to work with an extremely talented up-and-coming composer from France who is completely blind and wanted to be able to compose on a DAW without added assistance during her creative process. OTR v2.3 will provide that functionality to all users in addition to a usual slew of updates from 2.2.


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## robgb (May 22, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> Y’all. It’s ok for someone to not like Reaper. 🤣


Sure. But how often do you see people start a thread entitled Have you Ditched Cubase and Glad You Did? It's a bit trollish.


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## olvra (May 22, 2022)

robgb said:


> Sure. But how often do you see people start a thread entitled Have you Ditched Cubase and Glad You Did? It's a bit trollish.








Why did you leave Cubase?


I'm considering getting into Cubase but would like to hear all the 1 star reviews from people that moved onto other DAWs. :) I'm currently using Bitwig. It's amazing in so many aspects (sound design, devices, modulators, the grid, etc) except for actually writing music.




vi-control.net


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## robgb (May 22, 2022)

olvra said:


> Why did you leave Cubase?
> 
> 
> I'm considering getting into Cubase but would like to hear all the 1 star reviews from people that moved onto other DAWs. :) I'm currently using Bitwig. It's amazing in so many aspects (sound design, devices, modulators, the grid, etc) except for actually writing music.
> ...


The tone of the title is a lot different, however.


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## olvra (May 22, 2022)

robgb said:


> The tone of the title is a lot different, however.


Indeed


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## Trash Panda (May 22, 2022)

robgb said:


> Sure. But how often do you see people start a thread entitled Have you Ditched Cubase and Glad You Did? It's a bit trollish.


People start threads to bag on DAWs, libraries, plugins, etc. Who cares? Sometimes people gotta vent. No need to turn into one of those people who have to vociferously defend the honor of the complaint du jour.


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## tony10000 (May 23, 2022)

No. It is the exact opposite for me. I find myself using Reaper more and more. 

Ableton was my primary DAW for years and I also have full licenses for FL Studio and Bitwig. I also have Studio One Artist, Cubase Elements 12, and Renoise. 

Reaper is by far the fastest, most capable, most stable, and most compact DAW that I have ever used. I still use other DAWs for quick composition (MIDI is not Reaper's forte), for unique tasks such as sound design, or to get a change of scenery.


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## tressie5 (May 23, 2022)

@tony10000 said, "...MIDI is not Reaper's forte." 

Ooooh...you're going to get a lot of hate mail for that.


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## Chris Richter (May 23, 2022)

I think this is great opportunity for learning. Some criticism is just a lack of familarity. Which is fine, some things are tough to spot or not that intuitive. Some Reaper users can and have helped out and provided possible solutions. But some things just aren't possible and it's great to know those limitations to be prepared if that case comes up.
Anyways it is important to be respectful of others experiences.


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## robgb (May 23, 2022)

Trash Panda said:


> People start threads to bag on DAWs, libraries, plugins, etc. Who cares? Sometimes people gotta vent. No need to turn into one of those people who have to vociferously defend the honor of the complaint du jour.


And it's only natural for people who regularly use a DAW or library to write a response for fear that new users might be led astray by misinformation. If I say something false about a Spitfire or Orchestral Tools library, I would certainly expect people to call me out on it. I see nothing wrong with that.

There's nothing wrong with correcting the record, and characterizing that defense as something bad is just silly.


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## zigzag (May 23, 2022)

robgb said:


> Drag the marquee tool to select the notes you want to zoom to and assign "zoom to selected notes" action to a hot key. Easy peasey.


Not really what I was referring to, but I crossed that critique out since there are so many combinations of options on how this works in Reaper, that I can't be sure that it wasn't my configuration that was suboptimal at the time.



robgb said:


> I'm pretty sure this is by design so that you know you're dealing with a folder. The fully collapsed folder track has tiny slivers of the tracks beneath it for that reason. I actually prefer it that way.


There is already a button on folder tracks that clearly shows, if folder is collapsed/expanded. Tiny slivers just take up precious vertical space. 



robgb said:


> This isn't a problem I've encountered. How many regions or markers do you have?


Regions that show hierarchical structure, markers that show important hit points and regions for chords. I use tracks with empty items that contain mention regions and then use HeDa Region Tracks script to toggle visibility of each category. If multiple categories are visible, in the arrange view overlapping regions will be shown in multiple lanes (so all are visible), but in the MIDI editor overlapping regions will all be on a single lane and hide each other.



robgb said:


> I use screensets regularly and unless I'm not understanding you correctly, this hasn't been an issue. You can adjust screensets to save only the information you want them to save.


Unfortunately, you can't control some options for screensets to prevent issues like I described. They are really nice feature otherwise. To reproduce: 
- create a few tracks with MIDI
- save screenset#1 without MIDI editor open
- open MIDI item of track 1 in MIDI editor. Save screenset#2 with MIDI editor open 
- open MIDI item on track 2 in MIDI editor. 
- recall screenset#1 to close MIDI editor
- recall screenset#2 to open MIDI editor. Tell me which MIDI item will be open in MIDI editor. It won't be the last opened MIDI item. 

Before you say you have an action to toggle MIDI editor window, let me point out that this was simplified example. Image you have multiple tabs on the bottom (MIDI editor, mixer) and multiple tabs on the side (track manager, actions, region tracks script) and you want to just toggle bottom tabs on/off. You'll need to use screensets and screensets have before mentioned issue.



robgb said:


> Are you talking about toggling between tabs? You can certainly do that. You can also toggle between windows via screensets with ease.


No. Let's say you open MIDI editor and mixer as windows (not tabs), so you can have them maximized. On Windows (I don't know how it is on other OSes) there will be only one Reaper window shown on taskbar. So, you can't alt-tab for example between arrange view and MIDI editor window. Ctrl-tab will CYCLE through all windows each time (MIDI editor, mixer, arrange view). If you use screensets we are back at the issue with screensets restoring MIDI item that was in the MIDI editor at the time screenset was created. If you know how to configure screensets to not restore the MIDI item, please tell me. It will solve multiple issues I have with Reaper. 



robgb said:


> User came up with this back in 2015.


Thanks. I didn't know that. I learned about retrospective recording only after I started using Cubase for MIDI, so I never searched, if there's retrospective recording script for Reaper. I crossed this issue out.


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## tressie5 (May 23, 2022)

^I had to look up "retrospective recording." I'm aware of it now but I'm curious why anyone would use it.


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## michalioz (May 23, 2022)

Yes. For me, given that Reaper was €60 and Logic Pro X £200, it turned out that it was a no brainer purchase (Logic). I wouldn't have stayed with Reaper even if it were 100% free. Before getting Logic, I was working okay with Reaper but I don't think I ever really enjoyed working with it. But hey, it's great if you're low on cash and you need to get started.


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## Trash Panda (May 23, 2022)

robgb said:


> And it's only natural for people who regularly use a DAW or library to write a response for fear that new users might be led astray by misinformation. If I say something false about a Spitfire or Orchestral Tools library, I would certainly expect people to call me out on it. I see nothing wrong with that.
> 
> There's nothing wrong with correcting the record, and characterizing that defense as something bad is just silly.


Well you'll notice that other than responding to you, I wasn't quoting anything you posted. There were a few people chiming in with aggressive responses like what happens any time someone says an unkind word about Spitfire/Performance Samples/Fabfilter.


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## zigzag (May 23, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> ^I had to look up "retrospective recording." I'm aware of it now but I'm curious why anyone would use it.


Imagine you are trying some things on a keyboard and you manage to play something you like. You can add the thing you played to the track even, if you weren't recording. It's more stress free that hitting record first.


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## marius_dm (May 23, 2022)

zigzag said:


> Why the need to be so dismissive of other people's experiences?


Apologies if that sounded dismissive/aggressive.



zigzag said:


> Switching between which MIDI clips are visible the in MIDI Editor and auto zooming to MIDI notes is clumsier in Reaper (I would have to open and test both DAWs to pinpoint what exactly is different)


IMO Reaper has the most complete implementation out of all DAWs when it comes to switching MIDI clip visibility or allowing edits for one or more MIDI clips while one or more are visible but not editable/etc. Take a look at the track list functionality. Again, IMO.

The only valid issues I see in your list are the multiple marker tracks and the lack of a chord track (even though for me chord tracks are not useful and I think they behave very weird in Cubase as well). Everything else in that list is not really MIDI specific, more like general workflow and window management personal preferences.

I’m not trying to be a Reaper apologist, I’ve been alternating between Cubase, Reaper, and, after M1 popped up, Logic.

I will say that one thing that I’m missing in Reaper from Cubase is the ability to grab a selection of midi CC events at one end to do a fade in/out for instance while maintaining the relative values of the events.


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## tressie5 (May 23, 2022)

Retrospective Recording seems like a rehearsal. Cool. I wonder why they didn't just call it Rehearsal Recording, though? I guess if they did, I wouldn't have these questions.


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## Johnny (May 23, 2022)

EgM said:


> (Sorry for the long post)
> 
> I started REAPER in 2006 or so, probably before since we hung around on IRC. If you search my posts on their forums I was very vocal on MIDI development since I was coming from SONAR. Things progressed very nicely in the early days but everything MIDI felt secondary so I tossed it on the side and moved to Logic and Mac (2001)
> 
> ...


I use Reaper a lot in AAA Game Audio, but for music composition I find Reaper slows me down... I'm just not as efficient writing music having to open one instance of Kontakt, and I have zero need to explode that Instrument track into 16 midi channels every time I want to load an instrument... I find this feature useless... I'll just say it... I will dodge all of the arrows and axe swings after I say it, for composition I use Protools and always have  Protools does everything I need it to do for midi composition. I am familiar with the work flow since starting from version Pro Tools version 4 in the 90s ad for me? It just works. I guess the driving lesson I learned was, there is no right DAW and it is whatever works best for you and your process! For me, it is Protools, despite all of my frustrations with the company and usual Pro Tools gripes everyone seems to have along with me : )


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## timprebble (May 23, 2022)

Johnny said:


> I use Reaper a lot in AAA Game Audio, but for music composition I find Reaper slows me down... I'm just not as efficient writing music having to open one instance of Kontakt, and I have zero need to explode that Instrument track into 16 midi channels every time I want to load an instrument... I find this feature useless... I'll just say it... I will dodge all of the arrows and axe swings after I say it, for composition I use Protools and always have  Protools does everything I need it to do for midi composition. I am familiar with the work flow since starting from version Pro Tools version 4 in the 90s ad for me? It just works. I guess the driving lesson I learned was, there is no right DAW and it is whatever works best for you and your process! For me, it is Protools, despite all of my frustrations with the company and usual Pro Tools gripes everyone seems to have along with me : )


I'm a bit the same. Just as the saying goes 'the best camera is the one you have with you' - the best DAW is the one that you know how to use & which enables your specific work. Different DAWs for different approaches. I love ableton LIVE with max4Live for some things, but eg it is hopeless for working to picture (no TC timeline!?) and I much prefer editing & mixing in PT.

While I appreciate how incredibly flexible & scriptable Reaper is, that is only an advantage some of the time. I can walk into any studio or dub stage anywhere in the world & start work in ProTools because it has a standardised UI. Reaper seems to be very different for every user, depending how each person prefers to use it, and customise it. That's great if you work alone, but could be problematic if eg taking material to a dub stage or another studio, and the DAW is unfamiliar to you.

Any DAW is going to take years to learn... So if you are a beginner maybe its better to reserve judgment... there is no need to be insecure about your choices. With new information and experience new opinions can form. What works for you, is what works for you. Its the work that matters...


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## Johnny (May 23, 2022)

timprebble said:


> I'm a bit the same. Just as the saying goes 'the best camera is the one you have with you' - the best DAW is the one that you know how to use & which enables your specific work. Different DAWs for different approaches. I love ableton LIVE with max4Live for some things, but eg it is hopeless for working to picture (no TC timeline!?) and I much prefer editing & mixing in PT.
> 
> While I appreciate how incredibly flexible & scriptable Reaper is, that is only an advantage some of the time. I can walk into any studio or dub stage anywhere in the world & start work in ProTools because it has a standardised UI. Reaper seems to be very different for every user, depending how each person prefers to use it, and customise it. That's great if you work alone, but could be problematic if eg taking material to a dub stage or another studio, and the DAW is unfamiliar to you.
> 
> Any DAW is going to take years to learn... So if you are a beginner maybe its better to reserve judgment... there is no need to be insecure about your choices. With new information and experience new opinions can form. What works for you, is what works for you. Its the work that matters...


I've recently experience exactly this! Brand new engineer, knows Reaper really well, comes into sessions using another studio's version of Reaper on the fly = Engineer is now learning from the beginning on the fly... Hard to find a Pro Tools user that isn't familiar with Pro Tools across all systems  (Even from Mac to PC, subtle changes but it's still Pro Tools) Great point!


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## tack (May 23, 2022)

Lack of customization is a feature!


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## fakemaxwell (May 23, 2022)

marius_dm said:


> I will say that one thing that I’m missing in Reaper from Cubase is the ability to grab a selection of midi CC events at one end to do a fade in/out for instance while maintaining the relative values of the events.


Check out juliansader's Multi Tool. It's on Reapack.


Johnny said:


> Engineer is now learning from the beginning on the fly.


This is why portable installs are useful. You can carry your own 'customized' version of Reaper around with you or store it in the cloud, roll up to wherever you want, and work directly off of it. All you would have to do is enable the audio device of the host computer.

I agree it would be pretty difficult to have somebody use an instance of Reaper that isn't set up in a way they're familiar with. Good thing it's not necessary!


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## Villanao (May 23, 2022)

Yes, I sort of moved on to Studio One and Reason. It’s incredible how things improve when you use a program that actually cares about design and user experience. 

REAPER is utilitarian by nature, which is fine, but the design, UI, and UX are an afterthought. It’s like it’s not made for humans. The piano roll just depresses me... 

I’m much more productive working with Reason and S1, and their design and workflow are inspiring, not depressing.

I love REAPER for what it does well, but absolutely HATE some aspects of the “philosophy” behind it, that people tend to defend and admire so much. There’s an anti-human element to extremely utilitarian, “form-follows-function” design (and architecture). The defaults are so insane that I have to imagine that they’re bad on purpose or the developers never use the program for music making. (Schwa said in a recent livestream that he hasn’t used it to make music in years...).

REAPER is a hobby project for a millionaire who, while a GENIUS programmer, cares nothing about creating a smooth and inspiring workflow for musicians. It just doesn’t register. If you’re not capable of customizing it and creating your own workflow, you’re not worthy.

Well, I spent years customizing it and I never got it to work and feel as good as programs made by companies that actually care about what their users think and feel like when they use their app. Imagine that!

Anyway, rant over. I just wished I’d ditched it sooner. No offense to anyone, be happy using whatever inspires YOU!


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## timprebble (May 23, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> Check out juliansader's Multi Tool. It's on Reapack.
> 
> This is why portable installs are useful. You can carry your own 'customized' version of Reaper around with you or store it in the cloud, roll up to wherever you want, and work directly off of it. All you would have to do is enable the audio device of the host computer.
> 
> I agree it would be pretty difficult to have somebody use an instance of Reaper that isn't set up in a way they're familiar with. Good thing it's not necessary!



Most film post facilities are heavily audited for security by the studios/funding bodies. Installing and using your own app on a dub stage would be a big no in many cases... 

Different story if you are the one renting a studio eg a music studio to record in etc...




tack said:


> Lack of customization is a feature!



You are confusing customization with having a functional standard GUI. I've been scripting ProTools for a decade before Reaper appeared, so customization is no issue. But having a standardised functional UI is not a luxury: it's a basic essential. If its just you in your own studio you can use whatever you like, but I would not want to be working on a dub stage with a DAW I did not know...


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## Chris Schmidt (May 24, 2022)

No, and I will probably never switch DAWs


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## zigzag (May 24, 2022)

marius_dm said:


> Apologies if that sounded dismissive/aggressive.


Don't worry about it.

I find these debates (if they are constructive) useful, but they tend to derail too fast. If I'm the only one that's having issues, it's probably my fault of using it wrong, but if many people have similar issues, then it's probably software that needs some upgrades/changes. And sometimes, people post valuable solutions for a problem that many people have. 



marius_dm said:


> IMO Reaper has the most complete implementation out of all DAWs when it comes to switching MIDI clip visibility or allowing edits for one or more MIDI clips while one or more are visible but not editable/etc. Take a look at the track list functionality. Again, IMO.


I agree it's probably issue with my setup. That's why I crossed it out. It seems that the most glaring issue I have with MIDI in Reaper is connected to UI windows/zones management and issue I have with screensets restoring MIDI clip in the MIDI editor.

If anyone knows how to setup screensets so they don't remember what MIDI clip was in MIDI editor when screenset was created, I would be really grateful.



marius_dm said:


> The only valid issues I see in your list are the multiple marker tracks and the lack of a chord track (even though for me chord tracks are not useful and I think they behave very weird in Cubase as well).


Chord track is like a crutch that proficient composers have no need for, but to me it's invaluable 



marius_dm said:


> Everything else in that list is not really MIDI specific, more like general workflow and window management personal preferences.


Yes, I don't have issues with editing notes and CC in the editor. That works perfectly fine in Reaper. But managing the MIDI editor window is causing me issues while other windows are not (because they work with screensets, but MIDI editor not so well).



marius_dm said:


> I’m not trying to be a Reaper apologist, I’ve been alternating between Cubase, Reaper, and, after M1 popped up, Logic.


I love Reaper for other stuff. Just not for composing. But that doesn't mean it's not usable for composing, just that, at the moment, I personally find some other DAW better fit for the task.


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## ReleaseCandidate (May 24, 2022)

timprebble said:


> I love ableton LIVE with max4Live for some things, but eg it is hopeless for working to picture (no TC timeline!?)


I wouldn't use Live for that either, but it does have a SMPTE timeline, right click the lower timeline to select one of the possible SMPTE values.


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## fakemaxwell (May 24, 2022)

timprebble said:


> Most film post facilities are heavily audited for security by the studios/funding bodies. Installing and using your own app on a dub stage would be a big no in many cases...


"Portable install" is a bit misleading, there's no installation on a facility machine required. You can run it directly off a USB drive, or drag the folder onto the desktop, whatever you want. It's fully self contained.

Alternatively, you can have an infinite number of separate Reaper installs on a host machine, and each install takes about 10 seconds. So if you have new mixer Mark coming in for a session, you can create "Reaper_Mark", and then he can import his config.

Obviously, this all requires the facility being on board with using Reaper, but this is just to show that the hurdles of unfamiliar configs are not a problem.


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## timbit2006 (May 24, 2022)

The comments in this thread have actually helped me immensely setup my reaper to be even better than quite literally every other DAW on the market!


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## Quasar (May 24, 2022)

robgb said:


> ...*By the way, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to use Reaper*...


QFT. The notion that Reaper requires extensive knowledge of scripting or advanced customization tricks is oft repeated but entirely bogus. Just because you _can _go deep under the hood with Reaper doesn't mean you _have_ to. All of this "Reaper is the DAW for IT geeks" nonsense only serves to scare newcomers away, and should be debunked once and for all.


robgb said:


> ...*And the complaints about midi on Reaper are unfounded*...


