# How do you like reaper for midi orchestration work?



## Studio E (Aug 16, 2015)

I'm a long time Cubase user but I have a friend who is wanting to get into the field of film scoring. She is younger and I would imagine that starting out, money will be an issue. Can anyone tell me if Reaper is good for film scoring? I'm not familiar with it at all and therefore don't even know if it supports video or any of that, or how many VI's it can host and what types. Any streamlined info would be much appreciated. Thanks!


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## TomNoyd (Aug 16, 2015)

I have Reaper, I work almost exclusively with midi, and I love it.

My first paid DAW was Adobe Audition 3.0 and it's not nearly as versatile, powerful, or CPU efficient as Reaper (not to mention way more expensive).

I've never touched Cubase so I can't shed any light on how they compare. I haven't really delved into making music to video (yet) but it does support video and it worked fine for me when I tested it out.

The impression I get with Reaper is that it's designed to be rather all inclusive; meaning it supports all sorts of VI's and plug-in types (unless they're proprietary to a specific DAW like Protools, for example). There's no limit to how many tracks or effects you can use (which should go without saying but you can't say that about some DAWs).

It's inexpensive ($60 still, I think) and there's a 30 day free trial so your friend can dive right in and see if she likes/hates it without regretting it. Plus, even after the trial expires, you still have unlimited use. The only drawback is that you have to wait 15 seconds (or 30 seconds, I don't remember) before your session can load because of the Trial-Ended-Purchase-Now-Or-Later dialougue box.

I'm sure someone will politely correct me if I'm mistaken or if some of those details have changed since a couple years ago. I know there's one fella on here who's also very, very active on the KVR and Reaper forums (I can't remember his avator name. Evil Dragon?). Hopefully he'll chime in with far more useful and relevant info.

If Reaper seems confusing for her at first, I'd recommend to look up some beginner's tutorials on YouTube, peruse the manual, and peruse the Reaper/Cockos forum (my iPad won't let me copy/paste the link for some reason).

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
-Luke

Edit: This should also go without saying but making/saving track templates is really easy as well.


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## Dr.Quest (Aug 16, 2015)

Reaper is a great DAW. Works great for orchestral stuff or just about anything. Video support is fine and it's very stable and CPU friendly. Can't beat the price.


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## chimuelo (Aug 16, 2015)

Reaper is great for guys with chops. No fancy fix my coffee for me stuff.
The only DAW I have used better suited for live work.
I haven't needed the MIDI tweaks and reverted back to 2013 v4.

Had a custom theme made for for TouchScreen.
Total automation from a Phsis K4.


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## dsmo (Aug 16, 2015)

I've had my eye on Reaper for awhile. I'm waiting for version 5, as it's supposed to have a notation component (although it may not be there until 5.1 or 5.2). Some kind of notation view is critical to me. Also, it has potential to run on Linux.


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## Jacob Cadmus (Aug 16, 2015)

Reaper 5 just came out a few days ago. I'm demoing it now, and so far I'm really digging it. 

The video engine I would say is probably the best in any DAW I've tried so far, well actually maybe tied with DP, though they're both good in different aspects. I'm liking Reaper's video just a little bit better. You can actually chop/edit video, to a degree where it feels just a step down from editing in Sony Vegas (which makes sense considering that Reaper's design is heavily inspired by Vegas). 

Also it's really solid with VIs. Never had any problems there. One area where some folks may say it's lacking is in MIDI workflow, being that it's very basic and missing some advanced features that other pro DAWs have, though that's never been a problem for me. Still no score editor (unless I just haven't found it yet), but Reaper can ReWire with notation programs like MuseScore or Notion.


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## Lannister (Aug 16, 2015)

Jacob Cadmus said:


> ... Still no score editor (unless I just haven't found it yet), but Reaper can ReWire with notation programs like MuseScore or Notion.



As mdiemer says it's coming in version 5.1 or so. There was an early version of the notation view that came with one of the first pre-release builds back in January, but it was quickly scrapped in favour of a more integrated version.

It's a testament to the scripting ability of REAPER that this first version was written in Lua (a scripting language integrated with REAPER). Not many DAW's out there that have that kind of end-user flexibility, as long as you can code, of course.


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## Studio E (Aug 17, 2015)

Thank you everyone! This sounds like great news!


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## cyoder (Aug 17, 2015)

I'm a Reaper user, and I imagine as a product of a small company, it's not as streamlined as other DAWs (although I've never used any others to compare). Honestly, I don't want to ever switch, though, as I've gotten so used to the lightness and the customization. I love having an empty session loaded 5 seconds after I click on the Reaper icon, and I've immersed myself (somewhat obsessively) into customizing my workflow. The template system is also really easy, so many of my instruments can be loaded and ready to go in two clicks. 

So personally I love it, and it sounds like it's about to get better (the notation view in later v5 was news to me! I'd given up on it). I think it's worth having even if you own/use another DAW.

