# Beginner Reaper Midi Editor



## Jacques Heine (Dec 25, 2018)

Hello Everyone,
Please be tolerant with my belgian college level english
I'm new to MAO and occasionally a sax player in a municipal brass band
I have a PC laptop, Reaper installed and I don't intend to record any music through audio input device
My present ambition is loading into Reaper a midi file of a clarinet solo sheet and produce an acceptable semi realistic execution of it, tweaking what and where I can
Therefore I install a free Vsti called "sonatina clarinet"
I open the Midi Editor
I see the notes in the main window
I play the music which, indeed, remotely can evoke the timbre of a clarinet
In a CC lane drop down menu I choose "velocity", I apply some velocity degrees to a few notes and I notice an increasing of the .... sound level of the affected notes
After resetting the first CC lane I choose "expression", I apply some expression degrees to a few notes and I notice an increasing of the .... sound level of the affected notes
The Sonatina Vsti window offers 4 knobs A D S R that I take the risk to turn while the music is playing, the A button decresases the sound level and the R button produces strange noises, the other knobs don't even care
Could somebody please shortly suggest some initiative for helping me progress towards my goal
Thank you in advance


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## d.healey (Dec 25, 2018)

If you want realism you need a better sample library. ADSR is a 4 parameter envelope that controls volume over time. A is for attack, D for decay, S for sustain and R for release. Type ADSR into a search engine to find out more. 

Creating realistic mockups can take years to master so don't expect your first attempt to be perfect.


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## Jacques Heine (Dec 25, 2018)

Thank you David
Do the 4 parameter ADRS affect individual notes or groups of notes ?


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## pbattersby (Dec 25, 2018)

Jacques Heine said:


> ...Therefore I install a free Vsti called "sonatina clarinet"
> [...]I apply some velocity degrees to a few notes and I notice an increasing of the .... sound level of the affected notes


If the sonatina clarinet was originally from the Sonatina Symphonic Orchestra sample library by Mattias Westlund, then volume and expression will likely be exactly the same thing because the clarinet was only sampled at a single volume. The tone of the instrument will not change with volume.



Jacques Heine said:


> The Sonatina Vsti window offers 4 knobs A D S R that I take the risk to turn while the music is playing, the A button decresases the sound level



By increasing the A (A=attack) of an ADSR envelope (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release), you are increasing the length of time it takes for a note to reach it's full volume. So a short note with "A" set to a large value will sound more quiet because it won't have time to reach full volume. Try this: set the "A" value to minimum, then hit and hold the note. Set the "A" to it's maximum value, then hit and hold the note. You should be able to hear the effect of a long attack (large A value).


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## pbattersby (Dec 25, 2018)

Jacques Heine said:


> Do the 4 parameter ADRS affect individual notes or groups of notes ?


I would imagine the ADSR will affect the entire instrument equally. Set a large "A" value and every note will take longer to reach full volume.


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## Jacques Heine (Dec 26, 2018)

pbattersby said:


> By increasing the A (A=attack) of an ADSR envelope (Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release), you are increasing the length of time it takes for a note to reach it's full volume. So a short note with "A" set to a large value will sound more quiet because it won't have time to reach full volume. Try this: set the "A" value to minimum, then hit and hold the note. Set the "A" to it's maximum value, then hit and hold the note. You should be able to hear the effect of a long attack (large A value).


Well either hitting notes individually or playing the track, Attack small (needle left) plays ALL notes (short and long) at high volume and Attack big (needle right) plays ALL notes at low value, as if, in the last case, no note (short or long) have time to reach full volume. On the other hand, I don't know how to record in the track, at each moment of the execution, the manually chosen Attack value, knowing that, as far as I know, the ADSR parameters are not visible in the CC lane drop down menu


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## pbattersby (Dec 26, 2018)

Jacques Heine said:


> the ADSR parameters are not visible in the CC lane drop down menu


That is typically controlled in a different way when you are playing a virtual instrument (as opposed to designing a virtual instrument). If you were using the clarinet (or almost any instrument) from my library, you'd have 2 options. One version of my clarinet instrument will use the MOD wheel to affect the Attack value, while another uses key velocity to control the Attack value, but neither permits direct control over the Attack value.