For me the big MIDI issue was the absence of smooth, continuous (bezier etc.) envelopes in the CC lanes, but this was remedied a while back. A native, Cubase-like expression map feature would be nice to see.


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## liquidlino (May 25, 2022)

marius_dm said:


> I will say that one thing that I’m missing in Reaper from Cubase is the ability to grab a selection of midi CC events at one end to do a fade in/out for instance while maintaining the relative values of the events.








It is possible to transform MIDI velocities in REAPER? - Cockos Incorporated Forums


It is possible to transform MIDI velocities in REAPER? newbieland



forum.cockos.com










Multi Tool script for MIDI and automation editing - Cockos Incorporated Forums


Multi Tool script for MIDI and automation editing ReaScript, JSFX, REAPER Plug-in Extensions, Developer Forum



forum.cockos.com


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## DCPImages (May 25, 2022)

I think Reaper is fantastic


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## MartinH. (May 25, 2022)

marius_dm said:


> I will say that one thing that I’m missing in Reaper from Cubase is the ability to grab a selection of midi CC events at one end to do a fade in/out for instance while maintaining the relative values of the events.


I think in areas like that Reaper has indeed a lack of features. I have no clue what other DAWs offer there, aside from the hand full of Cubase things I've once seen in a video, like what you mentioned. But this is - for me personally - the area where I think Reaper has the biggest room for improvement. I'd basically want tools that work like Blenders proportional editing tools, with different falloff types etc..
And whenever I tried working with video I wasn't impressed with playback performance and how much of a hassle finding optimal codec settings was.
Otherwise I'm pretty happy with it. I expect in other DAWs I'd miss more than I'd gain and I'm not willing to re-learn the workflows I got used to, so I'll stick with Reaper, possibly forever.



liquidlino said:


> It is possible to transform MIDI velocities in REAPER? - Cockos Incorporated Forums
> 
> 
> It is possible to transform MIDI velocities in REAPER? newbieland
> ...



That looks like exactly what I was looking for. Thanks a lot!


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## Ciochi (May 25, 2022)

I spent almost 10 years in Live, from 9 to 11, and then switched a few months ago to Reaper. It's one of my best choice ever.


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## liquidlino (May 25, 2022)

I downloaded studio one trial last night. I'm a reaper user the last two years. Studio one feels super quick and slick for sure. Interface is incredibly snappy. Midi editing is very good, although I haven't yet figured out how to setup mouse scroll wheel to my preferences. 

Some of the midi editing features, especially transform, made me go hunting and I found the multitool action that I linked above, which basically works the same and more than transform in studio one. 

And straight away, I missed reaticulate. I will continue to explore studio one during the trial, but I can't see myself switching. So my number one improvement wish for reaper now is UI performance improvement, I had no idea how much better it could be. 

I also really like the right hand pane in studio one, with the instrument, FX etc browser and drag and drop. Seems more polished than the reaper add FX dialog.


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## Grymt (May 26, 2022)

I love Reaper. I love their mindset, their DIY attitude, their customisability, their userbase, everything about it. 

This is the wallpaper on my computer (not made by me). I think you can complain about the steep learning curve of many things, including music theory. Rightfully so. Does this motivate you to quit music and try your luck as couch potato? Well, in that case, enjoy it 
Of course, some other DAWs are great as well. But there's a reason why some of those are easier to learn: you can't do as much with it. Why pay a lot more for less options?


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## tack (May 27, 2022)

Yes but look how immediately skillful you are with REAPER at t0 compared to the others. Sure, there may be a few casualties, fatalities, or honorable suicides along the way, but the output speaks for itself.


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## MartinH. (May 27, 2022)

Grymt said:


> I love Reaper. I love their mindset, their DIY attitude, their customisability, their userbase, everything about it.
> 
> This is the wallpaper on my computer (not made by me). I think you can complain about the steep learning curve of many things, including music theory. Rightfully so. Does this motivate you to quit music and try your luck as couch potato? Well, in that case, enjoy it
> Of course, some other DAWs are great as well. But there's a reason why some of those are easier to learn: you can't do as much with it. Why pay a lot more for less options?




I first saw that meme titled as "The learning curve of Eve online compared to other MMOs". Reaper is not hard to learn at all. It wouldn't be so popular among hobbyists otherwise. Arguably its learning curve is less steep than those of some other DAWs because you can use search functions in the options menu and actions list, allowing you to more easily find even obscure functionality without having to look through every last menu and setting.


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## aaronventure (May 27, 2022)

MartinH. said:


> Arguably its learning curve is less steep than those of some other DAWs because you can use search functions in the options menu and actions list, allowing you to more easily find even obscure functionality without having to look through every last menu and setting.


Not to mention the community. 

Honestly my only wish over the years has been for it to update its archaic GUI rendering. When you open FabFilter stuff, which has hardware acceleration for GUI, it looks so out of place in Reaper because of the framerate and frametime disparity.


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## Villanao (May 27, 2022)

I have noticed that EVERY metalhead producer in my country uses REAPER. Most metal YouTubers as well. Its low CPU use and ability to record at smaller buffer sizes without crackling make it perfect for amp sim use. S1 does not have the same capacity (over 250 buffer setting is fine).


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## myfeltgood (May 27, 2022)

Yep…ditched REAPER for Cubase and I wished I would’ve done it sooner. REAPER is so buggy and the MIDI capability is clunky at best. Other DAWs just feel more complete.


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## EgM (May 27, 2022)

Villanao said:


> I have noticed that EVERY metalhead producer in my country uses REAPER. Most metal YouTubers as well. Its low CPU use and ability to record at smaller buffer sizes without crackling make it perfect for amp sim use. S1 does not have the same capacity (over 250 buffer setting is fine).


Inaccurate. I can use 64 buffers with any of my audio interfaces and I'm a metalhead guitarist.

One thing you should not use is Dropout protection just like Cubase's ASIO guard, it causes more problems than it tries to solve.


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## Grymt (May 27, 2022)

myfeltgood said:


> Yep…ditched REAPER for Cubase and I wished I would’ve done it sooner. REAPER is so buggy and the MIDI capability is clunky at best. Other DAWs just feel more complete.


Reaper buggy? Lol! I found one bug in 6 years time, and it was patched almost immediately.
Of course there will be bugs now and then, but they are very open about it (public forum for bug reports, on which 90% of reported bugs are actually about bugs in VST's, not in Reaper)
And they act on it. Updates almost every week, new functions and improvements every time, 2 major free updates included in the laughable low price of $60.

Well, Cubase must be free to use and free of bugs then?
Oh wait... 









Cubase 11 senseless upgrade price


Hi folks, I would just like to get people opinion on this. I’ll give mine to start. I’ll speak in Canadian Dollars, adjust to your preferred currency. I updated my Cubase 6.5 to Cubase 10 about 9 months ago. It cost me 495$ for the update. Now if I want to update it to 11 it would cost 240$...




forums.steinberg.net


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## myfeltgood (May 28, 2022)

Grymt said:


> Reaper buggy? Lol! I found one bug in 6 years time, and it was patched almost immediately.
> Of course there will be bugs now and then, but they are very open about it (public forum for bug reports, on which 90% of reported bugs are actually about bugs in VST's, not in Reaper)
> And they act on it. Updates almost every week, new functions and improvements every time, 2 major free updates included in the laughable low price of $60.
> 
> ...


Yeah that’s experience in a sea of reviews saying how buggy REAPER is. And for professionals who make a living from music production, we could care less about free…we’d rather what works best.


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## parapentep70 (May 28, 2022)

myfeltgood said:


> Yep…ditched REAPER for Cubase and I wished I would’ve done it sooner. REAPER is so buggy and the MIDI capability is clunky at best. Other DAWs just feel more complete.


Well... relatively buggy. I try to move to new versions VERY late. I moved to W10 when I had no choice for my current computer (2019). I never install latest Kontakt versions till I see there are not many complaints. I delay as much as possible any update to W10. My quarantine time for my Line6 Helix processor is many weeks. Fortunately, because there have been many serious issues for early adopters of new versions.

But I usually work with the LATEST version of Reaper, I don't have any problem updating in the middle of a project. Because I *never *had any issue. When there is a minor bug in a new version (I never cought one myself), it is usually fixed in less than 24 hours, you can see in the version history here:


REAPER | Old Versions


Las time it happened was in October last year. Fixed the next day, but IIRC it was just a few hours. I think Reaper scores very high in this metric. EDITED: Innacurate, last time was February, a bug corrected the same day, but the idea is the same. If there is a new version and wait 1 day, you are safe.

About poor MIDI I have the impression that some opinions in this thread might be totally fair... but dated from the times when Reaper was a very solid multi-track audio with *some MIDI capabilities* (V3.x and before). At the time Reaper was clearly behind Cakewalk Sonar, and I guess Cubase and all other important DAWs. But now Reaper is not at all an "audio tool with some MIDI capabilities", it is a full DAW with strong MIDI comparable to best competitors. Lacks some features, but also offers unique features.


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## RSK (May 28, 2022)

Can't say that I ditched Reaper, but I tried it out as an alternative to Logic and rejected it. Compared to other DAWs it seemed like a major hassle.

I would have to agree with those who say Cubase is better.


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## b_elliott (May 28, 2022)

Grymt said:


>


Late to the party but this is hilarious. 

I started 10 years back on PT Express. Upgraded to PT 12 as I found its user group to be deeply knowledgeable and pleasantly helpful. I learned how to use Rewire + Reaper as my vst host inside PT. Worked well that way for years. It all ended when PT's subscription model arose.

Instead, I purchased the Reaper license, signed onto the Reaper Forum and was pleasantly surprised to recognize its equivalence to PT; so, have never looked back.

What counts for me is helpful instruction (Kenny Gioia) and a deeply knowledgeable community (ReaperBlog, IDDQD Sound and the Reaper Forum.) For the record, I have never scripted once to use Reaper to compose.

My 2cents: for those looking to any DAW or about to jump ship, make sure you are taking advantage of ___'s educational resources and forum so you avoid hanging yourself due to no instruction, a poor teacher (likely self needs to resign as own teacher) +/or mis-observations (see pic above). Cheers, Bill


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## Villanao (May 28, 2022)

I’ve done all that. REAPER is far superior to S1 in this regard.


EgM said:


> Inaccurate. I can use 64 buffers with any of my audio interfaces and I'm a metalhead guitarist.
> 
> One thing you should not use is Dropout protection just like Cubase's ASIO guard, it causes more problems than it tries to sol


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## Jrides (May 28, 2022)

robgb said:


> And it's only natural for people who regularly use a DAW or library to write a response for fear that new users might be led astray by misinformation. If I say something false about a Spitfire or Orchestral Tools library, I would certainly expect people to call me out on it. I see nothing wrong with that.
> 
> There's nothing wrong with correcting the record, and characterizing that defense as something bad is just silly.


The responses of the reaper users have been incredibly enlightening. I’m actually very happy that people have been stepping up to correct the record because I’m finding out about so much functionality. More importantly workflow enhancements.


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## Chris Richter (May 28, 2022)

myfeltgood said:


> Yeah that’s experience in a sea of reviews saying how buggy REAPER is. And for professionals who make a living from music production, we could care less about free…we’d rather what works best.


Would it be possible for you to point me to that sea of reviews to back up that claim?

For me personally Reaper works very stable and I can’t think of any bugs I encountered in my usage. 

But I 100% agree that we have to use what works best. And if Cubase fits that bill for you - great. It seems to do so for a lot of people. 



Grymt said:


> Updates almost every week, new functions and improvements every time, 2 major free updates included in the laughable low price of $60.


To be fair, if one is making more than 20k in revenue per year it’s 225$ for a license. It’s still not a lot to ask (I think), especially as that license includes one more major update. For example I got my license in December 2019 when 6.0 got released and I will be eligible for updates until version 7.99. Currently we are at version 6.58. So I expect _at least _3 more years of updates before I need to renew my license. 

That being said, major version numbers don’t mean that much in Reaper land as „major release“ features get added when they are ready for release, no matter the version number.


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## parapentep70 (May 28, 2022)

myfeltgood said:


> .....And for professionals who make a living from music production, we could care less about free…we’d rather what works best.


I forgot to add: For such professionals Reaper is not exactly "free", it's 225€. Which I consider really good value


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## Akarin (May 28, 2022)

Ditched Reaper for Logic. It's better but not excellent. I ditched Logic for Cubase and never looked back. I'm in DAW paradise.


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## myfeltgood (May 28, 2022)

Akarin said:


> Ditched Reaper for Logic. It's better but not excellent. I ditched Logic for Cubase and never looked back. I'm in DAW paradise.


Yeah…Cubase, while not perfect, is amazing!


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## Dawman (May 30, 2022)

I found REAPER's customizability to be both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, you can find a way to customize many of your troubles away. On the other hand, this assumption - that the user will just customize whatever bothers them away - resulted in a rather awkward (and possibly neglected by its creators) default configuration that needs to be hammered into shape before it can be comfortably used (for me, but I've heard this sentiment from many others too). I actually love the GUI, not the flat v6 one, but the v3 default. It's damn aesthetic and readable.







I also like how despite the ancient, lengthy menus, I'm rarely lost as to how its functions work because the tooltips and documentations make everything so clear. The REAPER community also got Kenny Gioia, IMO the gold standard in tutorial creation.

That said, I'd still prefer to skip the hammering and tuning and just get straight to the music making if I can help it. With so many DAWs around in %current_year there's bound to be something that's just right, a setup that's just sensible enough. From what I've seen in my Studio One demo, that might just be it. The more I play with it the more it feels like what my REAPER configuration would be after I've customized it to my liking, it's like these devs are reading my mind. It lacks scripting (for now?), but the DAW works nicely enough out of the box that I don't think I'll need to go that far.

I'll still keep REAPER around as a fallback DAW though, because nothing comes close when it comes to lightweightness. A blank project in this thing only eats up 20MB of RAM, in S1 it's 400MB! I don't know if this is a baseline or exponential difference, I just hope this doesn't bite me in the future when my projects get huge.


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## tony10000 (Jun 2, 2022)

Why ditch Reaper?


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## JeffvR (Jun 3, 2022)

I love and hate Reaper too :D.
Coming from Cubase it's lighter, cheaper, more customizable and more stable. I get the feeling it's using all of my machines power instead of Cubase, where I feel the software is holding the computer back.

What I don't like
- I'm trying to set up Reaper with Video Sync 5. It works, but Reaper doesn't send MMC so scrolling and moving the playhead doesn't affect the video position. I guess all of the other DAWs are able to send MMC.
- The fact you can route everything to everything is nice, but I'm always searching for my reverb channel. I put the reverb on top or at the bottom. But sending an instrument to a reverb is easier in Cubase.
- Tuning functionallity is way better in Cubase. It was the reason to buy Melodyne for Reaper.
- Comping is more intuitive in Cubase. You have to make cuts in Reaper and sometimes it's just a nightmare if you have a lot of takes.
- MIDI editting is easier in Cubase. Especially editting multiple tracks at once.
- In Cubase you can kind of draw MIDI velocity, haven't figured this out to do easily in Reaper
- In Cubase once MIDI is in a folder you can cut/copy/paste the whole thing at once. Can't do it in Reaper
- Quad and Dolby Surround. So far what I've seen it's not easy to setup like in Cubase.
- A track inspector like any other DAW takes a bit of work to set up in Reaper.
- Actions are great but 99% of it is kind of useless.

Maybe some of these features are available in Reaper. But it seems 99% is there with workarounds. If you have any tips let me know! That being said. Reaper is great for it's flexibility and other things like:

- I can easily setup a button/shortcut to create a track with an empty Kontakt instrument. Never figured out how to do this in Cubase.
- (multiple) Track templates are great
- FX on an item is great
- Having tabs with different projects open is great. Copy/pasting anything from another project is easy.
- Making screen sets is awesome
- CPU usage is the most efficient I've seen
- (Video) Export features are great


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## Gerbil (Jun 3, 2022)

parapentep70 said:


> But now Reaper is not at all an "audio tool with some MIDI capabilities", it is a full DAW with strong MIDI comparable to best competitors. Lacks some features, but also offers unique features.


The reason I often use Studio One over Reaper with midi a lot of the time is because of its effective retrospective record function. I get crashes with the rather crude Reaper retro record script and it just feels clunky to use.


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## myfeltgood (Jun 3, 2022)

Gerbil said:


> The reason I often use Studio One over Reaper with midi a lot of the time is because of its effective retrospective record function. I get crashes with the rather crude Reaper retro record script and it just feels clunky to use.


REAPER overall is clunky. The MIDI editing, the comping, the menus, the initial setup…I think of it as unpolished potential.


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## Villanao (Jun 3, 2022)

JeffvR said:


> - The fact you can route everything to everything is nice, but I'm always searching for my reverb channel. I put the reverb on top or at the bottom. But sending an instrument to a reverb is easier in Cubase.


A new script for sends, based on Cubase's: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=267110
Also, I recommend HEDA Track Inspector for this and MANY other things.



> - Comping is more intuitive in Cubase. You have to make cuts in Reaper and sometimes it's just a nightmare if you have a lot of takes.


A new take lanes system is in development which will overhaul the comping system.



> - In Cubase you can kind of draw MIDI velocity, haven't figured this out to do easily in Reaper


Ctrl/Cmd + left click



> - In Cubase once MIDI is in a folder you can cut/copy/paste the whole thing at once. Can't do it in Reaper


Script: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=205731


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## jononotbono (Jun 3, 2022)

Reaper is amazing. Do I use it? Sometimes. Cool 😂


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## robgb (Jun 3, 2022)

Maybe Reaper is buggy in Windows. I have no idea. But it's rock solid on both of my Macs.


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## jononotbono (Jun 3, 2022)

robgb said:


> Maybe Reaper is buggy in Windows. I have no idea. But it's rock solid on both of my Macs.


Yeah but you're a fanboy so you can't be trusted 😂


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## robgb (Jun 3, 2022)

jononotbono said:


> Yeah but you're a fanboy so you can't be trusted 😂


I prefer to think of myself as an experience user or, for the unwashed masses, AN EXPERT.


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## Trash Panda (Jun 3, 2022)

jononotbono said:


> Yeah but you're a fanboy so you can't be trusted 😂


I believe the politically correct term is “enthusiast.”


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## jononotbono (Jun 3, 2022)

robgb said:


> I prefer to think of myself as an experience user or, for the unwashed masses, AN EXPERT.


You are unwashed. Greatly unwashed. Dirty bugger. But none the less, I can only respect an expert in the field.

I avoid Reaper, in every way, unless its for Sample library creation (for obvious reasons). I have to do this because there's not enough time in the day.

I am a CUBASE WHORE. But I will happily say, Reaper is probably the best DAW there is. But only if someone wants to spend the time making it what they want. Most people don't know what they want so therefore it's not the best in this context.

