The Reaper Experience

[Knucklesdude]

Common Problems while authoring in Reaper:

Make sure you name your track.

1. In the midi editor, click View -> Mode: Event List.
2. With your cursor set at the beginning, right-click -> insert text event.
3. Text = 'PART GUITAR', 'PART BASS', 'PART DRUMS', or 'PART VOCALS' and Type = Track Name. Click Ok.

Place your notes in the right places.

Place expert notes in midi lanes 96-100. Hard, 84-88. Medium, 72-75. Easy, 60-62.

Well lately I've been rhyming and rhythming my way through charting music in Reaper. I thought I would inform others about what I encountered while the documentation and whatnot is still being worked on.

=Mixing=

Song: Megadeth - Moto Psycho/Coming Home
Those are two Megadeth songs, which I conjoined in Reaper. If you have charted any custom songs in the past (FeedBack anyone?) you probably haven't had the advantage of a digital audio workstation like Reaper. This allowed me to append Coming Home's first cymbal/bass hit to the end of Moto Psycho's last measure before its fadeout, flawlessly.

Count-in: I used a conventional two half-notes, then four quarter notes in the beginning to get the 1---2---1-2-3-4 effect. Reaper seamlessly took my ride sample and with the bpm that I had set, made a satisfying count-in similar to what you find in Rock Band.

=Charting=

Syncing: Much, much, much better. I'll again compare it to FeedBack (dB), since it seems that's still the standard for most charters. In dB, you have a black line with Guitar Hero-style circular frets on top of that. You have to chart the note that starts in the middle of that line and in the center of the frets. However in Reaper, you time the chart by looking at nice, thin lines. And right at the beginning of that line, or midi note, is where the sound originates.

Previewing: For listening to the audio track, and basing notes from what you hear, Reaper lets you input your own playback rate, that can be, get this, less than .5! (girly scream!)

Drums: Since I don't yet have the free Rock Band plugins for Reaper, I am forced to memorize what midi lanes are what colors. This is mad easy though. I got the hang of it about one measure in. And again, the plugins will add the colors (source: creators.rockband.com video)

Events: Adding an event is about as easy as adding a note. Locate where you want to place an event on the midi track, switch to event list view. Presto.

Finished Product: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ1s4RGobEw&fmt=18

[afterstasis]

i've never gotten into charting, but as a longtime user of reaper (along with acid pro and occasionally cubase) i'm glad to see it's useful in more ways than i previously realized.

[AKALink]

Cool so you can see the audio track and place the notes based on that? Is that what you said? Because that would be so much better than Feedback.

[Knucklesdude]

Cool so you can see the audio track and place the notes based on that? Is that what you said? Because that would be so much better than Feedback.

Yes, you can also look directly at the sound waves to determine exactly when the note starts.

[trg007]

I downloaded the trial version and started playing around with it, but I still haven't figured out the MIDI editor. I figured out how to place notes but I can't play them back (there's no sound to represent the notes I made). Anyone have a link to a good beginner's guide on this stuff?

EDIT: Well, I can export to a .mid file and play it in Windows Media Player and it works fine, but can't play it from within Reaper.

[afterstasis]

I downloaded the trial version and started playing around with it, but I still haven't figured out the MIDI editor. I figured out how to place notes but I can't play them back (there's no sound to represent the notes I made). Anyone have a link to a good beginner's guide on this stuff?

if you're wanting audio to play off of midi notes you'll need a virtual instrument.

http://www.kvraudio.com is a wonderful resource where you can find some pretty decent free VSTi's.

[iruhlman]

yeah many of us ANXIOUSLY await the release of those docs. Its a little frustrating that others are given a head start.

[BillyBlaze314]

yeah many of us ANXIOUSLY await the release of those docs. Its a little frustrating that others are given a head start.

Yeah, I don't understand why it would be a bad thing to let us see them so we can be ready to go when we are able to get the tools and the update patch for Rock Band.

[Knucklesdude]

afterstasis is right. Reaper comes pretty lightweight, so if you need any effects, you should search some up on google.

Though I did not use one in the OP, since I've become accustomed to charting without playback sounds (I know I'll be using them for vocals though).

[davidshek]

Yeah, I don't understand why it would be a bad thing to let us see them so we can be ready to go when we are able to get the tools and the update patch for Rock Band.

Because the docs obviously aren't finished yet. If they were finished, they'd be released.