Reaper

[solrax]

OK, so a while back I ended up taking some advice and got reaper as my recording software. I really enjoy using reaper, my problems are that I can't quite figure out if you can master your tracks on reaper and what program I can use to add bass lines and drums. I actually tried playing bass lines on guitar and lowering the octave in reaper, it gave me a real muddy distorted sound. Are there any reaper compatible programs (MIDI based, i guess) that can add the bass lines and drums? On this note I'm not looking for loops. I would like to create my own bass and drum lines.For anyone with reaper, is there anyway to master a song within reaper or do you have to use separate software?

[aimusic]

Hey,I use Reaper and really dig it, I am impressed with the constant updates they are coming up with.THere are a few websites which offer free VST/VSTI in which you can create your drum and bass lines.I think there are a few vsts in Reaper that allow you to do Mastering, but I think if you wanted to do it professionaly, then rather spend the money on a program designed specially for that... I think at the moment, Cockos is focusing on getting Reaper better than Cubase etc, I'm sure somewhere down the line they will release a Mastering Suite to go with it!http://www.freesoundeditor.com/VSTSyntheng.htmhere's a link to some free vsts etc...Hope this helps!Take CareB

[solrax]

Apr 21, 2008, 2:56am, aimusic wrote:Hey,I use Reaper and really dig it, I am impressed with the constant updates they are coming up with.THere are a few websites which offer free VST/VSTI in which you can create your drum and bass lines.I think there are a few vsts in Reaper that allow you to do Mastering, but I think if you wanted to do it professionaly, then rather spend the money on a program designed specially for that... I think at the moment, Cockos is focusing on getting Reaper better than Cubase etc, I'm sure somewhere down the line they will release a Mastering Suite to go with it!http://www.freesoundeditor.com/VSTSyntheng.htmhere's a link to some free vsts etc...Hope this helps!Take CareBThanks for the website, I'll go check it out....Also I don't think I've done any updates for it. In fact I don't think I even know how!EDIT: I've used Cubase and IMO reaper is by far a better program!

[texasmusicforge]

Reaper is a superb DAW program. I spent a lot of money on Sonar and found that Reaper works just as well with a much smaller drain on CPU. The whole package downloads in a smaller file than a quality Mp3 and their website has a very helpful and generally friendly users forum if you have questions.Reaper has a built-in on screen MIDI keyboard you can use to create your MIDI bass and drum parts. Load a new MIDI track into your project, open up the MIDI keyboard from the menu and use your mouse to pick out the notes on the keyboard. You can then move your MIDI notes around in the track. Keep in mind that MIDI notes aren't musical notes by themselves, they have to be played back through a synthesizer or virtual instrument to make a noise you can hear. Reaper comes with its own software synths and, as noted above, there are plenty of excellent free ones available.This is a really painstaking way to create drum parts and you'll spend a lot more time messing with MIDI than making music if you're new to this stuff. As a shortcut, I'd offer the following suggestion: Find a popular song which is fairly close in feel to the song you're trying to record and then Google search for a free MIDI version of that song. There are gazillions of MIDI covers of popular songs available as free downloads from music hobbyists. If you download their MIDI and open it up in Reaper, you'll have all the instrumental tracks laid out for you. Simply strip away the parts you don't need and you'll be left with a good starting point for your bass and drum tracks. With any MIDI editor (including Reaper) you can push the notes around until you have exactly what you want - then copy and paste until you have your part put together.Hope this helps,Ed

[aimusic]

Apr 21, 2008, 6:31am, texasmusicforge wrote:Reaper is a superb DAW program. I spent a lot of money on Sonar and found that Reaper works just as well with a much smaller drain on CPU. The whole package downloads in a smaller file than a quality Mp3 and their website has a very helpful and generally friendly users forum if you have questions.Reaper has a built-in on screen MIDI keyboard you can use to create your MIDI bass and drum parts. Load a new MIDI track into your project, open up the MIDI keyboard from the menu and use your mouse to pick out the notes on the keyboard. You can then move your MIDI notes around in the track. Keep in mind that MIDI notes aren't musical notes by themselves, they have to be played back through a synthesizer or virtual instrument to make a noise you can hear. Reaper comes with its own software synths and, as noted above, there are plenty of excellent free ones available.This is a really painstaking way to create drum parts and you'll spend a lot more time messing with MIDI than making music if you're new to this stuff. As a shortcut, I'd offer the following suggestion: Find a popular song which is fairly close in feel to the song you're trying to record and then Google search for a free MIDI version of that song. There are gazillions of MIDI covers of popular songs available as free downloads from music hobbyists. If you download their MIDI and open it up in Reaper, you'll have all the instrumental tracks laid out for you. Simply strip away the parts you don't need and you'll be left with a good starting point for your bass and drum tracks. With any MIDI editor (including Reaper) you can push the notes around until you have exactly what you want - then copy and paste until you have your part put together.Hope this helps,EdExcellent advice... another thing you could consider is buying a midi keyboard and programming midi like that asa) you can create ideas on the flyb) will save you time and energy getting what you want.

[solrax]

Thank You to both of you the help you both have given me. I really appreciate your responses, and will give them a go!