I have nightmares using Reaper. Good nightmares but nightmares still. The only reason is because I see how much time I could spend customising every single thing that isn't possible in any other DAW. Its endless. An unending Rabbit Hole. To call it a Rabbit Hole is a disservice. Its an Abyss! A dirty filthy Black fucking Hole of which when you are sucked in, there's no escape.
I was just laughing at how preposterous this whole thread is. Reaper is fucking killer. But you need to know what you're doing and more importantly, have the time to invest in it to get the best out of it.

Why are people talking about abandoning it? Man, this thread is amusing.

But you know this anyway. You're an expert.
Now have a fucking wash. 😂


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## sostenuto (Jun 3, 2022)

Only trust dedicated Kenny Gioia graduate students. 
Good wishes to those drawn to *grass-is-greener* pastures. 🧚🏻 🧚🏻‍♂️ 🧚🏻‍♀️


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## robgb (Jun 3, 2022)

sostenuto said:


> Only trust dedicated Kenny Gioia graduate students.
> Good wishes to those drawn to *grass-is-greener* pastures. 🧚🏻 🧚🏻‍♂️ 🧚🏻‍♀️


I am. A long time. Gioia disciple.


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## sostenuto (Jun 3, 2022)

robgb said:


> I am. A long time. Gioia disciple.


Never a doubt !


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## mnp.fede (Jun 4, 2022)

Villanao said:


> A new script for sends, based on Cubase's: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=267110


OMG, i'd never expect to see my script outside of that forum page. Glad it's helping people 

Anyway, I'm trying to step away from Cubase. I already use Reaper for everything that includes some sort of audio work (mostly sound design for games), but while i've written cues in it, i'm still too used to Cubase to completely make the switch also for the midi mockup things.

There are pros and cons with everything. Cubase has (imho) great UX, everything is where it should be, and is easily readable. You get the information you need, when you need it, and you find it where you expect it to be. Well... except we still have the audio pool from Cubase5...

While you can customize Reaper to your liking, there are things that are not so great from a "readability" perspective. Example: with the grid set to frame, every grid line is treated as "main" grid line, as the start of a bar would be. In Cubase, every second has a "brighter" line, frames are more "dark". Really small things, but things that really hinder visibility and information gathering.

But here's what i think is the MOST useful and groundbreaking feature of Reaper: its forums.
Justin and Schwa (Reaper devs) ACTUALLY read the forums, and ACTUALLY take care of bug reports/feature requests, you name it. I was about to write a feature request for the grid thing. I'm sure they'll come up with something.

Cubase forums seems pure fanboy dogshit. Reported two bugs (that crashed Cubase) with full instructions to reproduce them and guess what: no one cares. Asked for a checkbox to disable mousewheel interaction with faders and other things in the mixer (to avoid having to do surgeon like moves in the mixer window) and the answer from one of the Steinberg team was


> Let’s say there is no agreement on this topic in the development team yet (Link)


I'd say the only reason they wouldn't do this is they have to sell the CC121. Until someone really explains what the AI knob really does, to me it seems just a mousewheel in the form of an encoder. Hence if they disable mousewheel in the mixer, CC121 breaks...

And let's say they read and fix all the bugs that people find. You would still have to wait till the next release and pay for it, just to see bugs fixed.

I love Cubase UX, but i don't like the idea of working in a minefield anymore. I don't want to have to remember how to avoid the crashes.
(RANT OVER)

Anyway, for composers looking to try reaper, please try it with the storyteller's template. It's amazing. I'm using it and it's really a work of art. Simplifies a lot of things and add tons of functionality that people usually miss when they try to do MIDI things in reaper.
(I'd love to have a conversation with @storyteller about its product, as i have some ideas and tested some things to make it more "future proof")

Sorry for the long post and bad english


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## storyteller (Jun 4, 2022)

mnp.fede said:


> OMG, i'd never expect to see my script outside of that forum page. Glad it's helping people
> 
> Anyway, I'm trying to step away from Cubase. I already use Reaper for everything that includes some sort of audio work (mostly sound design for games), but while i've written cues in it, i'm still too used to Cubase to completely make the switch also for the midi mockup things.
> 
> ...


Feel free to DM me or email me at [email protected]. I’d be happy to discuss any thoughts/ideas you have.


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## HammyHavoc (Jun 9, 2022)

mnp.fede said:


> OMG, i'd never expect to see my script outside of that forum page. Glad it's helping people
> 
> Anyway, I'm trying to step away from Cubase. I already use Reaper for everything that includes some sort of audio work (mostly sound design for games), but while i've written cues in it, i'm still too used to Cubase to completely make the switch also for the midi mockup things.
> 
> ...


I'm not a Steinberg user (so please don't shoot the messenger!), but the CC121 has been discontinued, so perhaps there'll be some positive changes made. I've been assessing Cubendo from a distance lately. The lack of multi-pass rendering even on Nuendo looks like a pain in the arse, not being able to quickly do seamless loops for games with tails on the beginning of each loop unless you do it manually (oh god).

Want to love the idea of Cubendo (comping looks nice for example), and posted on the forum about certain missing features, got a response for the multi-pass rendering from a higher-up, and isn't something currently on the roadmap. Nice response though, and good to get a reply, I respect that. Nothing worse than being left in the lurch, which I have been with plenty of other software houses.

Bit jealous of Digital Performer's Chunks and Clips concepts, but DP looks a bit anemic in some areas, namely no ARA support, which is a big deal to me. I do like the non-linear potential of it for game audio though, just don't think it's for me at present, and am a Windows/Linux user, and DP doesn't seem fully baked on Windows at present.

Somebody suggested Ableton Live run into another DAW (for non-linear in a fully-featured linear DAW), but the PDC is still apparently bodged, so maybe not.

Playtime 2 on Reaper looks promising, time will tell. Really just looking for a way to manage and visualize different phases and layers of music. Working linearly can be a little weird at times when you want to jump around the timeline figuring out if one thing works musically with another in terms of blending intro/outro of a loop, and if specific layers also work on top of that idea. My workaround has been Maschine VSTi in 'Ideas' view (think Ableton Live's Session view if you aren't familiar with it), but found out that this has no PDC either, and explains a mountain of troubles I've had with it.

Launching scenes and enabling/disabling patterns is the closest way I've been able to emulate players going from one phase to another in-game.

Steinberg users seem quite hostile to the idea of non-linear clip workflows judging by the forums, despite Nuendo supposedly targeting game audio as a demographic. Sorry to monologue, but who else am I going to say this stuff to? :- ) Stay well all.


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## Grymt (Jun 10, 2022)

Chris Richter said:


> (...)
> To be fair, if one is making more than 20k in revenue per year it’s 225$ for a license. It’s still not a lot to ask (I think), especially as that license includes one more major update. For example I got my license in December 2019 when 6.0 got released and I will be eligible for updates until version 7.99. Currently we are at version 6.58. So I expect _at least _3 more years of updates before I need to renew my license.
> 
> That being said, major version numbers don’t mean that much in Reaper land as „major release“ features get added when they are ready for release, no matter the version number.


You're right.
I bought my license in 2016. Still good until v6.99.
I'm actually looking forward to pay again. I already tried to send them a donation once, but couldn't. If it takes too long for V7 to come out, I might just buy another license.

You know, most of us have tens of thousands worth of libraries. And a few of them are dear to me. But Reaper is the software I get the most use out of. They have no copyright protection, they have no salespeople, they don't do marketing blahblah, they only have people working that actually care about making music. I love them to bits. 

If you like to meet one of the key people behind Reaper, check this vid by the very nerdy but sympathetic channel IDDQD Sound.


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## Grymt (Jun 10, 2022)

mnp.fede said:


> (...)
> 
> While you can customize Reaper to your liking, there are things that are not so great from a "readability" perspective. Example: with the grid set to frame, every grid line is treated as "main" grid line, as the start of a bar would be. In Cubase, every second has a "brighter" line, frames are more "dark". Really small things, but things that really hinder visibility and information gathering.
> 
> (...)


Here you go!


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## sostenuto (Jun 10, 2022)

Grymt said:


> You're right.
> I bought my license in 2016. Still good until v6.99.
> I'm actually looking forward to pay again. I already tried to send them a donation once, but couldn't. If it takes too long for V7 to come out, I might just buy another license.
> 
> ...



2011 Member. 
Could easily be my post. Mainly enjoy Reaper. Typically Update immediately. 
Lightweight, pianist user adding backing of many types.

Avoided Thread 'til this positive post. Put off by title choice, rather than simple, positive inquiry.
Add Kenny Gioia amazing tutorials >> no interest in 'ditching' _ ever !
Kudos to Forums for sure.


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## Grymt (Jun 10, 2022)

JeffvR said:


> - The fact you can route everything to everything is nice, but I'm always searching for my reverb channel. I put the reverb on top or at the bottom. But sending an instrument to a reverb is easier in Cubase.


You know you just have to leftclick your sendbutton and drag your mouse to your reverb track, right? I wouldn't know how to make that easier  Keep your FX track the same color and place in every project, and you'll never be confused again. You can use sends form every track to the same sole reverb in Reaper. By clicking the send-button on your FX track you can see all sends again.
(I must say, I do dislike that the sends-window disappears as soon as you click somewhere else, but that's my only negative.)





> - Comping is more intuitive in Cubase. You have to make cuts in Reaper and sometimes it's just a nightmare if you have a lot of takes.


Did you check the new razor edit functionality?


reaper razor edit kenny - Google Search





> - In Cubase you can kind of draw MIDI velocity, haven't figured this out to do easily in Reaper


Ctrl/Cmd + left click



> - In Cubase once MIDI is in a folder you can cut/copy/paste the whole thing at once. Can't do it in Reaper


Yes you can. There's several routes: through insert media, but you can even drag it right into your track from Windows File Explorer.



> - Actions are great but 99% of it is kind of useless.


You don't have to use them, and they're hidden out of sight if you don't, so I don't see the problem.
I see the opposite actually. In most/all other DAWs users can't expand functionality with their own scripts or actions. Not 99%, but I guess at least 75% of the actions and scripts in Reaper are simply not possible in most other DAWs. That's not a problem, until you need to do just that action or script, and you find out you will need to learn another DAW to do that.

I hope I have not misunderstand any of your comments, sorry if I did, English is not my native language. If you're happy with Cubase, that's great, no need to switch then. I just thought, since you asked for tips... ✌️


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## tressie5 (Jun 10, 2022)

I remember one thing which annoyed me about Reaper was when you pulled up a VSTi, 16 midi tracks for that instrument would pop up, then you have to remove the 15 you don't need. Am I remembering this right?


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## monochrome (Jun 10, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> I remember one thing which annoyed me about Reaper was when you pulled up a VSTi, 16 midi tracks for that instrument would pop up, then you have to remove the 15 you don't need. Am I remembering this right?


i don't have that issue at all


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## EgM (Jun 10, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> I remember one thing which annoyed me about Reaper was when you pulled up a VSTi, 16 midi tracks for that instrument would pop up, then you have to remove the 15 you don't need. Am I remembering this right?


A long time ago if I recall correctly, there was an option in the insert fx menu that you could enable named something like "Populate 16 midi channels for VSTi" I don't think it's there anymore.

It's not something Reaper does with stock settings anyway


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## CATDAD (Jun 10, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> I remember one thing which annoyed me about Reaper was when you pulled up a VSTi, 16 midi tracks for that instrument would pop up, then you have to remove the 15 you don't need. Am I remembering this right?


The current default behaviour for loading a VST is if the VST has the ability to use multiple outputs, it will ask you if you want to create the output tracks and will route them all for you. You can just say no and it will load it in to a regular stereo track. Otherwise, I think you can create custom instrument templates that will load with the amount of tracks you typically use. 
If you just want to load any VST in to a basic stereo track, you can also create the empty track first, then add the VST to the track.


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## monochrome (Jun 10, 2022)

EgM said:


> A long time ago if I recall correctly, there was an option in the insert fx menu that you could enable named something like "Populate 16 midi channels for VSTi" I don't think it's there anymore.
> 
> It's not something Reaper does with stock settings anyway


yeah the option is still there. it doesn't do it by default for me tho unless I changed something and forgot. 

View attachment 2022-06-10 18-51-30.mp4


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## tressie5 (Jun 10, 2022)

I just came back from demoing Reaper 6.60. What I'm impressed by so far is its performance. Pulling up two different CPU beasts, Pigments and Bolt, I register around 5% CPU usage according to Reaper's Performance window. In Cubase, those two beasts using the same ASIO drivers net me around 75% CPU spikes. I'd say that's a big difference. Now, if only I can get a dark skin for Reaper. Right now, it's blinding.


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## EgM (Jun 10, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> I just came back from demoing Reaper 6.60. What I'm impressed by so far is its performance. Pulling up two different CPU beasts, Pigments and Bolt, I register around 5% CPU usage according to Reaper's Performance window. In Cubase, those two beasts using the same ASIO drivers net me around 75% CPU spikes. I'd say that's a big difference. Now, if only I can get a dark skin for Reaper. Right now, it's blinding.


@monochrome's skin looks nice as dark, shame the menus and windows are using the Windows 3.1 theme


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## liquidlino (Jun 10, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> I just came back from demoing Reaper 6.60. What I'm impressed by so far is its performance. Pulling up two different CPU beasts, Pigments and Bolt, I register around 5% CPU usage according to Reaper's Performance window. In Cubase, those two beasts using the same ASIO drivers net me around 75% CPU spikes. I'd say that's a big difference. Now, if only I can get a dark skin for Reaper. Right now, it's blinding.


It gets even better when you set the following settings up like below. Especially the "Allow on tracks with open midi editors. By default otherwise it will try to render tracks with midi editor open in real-time, which can really cause performance issues. Also, make sure you turn off arm record on tracks unless you are playing in midi, even when playing back, as arming record forces that track to be rendered in real time rather than anticipative.


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## monochrome (Jun 10, 2022)

EgM said:


> @monochrome's skin looks nice as dark, shame the menus and windows are using the Windows 3.1 theme


🤣 the one I'm using should be called LCS_Flat-6 I think. I love ones that are simple and similar to the default


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## EgM (Jun 10, 2022)

monochrome said:


> 🤣 the one I'm using should be called LCS_Flat-6 I think. I love ones that are simple and similar to the default


Thanks! I was actually looking for a theme similar to this


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## liquidlino (Jun 10, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> I just came back from demoing Reaper 6.60. What I'm impressed by so far is its performance. Pulling up two different CPU beasts, Pigments and Bolt, I register around 5% CPU usage according to Reaper's Performance window. In Cubase, those two beasts using the same ASIO drivers net me around 75% CPU spikes. I'd say that's a big difference. Now, if only I can get a dark skin for Reaper. Right now, it's blinding.


For dark theme, I highly recommend Flat Madness: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread...OiBtD_K4Eqzq6bxrBYx_230qk-tBNdX5uIwBcDnXHmyHI






Although I've gone back to default theme with a few colour tweaks, it just works well:


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## EgM (Jun 10, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> For dark theme, I highly recommend Flat Madness: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread...OiBtD_K4Eqzq6bxrBYx_230qk-tBNdX5uIwBcDnXHmyHI
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I love your piano roll, thing is I've fought all my life for a stable zoom level like yours 1/16, clean 4/4 view but it always *resets* to annoying levels. If this was fixed, I would definitely use it more.

In ALL the DAWs, when you switch from one track to the other you never have to change the zoom X level. I have no idea why this is happening in Reaper, it doesn't even make any sense.

Also, Cockos forums need to shrink attachments x-width—Damn!


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## liquidlino (Jun 10, 2022)

EgM said:


> I love your piano roll, thing is I've fought all my life for a stable zoom level like yours 1/16, clean 4/4 view but it always *resets* to annoying levels. If this was fixed, I would definitely use it more.
> 
> In ALL the DAWs, when you switch from one track to the other you never have to change the zoom X level. I have no idea why this is happening in Reaper, it doesn't even make any sense.
> 
> Also, Cockos forums need to shrink attachments x-width—Damn!


Hmm, odd. Mine doesn't change zoom levels or anything between closing and re-opening the midi editor. I've docked mine and set it so that there's only a single midi editor per project:


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## EgM (Jun 10, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> Hmm, odd. Mine doesn't change zoom levels or anything between closing and re-opening the midi editor. I've docked mine and set it so that there's only a single midi editor per project:


That's the first option I always check and once I record a new part, it always resets to 1|5|9|14 in shrink view for the new recorded track.

Also I remember it changed zoom levels if I closed the midi editor view and re-opened it

I would love to be wrong and find a fix for this


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## sostenuto (Jun 10, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> I just came back from demoing Reaper 6.60. What I'm impressed by so far is its performance. Pulling up two different CPU beasts, Pigments and Bolt, I register around 5% CPU usage according to Reaper's Performance window. In Cubase, those two beasts using the same ASIO drivers net me around 75% CPU spikes. I'd say that's a big difference. Now, if only I can get a dark skin for Reaper. Right now, it's blinding.


Yep ! Only choice here is LCS Themes. Lots to choose from _ hoping for 'dark skin' too. 🙏🏻


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## shponglefan (Jun 10, 2022)

I used Reaper for a number of years, but I have branched out into using StudioOne for MIDI composition and to a lesser extent Bitwig Studio for experimental/electronic stuff. Although I'm still trying to figure out if I want to keep using Bitwig or if it's ultimately redundant.

I still use Reaper when it comes to working with audio. Part of this could be because I'm used to it for recording and editing audio clips.

Ultimately, I don't think any DAW is particularly better than any other DAW. They all have strengths and weaknesses and it comes down to preferred workflow and what one is comfortable with.


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## tressie5 (Jun 10, 2022)

I just feel bad for Cubase in that, page after page on the interweb, you find posts of people struggling with CPU overloads along with tricks to make their system run smoother which don't work! IOW, Steinberg makes you feel that your system is inadequate for music production. But there I was, just seconds into Reaper and I could hear my laptop breathing a sigh of relief. Cubase simply needs to lessen our CPU load on their end, maybe by making a less-intensive skin to start.

In other news, I'll give Cubic Pack 3, Cubase skins for Reaper, a looksee. Maybe that'll ease my angst.

Update: Yay! Cubic Pack 3 has an oldish skin (light) as well as a newer one (dark) that looks relatively similar to Cubase 12. And testing it, I get barely a hit on my CPU. I wish Steinberg would look into making Cubase skinnable.


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## ReleaseCandidate (Jun 11, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> I wish Steinberg would look into making Cubase skinnable.


I haven't used Cubase for quite some time, but it has had the option to change the color scheme to custom ones.


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## tressie5 (Jun 11, 2022)

^Changing colour scheme is fine. What I was wishing for, though, is something akin to how people often change/mod skins of video games to make them more playable for those with lesser systems, kind of like the way the Reaper Cubase skins look almost like Cubase but performs like Reaper.


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## PrimeEagle (Jun 12, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> ^Changing colour scheme is fine. What I was wishing for, though, is something akin to how people often change/mod skins of video games to make them more playable for those with lesser systems, kind of like the way the Reaper Cubase skins look almost like Cubase but performs like Reaper.


I don't think the graphics/skins are what's causing high CPU usage in DAWs, unlike in games where the graphics update 30-90 times per second or more.


