What's the deal with Reaper?

deadly_habit · Post by **deadly_habit** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:21 am

yeah real time stretch like an akai lol

ruckus49 · Post by **ruckus49** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:41 am

reaper is very cool. i switched from sonar and i like it 10x more. much more reliable and easier on your cpu. its small as hell too, only a 7 mb download.

vertex · Post by **vertex** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:20 pm

abZ wrote:It is cheap.

That's no bad thing, not as cheap as renoise tho but it's more affordable than something like pro-tools...

futures_untold wrote:Reaper is a proper DAW which stands up well against Cubase, Pro Tools, Logic et al.

The built in FX are crap, but it supports VSTs and DX plugins, so who cares?

It does time stretching, and all that jazz really easily, and the routing system is really really easy...

The question you have to ask yourself is, 'why would you spend ridiculous money on Cubase etc' when you could get Reaper?

No dongles, no platform dependancy, no specific soundcards required, no silly limitations like Reason where oyu can't use plugins or record audio etc etc.....

Download it for free from here and try it out..!

I'm such a fanboy haha

Cheers, I've downloaded it and trying it now, does seem similar to Logic IMO.

I still use Logic 5.51, which is getting old in the tooth, Reaper does seem quite similar... Is there anyway I can use the Logic Plug-ins with Reaper?

slyman wrote:can u use ur computer keyboard in it to play notes. that is all i want because i dont have a midi keyboard. this is the only reason i stick with fl. ableton has it but i like the way the keys are laid out in fl better

That's pretty cool, I normally use a microkorg, but it seems silly to have to plug it all up just to hear test a few patches when it can be done on the keyboard...

epoch wrote:And its a 5mb download

Thats value for bytes right there.

Well I guess that's always a good, I wonder if I can run it from a USB stick?

Deadly Habit wrote:oh and OP renoise with all the vid tutorials and whole tutorial side to site can get you tracking proficently in about a weeks time and trust me it's a much quicker workflow than a traditional sequencer and allows for more automation control least imo

Yep I can already use a tracker, I used Octamed and fast tracker back in the day, renoise does have a lot of extras tho which I don't know how to use so I really need to give it a go.

I do prefer trackers for things like drums, but I prefer reason or Logic for doing synths and samples... I guess using some funky rewire I may be able to do this...

ruckus49 · Post by **ruckus49** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 12:32 pm

Vertex wrote: Well I guess that's always a good, I wonder if I can run it from a USB stick?

yeah u can. thats one of their selling points actually

jedison · Post by **jedison** » Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:09 pm

I don't mind Reaper, it's not like Cubase or Logic where as it comes with a bunch of stuff that's instantly usable (effect, vsts, etc) but it's cheap and you can test the full version. When peeps in my area ask me what they should learn on to get into it I always suggest they try Reaper, as it's cheap to get into, and it's a full fledged DAW unlike Reason or even FL. So you can always upgrade down the line, plus you don't have to try and learn on sketch pirated software and get frustrated at it. But yah Reaper is ill.

cloak and dagger · Post by **cloak and dagger** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:54 am

I love the idea of Reaper, and it does a LOT of things right...it's definitely an amazing value for the money, and it makes me wonder why products like Cubase and Logic are so expensive, since it's not like they build each version from scratch (and I refuse to believe the included plugins are worth that much money).

Maybe it's because I learned to produce on Reason, which is obviously heavily influenced by Cubase, but the only reason I haven't switched over to Reaper without a second thought is that the workflow and design is completely different from what I'm comfortable with. I understand it's customizable, but it really feels like a lot of stuff that SHOULD'VE been taken from programs like Cubase or Logic in terms of interface and usability, wasn't. I'm a firm believer that you should be able to do any simple task with a toolbar and right-click menu...navigating through menus for simple stuff like grid quantization or having to set shortcuts so that new midi tracks don't automatically have midi data in them is just the tip of the iceberg...but overall, the program feels like a chore to use and that I'm fighting with it most of the time.

It's unfortunate, because I really WANT to like it...I'll definitely keep an eye on it, but I have a feeling there aren't going to be any major changes to the interface to make it as user-friendly as other DAWs (man, I can't believe I just described Cubase as "user-friendly").

futures_untold · Post by **futures_untold** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:08 am

I'm confused, Reason is nothing like cubase in workflow or otherwise...? (I grew up using Reason and Cubase btw)

Reaper for me felt fresh and intuitive after Cubase, and is capable of more than Reason.

You mention that you find Reaper (I presume) unwieldy. You do realise that you can customise both the gui and the toolbar buttons to whatever you like? (Including lists of actions down to one click)

Things like quantisation snapping are already accessible from the toolbar. Left click to turn it on/off, right click to bring up the settings tab.

For me, Cubase was a nightmare to use. Things like the VST rack and different tracks for different purposes. Logic seems good, I can't comment because I've only used it once or twice briefly.

What elements of Cubase and Logic would you like to see in Reaper? Reading the Reaper forums, it seems that many of the users features requests make their way into the program within a few months tops (which is better than Propellerheads who don't act on shit over a period of years).....