Best,


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## samphony (Aug 17, 2015)

Blake Robinson wrote a cool plugin regarding articulation switching in reaper

http://www.syntheticorchestra.com/articulatereaper/


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## Audio Birdi (Aug 17, 2015)

samphony said:


> Blake Robinson wrote a cool plugin regarding articulation switching in reaper
> 
> http://www.syntheticorchestra.com/articulatereaper/


It should be interesting to see if the articulate plugin could interact with the upcoming notation editor, then Cubase would have it's Expressions Maps competitor! :O


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## Audio Birdi (Aug 18, 2015)

I've just re-connected my template in reaper, after changing a few settings in preferences, I can safely say that this is by far the most efficient DAW software in terms of CPU usage.

My desktop CPU usage when loading up just my instruments in VEP = 7%.

When using Reaper 5.0, I get 25% CPU usage on idle when selecting all tracks, 10% when selecting the single most CPU intensive track. I get 40% CPU usage during playback on a blank session. 70% maximum if I fill all tracks with MIDI. This wouldn't happen since I can't possibly use every single instrument in my template .

When using Cubase 8 Pro, I get 80% CPU usage on idle. the same during playback normally, increases to 95% when all tracks contain MIDI data.

When using Logic Pro X, I get 7% CPU usage on idle, 60% CPU usage on playback when all tracks contain MIDI data.

I've configured to have Reaper stop all inserts + VI's when not playing back, which allows you to still play your MIDI keyboard with each selected track. I've also enabled record arm on selected tracks only, so minimal CPU will be used when recording separate tracks.

This is very intriguing, especially in terms of Reaper using only the tracks you've composed with, and effectively keeping all the others as unused / disabled. You can keep all the instrument inserts enabled too! 

I hope this info helps others.


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## tmm (Aug 18, 2015)

I've been using Reaper for a really long time... I picked it up sometime in college, so 2000-2004 timeframe. I've considered other DAWs many times, but always end up just sticking with Reaper after demoing the others. I'm very comfortable with it at this point, and I don't find any major deficiencies with it. The ability to write your own scripts for it is pretty nice, too. I'm a programmer by day, and the language behind the scenes is Python, which I'm competent in.

Reaper has a huge, helpful online community too, so if you want to know how to do something, 9/10 times you'll get it on your first Googling, and if you don't, ask, and someone will answer quickly.


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## samphony (Aug 18, 2015)

Hope you guys noticed that reaper 5 has vst3 Multiport support for VEP5!


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## Audio Birdi (Aug 19, 2015)

samphony said:


> Hope you guys noticed that reaper 5 has vst3 Multiport support for VEP5!


How do you select different MIDI ports?  

I can change midi channels but not Ports right now. 

Thanks in advance.


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## lachrimae (Aug 19, 2015)

tmm said:


> I've been using Reaper for a really long time... I picked it up sometime in college, so 2000-2004 timeframe.



Sorry to burst your bubble, but Reaper 1.0 launched in Aug. 2006. In fact, you can still download it and reminisce 
http://www.reaper.fm/download-old.php?ver=1x&skip=100

Edit: Dec. 2005 appears to be the first of any releases (v 0.4)
http://www.reaper.fm/download-old.php?ver=0x


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## EvilDragon (Aug 19, 2015)

KaBirdi said:


> How do you select different MIDI ports?
> 
> I can change midi channels but not Ports right now.
> 
> Thanks in advance.









Same for the inputs.


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## D.Salzenberg (Aug 19, 2015)

I was a long time Cubase user and then tried Reaper on a whim a year or two ago because you could download a fully functioning trial version. Having found to my surprise that I could run many many more vsti's and tracks in Reaper than I could in Cubase without doing any freezing or rendering I haven't looked back and used Reaper all the time ever since. It loads so fast, doesn't task the CPU and doesn't come bloated with loads of 'features' that you will never use.
As long as you have your own set of plug-ins and instruments it really can't be faulted. Plus some of the skins for it look amazing. Plus its cheap!!! Win, win win!


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## Ozymandias (Aug 19, 2015)

KaBirdi said:


> I've configured to have Reaper stop all inserts + VI's when not playing back



Doesn't Reaper flush synthesizers on stop by default? Or do you mean something else?


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## Audio Birdi (Aug 19, 2015)

Ozymandias said:


> Doesn't Reaper flush synthesizers on stop by default? Or do you mean something else?


I had to enable the option within the preferences, it doesn't do it by default it seems.


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## tmm (Aug 19, 2015)

lachrimae said:


> Sorry to burst your bubble, but Reaper 1.0 launched in Aug. 2006. In fact, you can still download it and reminisce
> http://www.reaper.fm/download-old.php?ver=1x&skip=100
> 
> Edit: Dec. 2005 appears to be the first of any releases (v 0.4)
> http://www.reaper.fm/download-old.php?ver=0x



Cockos site says 2004?

I was in grad school until 2006, so totally possible it was then and not undergrad. Splitting hairs here... it's still a long time


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## TimRideout (Sep 25, 2015)

EvilDragon said:


> Same for the inputs.



OMGGGGGG thank you.
Finally.