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## tressie5 (Jun 12, 2022)

Oh, no? Okay. I've learned something new then. Thanks. I thought maybe it was the graphics itself because Reaper practically looks like a cartoon.


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## Villanao (Jun 13, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> Oh, no? Okay. I've learned something new then. Thanks. I thought maybe it was the graphics itself because Reaper practically looks like a cartoon.


You’re not far off. I’m not an expert but as I understand it REAPER puts maximum priority on audio performance in expense of graphics. It also relies on the OS to render the menus, dialogues and stock plugin UIs. This, along with anticipative processing, make it so lean.


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## AugustAuseil (Jun 13, 2022)

One time I read an article about George R R Martin writing his books on an ancient operating system and word processessor. I thought this was insane before considering that in 50 years I expect this will be me with Reaper. I will abandon it when I am cold and dead (perhaps fitting given its name).


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## tressie5 (Jun 13, 2022)

Sigh. I guess the old adage, "You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks", applies to me. I started with Cubase back in the 90's till about 10 years ago when I became homeless. At this point, Cubase is like an old brown shoe - may not be the best thing for me but it is comfortable. I've been itching to dive head first into Reaper and just ditch Cubase and Studio One, but I suppose familiarity and fear is keeping me at bay. Plus, I'm older than dirt, so there's that.


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## rMancer (Jun 13, 2022)

EgM said:


> Also, Cockos forums need to shrink attachments x-width—Damn!







Switching the forum theme to Reaper 5 (bottom left) fixed the width issues I was having with attachments. I lurked the Cockos forums for years before I knew this was a thing. Now those huge images actually fit on screen and don't make the whole page wonky.


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## monochrome (Jun 13, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> Sigh. I guess the old adage, "You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks", applies to me. I started with Cubase back in the 90's till about 10 years ago when I became homeless. At this point, Cubase is like an old brown shoe - may not be the best thing for me but it is comfortable. I've been itching to dive head first into Reaper and just ditch Cubase and Studio One, but I suppose familiarity and fear is keeping me at bay. Plus, I'm older than dirt, so there's that.


I'm still new to this but I have been using FL studio for several years and 17 days ago I just decided to drop everything and switch. best decision. 

I'm not rushing to set everything up because I'll just forget everything I did. but while I'm doing anything I'll come across random things that I wish I could do in reaper and there's always an answer after one google search so I'm just slowly building my workflow 

being able to set literally anything as a custom action and bind it to different toolbars at the top of the screen, then having several tabs of different toolbars is literally so amazing to me. I don't have to memorize dozens of key commands so quickly while making the switch this way as well. 

I'm sure everything in reaper is in cubase too in some form, but FL had none of this so it feels like getting a new toy on christmas


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## HCMarkus (Jun 13, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> Sigh. I guess the old adage, "You Can't Teach An Old Dog New Tricks", applies to me. I started with Cubase back in the 90's till about 10 years ago when I became homeless. At this point, Cubase is like an old brown shoe - may not be the best thing for me but it is comfortable. I've been itching to dive head first into Reaper and just ditch Cubase and Studio One, but I suppose familiarity and fear is keeping me at bay. Plus, I'm older than dirt, so there's that.


Same boat here, but with Digital Performer. Not that I've compared Reaper with DP, but I know DP inside and out, and, now that I have a Mac Studio Ultra, CPU load is not a concern. 

DP11.1 flies on my new Mac!


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## JeffvR (Jun 14, 2022)

Villanao said:


> A new script for sends, based on Cubase's: https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=267110
> Also, I recommend HEDA Track Inspector for this and MANY other things.
> 
> 
> ...


Great! Good to know. I had some issues with HEDA. Routing getting messed up.... So I'm not using it anymore.


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## from_theashes (Jun 14, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...


Yes! I tried Reaper for a couple weeks but ended up buying Logic Pro X. Far more intuitive for me, especially with midi.


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## Kent (Jun 14, 2022)

tressie5 said:


> Retrospective Recording seems like a rehearsal. Cool. I wonder why they didn't just call it Rehearsal Recording, though? I guess if they did, I wouldn't have these questions.


There are a lot of reasons to use a feature like this, and only one of those is 'Rehearsal'. All of those reasons are 'Retrospective', however


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## Kent (Jun 14, 2022)

AugustAuseil said:


> One time I read an article about George R R Martin writing his books on an ancient operating system and word processessor. I thought this was insane before considering that in 50 years I expect this will be me with Reaper. I will abandon it when I am cold and dead (perhaps fitting given its name).


I will not hear slander against WordStar. It's a dream to work with! 









Robert J. Sawyer: Hugo and Nebula Award-Winning Science Fiction Writer


Author of 24 bestselling novels including The Oppenheimer Alternative and FlashForward



www.sfwriter.com


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## richiebee (Jun 15, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...


I tried it. After being a Cubase user for very many years (since Atari v2), then leaving music production altogether for another few years, I came back to try out music production again, but was stuck with a mid-powered laptop. I didn't think my Cubase 6.5 license would work on Windows 10 (it does), and didn't have the money to invest in a new version at the time. I actually thought I'd be replacing all my firewire audio interface, and all my old plugins at this point, so I thought it was going to be a large investment to get back into it (I did have to replace my audio interface, but all my old plugins still worked). I tried a couple of DAWs, and ended up paying for a license for Reaper. It was a complete waste of money for me. After a couple of months with it, I realized that there was no way it was going to work for me. It was not intuitive at all. Many of the "time saving" features just got in my way. What seemed on paper to be a better way of working in the piano roll editor, just turned out to be an exercise in frustration. I can't really blame muscle memory from years of Cubase at that point, since I hadn't used it in a few years. MIDI editing was just painful, and some of the things I took for granted in Cubase, either couldn't be done in Reaper, or I couldn't figure out how to do them. Documentation and the forum seemed to operate in the same way as open source software does. Answers were vague, out of date, or just inexplicably didn't work. I tried Studio One to see if I could get back in another way. I couldn't really gel with that either, though it was better than Reaper. I ended up going back to Cubase. Bought v11 upgrade from 6.5, at the right time to get the grace period for a free upgrade to 12, which is where I now am. It's changed quite a bit since version 6.5, but I feel very much at home with it. Cubaser for life. LOL.


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## GeoMax (Jun 15, 2022)

I tried to like Reaper. I bought the license years ago. Frankly, its too hard on my eyes. I liked Logic, but I went the PC route. Now I flip back and forth from Nuendo and Studio One. 

My frustration with Steinberg is how buggy stuff is and the constant digging into my wallet for a new set of bugs. I wish they would just fix all bugs and then leave it be. Be better if they had a subscription model that brought in revenue and not these scheduled releases that are never quite done before the next one. I think Waves is better now that they went that route.

Every DAW has strengths and weaknesses. None of them are perfect. They all basically do the same thing. Simply use what you like and make some music.


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## Spid (Jun 15, 2022)

Reaper is the Linux version of the DAWs... if you're a tweaker, you can tailor it at your taste and then it could be splendid, and very powerful. But as a first DAW, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, because it's very not intuitive at first. 

And I was a pro-Reaper user, I even did participate to its development at some point when it was still in beta 0.xx version when I was working at Open Labs and we did include it in all our keyboards. But it was because we could tailored it to our needs, making the UI touchscreen friendly, not something we could ever do with any other DAW.

Since then, after that, I worked on Protools when I was still working at the studio, but now I'm just doing stuff for myself at home, so I moved to Logic since I was beta tester anyway. I was also tired that Avid was always one or two MacOS versions behind the curve. At least now with Logic, I'm generally ok with the new version to be up to date and work with the new Macs (like my new MBP M1 Max)

I'm not gonna lie, I did considered Cubase Pro, mainly since Cubase was my first sequencer (well, actually Steinberg Pro24 was, just before it became Cubase v.1.0) on my old Atari (long long time ago in a far galaxy). So I thought about it, mainly since I'm want to discover the "composer" workflow... but I'm not sure I really want to move to another DAW, at some point it gets more confusing and counterproductive because I get confused, using wrong shortcuts, looking for menu from the wrong DAW... I'm too old for this shit! It might be better to pick one and stick with it (as long as it works). That's why I'm now on Logic... YMMV


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## myfeltgood (Jun 22, 2022)

Spid said:


> Reaper is the Linux version of the DAWs...


Exactly…which, in a lot of cases, isn’t good.


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## tony10000 (Jun 22, 2022)

It is good for me...I love Reaper. It is my daily driver now. I still do use other DAWs from time to time for certain things. As with anything, you need to take a bit of time to really learn it and get comfortable. But it is blazing fast, compact, and really efficient. I just moved to another system. Just copied and pasted the directory and now I am back in business...


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## Grymt (Jun 23, 2022)

Spid said:


> Reaper is the Linux version of the DAWs... if you're a tweaker, you can tailor it at your taste and then it could be splendid, and very powerful. But as a first DAW, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, because it's very not intuitive at first.


It is my first DAW. I had no problem at all. 
Didn't find it counterintuïtive either. I think the basic operation is quite logical. I guess this is very personal, but the fact is: I am no Linux user, and not one for manuals either. 

Actually I was flabbergasted when I found out other DAWs make a difference between MIDI and audiotracks. I mean, why?
In Reaper you just add plugins, video, audio, whatever to the same channel. Routing: simply drag and drop a plug. 
In some other DAWS, using plugins like Scaler, Vocal Rider or Fluid Pitch is such a hassle... Scaler even had to develop different plugins for that. In Reaper it's just plug and play.

Of course you're right about the tweaking. If you want to tweak things, you will have to do something for that. Except for most DAWs, as tweaking is simply not possible  
If you want to use Reaper like you would any DAW, without tweaking a bunch of stuff, I think it's at least as easy as any other DAW, maybe easier because of the one-channel-for-all philosophy. If you don't want to tweak, just don't touch the action list or preferences, like in any software. 
And if I do want to tweak something, it's easy too:

No other DAW has such an active community around it, and Kenny on top of that. Never had a question I couldn't solve in three or four clicks.


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## Spid (Jun 23, 2022)

To each his own. I spent more time than I should have on Reaper and now I just can't stand it. I find it even repulsive since I moved to Logic Pro; you won't see me installing Reaper on my new Mac, not even for a million dollars... 

As said, it's the Linux of DAW... if you love it, then it will be splendid, but if you don't like it, no matter what features or paint job they will do, you will keep find it fugly and cheaply designed, with absolutely no real Q&A consistency.

Regarding community, Reaper community is very vocal, that's for sure, they really seem to be a new kind of religion that try to convert everyone they meet, but overall, it's still a VERY small percentage regarding DAW market and communities... just like Linux.

PS: and don't get me wrong, I don't hate Linux, the parallel between Reaper and Linux is just very flagrant once we see it... including most of the downfalls.


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## sostenuto (Jun 23, 2022)

Sooo long ( 2011 ) with Reaper, and Updates just keep rolling out ! Some fixes, yeah, but steady improvements /enhancements. Have joined many, over time, wanting to pay more, even donation, but still running v6.61 now. Will welcome next opportunity to Update with Payment ! 
Major critique from iOS Users, and no possible way to relate or understand their experiences.
Career (past) HP guy and never interest in moving away from Windows either. Win1 Pro Desktop PC(s) now and life is good !


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## enyawg (Jun 23, 2022)

I’ve essentially used everything and find that Reaper is the most flexible DAW for my needs. I find the magic is in Actions and setting up your required workflow buttons on the desktop. 
Would never change to another DAW!!!


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## Grymt (Jun 23, 2022)

To each his own indeed. But I don't follow your parallel Spid. I do like the idea of Linux very much, but I have no use for it. Half my software doesn't even run on Linux. And yes, you can tweak things both in Linux and in Reaper, but in Linux you have to. That's quite a difference in my book.
(On the other hand: it would be nice if all software was open source, haha)

By the way, you say you helped develop Reaper 0. I'm a bit surprised about that. I can't find any Spid it any archive, but I do see you popping up just this month, telling people you're a noob?
Isn't it a very old version of Reaper you've got experience with, and are you sure it's much expierience? I mean, I don't call you a noob, I have no reason to, but you did so yourself...?

With a few prayers to Cuckos I guess I could absolve you though 
kind regards from your Reaper Acolyte

(no insult intended)


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## Spid (Jun 24, 2022)

you didn't read my introduction then. I call myself a noob when it comes to Composer stuff... not about music as a whole; I've worked in music for 35+ years now, starting in local studio as young intern back in days we only had 2" tape recorder and analog gear and the only sequencer we had was Cubase v.1.0 on Atari... so long time ago (actually I started on Pro24, which later became Cubase 1.0*)

I've worked for Open Labs, we had a keyboard running windows back in the mid-2000s, and we worked with Cockos to develop Reaper so it could be bundled with our keyboard. Plenty of features came from that.

If you've been using Linux long enough, and saw the development of Reaper, you should clearly see the parallel and similitudes here. 

But hey, the thing is, this thread just confirms what I'm saying about Reaper community. It's a thread for user that quit Reaper, and yet we read people that claim we should only use Reaper and nothing else because it's the new Messiah. That's also one thing that really turn me down... Reaper community could be very toxic on forums because they really feel the need to spread "the love for Reaper" everywhere they go, even if it's not the place... pretty annoying if you ask me. "I'm too old for that shit"


* Fun fact: I'm friend with Charlie Steinberg and one day during a discussion I mentioned to him that I started on Pro24; he looked surprised and told me: "wow, very early then". And somehow I had the audacity to tell him: "but unfortunately, it was not a licensed version". He looked at me, he smiled and he said: "oh, like many you know, like many".


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## sostenuto (Jun 24, 2022)

Spid said:


> you didn't read my introduction then. I call myself a noob when it comes to Composer stuff... not about music as a whole; I've worked in music for 35+ years now, starting in local studio as young intern back in days we only had 2" tape recorder and analog gear and the only sequencer we had was Cubase v.1.0 on Atari... so long time ago (actually I started on Pro24, which later became Cubase 1.0*)
> 
> I've worked for Open Labs, we had a keyboard running windows back in the mid-2000s, and we worked with Cockos to develop Reaper so it could be bundled with our keyboard. Plenty of features came from that.
> 
> ...


Soooooooo ???


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## Grymt (Jun 24, 2022)

Spid said:


> you didn't read my introduction then. I call myself a noob when it comes to Composer stuff... not about music as a whole; I've worked in music for 35+ years now, starting in local studio as young intern back in days we only had 2" tape recorder and analog gear and the only sequencer we had was Cubase v.1.0 on Atari... so long time ago (actually I started on Pro24, which later became Cubase 1.0*)
> 
> I've worked for Open Labs, we had a keyboard running windows back in the mid-2000s, and we worked with Cockos to develop Reaper so it could be bundled with our keyboard. Plenty of features came from that.
> 
> ...


Hey man, I think it's fine you like another DAW, I said so several times already. 

Sorry, I missed your introduction indeed. You said somewhere else something about noobness as well (I actually linked to that thread). By the way, I don't mind at all whether people are experienced composers or completely new, I think the important part is you're learning (at whatever level) and you're (still) able to surprise yourself while making music.

It's great you've witnessed (and was part of some of) the early development of DAWs. But I'm not sure how that's relevant here. (It would actually be fun to hear a thing or two about those days! And I'm sure you know more about Pro24 or Reaper 0 than me. But it feels a bit like namedropping here. The thread starter is having trouble with Reaper, seemingly out of inexperience. Some people try to help him out by proposing other DAWs, some try to help him out by pointing out how to set up and use Reaper. I would think both are fine.)

I tried to make our discussion a bit more lighthearted with the prayers and the acolyte and all, but I really don't see how it would be toxic to like some DAW. 

Earlier there have been quite some claims in this thread about Reaper from people, that are simply wrong. Me and some others tried to explain a few tricks to people who didn't seem to understand how to do things in Reaper, and I expressed my love for it. But how's that toxic?

It's great you have expierience with Reaper 0, but we're somewhere else now. If Reaper 6 is not your cup of tea either, that's fine, but to me the toxicity is more about people who can't have it if someone likes Reaper.


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## Spid (Jun 25, 2022)

“It feels a bit like namedroppping” because you jumped to conclusion, assuming things, like I was a noob talking with no experience about anything, or assuming AGAIN here like I would only know Reaper 0… 

Where did I mention I stopped looking at Reaper after Reaper 0? Simply nowhere.. I’ve never said that. So you keep jumping to conclusions.

This is very typical from Reaper users, they will assume others don’t know how to use it if they say they don’t like it. Just accept the fact that not everyone like it, that’s it. This is true for Protools, for Logic, for Cubase, and also for Reaper.

If you want to create a thread to praise the merits of Reaper, do it… fine, but don’t try to do it over and over on a thread of a person that “ditched Reaper” and wanted _other_ solutions. I did mention that some people like Reaper and will only work with that, just like some people will never use MacOS or Windows and will only stick to Linux. This is one of the parallel we can see. But it doesn’t mean it’s true for everyone… just like you mentioned you have no use for Linux, some people will mention they have no use for Reaper. It’s really not more complicated than that…

Now I’m out of this discussion because I know better than arguing with Reaper fanboys on forums. I already know where it’s leading, and it’s just a waste of time for me. I made my point.


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## zigzag (Jun 25, 2022)

Spid said:


> This is very typical from Reaper users, they will assume others don’t know how to use it if they say they don’t like it. Just accept the fact that not everyone like it, that’s it. This is true for Protools, for Logic, for Cubase, and also for Reaper.


My experience as well. If I post a valid criticism of Cubase, people will tend to agree and maybe direct me to an existing feature request where I can upvote it. But for Reaper, there is simply *no* valid criticism. Someone will always try to convince you that the issue is not a fault in Reaper, but your incompetence.


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## Chris Richter (Jun 25, 2022)

My personal experience is different. There is a lot of criticism over on the reaper forums. For example the take system has been in a suboptimal spot for ages and there are people that are very vocal about that.
There also is some stuff that specifically annoys me personally (midi notes that get colored by tracks have an overlay that can’t be changed, where you can easily make a velocity map with no overlay whatsoever). 

It is beyond me how anyone would pretend otherwise. Of course it has flaws.

I enjoy the Reaper community a lot. Lots of cool ideas how to make the experience better.


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## CATDAD (Jun 25, 2022)

I think some people are weirdly defensive about it just because others are weirdly offensive about it! People from other DAWs saying it’s “cheap garbage” and “not ready for prime time” just because of the way its default plugins and menus look.

Every DAW has its ups and downs and Reaper is no different in that regard. It has “configurability” as a strength AND weakness, and this causes a lot of back and forth from people who just have different personal opinions about it.


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## zigzag (Jun 25, 2022)

CATDAD said:


> I think some people are weirdly defensive about it just because others are weirdly offensive about it! People from other DAWs saying it’s “cheap garbage” and “not ready for prime time” just because of the way its default plugins and menus look.
> 
> Every DAW has its ups and downs and Reaper is no different in that regard. It has “configurability” as a strength AND weakness, and this causes a lot of back and forth from people who just have different personal opinions about it.


Good point. Some are bashing Reaper just because it's cheaper or because plugins don't look sexy.