Reaper ftw!

86. · Post by **86.** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 1:57 pm

I want to get this because I often spend a lot of time on computers that are elsewhere rather than home. I can run Reaper off a USB, and if ideas come I can sketch em down...maybe even complete a whole song before going home.

cloak and dagger · Post by **cloak and dagger** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 5:07 pm

futures_untold wrote:I'm confused, Reason is nothing like cubase in workflow or otherwise...? (I grew up using Reason and Cubase btw)

Reaper for me felt fresh and intuitive after Cubase, and is capable of more than Reason.

You mention that you find Reaper (I presume) unwieldy. You do realise that you can customise both the gui and the toolbar buttons to whatever you like? (Including lists of actions down to one click)

Things like quantisation snapping are already accessible from the toolbar. Left click to turn it on/off, right click to bring up the settings tab.

For me, Cubase was a nightmare to use. Things like the VST rack and different tracks for different purposes. Logic seems good, I can't comment because I've only used it once or twice briefly.

What elements of Cubase and Logic would you like to see in Reaper? Reading the Reaper forums, it seems that many of the users features requests make their way into the program within a few months tops (which is better than Propellerheads who don't act on shit over a period of years).....

Reaper ftw!

I dunno, maybe it's because I used Reason first and then went to Cubase? Compared to other DAWs, the sequencing, MIDI editing, shortcuts, and overall feel were really easy to get used to. Granted, I'm not saying they're the same...I still don't have my head around routing in Cubase, but I was able to do a collab in it the first time I ever used it, and I don't consider myself production or computer savvy.

I never understood why the VST rack tripped people up. Maybe because I was used to the virtual rack in Reason, but it never seemed like a big deal to have a rack that lists all of your instruments and then just create a MIDI track for them. Again, I guess it's just a usability thing, and it's just weird for some people while it works for others.

It's not so much the lack of features (although drawing and moving around automations was surprisingly bad), but moreso the interface. I've tried customizing it, but it's still weird that I have to go to a toolbar, click an option, and manually type in that I want to edit in 1/64 instead of just selecting it from a dropdown menu right there in the editing window. That kind of stuff. I never meant to imply Reaper had less features, just that the interface seemed to slow down my workflow to a crawl, even when I knew what I was doing, but especially if I was searching for how to do something that should have been a lot easier to figure out in my opinion. Even when I look at Reaper Q+A threads on boards, I see loads of questions by people who are proficient with other DAWs about how to do simple things...this isn't necessarily an inherent fault of Reaper, but I totally see where they're coming from...they're probably used to working in a similar way that I do.

It's a tough call for me about recommending Reaper to people just getting into it...on one hand, it's cheap, updated often, powerful, and has some great features and design choices...on the other hand, I can't imagine anybody wrapping their head around it if it's their first DAW.

edit: I also meant to mention that I'm definitely not done with Reaper and will without a doubt try it again in the future...maybe wait for version 4, maybe not even wait that long.

kyran · Post by **kyran** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 7:35 pm

Did anyone check out zynewave podium? (http://www.zynewave.com)

It's cheap, not as full featured as reaper (no timestretch is the only one that sort of bothers me, but I just rewire live in to get around that), but I like the workflow a lot more. For some reason reaper never connected with me.

alphacat · Post by **alphacat** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 8:59 pm

I used Acid (the program not the drug you fucks

) for something like 10+ years with little side trips into FL4 and Reason 1 & 2...

...and I keep saying this now that I've seen the Reaper light:

REAPER MAKES ME WANT TO KICK SONY SQUARE AND HARD IN THE BALLS for wasting so much of my musical time.

It might be a little intimidating at first, all those hotkeys and whatnot. But in the few short months I've been learning and using it my sound has changed - no, evolved - for the better. Seriously.

It's got the best of everything IMHO; a clean Logic-esque interface, full right-click functionality, highly configurable, supports any and all plugs I've thrown at it so far, is a tiny install compared to Acid's stupid ½ GB+ setup... the thing I think makes it work so well is that instead of shielding the developers from the user community, they've done the opposite and practically opened up the phone lines.

And fwiw, the native javascript plugs are actually pretty cool - they just don't have fancy interfaces designed to look like vintage gear with knobs and shit. I just found a bass LFO plug in the onboard collection that wobbles like a motherfucker.

REAPER FTW!

:studio:

slyman · Post by **slyman** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 9:06 pm

futures_untold wrote:
slyman wrote:can u use ur computer keyboard in it to play notes. that is all i want because i dont have a midi keyboard. this is the only reason i stick with fl. ableton has it but i like the way the keys are laid out in fl better
Yes you can do this.

On the sequencer track that you wish to 'play' with your keyboard, assign the midi to 'virtual midi keyboard' from the 'midi inputs' submenu. Next, press 'Alt-B' to show the virtual midi keyboard (or click on 'show virtual midi keyboard from the 'view' menu).

Your computer keyboard should now be assigned to your synth so you can play notes.

ooo thanks alot i think im going to start using this now

What's the deal with Reaper?

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