WHY is this feature buried deep inside Reaper?? I've been seriously trying for months to do this.
Thank you thank you Dragon of Evil

<proceeds to all other Reaper-VST3-MIDI-berating, forum-bashing posts with above link>

 T


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## EvilDragon (Sep 25, 2015)

I wouldn't necessarily say that it's buried. It's in a logical place that is relevant (input/output options of the plugin)...

In any case - you do it once, then save as track template, then you don't have to do it ever again.


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## TimRideout (Oct 15, 2015)

It's not in any first level menu, it doesn't have text, it's pretty cryptic, and is in no way documented. That's buried, to this n00b


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## TimRideout (Oct 26, 2015)

Ok - so, in Related Phenomena: Reaper is transmitting MIDI Note Data fine on all ports and channels - but MIDI CC Data will only transmit on channel 1 (EDIT: midi *BUS* 1). Does anyone have any thoughts on this?


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## EvilDragon (Oct 26, 2015)

You mean MIDI bus 1. That's a bug currently. http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=167937


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## TimRideout (Oct 27, 2015)

Thank you!


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## paaltio (Oct 28, 2015)

Fixed in the latest pre-release http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?p=1589223


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## TimRideout (Oct 31, 2015)

paaltio said:


> Fixed in the latest pre-release http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?p=1589223



Incredibly fast... thanks so much


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## BlueLight675 (Dec 6, 2015)

I hate to dig up a dead thread but - I'm in desperate need of some help.

I'm trying to get Reaper to play nice with VEP and it isn't working. For some reason I cannot change the midi port. 

Yes - I've done the routing bus trick pointed out by EvilDragon. 

Yes - I've set up the routing on the tracks to send to the VEP track on the right port and channel. 

Yes - I've made sure record monitoring is on. 

However, it only works on bus 1. Anything put on bus/port 2 - 16 in VEP and trying to point to it in Reaper simply produces no sound.

Any help would be appreciated.


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## Jurek (Dec 6, 2015)

robhoward83 said:


> Any help would be appreciated.


You don´t have to set up or use any MIDI bus/ports for that.
Just use the right midi CHANNEL.

In Reaper, create one master track with VEP on it, connect it

Then in the FX window of this track, right click and choose „Build 16 channels of midi routing to this track“ (in the left side of the window where the FX instances are listed, white background).

On the new tracks, you have to set up record-arm (right-click).

That should be it basically, hope this helps


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## BlueLight675 (Dec 6, 2015)

Thanks for the help but that didn't work.

That gives me 16 midi channels for the 1st midi port in VEP. I need to be able to use midi ports in Reaper that correlate with the midi ports inside VEP. Each midi port gives 16 channels. Looking at the 16 busses/ports in Reaper, I should be able to get 256 total midi channels. 

Most of my pieces of music require at least 20 different midi channels, thus needing more than 1 port.

This is easily done in Digital Performer and Sonar, which I have worked with before and I'm sure others.


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## BlueLight675 (Dec 6, 2015)

LOL - Nevermind. I figured it out. 

For anyone else confused - there are two midi drop down boxes in the sends. You want the first one to say ALL and the second to say whatever bus/channel you need - so if it's on port 2, channel 3 in VEP, then you the SECOND dropdown box to say bus 2/3. 

Dur. 

I really wish it was made more clear as I blew the entire day trying to figure it out.


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## Audio Birdi (Dec 6, 2015)

robhoward83 said:


> LOL - Nevermind. I figured it out.
> 
> For anyone else confused - there are two midi drop down boxes in the sends. You want the first one to say ALL and the second to say whatever bus/channel you need - so if it's on port 2, channel 3 in VEP, then you the SECOND dropdown box to say bus 2/3.
> 
> ...



Thanks for the info on this! I've been trying to get this to work too, to no avail. Shall give it a test out and report back! :D


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## woodslanding (Dec 7, 2015)

chimuelo said:


> Had a custom theme made for for TouchScreen.



Now you've piqued my interest. Got a pic of that?


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## Olivier1024 (Dec 7, 2018)

Thanks you and @EvilDragon so much.
I started to be dispirited, you save my day.



robhoward83 said:


> LOL - Nevermind. I figured it out.
> 
> For anyone else confused - there are two midi drop down boxes in the sends. You want the first one to say ALL and the second to say whatever bus/channel you need - so if it's on port 2, channel 3 in VEP, then you the SECOND dropdown box to say bus 2/3.
> 
> ...


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## Luke Davoll (Dec 14, 2020)

Hi all. So I desperately want to switch from cubase to reaper. Just keeping an eye on 2 quirks for the time being.

First is the fact that 2000 completely empty tracks eats a ton of cpu. This can be avoided by using either track templates and or subprojects. I kind of like this approach too for some reason.

The other is the 16 midi bus maximum in reaper. I have a vepro setup that uses 48 ports per instance, so I am waiting for reaper to address the maximum bus issue.

Question. Using loopMIDI or other virtual midi stuff, could anyone tell me how I might be able to get around this limit?


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