What's also polarizing is that on one hand Reaper's extensibility is superior, but on the other hand out of the box UX is below average. So, many scripts just end up fixing the default UX. 

With essential extensions and scripts, Reaper is perfectly capable DAW like any other. And like any other DAW it has it's own strengths and weaknesses. Since this thread is about reasons for leaving Reaper, it mostly focuses on weaknesses. Which is a bit unfortunate, but it's still useful information.


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## ManicMiner (Jun 25, 2022)

I came to Reaper from Cakewalk, and found Reaper to be _less _clunky.
Under the hood, I think its been well programmed and is slick; rarely crashes.
The custom actions and community actions are very helpful, even for the MIDI view I have actions that make working there easier.
My only gripe is that their built-in plugins that are bundled with the DAW need a graphic designer to get their hands on them.
I'm a kind of visual person, I have a custom Reaper theme that pleases my eyes. I find Reaper much more visually appealing than, for example, Ableton.


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## Grymt (Jun 25, 2022)

Grymt said:


> (...)
> Of course, some other DAWs are great as well. (...)
> (...)





Grymt said:


> (...) If you're happy with Cubase, that's great, no need to switch then. I just thought, since you asked for tips...





Grymt said:


> To each his own indeed. (...)





Grymt said:


> Hey man, I think it's fine you like another DAW, I said so several times already.
> (...)





Grymt said:


> (...) If Reaper 6 is not your cup of tea either, that's fine (...)



....



Spid said:


> This is very typical from Reaper users, they will assume others don’t know how to use it if they say they don’t like it. Just accept the fact that not everyone like it, that’s it. This is true for Protools, for Logic, for Cubase, and also for Reaper.
> 
> (...)



I'm soooo typical... I guess I must be a toxic cult, forcing people to worship Reaper.



Spid said:


> “It feels a bit like namedroppping” because you jumped to conclusion, assuming things, like I was a noob talking with no experience about anything, or assuming AGAIN here like I would only know Reaper 0…
> 
> Where did I mention I stopped looking at Reaper after Reaper 0? Simply nowhere.. I’ve never said that. So you keep jumping to conclusions.
> 
> (...)



I didn't assume anything Spid. I asked you if Reaper 0 was the only version you had experience with (as it is all you mentioned), you refused to answer. I didn't assume you were a noob either, you said so yourself in several threads. You explained in this thread, and I even said sorry to you despite not assuming anything you didn't say. 
You seem to be determined to find something to be angry about, I guess preferaby all Reaper users.

I did say this though:


Grymt said:


> (...)
> By the way, I don't mind at all whether people are experienced composers or completely new, I think the important part is you're learning (at whatever level) and you're (still) able to surprise yourself while making music. (...)


I hope you find back the fun in stuff. If that means you need to hate Reaper users, or me, that's fine too. Enough said.


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## tressie5 (Jun 25, 2022)

Like @ManicMiner, I'm a visual person, and it's what attracted me to Cubase over 20 years ago. I came from an engineering background and Cubase looked just like hardware, only it was on a computer, so its workflow was immediate - to a certain extent. And I guess that's what keeps Reaper, Ableton, Bitwig and Tracktion Waveform at bay while Samplitude and Mixbus also gets a second glance from me.


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## Grymt (Jun 25, 2022)

ManicMiner said:


> I came to Reaper from Cakewalk, and found Reaper to be _less _clunky.
> Under the hood, I think its been well programmed and is slick; rarely crashes.
> The custom actions and community actions are very helpful, even for the MIDI view I have actions that make working there easier.
> My only gripe is that their built-in plugins that are bundled with the DAW need a graphic designer to get their hands on them.
> I'm a kind of visual person, I have a custom Reaper theme that pleases my eyes. I find Reaper much more visually appealing than, for example, Ableton.


@ManicMiner , which theme do you use? I use Imperial LCS mod 3, and I think it's beautiful, but I dislike it a lot that tracks get a different color in the mixer, it's confusing... so looking for a new theme.


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## ManicMiner (Jun 25, 2022)

Grymt said:


> @ManicMiner , which theme do you use? I use Imperial LCS mod 3, and I think it's beautiful, but I dislike it a lot that tracks get a different color in the mixer, it's confusing... so looking for a new theme.


I've settled on Solaris_LSC_Gray v2.5


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## 76111 (Jul 21, 2022)

It hurts me that anyone would want to move away from Reaper. I die a little inside each time someone does, and can't help but wonder if maybe a kitten is killed each time. But I do agree that many other DAWs are more visually compelling and probably a better choice if aesthetics lubricate your sonics.

Some time ago, I wound up as a beta test user for Studio One. While the flexibility was not at all there compared to Reaper, I appreciated that the interface felt more artistic and less technical.

In another forum, I'd suggested to another guy that, because of its extensibility and nigh option-overload, you can almost treat Reaper as an operating system unto itself. If you enjoy tinkering and feel like Tom Scholz, it's the correct DAW for you. Otherwise, perhaps not.


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## gnapier (Aug 8, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...


I made several attempts over several years to get up to speed with Reaper. They always failed because Reaper is “too customizable” in a way and I have a tendency to run down rabbit holes too easily. 

It finally clicked for me when I defined a narrow use case that I wanted Reaper to fit, then designed and customized the DAW specifically around that. 

For me the primary use case is dialogue editing, audiobook, and podcast production. Once I said “this is Reaper’s main use” in my toolset, it became much easier to just focus on the features relevant to that.

As I use it more and become comfortable with it, it’s easier to expand that feature set to include more generalized music production uses.

FWIW. Just thought I’d share because the breakthrough was quite sudden for me when I made that change.


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## Marcus Millfield (Aug 8, 2022)

Funny how many people don't like Reapers spartan UI. For me, the 5.x UI is still going strong. No flashy UI shouting at my face with a gazillion knobs. It's true you can improve usability a great deal by extending it. SWS and Reaticulate do wonders.


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## person (Aug 8, 2022)

Lean easy to use (assuming you know how to use windows) software that installs in seconds, never crashes, plays nicely with all my plugins and has the BEST, most helpful forum of any software out there....yea hate it. Plus it's inexpensive - hate that too. If only my software would make my music for me with "chord helpers", come with trial versions of plugins, and parked intrusive copy protection on my system.


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## Villanao (Aug 8, 2022)

I’m back in REAPER, fwiw. Had an “unforgivable” crash in Studio One and decided to come back. Can’t see myself using anything else now.


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## veranad (Aug 8, 2022)

I did not ditch Reaper either.

I did ditch Cubase Pro because I liked Reaper better (easier to use, lighter and snappier, etc etc.).

And I do not code or have personalised it to the extreme (just picked a skin I liked, that´s it).

To each his own.


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## person (Aug 8, 2022)

oh and I also hate the fact that your license is good for two full versions. Almost as much as I hate being able to make a portable install that runs off my thumb drive so i can use it on any computer. Where are my free loops? Now I'm going to have to play a keyboard or sing maybe, instead of demonstrating my creativity by choosing a prefab beat


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## xepocal (Aug 8, 2022)

The one thing I really struggle with is window management in Reaper - it drives me nuts.

FX chain window behind a popout MIDI editor, behind a script window and no 'window manager' to help with the mess. No mimise buttons either.

Want to get to the window behind the MIDI editor? Tough luck, start moving half a dozen windows out of the way first..

There's a keybind to cycle windows if you have SWS installed, but that only fixes part of the problem.
Why can't Reaper have a taskbar/dock type of thing for open windows?

Or alternatively, let child windows appear in the OS' taskbar/dock so I can use OS level keybinds..


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## person (Aug 8, 2022)

xepocal said:


> X chain window behind a popout MIDI editor, behind a script window


move them to another spot by first undocking them.


xepocal said:


> No mimise buttons either.


wrong. maybe it's different on the mac ver?


xepocal said:


> There's a keybind to cycle windows if you have SWS installed, but that only fixes part of the problem.
> Why can't Reaper have a taskbar/dock type of thing for open windows?


or learn standard windows key commands, or customize your own.

it does. It's called the docker.


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## xepocal (Aug 8, 2022)

person said:


> move them to another spot by first undocking them.


They are undocked, that's why they're windows and popouts, no?



person said:


> (no minimise button) wrong. maybe it's different on the mac ver?


I don't see any enabled minimise buttons on windows or popouts. Not locally, not on Google Image Search. Where? Image please.



person said:


> or learn standard windows key commands, or customize your own.


Which key commands are you talking about? I want to cycle windows / popouts, binding 'cycle windows' to a mouse button only works when mouse focus is on the arrange window, doesn't even work in a MIDI popout editor.



person said:


> it does. It's called the docker.


Here's what I mean by docker / taskbar / bay (Ableton, Bitwig, Waveform):














How do you get a scrollable FX / track controls docker that works with GUI plugins in Reaper to cut down on open windows?


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## person (Aug 8, 2022)

-then you should be able to move them. 

-hmmn maybe you're right - the min button is greyed out, but er...Since MIDI editor doesn't show up in taskbar anyway how would you open it up again? Just use the escape button or click the close button in the titlebar. Another option is to dock the MIDI editor.

Or use the inline editor

- you can create your own key commands if an action is available for said command

-screensets would probably help out. helpful for keeping things where you like. there are tutorials...
but since you prefer Ableton etc anyway I guess why bother?


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## zigzag (Aug 8, 2022)

person said:


> -screensets would probably help out. helpful for keeping things where you like. there are tutorials...
> but since you prefer Ableton etc anyway I guess why bother?


Screensets don't play nice with the MIDI editor. A screenset will always restore the same MIDI clip in the MIDI editor window.


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## mat1 (Aug 9, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...



May I suggest Ableton Live? I’ve used most DAWs and Live is great for getting out of your way. Visually it’s great too.


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## xepocal (Aug 9, 2022)

person said:


> -then you should be able to move them.


I don't want to have to move them, that was was at the core of my original post. I'm looking for usability improvements; better window management that doesn't rely on repeatedly opening/closing or moving windows around. Like the bays/docks/taskbars modern DAWs have, that let you work on multiple things at the same time without spending any time on organising windows.



person said:


> Since MIDI editor doesn't show up in taskbar anyway


I wrote this in my original post:



xepocal said:


> Or alternatively, let child windows appear in the OS' taskbar/dock





person said:


> Another option is to dock the MIDI editor.


Yes, this is a good idea, I tried this for a while. The big caveat being.......... you can have only the MIDI editor in that particular dock. Otherwise you'll find yourself resizing the dock constantly. Just use screensets you say. But those won't open the correct MIDI item when recalled. Just use the API you say. But there is no API to resize the docker.

(But this got me curious and apparently you can fake mouseclicks and drags with js_ReaScriptAPI)



person said:


> but since you prefer Ableton etc anyway I guess why bother?


Welcome to the Church of Reaper, where nothing could possibly be improved upon and violating dogma will be punished with excommunication, we're a happy bunch really.



person said:


> Or use the inline editor


It's not very useful...


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## person (Aug 9, 2022)

xepocal said:


> Welcome to the Church of Reaper, where nothing could possibly be improved upon and violating dogma will be punished with excommunication, we're a happy bunch really.


Quoi? I'm perfectly happy thanks. Productive too. Generally I only complain about the software I actually use. see ya!


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## Auddict (Aug 9, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...


I'm actually a huge fan of Reaper! But admittedly I think it does depend on what you're using it for, each DAW is smooth at different things/workflows. Reaper is terrible for MIDI IMO... Cubase all the way for MIDI, but I love how you can parent/group tracks etc


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## Awoo Composer (Aug 9, 2022)

Auddict said:


> I'm actually a huge fan of Reaper! But admittedly I think it does depend on what you're using it for, each DAW is smooth at different things/workflows. Reaper is terrible for MIDI IMO... Cubase all the way for MIDI, but I love how you can parent/group tracks etc


The MIDI editor in Reaper while passable feels ultra clunky to me. That's my issue with it. I do want to give Cubase a try and I think I'll end up liking it a lot.


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## outland (Aug 9, 2022)

I had Reaper a few years ago, but gave up on it largely because its workflow never became natural to me and it was never all that stable. Again, this was several years ago and I haven't kept up with where it is now, but my guess is that it might still be pretty unstable (I'm still using the computer it was originally installed on), FWIW.

Right now, I'm a bit more concerned with why it is that Studio One has not received an update in quite a while (although that is admittedly another topic; sorry about that.)


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## storyteller (Aug 9, 2022)

xepocal said:


> How do you get a scrollable FX / track controls docker that works with GUI plugins in Reaper to cut down on open windows?


I have a key command (f) to toggle the fx float window that contains all of the plugins on the selected track on the left side of the floating window and the selected parameters/GUI on the right side of the window. While my shortcut triggers a custom action, it is based on the "SWS Show FX Chain for selected tracks, FX1" script.

My action contains:
SWS/S&M: Close all FX chain windows
SWS/S&M: Hide FX chain windows for selected tracks
SWS/S&M: Show FX chain for selected tracks, FX1

This way there is only ever one fx floater able to be opened on screen at a time. ESC quickly closes that window.

It looks like this:





Hope this helps.


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## JSTube (Aug 9, 2022)

I could never imagine using any other DAW. I find it has a very elegant workflow.

Having said that, I hate running it on macOS but my M1 is my main studio-centric machine right now.

Reaper feels a lot better on Windows, for me, snappier or something. Especially the midi editor is where the differences feel most obvious.



Auddict said:


> Reaper is terrible for MIDI IMO


I think the bigger issue is that everyone's like DOWNLOAD SWS EXTENSIONS, FIGURE OUT HOW TO INSTALL IT -- like, I don't want to be constantly adding that kind of stuff (daw/midi functionality) to my daw. When I do that, it's VST FX i'm paying for.

I do like all the hotkeys in reaper's midi editor, stretching and painting is a big part of my workflow, and I know the midi editor in Reaper can be expanded, but I just think it's *SO* annoying that Reaper developers don't just find a way to incorporate all those _supposedly good features from SWS_ into the actual release.

Reaper has a real expander-fanbase but I just like it for being powerful and robust OOB and don't want to always be messing around. I stopped using Linux for that reason and I imagine a lot of people stopped using Reaper because they similarly found all that customization all too alluring to resist.

Occasionally a really cool JSfx script for some neat MIDI functionality comes up, and if it's really good and popular, sometimes the reaper developers will integrate it.


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## xepocal (Aug 11, 2022)

storyteller said:


> I have a key command (f) to toggle the fx float window that contains all of the plugins on the selected track on the left side of the floating window and the selected parameters/GUI on the right side of the window.


Thank you, this is actually really useful!

I'm using your float-toggle idea together with an adaptation of a script I found over on the official forums to toggle the dock between 'big' and 'small'


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## Tim_Wells (Aug 11, 2022)

fakemaxwell said:


> I don't think a top level DAW exists that doesn't have a steep learning curve for anybody completely new to production. They're all difficult to get acquainted with. I've taught formal classes on Pro Tools and informal tutorials on Reaper and most people start pretty wide eyed. They can be intimidating pieces of software.


I could agree with this anymore. My view is, find a good one with the features you want/need and hunker down and learn the bastard.


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## fakemaxwell (Aug 11, 2022)

JSTube said:


> like, I don't want to be constantly adding that kind of stuff (daw/midi functionality) to my daw. When I do that, it's VST FX i'm paying for.


Is there any difference in running a VST installer vs the SWS installer?


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## Ricgus3 (Aug 11, 2022)

Just discovered that by Pressing "E" on any midi Item i can write midi information directly into the item and not having to open the midi editor. great for fast skecthing! Been using reaper for 2 years now and just found this by accident!


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## Auddict (Aug 11, 2022)

Ricgus3 said:


> Just discovered that by Pressing "E" on any midi Item i can write midi information directly into the item and not having to open the midi editor. great for fast skecthing! Been using reaper for 2 years now and just found this by accident!


Things like this are literally what keeps bringing me back to Reaper... it might not be able to match up to other DAWs in common areas e.g. Cubase and MIDI... but it has a whole arsenal of tools like this which are completely obscure compared to a more mainstream DAW! Not to mention the scripting and automating possibilities


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## JimDiGritz (Aug 11, 2022)

Ricgus3 said:


> Just discovered that by Pressing "E" on any midi Item i can write midi information directly into the item and not having to open the midi editor. great for fast skecthing! Been using reaper for 2 years now and just found this by accident!


Dude!! That's an outstanding feature I never knew existed!!!! Thanks


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## Ricgus3 (Aug 11, 2022)

JimDiGritz said:


> Dude!! That's an outstanding feature I never knew existed!!!! Thanks


I know! I am super excited by this! Tried to match storytellers “F” macro and clicked E by mistake and just saw it pop up. Got me interested what else there is to find that is useful for composers


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## Ricgus3 (Aug 11, 2022)

Now imagine having the notation view for a single track as a in line editor on the midi item! @storyteller is that a script possible for Otr?


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## MartinH. (Aug 11, 2022)

Ricgus3 said:


> I know! I am super excited by this! Tried to match storytellers “F” macro and clicked E by mistake and just saw it pop up. Got me interested what else there is to find that is useful for composers


If you work a lot with wav samples, there is a spectrogram view for audio items that I find very useful.


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## storyteller (Aug 11, 2022)

Ricgus3 said:


> Now imagine having the notation view for a single track as a in line editor on the midi item! @storyteller is that a script possible for Otr?


Hey! I will look into it, but I don't think that is possible just yet. If you look at the Action List, there is a drop down in the right corner for various "worlds" where shortcuts can be assigned. There is a "MIDI inline Editor" which would likely be for the editor you uncovered with the E key. But there doesn't seem to be any notation view shortcut. There is one action for showing the Note's Notation, but that doesn't appear to do anything (I am sure it does, I just don't see anything happening at first glance). Very cool idea though!


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## tack (Aug 11, 2022)

Inline notation is definitely a requested feature. There's a thread about it over on the Feature Requests subforum, which where all the community's best ideas get collected, ignored by the developers, bumped over the course of years (decades?), and ultimately die in obscurity.


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## Quasar (Aug 11, 2022)

xepocal said:


> Welcome to the Church of Reaper, where nothing could possibly be improved upon and violating dogma will be punished with excommunication, we're a happy bunch really.


As a happy Reaper user, I never worry about stuff like that, since I won't be among those spending eternity in hell for using a false DAW.


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## EgM (Aug 11, 2022)

A false DAW, [theoffice-jim-meme] wow


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## marius_dm (Aug 11, 2022)

Abandon your false DAWS and repent before the one true DAW.


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## HCMarkus (Aug 11, 2022)

marius_dm said:


> Abandon your false DAWS and repent before the one true DAW.


Yes... Digital Performer. 

(braces for next round of food fight)


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## zigzag (Aug 12, 2022)

MartinH. said:


> If you work a lot with wav samples, there is a spectrogram view for audio items that I find very useful.


Waveform colored with spectral peaks is also very nice. I miss this view in Cubase.


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## LA68 (Aug 12, 2022)

Quasar said:


> As a happy Reaper user, I never worry about stuff like that, since I won't be among those spending eternity in hell for using a false DAW.


