Midi in Reaper?

[lingyai]

I'm scouting about for a new DAW. A lot of folks say that Cubase is a far better choice than Reaper for midi.

I've no idea, I use neither.

I appreciate but don't need advanced midi features like Cubase's Chord Tracks or whatever they are called. What I do need is basic reliability and stability, the ability to loop record (in "take" mode), a serviceable piano roll and event editor, straightforward workflow, works well with Kontakt, and can handle midi-transmittting VSTis (like Cthulu, or Kontakt in its "send midi to the outside world mode", etc. ) which drive other VSTis.

In these respects, how if at all is Reaper lacking? I'd really love to hear -- not from fanbois -- but from people who have actually used recent versions of both Reaper and Cubase.

*Please* don't let this descend into a tribal slanging match. Not in the mood.

I never thought I'd be serioulsy considering Reaper. (I tried it a few years ago, everything just felt so foreign and opaque; wasn't helped much by the "Oh, just spend two weeks custiomizing it and then you'll be good to go for your first project" crowd; these people are like Mormon missionaries, nice enough, but unwilling to change the subject ) But with the demise of Sonar, these aren't normal times.

[lingyai]

ooops, double-posted

[braj]

I don't know about the midi event editor because I honestly rarely need that myself, but yeah, Reaper can host Cthulu fine, I personally like the piano roll. It is only $60, but besides that, you can actually use it as long as you like with a splash screen nag, so I say try it out, you really have nothing to lose.

The thing that drew me back to Reaper is the ability to edit video in time with music. Reaper is really mature and not that hard at all to figure out to me, sometimes the UI doesn't seem polished but that helps keep it from being bloated and buggy. It has been rock solid for me since v5.

[apondinthestream]

Reaper is incredibly annoying because the design is not very coherent - more a matter of stuff getting added as and when the devs want to. I have used it for a long time and have come to a way of working with it that is not too frustrating. Basically I have embraced the customisation / make your own action macros /make your own toolbars ethos. And I do that quite quickly and on the fly now - so toolbars and keystroke macros come and go, sometimes just for a few pieces. Once you get used to that Reaper is very good for midi as well as audio (audio is really where Reaper come from and is very powerful).

Chaining FX - like midi generator to Kontakt and multiple vst's can be done within a single track and is really easy and any chain can be saved as a track template. Can even be done within a single item which can be freely positioned anywhere. Reaper is quite amazing once you get over the frustration of learning how to make it into what you want

The Reaper forum is essential for help on things like mouse customisation - but that help is normally good and very quick.

I find Reaper hangs a bit with Kontakt but is normally very stable.

[lingyai]

Reaper is incredibly annoying because the design is not very coherent - more a matter of stuff getting added as and when the devs want to. I have used it for a long time and have come to a way of working with it that is not too frustrating. Basically I have embraced the customisation / make your own action macros /make your own toolbars ethos. And I do that quite quickly and on the fly now - so toolbars and keystroke macros come and go, sometimes just for a few pieces. Once you get used to that Reaper is very good for midi as well as audio (audio is really where Reaper come from and is very powerful).

Chaining FX - like midi generator to Kontakt and multiple vst's can be done within a single track and is really easy and any chain can be saved as a track template. Can even be done within a single item which can be freely positioned anywhere. Reaper is quite amazing once you get over the frustration of learning how to make it into what you want

The Reaper forum is essential for help on things like mouse customisation - but that help is normally good and very quick.

I find Reaper hangs a bit with Kontakt but is normally very stable.

Thanks for that.

I'm just not sure I'm cut out for the roll-your-own ethos, especially these days, as I get older and grumpier. And I was raised on Acid.

You would think that some enterprising person would offer to customize, or write detailed step-by-step instructions on how to customize, Reaper with some generic steup resembling a basic DAW -- a newbie template, if you will. Really basic, common denominator stuff in plain view. That would be worth paying for. Right now it sounds like it's like you have to complete a grad school course before you can just put together a project.