If the VSTi clarinet you are using is programmed for it, you could try adjusting CC 73, which is reserved in the MIDI specification for controlling the attack of a note.


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## robgb (Dec 27, 2018)

d.healey said:


> Creating realistic mockups can take years to master so don't expect your first attempt to be perfect.


How dare you crush my dreams!!!!


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## robgb (Dec 27, 2018)

If you want a truly great clarinet, grab a copy of Reaktor 6, go to Native Instruments website and download the free Silverwood B-flat clarinet. It's a modeled clarinet that sounds amazing and has seemingly endless control.

https://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/7854/


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## Jacques Heine (Dec 28, 2018)

robgb said:


> If you want a truly great clarinet, grab a copy of Reaktor 6, go to Native Instruments website and download the free Silverwood B-flat clarinet. It's a modeled clarinet that sounds amazing and has seemingly endless control.
> 
> https://www.native-instruments.com/en/reaktor-community/reaktor-user-library/entry/show/7854/


It's encouraging. I will first discover "Reaktor 6", what is it for, any registering, user guide ....
_Obstacle shall mean any part of the course which is likely to require riders to dismount_


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## robgb (Dec 28, 2018)

Jacques Heine said:


> It's encouraging. I will first discover "Reaktor 6", what is it for, any registering, user guide ....
> _Obstacle shall mean any part of the course which is likely to require riders to dismount_


You can use Reaktor player for free, but the instrument will only work for thirty minutes before you'll have to reload it again.


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## Jacques Heine (Dec 28, 2018)

robgb said:


> You can use Reaktor player for free, but the instrument will only work for thirty minutes before you'll have to reload it again.


Can I load Reaktor into Reaper as a VSTi as I did with Kontakt player ?


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## Quasar (Dec 28, 2018)

Jacques Heine said:


> Can I load Reaktor into Reaper as a VSTi as I did with Kontakt player ?


Yes.


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## Jacques Heine (Dec 29, 2018)

Loaded Vsti Reaktor 6 in Reaper
Drag an drop Silverwood Bb Clarinets.ens in Reaktor 6 Main window
Got the message:





In reaper - preferences - device I reduced sample rate to 22000 without success
Any suggestion please ?


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## Divico (Jan 1, 2019)

Jacques Heine said:


> Loaded Vsti Reaktor 6 in Reaper
> Drag an drop Silverwood Bb Clarinets.ens in Reaktor 6 Main window
> Got the message:
> 
> ...


Dont go below a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. Thats the lowest rate youd want to work with in a normal scenario. You seem to lack rocessing power for this task. Max out your performace, there is a guide pinned in the daw section here. Power settings etc. If you can find a voice setting, lower the voice count, this reduces the take on your cpu. What are your hardware specs, whats your audio interface ?


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## Jacques Heine (Jan 3, 2019)

Divico said:


> Dont go below a sample rate of 44.1 kHz. Thats the lowest rate youd want to work with in a normal scenario. You seem to lack rocessing power for this task. Max out your performace, there is a guide pinned in the daw section here. Power settings etc. If you can find a voice setting, lower the voice count, this reduces the take on your cpu. What are your hardware specs, whats your audio interface ?


processor AMD A4-5000 Quad-core 1.50 Ghz
Memory 4 Gb DDR3 - 798.38 MHz
HD 465 Gb SATA III
Windows 10
integrated on-board sound card

I don't know how to reduce the voice count


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## Divico (Jan 3, 2019)

Jacques Heine said:


> processor AMD A4-5000 Quad-core 1.50 Ghz
> Memory 4 Gb DDR3 - 798.38 MHz
> HD 465 Gb SATA III
> Windows 10
> ...


the weakest point id say is the soundcard. Id recommend you to get an audio interface. You can get a decent one for 100 bucks. Your hardware isnt the fastest but should carry at least one instance. Try the performance tweaks here in the forum.


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## Jacques Heine (Jan 4, 2019)

Divico said:


> Try the performance tweaks here in the forum.


OK thanks


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