We'll see about that!! Are you maybe one that follows those misguided sects that do NOT use the blessed Classic_1.x theme?


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## Eckoes (Aug 13, 2022)

I love Reaper and will use it until they stop updating it.

you can truly make it do almost anything you want.


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## Pier (Sep 1, 2022)

@liquidlino introduced me to the Reamixed mixing challenge so it seems I'll be using Reaper a bit!

I've been playing a bit with it and it's... fine?

For years I made music with FastTracker so Reaper in comparison looks beautiful


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## Awoo Composer (Sep 1, 2022)

Pier said:


> @liquidlino introduced me to the Reamixed mixing challenge so it seems I'll be using Reaper a bit!
> 
> I've been playing a bit with it and it's... fine?
> 
> For years I made music with FastTracker so Reaper in comparison looks beautiful


I watched a video on those tracker programs and the illegal underground software scene of the 90s. My head spins at the interface.


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## LA68 (Sep 1, 2022)

Pier said:


> @liquidlino introduced me to the Reamixed mixing challenge so it seems I'll be using Reaper a bit!
> 
> I've been playing a bit with it and it's... fine?
> 
> For years I made music with FastTracker so Reaper in comparison looks beautiful


I think this looks more beautiful than Reaper


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## Pier (Sep 1, 2022)

Are people generally bothered by the aesthetics of Reaper or actually the usability and workflow?

Because I agree Reaper is kinda fugly by today's standards but after a while the aesthetics disappear for me. I think Cubase is also quite ugly but I'm generally enjoying it.


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## GregSilver (Sep 1, 2022)

Pier said:


> Are people generally bothered by the aesthetics of Reaper or actually the usability and workflow?
> 
> Because I agree Reaper is kinda fugly by today's standards but after a while the aesthetics disappear for me. I think Cubase is also quite ugly but I'm generally enjoying it.


For me aesthetics are very important when using a software for creativity, that's why I never could use Reaper, no matter what skin used.


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## zigzag (Sep 1, 2022)

Pier said:


> Are people generally bothered by the aesthetics of Reaper or actually the usability and workflow?
> 
> Because I agree Reaper is kinda fugly by today's standards but after a while the aesthetics disappear for me. I think Cubase is also quite ugly but I'm generally enjoying it.


Reaper's aesthetics don't bother me. Some parts actually look OK to me, but overall, its not a looker. 

Usability of the UI is what bothers me the most. Usability and workflow concerning features is mostly fine.


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## kitekrazy (Sep 1, 2022)

Pier said:


> @liquidlino introduced me to the Reamixed mixing challenge so it seems I'll be using Reaper a bit!
> 
> I've been playing a bit with it and it's... fine?
> 
> For years I made music with FastTracker so Reaper in comparison looks beautiful


I'm always amazed by people who use trackers.


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## Pier (Sep 1, 2022)

kitekrazy said:


> I'm always amazed by people who use trackers.


Last time I used a tracker was probably around 99 

The only way I could find to make music as a poor student (and parents who didn't want to help their kid into this music thing).


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## LA68 (Sep 2, 2022)

Pier said:


> Are people generally bothered by the aesthetics of Reaper or actually the usability and workflow?
> 
> Because I agree Reaper is kinda fugly by today's standards but after a while the aesthetics disappear for me. I think Cubase is also quite ugly but I'm generally enjoying it.


For me it's also the workflow rather than the aesthetics. I shouldn't be making fun of what Reaper looks like anyway - I use Mixcraft, which has a GUI that looks like someone had a good time in MS Paint.

The default workflow is not as bad as some say, but it's not fantastic and I have zero interest in spending hours and hours customizing it when other DAWs offer a workflow that's fine out of the box (and in the case of MC9 also can be bought for less).


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## sostenuto (Sep 2, 2022)

So you had it, learned it, and ditched it _ per Thread title _ or simply commenting ? 🤷🏻‍♂️
Kenny Gioia capability _ and sharing _ keeps me happy camper .... _but ymmv. _


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## Pier (Sep 2, 2022)

I spent a couple of hours with Reaper yesterday for the September Reamixed challenge.

At first I struggled with the mousewheel but I changed the shortcuts so that it works like Cubase and some settings like using the mouse cursor for the zoom center position.

For mixing I don't think I will need to customize much else other than a couple of keyboard shortcuts which is something I do in any new DAW. Honestly, from the "I need to spend hours customizing Reaper" comments I was expecting a much more hardcore experience.

I did have a couple of head scratching moments which are normal when using any DAW, but Kenny Gioia seems to have covered everything one might need on his Youtube channel.


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## xepocal (Sep 2, 2022)

Aesthetics don't matter enough to me to make me choose something that's technically worse over the uglier option.

Workflow is most important. And there's some truly 'wtf' workflow stuff in Reaper.

If you open a Reaper internal window like the project bay or run a script while in a floating MIDI editor, keyboard and mouse focus will NOT return to the MIDI editor after closing the window/running the script.

If you look at MIDI editor scripts, many run this bit of code (which I think is provided by the SWS extension) to fix this.

`reaper.Main_OnCommand(reaper.NamedCommandLookup("_SN_FOCUS_MIDI_EDITOR"), 0)`

Why is this not done by default? I sometimes wonder if the Reaper devs just don't do much MIDI. I'm still using Reaper...


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## Pier (Sep 2, 2022)

xepocal said:


> Why is this not done by default?


As a dev myself I can see the argument of not changing some defaults implemented years ago, even if those defaults are generally considered to be wrong.


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## Marcus Millfield (Sep 2, 2022)

Pier said:


> Are people generally bothered by the aesthetics of Reaper or actually the usability and workflow?


I still use the 5.x default theme and yes, it's very Windows 98, but as far as I'm concerned it's a godsend from all the DAWs that have a shitton of controls blaring and blinking at you. I rather have the Spartan Reaper interface than a busy S1/Cubase.

But than again, I'm also one of a handful of people I know that hate dark themes.


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## Pier (Sep 2, 2022)

Marcus Millfield said:


> But than again, I'm also one of a handful of people I know that hate dark themes.


I typically don't like dark themes either.

I like them for synths and DAWs but definitely not for websites or the OS where I need to read. I have astigmatism and reading white text over black becomes very difficult for me.



These days dark UIs are very common and I think it's because they do look kinda cool but mainly because people are mostly using their devices in very poorly lit rooms. Like using a phone in total darkness. That's a terrible idea for a number of reasons.


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## Marcus Millfield (Sep 2, 2022)

Pier said:


> I typically don't like dark themes either.
> 
> I like them for synths and DAWs but definitely not for websites or the OS where I need to read. I have astigmatism and reading white text over black becomes very difficult for me.
> 
> ...



The text begins to swim in my vision when I'm using light fonts on dark letters, so I try to avoid them. It's very strenuous for my eyes and makes me dizzy and will eventually result in a headache.

I rather be the oddball than have health issues because I follow the crowd. No thank you. Same goes for my love of the old Reaper UI I suppose.


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## tony10000 (Sep 2, 2022)

Someone should change this topic to "The Reaper Appreciation Thread"!


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## javarnayu (Sep 2, 2022)

In my beginnings I was a user of Cakewalk (about the 80's). Then, in the 90's I discovered Cubase and it fully persuaded me until 2018. That year I had a lot of problems with Cubase and the optimization of my PC and I got into Reaper which solved all my problems, much better optimized than Cubase, faster and efficient. I have to admit that at the beginning it was difficult for me to get acquainted with Reaper, but it was not a very long period. Now I'm comfortable with Reaper, I don't regret it, I have everything. Right now I have no reason to switch DAWs, however in the past I had a lot of problems with CUBASE.


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## Crossroads (Sep 3, 2022)

Pier said:


> Are people generally bothered by the aesthetics of Reaper or actually the usability and workflow?
> 
> Because I agree Reaper is kinda fugly by today's standards but after a while the aesthetics disappear for me. I think Cubase is also quite ugly but I'm generally enjoying it.



It's not the UI. It's the UX that bothers me.


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## sundrowned (Sep 3, 2022)

Used it for a short while when I first moved from Mac to PC but didn't get on with it so moved on. Probably because I was after something that was similar to Logic. But recently I've been doing some bulk audio editing and it's just amazing for that with the scripts. 

I've always quite liked the aesthetics though. Especially the flat design parts.


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## TomislavEP (Sep 4, 2022)

Personally, I'm rather happy with the overall looks of REAPER and the v6 theme, especially since its developer released a theme assembler addon. Using this and other theme customization options, I've come up with my own version of the dark v6 theme that feels both eye-pleasing and functional for me.

That being said, I wouldn't call REAPER ugly but rather utilitarian in comparison to other DAWs I'm familiar with. Generally, I dislike skins and prefer music software that doesn't graphically mimic the hardware design. I prefer simple flat looks and dark themes overall.

I'm hoping, though, for more consistency regarding menus, dialogs, and options display on modern Windows systems.


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## Inherently (Sep 4, 2022)

100% agree with the observations in this thread. Some tasks in Reaper require new learning and repeated practice.

Coming from Audacity, I loved Reaper’s frequent release cycles, the tutorials available on the Reaper Blog and Reaper.fm, its extended trial license, its affordable asking price, and its ability to run on the equipment I was able to have (my ‘seven year old’ and my ‘nine year old’). On many, many occasions, learning to mix with Reaper was like having a trap door open under my piano bench, and falling into the East River. When things took too long, and I got mad, there was always a tutorial available, a forum post, and some new learning. I don’t have feelings about Reaper, it’s the workbench. My copy of the software received frequent, free upgrades whether I paid for the license or not. When I had the license money I bought it.

It’s valuable!

If the OP is asking ‘what’s better than Reaper…’ and ‘...why…?’ then I am curious. I’m happy with Reaper and have never hesitated to recommend it to others.


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## ibanez1 (Sep 6, 2022)

My 2 cents for all of the midi artists out there:

I'm currently using Reaper and just now started doing a trial of cubase. I think cubase's midi integration is a little better than Reaper. It's not that Reaper doesn't have most if not all of the midi editing features of cubase after installing scripts. I think that Reaper has a few too many clicks in between me and achieving the desired change to midi cc and velocity.

A few things that stick out:
1. The cubase right click quick menu for changing editing mode. I like this approach as it's easier to change between pointer, draw, cut, and curve.
2. The integrated velocity ramping in cubase. You can install this in Reaper as a separate script but using it is not as quick and easy as cubase. I had a bit of a hard time finding the right square in Reaper to do the ramp vs. warping or other scaling.
3. The curves in cubase (fast start, fast end, etc.) are an editing tool overlay on the existing midi cc curve rather than being the shape of a new connection between just 2 points. For me this is huge because I just want to wipe the existing midi with a curve of my choice. Also, when you draw with the curve tool, it fills it in with many midi events along the curve. I have noticed in the past that some vst instruments will only respond to the midi cc change by seeing the new event points rather than taking into account the modulation line (this may be a Reaper setting issue).

As a counterpoint, I believe that Reaper is an excellent DAW. It's priced very well, is full of features and endless customization and I may end up sticking with it depending on how this trial goes. I think the sad thing is that if the dev team spends a little bit of improvement effort on GUI integration with midi and adds some new features, they would be blowing away the competition for midi composition.


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## sostenuto (Sep 6, 2022)

TomislavEP said:


> Personally, I'm rather happy with the overall looks of REAPER and the v6 theme, especially since its developer released a theme assembler addon. Using this and other theme customization options, I've come up with my own version of the dark v6 theme that feels both eye-pleasing and functional for me.
> 
> That being said, I wouldn't call REAPER ugly but rather utilitarian in comparison to other DAWs I'm familiar with. Generally, I dislike skins and prefer music software that doesn't graphically mimic the hardware design. I prefer simple flat looks and dark themes overall.
> 
> I'm hoping, though, for more consistency regarding menus, dialogs, and options display on modern Windows systems.


Waaaay personal preference _ yet addicted to LCS Themes, use several depending on Updates.
L_CS _ Flat 6 at the moment._
No heavyweight Reaperite here, just started with Cockos _ never departed (ditched). ❣️


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## Russell Anderson (Sep 9, 2022)

Have you worked on anything (or by what percentage) that's had you needing to work in Cubase/Nuendo/PT this past year or two? What causes you to move, even if it's personal? Or are you mostly able to stick to REAPER day to day? Does working on a half-open-source DAW bring any concern about holes appearing in your workflow in 3-5 years?


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## Alchemedia (Sep 9, 2022)

Retroactive MIDI recording just added in 6.67.


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## Ricgus3 (Sep 9, 2022)

Alchemedia said:


> Retroactive MIDI recording just added in 6.67.


What is this?


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## Ricgus3 (Sep 9, 2022)

Alchemedia said:


> Retroactive MIDI recording just added in 6.67.


ok just check the Reaperblog videon on it, This is sick! Tried it out now and put it on shortcuts. This is an amazing feature!


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## Marcus Millfield (Sep 9, 2022)

Alchemedia said:


> Retroactive MIDI recording just added in 6.67.


Awesome feature!


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## Peter Emanuel Roos (Sep 9, 2022)

Now in my my role as fulltime developer, I use it as a test environment. It is one of the few hosts that do not block debugging tools, so I can even set breakpoints in my code and inspect variables, etc. So I love it (for that reason mainly).

When I was still making music, Cubase was my go to Daw. Reaper just can't compare with such beasts, imho, for recording and mixing.

But Reaper has probably cost me more than keeping up with Cubase versions: 
since the entry-level price "looks" innocent, I have often bought the program again and again, in a hurry, on different computers.

Daw... er, doh...


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## TomislavEP (Sep 10, 2022)

I'm an avid REAPER user for more than five years now and wouldn't dream of going back to PT or another DAW for that matter. Like every software out there, REAPER certainly has its quirks and shortcomings, but also some unique features and benefits. 

Suggesting and claiming that REAPER is not fit for more serious and "professional" use is IMO simply not objective. It's about the same as saying that you can't use PC and Windows in that respect either. Maybe not the best example, but still.

From my experiences thus far and from what I've seen and heard from others, there is actually very little that REAPER can't do when compared to its huge competition. I often watch tutorials by Kenny Gioia that are perhaps one of the best testaments to this.


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## Marcus Millfield (Sep 10, 2022)

TomislavEP said:


> From my experiences thus far and from what I've seen and heard from others, there is actually very little that REAPER can't do when compared to its huge competition. I often watch tutorials by Kenny Gioia that are perhaps one of the best testaments to this.


It probably has something to do with DAWs like Protools and Cubase being on the market for so long, that people think in the workflow of these DAWs. If you are then trying out a DAW with another workflow, it can be daunting.

I have tried (really tried: building templates for them and using them for >6 months) every DAW except Protools for recording and doing mock-ups, but keep coming back to Reaper because it's what I started with several years ago. So I'm probably biased because of how I got used to Reapers workflow, or rather the workflow I created for myself with Reaper.


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## jih64 (Sep 10, 2022)

> Have you ditched REAPER and are you glad you did?


Yes, and yes.
Started using REAPER around 2007, ditched it around 2015. 
Any projects that were not completed are long since converted over, and it is long since uninstalled.
I'll never go back again.


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## TomislavEP (Sep 10, 2022)

Marcus Millfield said:


> It probably has something to do with DAWs like Protools and Cubase being on the market for so long, that people think in the workflow of these DAWs. If you are then trying out a DAW with another workflow, it can be daunting.


I agree. The learning curve is rather steep with REAPER, especially for long-time users of other DAWs or novices. But once you got used to it, it adapts to your personal workflow more than the competition.

Also, most people tend to blindly trust a large outfit standing behind celebrated pieces of software. Even if the product made by a smaller company is potentially superior and perhaps a better option for the end-user, developed because of certain shortcomings made by these giants. I could compare this with Google vs Mozilla.


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## Superabbit (Sep 11, 2022)

Russell Anderson said:


> a half-open-source DAW


I wasn't aware that REAPER was "half open-source." When did this happen?


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## Henu (Sep 11, 2022)

I got professional friends and colleagues who use Reaper for either sound design work or music. 

I still keep reminding them they should switch to Cubase.


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## Al Maurice (Sep 11, 2022)

Superabbit said:


> I wasn't aware that REAPER was "half open-source." When did this happen?


I wouldn't say that Reaper is open source, like many daws it's closed source, but allows you to configure it with macros and scripts, which in Reaper's case to my mind means that you end up up with "never the same daw twice". So it might work to your liking, but in a professional environment you might need more stability: thus enabling you to work anywhere.


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## Inherently (Sep 11, 2022)

Peter Emanuel Roos said:


> But Reaper has probably cost me more than keeping up with Cubase versions:
> since the entry-level price "looks" innocent, I have often bought the program again and again, in a hurry, on different computers.
> 
> Daw... er, doh...


I did a double-take on this - then looked up the license terms - then re-read your words 'in a hurry...' so yeah - those times when it costs $250 to save $225 - may I live long enough! Reaper's license model really hits the spot for me - can install on everything I use, and pay a reduced fee if my cash flow is below entry-level - I can work with that! 


...from REAPER FAQ: 'Your license allows you to use REAPER on one computer at a time.
Multiple REAPER installs for use by the same person are fine (home/studio/laptop, Win32/x64/OSX).'


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## Peter Emanuel Roos (Sep 11, 2022)

In a hurry... really :-(
Last week I finally checked the terms and happily applied my most recent license update to my other dev machines.


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## Inherently (Sep 11, 2022)

jih64 said:


> Yes, and yes.
> Started using REAPER around 2007, ditched it around 2015.
> Any projects that were not completed are long since converted over, and it is long since uninstalled.
> I'll never go back again.


What did you move over to? What are you using now? What about your current bench most convinces?


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## liquidlino (Sep 11, 2022)

Henu said:


> I got professional friends and colleagues who use Reaper for either sound design work or music.
> 
> I still keep reminding them they should switch to Cubase.


I'm on reaper. Hundreds of hours spent learning it, tweaking it. I downloaded the Cubase trial last week, opened it exactly twice since. I made a little test using vsl synchron. Spent a while learn it Ng how to install expression maps etc. It was ok. Really snappy interface, like studio one. But then, I thought, why am I about to spend 500aud and many tens or hundreds of hours learning a new daw... Reaper is fine. Definitely areas that can be improved, but nothing outright bad. Main wish list is to get the interface snappy like studio one. Opening and closing windows, or switching between instruments, should be a lot faster.


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## Luzebel (Sep 11, 2022)

I used Reaper for almost 10 years and I ditched it for Cubase (I also tried S1 and DP, both great). I would never go back to Reaper even if I got paid for it. It was great when I didn't try anything else yet.


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## Marcus Millfield (Sep 11, 2022)

Luzebel said:


> I used Reaper for almost 10 years and I ditched it for Cubase (I also tried S1 and DP, both great). I would never go back to Reaper even if I got paid for it. It was great when I didn't try anything else yet.


May I ask why that is? Just curious!


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## TomislavEP (Sep 11, 2022)

REAPER might not be open source, but indeed it shares a lot of OS philosophy and principles. Most OS software was born due to certain gaps and shortcomings made by software giants. Long are the days when a program like REAPER was just an affordable alternative; nowadays it is a fully legitimate one. I was a PT user for a long time and switching to REAPER was a huge productivity boost for me.