[EvilDragon]

Did you check out Kenny Gioia's videos?

[braj]

The roll your own thing is not anywhere as bad as some would lead you to believe. It usually is a matter in downloading and installing a couple of files and putting icons you want where you want them. Reaper is not that hard. I'm an old f'er and I have no issues figuring it out.

[lingyai]

The roll your own thing is not anywhere as bad as some would lead you to believe. It usually is a matter in downloading and installing a couple of files and putting icons you want where you want them. Reaper is not that hard. I'm an old f'er and I have no issues figuring it out.

Tempermentally, no one is an older f'er than I

[lingyai]

Did you check out Kenny Gioia's videos?

I'd not seen them, thanks.

ED, what if anything about midi (including VSTi issues) in Reaper do you find lacking / annoying?

[apondinthestream]

https://reaperblog.net/ is also very good for videos

[jancivil]

---
forget it

I notice no one has gone into meaningful functionality comparisons. it's fans of REAPER arguing for it and people that can't stand it. That in itself may tell you something, which disposition is more like yours.

[lingyai]

---
forget it

I notice no one has gone into meaningful functionality comparisons. it's fans of REAPER arguing for it and people that can't stand it. That in itself may tell you something, which disposition is more like yours.

You seemed on the cusp of saying something on-point with "forget it;" assuming you were refering to midi in Reaper, I was hoping you'd elaborate with some substance. It would not only have been helpful, it would also have set you apart from those whom you fault for not making "meaningful functionality comparsions." Those, after all, are all I wanted to hear about when I started this post.

But you stopped after "forget it", and reverted to your mean behaviour, which is to cat scratch across the face everyone in the discussion.

Please either back up, and answer the question, or if the question -- or me, or the wider world -- is bothering you, just say nothing, it's easy.

[EvilDragon]

ED, what if anything about midi (including VSTi issues) in Reaper do you find lacking / annoying?

Really, not that much. Perhaps articulation mapping would be nice, and visual editing of polyphonic aftertouch, but the rest is perfectly fine with me (after setting keyboard bindings how I want them and mouse modifiers to do what I want... and a few REALLY useful scripts).

[lingyai]

ED, what if anything about midi (including VSTi issues) in Reaper do you find lacking / annoying?

Really, not that much. Perhaps articulation mapping would be nice, and visual editing of polyphonic aftertouch, but the rest is perfectly fine with me (after setting keyboard bindings how I want them and mouse modifiers to do what I want... and a few REALLY useful scripts).

Cheers. So, is all the rest of the basic stuff , which for me means a workable-with piano roll, CC automation creation/editing, routing from midi VSTis (like Cthulu) to sound-producing VSTs, event editor -- basically all there?

[jancivil]

---
forget it

I notice no one has gone into meaningful functionality comparisons. it's fans of REAPER arguing for it and people that can't stand it. That in itself may tell you something, which disposition is more like yours.

You seemed on the cusp of saying something on-point with "forget it;" assuming you were refering to midi in Reaper, I was hoping you'd elaborate with some substance. It would not only have been helpful, it would also have set you apart from those whom you fault for not making "meaningful functionality comparsions." Those, after all, are all I wanted to hear about when I started this post.

But you stopped after "forget it", and reverted to your mean behaviour, which is to cat scratch across the face everyone in the discussion.

What's mean about making an observation regarding what's happened? And what always happens in this forum. You have the basic disposition that rolling your own is a PITA; I'm of that disposition, one prior respondent is, and there was a fan of REAPER who said it isn't that bad. I said forget it because arguing about whether or not having to do a lot of work towards getting a workspace together is just more of the same as what we'd seen so far. By not furthering that, I was heeding your warning. There's nothing unusual about these replies, mine was a comment about this subforum. I can't set myself apart from those comments so I'll scratch my own eyes out then.