There are plenty of threads dedicated to the benefits of using REAPER and some of its unique features. For the time being, it might lack certain options found in the competition, but it catches up very fast due to its vibrant and rather active development cycle.


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## Luzebel (Sep 11, 2022)

Marcus Millfield said:


> May I ask why that is? Just curious!


Reaper lacks so many creative tools, you have to rely on third party addons for so many features that are officially supported (and better made) by default in other DAWs. Reaper is great for mixing though.


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## Marcus Millfield (Sep 11, 2022)

Luzebel said:


> Reaper lacks so many creative tools, you have to rely on third party addons for so many features that are officially supported (and better made) by default in other DAWs. Reaper is great for mixing though.


I get that, although many tools are freely available for Reaper, I get wanting an all-in-one environment without the hassle and with support.


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## Henu (Sep 11, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> Reaper is fine.


Of course it's fine! But now when we're at it, you should also drive a Toyota, because only the cool guys like me drive those! (You may get my point.  )


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## MartinH. (Sep 11, 2022)

Al Maurice said:


> but in a professional environment you might need more stability: thus enabling you to work anywhere.


Like a portable reaper install on a USB stick that you can take anywhere whitout any DRM hassle?


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## Russell Anderson (Sep 11, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> But then, I thought, why am I about to spend 500aud and many tens or hundreds of hours learning a new daw... Reaper is fine.


This is me in reverse, I bought Cubase a few months back to switch out of FL Studio as REAPER seemed... great, but intimidating/cool for the wrong reasons (customization rabbit holes etc) and Cubase had the "industry standard" tagline for working in media. Turns out REAPER is _huge_ in game audio though, so I figured I may as well go for learning it first, and I accidentally discovered in the first few hours how wrong I was, not two days later I felt like I'd been using REAPER the whole time. ...Oops? I'm keeping Cubase for the time being, not really sure of what I'm going to do with it since every time I've thought of something I've needed I've pretty much been able to get it.

MIDI Multi Tool I'd say is equal but different to Cubase 14bit lane editing, but that's the thing - it's not actually supported by Cockos, just someone in the community, so there isn't the same sense of "guarantee" about workflow as there is in some other software. Does that even matter? Maybe. However it is, I think at least I can learn Cubase now that I've learned REAPER, the challenge was to be un-learning FL Studio and that seems to be passed


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## kitekrazy (Sep 12, 2022)

Russell Anderson said:


> This is me in reverse, I bought Cubase a few months back to switch out of FL Studio as REAPER seemed... great, but intimidating/cool for the wrong reasons (customization rabbit holes etc) and Cubase had the "industry standard" tagline for working in media. Turns out REAPER is _huge_ in game audio though, so I figured I may as well go for learning it first, and I accidentally discovered in the first few hours how wrong I was, not two days later I felt like I'd been using REAPER the whole time. ...Oops? I'm keeping Cubase for the time being, not really sure of what I'm going to do with it since every time I've thought of something I've needed I've pretty much been able to get it.
> 
> MIDI Multi Tool I'd say is equal but different to Cubase 14bit lane editing, but that's the thing - it's not actually supported by Cockos, just someone in the community, so there isn't the same sense of "guarantee" about workflow as there is in some other software. Does that even matter? Maybe. However it is, I think at least I can learn Cubase now that I've learned REAPER, the challenge was to be un-learning FL Studio and that seems to be passed


Opening and closing Cubase is annoying. Clicking on the Reaper and FL Studio icon and you're ready to work. I have yet to warm up to Cubase and really jealous of those Reaper experts.


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## Russell Anderson (Sep 14, 2022)

For those who have stopped using REAPER, or use REAPER alongside another DAW, what do you find faster outside of REAPER? What do you find faster within REAPER? If it's not already included in your answer, what field are you working in?


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## styphonthal (Sep 15, 2022)

I started trying to record around 10 years ago and I started with Reaper. I also tried lite versions of PT and Cubase. I changed over to Cubase as it fit my needs better at the time. I haven't looked back since.


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## Koyo (Sep 23, 2022)

I started out with FL Studio, then I switched to REAPER because it had more track and MIDI features, time signatures and a workflow that suited more my linear style. Then I bought Studio One. Stuck with the latter for a while, then I went back to REAPER because I needed the lyrics feature and all the user made plugins and more.
Now that I'm on Linux, there's no going back! Though I tried to adopt Bitwig.
There are a lot of features that REAPER has that the other DAWs I mentionned still don't have.
There workflow is great because I can customize it.


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## JeffvR (Nov 7, 2022)

So I found out by this video: 
You can hide all tracks in a giant template in Cubase. Then you can "add" tracks you want to use by typing in something like "violin 1". Is something similar possible in Reaper?

So step by step I want to do:

- I have a huge template with for instance 300 tracks. All orchestral.
- I want to hide all tracks in TCP and MCP. So far so good.
- I want to unhide violins 1, because I want to play in MIDI data. Ideally I want a pop up box where I can type in "violins 1" and press enter. Only the violins 1 get unhided (I don't know if this is a word but you get what I mean




).
- I want the violins 1 to stay visible (wether I put in MIDI data or not) and want to add a flute. So I type in my magic search thing "flute 1" and press enter. Now flute 1 get's added to my template.
- Now violins 1 and flute 1 are the only tracks visible in my template and stay visible.


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## liquidlino (Nov 7, 2022)

JeffvR said:


> So I found out by this video:
> You can hide all tracks in a giant template in Cubase. Then you can "add" tracks you want to use by typing in something like "violin 1". Is something similar possible in Reaper?
> 
> So step by step I want to do:
> ...



I use two scripts, one to hide empty tracks, and one to show all tracks, and added to shortcut buttons and streamdeck. It's not exactly the same as above, but works for me. Can't remember if this script is included in Reaper, or if I downloaded and added it, let me know if you don't have it, and I'll zip the scripts up for you.


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## Markrs (Nov 7, 2022)

JeffvR said:


> So I found out by this video:
> You can hide all tracks in a giant template in Cubase. Then you can "add" tracks you want to use by typing in something like "violin 1". Is something similar possible in Reaper?
> 
> So step by step I want to do:
> ...



There is an add on called track tags. What this does is allow you to great a tag for each track or group of tracks (it can do this automatically for you). You can then just filter the tracks using the tags or searching.

This video which is a template for BBC SO in reaper covers how to use them



OTR reaper template by @storyteller can also filter groups so that you only see those.


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## JeffvR (Nov 7, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> I use two scripts, one to hide empty tracks, and one to show all tracks, and added to shortcut buttons and streamdeck. It's not exactly the same as above, but works for me. Can't remember if this script is included in Reaper, or if I downloaded and added it, let me know if you don't have it, and I'll zip the scripts up for you.


Yes I know this one already, thanks. I also have buttons to just show strings, just brass for example. But John's way of doing it seems even more convenient.


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## JeffvR (Nov 7, 2022)

Markrs said:


> There is an add on called track tags. What this does is allow you to great a tag for each track or group of tracks (it can do this automatically for you). You can then just filter the tracks using the tags or searching.
> 
> This video which is a template for BBC SO in reaper covers how to use them
> 
> ...



Thanks, this is great! Not exactly the same but I'll try it out.


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## liquidlino (Nov 7, 2022)

JeffvR said:


> Yes I know this one already, thanks. I also have buttons to just show strings, just brass for example. But John's way of doing it seems even more convenient.


Oh wow, that sounds cool - can you share how to set it to just show different instrument groups please?


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## JimDiGritz (Nov 7, 2022)

JeffvR said:


> So I found out by this video:
> You can hide all tracks in a giant template in Cubase. Then you can "add" tracks you want to use by typing in something like "violin 1". Is something similar possible in Reaper?
> 
> So step by step I want to do:
> ...



As you might already have noticed there are dozens of ways to achieve this! 

I personally use an extension called "Select Tracks by Name"






Which you could then very easily combine with a Show/Hide all unselected tracks action and assign to a keyboard shortcut....


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## JeffvR (Nov 7, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> Oh wow, that sounds cool - can you share how to set it to just show different instrument groups please?


This way > 
Attached is my custom action for it


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## JeffvR (Nov 7, 2022)

JimDiGritz said:


> As you might already have noticed there are dozens of ways to achieve this!
> 
> I personally use an extension called "Select Tracks by Name"
> 
> ...


Yes but it's still not the same as in the video by John. After unhiding the violins 1 for example. It stays visible, even after unhiding another track.


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## Markrs (Nov 7, 2022)

JeffvR said:


> Thanks, this is great! Not exactly the same but I'll try it out.


There doesn’t seem to be any quite the same as in the video you showed. You can use the track manager and the search in that but it doesn’t filter sadly.


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## liquidlino (Nov 8, 2022)

Markrs said:


> There is an add on called track tags. What this does is allow you to great a tag for each track or group of tracks (it can do this automatically for you). You can then just filter the tracks using the tags or searching.
> 
> This video which is a template for BBC SO in reaper covers how to use them
> 
> ...



Love it!!! This is amazing, I just set it up for my template, and it's so much easier to flick around the sections now:


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## Markrs (Nov 8, 2022)

liquidlino said:


> Love it!!! This is amazing, I just set it up for my template, and it's so much easier to flick around the sections now:


Plus it has a search as well so can work similar to the video @JeffvR posted even if you don’t set any tags


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## DMDComposer (Nov 8, 2022)

Hi,
Back when I was working in Reaper I wrote a few scripts, mainly scripts and/or features I would use in Cubase. If it helps anyone, here is my ReaPack url
https://github.com/DMDComposer/ReaScripts/raw/master/index.xml

A couple was Data by Cursor, and Data by Locator. The rest could be useful or just tests I was running, I don't remember exactly.

Apologies for any bugs / broken things, I haven't looked/used these scripts in several months. But feel free of course to change/adapt to your needs.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,
DMDComposer


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## Russell Anderson (Nov 11, 2022)

JeffvR said:


> Yes but it's still not the same as in the video by John. After unhiding the violins 1 for example. It stays visible, even after unhiding another track.


Tagging the tracks you want with midi clips and then hiding empty tracks is the most efficient way I can think to achieve this in Reaper. Not a super big deal, but I would enjoy having the workflow you pointed out. And being able to dock tracks in the main/TCP (i.e. video/thumbnails [integrated thumbnails also], sketch piano/patches etc).


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## Raymonde (Nov 16, 2022)

tc9000 said:


> I love Reaper! I can do pretty much anything I need to with it. Sure - there are little gripes but these are usually due to my own lack of knowledge of it. The more you put into it, the more it will reward you.


Any hope for a beginner who wants to work with all of the many hours of labor poured into Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 templates?
I follow the directions in the user manual for connecting to a plug- in and the first channel is automatically routed to channel 2 as channel 1 is off the map. Guess I'll be rebuilding a template but I'm stuck on figuring out routing to channels-
The current crop of YT videos are done by people who sadly are not pedagogues and assume the viewer knows stuff which a raw beginner would have no way of knowing. 
Wondering if a tutorial exists specifically for hooking up with Vienna Ensemble Pro Server.


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## Raymonde (Nov 16, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...


I'm about to become an ex Reaper user-for the 4th time in the past 6 years or so. Just want to hook up with Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 server and can't seem to do it.


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## sostenuto (Nov 16, 2022)

Continue enjoying routine, ongoing updates, enhancements _ since 2011. 
Just moved to v6.70 and looking forward.


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## tc9000 (Nov 16, 2022)

Raymonde said:


> Any hope for a beginner who wants to work with all of the many hours of labor poured into Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 templates?
> I follow the directions in the user manual for connecting to a plug- in and the first channel is automatically routed to channel 2 as channel 1 is off the map. Guess I'll be rebuilding a template but I'm stuck on figuring out routing to channels-
> The current crop of YT videos are done by people who sadly are not pedagogues and assume the viewer knows stuff which a raw beginner would have no way of knowing.
> Wondering if a tutorial exists specifically for hooking up with Vienna Ensemble Pro Server.


I'm not a VE Pro user so can't be much help  but did you see this already?:






How to get VE Pro7 to route properly with REAPER (Set up more than 16 MIDI channels per instance) - Vienna Instruments & Ensemble Software - FORUMS - Vienna Symphonic Library


No description




www.vsl.co.at


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## inthevoid (Nov 16, 2022)

Just started using Reaper after working in Cubase for a while, and blown away by 2 things - the customisation and the community. It took a few weeks of tinkering, theming, and getting my hands dirty in some scripting to get it working as I wanted (and I'm sure there will be more tinkering to come...). The forum is full of great people and very active devs.

Having 2 Reapers installed on my machine, one for scoring and another synced up with it running picture is a fantastic workflow upgrade from Video Sync (which is a great piece of software, but ultimately very limited editing-wise). 

I personally love the approach but if you don't enjoy spending hours customising (and occasionally burying your head in code) it's probably not the DAW for you.

Now if they could just implement video sync between sub-projects and master projects... I can dream!!


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## Russell Anderson (Nov 16, 2022)

inthevoid said:


> Just started using Reaper after working in Cubase for a while, and blown away by 2 things - the customisation and the community. It took a few weeks of tinkering, theming, and getting my hands dirty in some scripting to get it working as I wanted (and I'm sure there will be more tinkering to come...). The forum is full of great people and very active devs.
> 
> Having 2 Reapers installed on my machine, one for scoring and another synced up with it running picture is a fantastic workflow upgrade from Video Sync (which is a great piece of software, but ultimately very limited editing-wise).
> 
> ...


2 things:
1) what changes did you make with scripting/code?
2) you can set up video in a second instance!? I've heard of subprojects per region/cue, but not "docking" the video track in another reaper instance. Timecode generator? ...where can I learn about this?


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## inthevoid (Nov 17, 2022)

Russell Anderson said:


> 2 things:
> 1) what changes did you make with scripting/code?
> 2) you can set up video in a second instance!? I've heard of subprojects per region/cue, but not "docking" the video track in another reaper instance. Timecode generator? ...where can I learn about this?


1) A couple of examples: created scripts for a load of custom visibility toggles based on my specific template to use with Metagrid's REAPER integration, and scripts to create CC fade ins/fade outs on MIDI items. But that's just the tip of the iceberg with all the scripts that scripters far more talented than me made to do all sorts of things, some of which I've modded or changed to fit my exact requirements.

Some of my personal highlights -

MPL Interactive Toolbar:





MPL Interactive Toolbar: context sensitive modular toolbar - Cockos Incorporated Forums


MPL Interactive Toolbar: context sensitive modular toolbar ReaScript, JSFX, REAPER Plug-in Extensions, Developer Forum



forum.cockos.com





solger_ReaLauncher:





ReaLauncher - Cockos Incorporated Forums


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2) Yes! This fantastic solution by Stevie on the Reaper forums has the method!


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## Marcus Millfield (Nov 17, 2022)

Raymonde said:


> Any hope for a beginner who wants to work with all of the many hours of labor poured into Vienna Ensemble Pro 7 templates?
> I follow the directions in the user manual for connecting to a plug- in and the first channel is automatically routed to channel 2 as channel 1 is off the map. Guess I'll be rebuilding a template but I'm stuck on figuring out routing to channels-
> The current crop of YT videos are done by people who sadly are not pedagogues and assume the viewer knows stuff which a raw beginner would have no way of knowing.
> Wondering if a tutorial exists specifically for hooking up with Vienna Ensemble Pro Server.


I have a lot of personal documentation about routing between Reaper and VEP and might be able to help you. But I need a lot more info.

Could you give some more detail about your issue? Perhaps with screenshots to elaborate? Which manuals did you follow?


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## Russell Anderson (Nov 17, 2022)

inthevoid said:


> 2) Yes! This fantastic solution by Stevie on the Reaper forums has the method!


Saved! Many thanks! And yeah, the Multi Tool is amazing. That and cycle actions are really all I've ended up using, although if Quick Adder lets me just hit "enter" to open a plugin without having to click it, , maybe I'll start using it. Also I'll swap back to Smooth 6 once I save my instrument sections/custom ensembles into track templates, atm my 1k track template.... lags with Smooth 6, due to reaper rendering its UI with CPU, I'd rather not have that so I'm using Mammoth.


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## Raymonde (Nov 17, 2022)

Colin66 said:


> I'm using Reaper and admittedly I'm quite new to music production but I'm quite frustrated with this DAW. It doesn't feel intuitive to me and the workflow feels....clunky?
> I'm wondering if anybody has ditched Reaper and found another DAW they're much happier with?
> 
> I watch a fair amount of YT vids and I see people using other DAW's such as Ableton. I'm often wondering why things look pretty easy on that DAW compared to Reaper.
> ...


I was put off Reaper immediately because I could not hook up to Vienna Ensemble pro unless I reworked all of my channel settings. But the possibility of maybe needing 60 channels was too much. 
Cubase is down for me right now after 14 years, I'm back trying to learn Reaper and just burned and crashed after 18 hours of trying to learn. OTR 
[ https://www.orchestraltemplateforreaper.com/videos.php ] didn't help much and I'm still left (this is my fourth go around with Reaper in about 8 years) wondering how to set up a midi track that's armed with a channel from a VE Pro instance.


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## Raymonde (Nov 17, 2022)

Marcus Millfield said:


> I have a lot of personal documentation about routing between Reaper and VEP and might be able to help you. But I need a lot more info.
> 
> Could you give some more detail about your issue? Perhaps with screenshots to elaborate? Which manuals did you follow?


Have you used Reaper to construct orchestral mock-ups with Vienna Symphony Library instruments or Kontakt from Native Instrument?

I got lost in the Reaper manual with the discussion (2.24REAPER Routing Essentials) about Master and Parent channels. It looks like each Midi instrument track in Reaper takes up two channels at a time. However, in Vienna Ensemble I'm limited to incrementally numbering channels consecutively 1 through 16 where there are possibly as many as 16 banks for a total of 256 channels. I could never have a single instrument in VE Pro take up two channels there-logically speaking that is.

I got used to Cubase connecting to VE Pro with several clicks. 
Reaper recognizes all of my sample instruments so there's no problem there. I just want to open up a midi track that 's connected to a sample instrument that I dearly love to hear. Reaper makes me jump through hoops talking about Masters, Parents and children. Sounds like slavocracy. 
Here's a shot of VE pro. I could sent a screenshot of Reaper with a nonfunctioning track.


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## Marcus Millfield (Nov 17, 2022)

Raymonde said:


> Have you used Reaper to construct orchestral mock-ups with Vienna Symphony Library instruments or Kontakt from Native Instrument?


Yes, Synchon, VIPro, Kontakt, Spitfire plugin... you name it.

I must warn you beforehand: this will not be a few clicks. If you don't want to do the work, maybe you're just better off with Cubase if that works better for you.

As both Reaper and VEP can be used in a gazillion different ways, this guide will just show how I configured and used it. This will give you an idea of what you need to do in order to use Reaper and VEP together with your VSL libs.

First up is adding a track with VEP Pro instance and telling Reaper that it needs to route all its MIDI buses to the VST. Use the VEP Pro VST*3 *version of the plug-in for that. VST2 doesn't support this. 

Add a new track in Reaper and add the VEP Pro VST*3* as an FX. This will be your first audio output track, see my next post for clarification.
Click the audio routing button on top, next to Param






Click the I/O button





Select MIDI input -> Map REAPER MIDI buses to VST3 MIDI buses






Check if the same option is selecter for MIDI output by clicking on I/O again -> MIDI output

Next is setting up audio channel routing:

Set track channels and VST bus size to how much you want, I chose 32. It doesn't matter as long as you have enough.






Next up is audio routing in VEP.


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## Marcus Millfield (Nov 17, 2022)

You were correct in stating that you need 2 tracks in Reaper per instrument:
1. the instrument MIDI track.
2. the audio output track for the VEP instance. Add your VEP Pro VST3 FX here.

Now it's time to route VEP audio to Reaper. I opted to use an audio output track in Reaper *per instrument section* (i.e. Violins 1, Trumpets in C etc). The configuration described here will reflect *my* choice. Note that we will configure the audio output track in Reaper after this.

In VEP, open the Instance, then the mixer and add:
In the top menu, Click Channel -> Insert Instrument
In the top menu, Click Channel -> Insert Bus
Optional: group the instruments within a folder (Channel -> Insert folder)

So the bus will be used to route the audio of the instrument plugins to the audio output track in Reaper via one of the configured I/O audio channels (I configured 32 as you see above).

So: instrument plugin(s) audio (VEP) -> bus (VEP) -> audio output track (Reaper)

You do this by clicking on the Instrument bus output button at the bottom and selecting the Channel bus:






As you can see I renamed the bus channel to "Violins 1".

Also choose an output channel for the bus. You could leave this however, because you might want to assign an audio channel in Reaper after you configured all Reaper tracks and corresponding busses in VEP.







In the end, you'll get something like this, where grouping and color coding instruments/sections will help you keep an overview of things:






Next up is MIDI routing to VEP


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## marius_dm (Nov 17, 2022)

Seems like they are working on a takes/comping system overhaul. If that gets improved I will go back to Reaper 100%.


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## Marcus Millfield (Nov 17, 2022)

Now for the MIDI routing from the instrument track in Reaper to the instrument plug-in in VEP.

In VEP, in the instrument you have the option to configure the input MIDI port and channel. In this example, I chose MIDI port 5, channel 1:






Go to Reaper
Select the instrument MIDI track for the instrument
Click on the Route button
Disable the Master send
Click "Add new send" and select the audio output track you want to use for the instrument






On this new send, you configure the MIDI routing to the instrument in VEP. Select the output midi on the far right of this send:






and select the MIDI port and channel you chose in VEP (port 5 channel 1 in my example).

End result should be something like this:






Repeat these steps for every instrument you want to route to that specific audio output track. Duplication (right click -> duplicate tracks) of the MIDI track is your friend, as all previous configurations need to be done again otherwise. Do remember to change the MIDI routing for each track to the configured MIDI port + channel mapping in the VEP instrument.

Next and last: audio routing from VEP to Reaper audio output track.


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## Marcus Millfield (Nov 17, 2022)

Last is audio routing from VEP to Reaper.

In Reaper, open the audio output track
Click Route
Disable the Master send
You'll see the MIDI sends of all MIDI tracks you've configured previously on the right (under Receives):






Click "Add new send..." and select the audio output track.
Select for audio input the channel you configured in the VEP bus for the instrument/section 











And you should now have a basic routing set up.


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## Marcus Millfield (Nov 17, 2022)

One big diclaimer: this guide was done from my notes, as I no longer have a VEP license. I did check some things in the free VE, but it could be that not everything is up to snuff with the current version of VEP. The guide is based on VEP7.


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## tc9000 (Nov 17, 2022)

Marcus Millfield said:


> And you should now have a basic routing set up.


Voilà! Hardly an inconvenience 

Joking aside, the power and flexibility of both Reaper and VEP are inevitably going to lead to complexity. I just wanted to add that Reaper can work for mere mortals too! I use pretty much vanilla Reaper with no customisation and I love it. I'm just writing with Kontakt and other vsts so things are very simple, and Reaper works great for that. It lets me get ideas captured in the DAW and doesent impact or get in the way of writing.


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## Marcus Millfield (Nov 17, 2022)

tc9000 said:


> Voilà! Hardly an inconvenience
> 
> Joking aside, the power and flexibility of both Reaper and VEP are inevitably going to lead to complexity. I just wanted to add that Reaper can work for mere mortals too! I use pretty much vanilla Reaper with no customisation and I love it. I'm just writing with Kontakt and other vsts so things are very simple, and Reaper works great for that. It lets me get ideas captured in the DAW and doesent impact or get in the way of writing.



I can imagine people reading the guide being are put off by Reaper because there is no hand-holding and therefor can be a lot of work to set-up. But I echo the sentiment that once you have things set-up, it will not get in your way. I find the simplicity of the interface to be it's biggest bonus, it's why I'm still on the default 5.x theme. No controls clouding your view and blaring at you all the time.


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## Russell Anderson (Nov 23, 2022)

JeffvR said:


> So I found out by this video:
> You can hide all tracks in a giant template in Cubase. Then you can "add" tracks you want to use by typing in something like "violin 1". Is something similar possible in Reaper?
> 
> So step by step I want to do:
> ...



I've been wanting something similar, and I found out basically how to achieve what I think you're trying to accomplish in the end by following that video.

Have you used Reaper's Track Templates? I also had a template with over a thousand tracks in it, which I had a system for navigating but really despised using. So instead, I saved all the instrument sections into what are called "Track Templates", which preserves instruments, FX chains, folder arrangement and routing (between the saved tracks). You can load as many at a time as you want using ctrl/shift-clicking from in the Media Explorer window, which I use for nothing else so it's always open to "Track Templates" and immediately accessible with a keybind.

As far as focusing down a giant template into instruments you're going to use for a project, this accomplishes that in much the same kind of smoothness. Also, provided you're loading offline/purged, this takes absolutely zero time to load.


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## Markrs (Nov 23, 2022)

Russell Anderson said:


> I've been wanting something similar, and I found out basically how to achieve what I think you're trying to accomplish in the end by following that video.
> 
> Have you used Reaper's Track Templates? I also had a template with over a thousand tracks in it, which I had a system for navigating but really despised using. So instead, I saved all the instrument sections into what are called "Track Templates", which preserves instruments, FX chains, folder arrangement and routing (between the saved tracks). You can load as many at a time as you want using ctrl/shift-clicking from in the Media Explorer window, which I use for nothing else so it's always open to "Track Templates" and immediately accessible with a keybind.
> 
> As far as focusing down a giant template into instruments you're going to use for a project, this accomplishes that in much the same kind of smoothness. Also, provided you're loading offline/purged, this takes absolutely zero time to load.


Hi Russell,

I do you use Reaticulate with your tracks or list each articulation as a track? The reason I ask is you have NSS which I am yet to add into my template and was wondering if you could share it?


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## tc9000 (Nov 23, 2022)

+1 for track templates - _this _is my customisation layer in Reaper - I have them for individual instruments and sections too. So quick and easy. I got bored of fiddling with the monolithic mega-template from hell and instead now build my template on the fly with these 'lego brick' mini templates.


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## Markrs (Nov 23, 2022)

Maybe it would be good to share our reaper track templates. I need to build quite a few which I am happy to share. I already did every articulation as a track in both BBCSO Pro and the whole of EW HO (that was I think over 1000 tracks) but sadly in the Play engine. 

I plan now to use Reaticulate rather than individual tracks, so now have to rebuild my template.


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## Russell Anderson (Nov 23, 2022)

Markrs said:


> Hi Russell,
> 
> I do you use Reaticulate with your tracks or list each articulation as a track? The reason I ask is you have NSS which I am yet to add into my template and was wondering if you could share it?


I actually cut out reaticulate and am using midi channels, so articulation-per-track, but using midi routing tracks. This is so I can layer articulations together, which is a limitation of Reaticulate/what the Reaper SDK allows for, iirc. 

The exception is MSS which I'm going to reluctantly start piecing together some keyswitches+reaticulate banks for.... by no means comprehensively. MSS you can't really do just midi channels; the articulations could stay on tracks but you'd still need keyswitches to control scale/tonality and other settings.


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## Markrs (Nov 23, 2022)

Russell Anderson said:


> I actually cut out reaticulate and am using midi channels, so articulation-per-track, but using midi routing tracks. The exception is MSS which I'm going to reluctantly start piecing together some keyswitches+reaticulate banks for.... by no means comprehensively. MSS you can't really do just midi channels; the articulations could stay on tracks but you'd still need keyswitches to control scale/tonality and other settings.


That's interesting as I am going in the other direction, though I don't like have so many articulations loaded into memory that I might not use.

Is there a specific reason that you have gone that route?

It is using things like Divisimate that works with articulation maps that has me going with that approach


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## Russell Anderson (Nov 23, 2022)

Markrs said:


> That's interesting as I am going in the other direction, though I don't like have so many articulations loaded into memory that I might not use.
> 
> Is there a specific reason that you have gone that route?
> 
> It is using things like Divisimate that works with articulation maps that has me going with that approach


I just really like layering articulations, lol. Especially the pretty ones (flautando/sul tasto/harmonics etc) and shorts. And for makeshift runs. Also I don't want to deal with setting up TouchOSC atm for more easily navigating keyswitches, which in my mind would be the ideal.

If you wanted the NSS bank though (in the order I had the patches loaded lol),

//! g="Nashville Scoring Strings" n=Violins
//! id=ef983354-710d-458a-aabd-a8c130cd1706
Bank * * NSS Violins
//! c=legato i=legato [email protected]
20 legato
//! c=legato-cs i=legato [email protected]
26 legato cs
//! c=marcato i=marcato-quarter [email protected]
52 marcato
//! c=spiccato i=spiccato [email protected]
42 spiccato
//! c=col-legno i=col-legno [email protected]
58 col legno
//! c=pizzicato i=pizz [email protected]
56 pizzicato
//! c=tremolo i=tremelo [email protected]
11 tremelo
//! c=trill i=trill [email protected]
71 trill
//! c=long-cs i=con-sord [email protected]
7 long-cs
//! c=harmonics i=harmonics [email protected]
10 harmonics
//
//
//
//! g="Nashville Scoring Strings" n=Violas
//! id=f52ccc51-d4c8-4278-b5b2-98b911b7fe14
Bank * * NSS Violas
//! c=legato i=legato [email protected]
20 legato
//! c=legato-cs i=legato [email protected]
26 legato cs
//! c=marcato i=marcato-quarter [email protected]
52 marcato
//! c=spiccato i=spiccato [email protected]
42 spiccato
//! c=col-legno i=col-legno [email protected]
58 col legno
//! c=pizzicato i=pizz [email protected]
56 pizzicato
//! c=tremolo i=tremelo [email protected]
11 tremelo
//! c=trill i=trill [email protected]
71 trill
//! c=long-cs i=con-sord [email protected]
7 long-cs
//! c=harmonics i=harmonics [email protected]
10 harmonics
//
//
//! g="Nashville Scoring Strings" n=Cellos
//! id=f9b36632-ea87-46c4-b641-ef08bc357b84
Bank * * NSS Cellos
//! c=legato i=legato [email protected]
20 legato
//! c=legato-cs i=legato [email protected]
26 legato cs
//! c=marcato i=marcato-quarter [email protected]
52 marcato
//! c=spiccato i=spiccato [email protected]
42 spiccato
//! c=col-legno i=col-legno [email protected]
58 col legno
//! c=pizzicato i=pizz [email protected]
56 pizzicato
//! c=tremolo i=tremelo [email protected]
11 tremelo
//! c=trill i=trill [email protected]
71 trill
//! c=long-cs i=con-sord [email protected]
7 long-cs
//! c=harmonics i=harmonics [email protected]
10 harmonics
//
//
//! g="Nashville Scoring Strings" n=Basses
//! id=3ef5ba77-eec6-4c86-9886-af5b857e6a46
Bank * * NSS Basses
//! c=legato i=legato [email protected]
20 legato
//! c=legato-cs i=legato [email protected]
26 legato cs
//! c=marcato i=marcato-quarter [email protected]
52 marcato
//! c=spiccato i=spiccato [email protected]
42 spiccato
//! c=col-legno i=col-legno [email protected]
58 col legno
//! c=pizzicato i=pizz [email protected]
56 pizzicato
//! c=tremolo i=tremelo [email protected]
11 tremelo
//! c=long-cs i=con-sord [email protected]
7 long-cs
//! c=harmonics i=harmonics [email protected]
10 harmonics


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## Russell Anderson (Nov 23, 2022)

Also, just due to the heft of articulations-per-track in some libraries (SCS for example), ....I'm definitely considering a hybrid approach and having my track templates reflect that. I.E. mainly sticking to keyswitches for the beginning and then loading the full chunk to glamourize certain parts with layers. It is not difficult to setup.


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## Markrs (Nov 23, 2022)

Russell Anderson said:


> If you wanted the NSS bank though (in the order I had the patches loaded lol),


That's great thank you.

I create power legato stuff in reaper using Shorts, legato, and trill and use the parameter in Reaper to ensure they volume match so you don't get staccato on low volume and it works pretty well as a power legato patch. I have only done this with BBCSO so far, and it took a bit of time so not sure about doing it for other instruments.



Russell Anderson said:


> Also I don't want to deal with setting up TouchOSC atm for more easily navigating keyswitches, which in my mind would be the ideal.


That is also on my list to do (there is a very long list of all I am trying to do), but I got Metagrid Pro which looks pretty good for shortcuts. I have posted on here before some really good video tutorials I found on YouTube on TouchOSC which might help.


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## Markrs (Nov 23, 2022)

Russell Anderson said:


> Also, just due to the heft of articulations-per-track in some libraries (SCS for example), ....I'm definitely considering a hybrid approach and having my track templates reflect that. I.E. mainly sticking to keyswitches for the beginning and then loading the full chunk to glamourize certain parts with layers. It is not difficult to setup.


I mention about Power legato patches which I will have on individual tracks and the rest might be on articulation maps. But I think a hybrid approach could work really well.


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## Grymt (Nov 25, 2022)

Markrs said:


> ...and use the parameter in Reaper to ensure they volume match so you don't get staccato on low volume and it works pretty well as a power legato patch. I have only done this with BBCSO so far, and it took a bit of time so not sure about doing it for other instruments.


Hi Markrs, what do you mean by 'using the parameter in reaper to volume match'? 
I know how to use parameter modulation on for instance an EQ for ducking, but how do you use it to match volumes?


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## Markrs (Nov 25, 2022)

Grymt said:


> Mi Markrs, what do you mean by 'using the parameter in reaper to volume match'?
> I know how to use parameter modulation on for instance an EQ for ducking, but how do you use it to match volumes?


It is not volume matching exactly, basically I linked the plugin volume with the staccato to expression, and made sure at low volume the staccato was not too prominent.

This is because the legato articulation volume and dynamics is linked to mod save exp, where as staccato is velocity and exp. But to avoid triggering portamento you need a reasonable amount of velocity.

You could do the staccato using mod but you would always get a strong staccato with a more dynamic legato even if you didn't want one.

It is a bit tricky to explain in words.


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## JimDiGritz (Dec 16, 2022)

I've been using Reaper exclusively now as my first DAW for almost a year.

I've customized it a fair bit and love the flexibility and scripts.

As has been mentioned I do kind of feel that perhaps I'm missing out on a much more polished, slick DAW.

I've recently trialed both Cubase and Studio One. Lot's of reasons to like/dislike all 3... but..

Here's the reason I'm sticking with Reaper:






As a comparison Cubase takes around 30 seconds to get to a blank project.

Since I'm not a full time composer, I do open/close my DAW all the time.

FWIW that video might look a little sped up, so I recorded one with a stopwatch.


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## Kitarraman (Dec 30, 2022)

robgb said:


> Way overreaching. Reaper's midi functions are excellent. As I said above, I work almost exclusively in midi and have never had a single problem using Reaper's piano roll. Plus there are a multitude of developer and user made "actions" in the midi editor that make your life and workflow easy.
> 
> People bagging on Reaper's midi capabilities really have no idea what they're talking about.


Hi Rob, sorry for barging in on an old thread. I wondered if you could share what actions you are referring to. I'm currently using Julian Sader's scripts, but I'm wondering if and how I can improve my experience


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## JimDiGritz (Dec 30, 2022)

Kitarraman said:


> Hi Rob, sorry for barging in on an old thread. I wondered if you could share what actions you are referring to. I'm currently using Julian Sader's scripts, but I'm wondering if and how I can improve my experience


Well this script has been my secret MIDI editing weapon!






EEL script: MIDI velocity tool (draw vel.ramps - maintain relative velocities etc.) - Cockos Incorporated Forums


EEL script: MIDI velocity tool (draw vel.ramps - maintain relative velocities etc.) ReaScript, JSFX, REAPER Plug-in Extensions, Developer Forum



forum.cockos.com





The latest version supports all CC lanes as well as Velocity


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## robgb (Dec 30, 2022)

Kitarraman said:


> Hi Rob, sorry for barging in on an old thread. I wondered if you could share what actions you are referring to. I'm currently using Julian Sader's scripts, but I'm wondering if and how I can improve my experience


Check the midi editor action list.


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## Russell Anderson (Dec 30, 2022)

The multi-tool which I believe comes as part of Reapack/SWS downloads by default lets you ramp velocity that way directly in the midi cc lane. It's not the prettiest thing but it works well.

For me the biggest midi gripe is velocity. The whole length of the note is a handle in the velocity lane, meaning you can affect note velocity at note-ends, which means any notes being sustained over other moving notes are going to have their velocities edited unless the moving notes are selected. :/


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## xepocal (Dec 30, 2022)

The handles in the velocity lane can be toggled with a MIDI editor action -> "Display note length in velocity lane".

I don't think you can set an arbitrary length for them though.


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## Russell Anderson (Dec 30, 2022)

xepocal said:


> The handles in the velocity lane can be toggled with a MIDI editor action -> "Display note length in velocity lane".
> 
> I don't think you can set an arbitrary length for them though.


Unfortunately it's purely visual, the functionality remains the same... Cubase and FL Studio are not like this, it is just some small, seeming oversight


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## xepocal (Dec 30, 2022)

Ah, in that case, "Display note length in velocity lane: Off" needs to be combined with "Edit CC/velocity only when mouse is near event: On"


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## Russell Anderson (Dec 31, 2022)

xepocal said:


> Ah, in that case, "Display note length in velocity lane: Off" needs to be combined with "Edit CC/velocity only when mouse is near event: On"


YOU ROCK! AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaayes, I forgot to check the actions menu for toggles of this kind thinking _of course _it would be in the Preferences menu. You have completely transformed midi editing for me in Reaper, thank you!


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## robgb (Dec 31, 2022)

xepocal said:


> The handles in the velocity lane can be toggled with a MIDI editor action -> "Display note length in velocity lane".
> 
> I don't think you can set an arbitrary length for them though.


The length is based on the length of the midi note.


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