reaper workshop and personal challenge

domhatch

so. tomcat's reaper workshop was incredibly informative. lots of tips, tools, and tricks of the trade were imparted. it certainly whet my appetite and by the time it was over i was itching to get home and get my hands dirty. i had wanted to come back and summarise our session into a 'quick-start' guide for those who are interested in using reaper to record their efforts - and maybe even enter the monthly challenges. instead, because of the depth of reaper as a DAW, i've set myself a personal challenge.

i are goings to records something in reaper and post my progress here - call it a 'song build' if you will. i'll go step by step through the process, from starting reaper up, through to mixing out, including where to find the fun VSTs (fx plug-ins) and VSTis (virtual instruments) that tomcat showed us - some of them were even free! of course, some of them were vastly expensive, but trust me, they were well, well worth the spondulocks.

so, wish me luck, and be patient - work and family will interfere with this project. but the idea is that i prove to myself i learned something at our workshop, and that i'm able to pass some of it on to y'all. if i make a nana of myself along the way, please feel free to point it out.

?
dh

TomCat

Good luck there DH.....I'll be following you with interest to see if anything I shared made sense.... ? ?

deefstes

Yeah, great idea. I'll be following the thread.

majestikc

Any update on this?

domhatch

majestikc wrote: Any update on this?

plenty! but profanity is not allowed on this forum... ☹ no, seriously, i'm making progress, but i've hit a stumbling block. i'm waiting to purchase a decent drum vsti, then all will be revealed...

thanks for the interest, hopefully i can put things to rights soon
dh

deefstes

domhatch wrote:
majestikc wrote: Any update on this?
plenty! but profanity is not allowed on this forum... ☹ no, seriously, i'm making progress, but i've hit a stumbling block. i'm waiting to purchase a decent drum vsti, then all will be revealed...

thanks for the interest, hopefully i can put things to rights soon
dh

I hear you. After TomCat's workshop I thought I was going to churn out one masterpiece after the other but in my case it also seems like I'm being held back chiefly by the lack of a proper drum VSTi. It probably won't carry on like this for too much longer before I just bite the bullet and get Addictive Drums.

doc-phil

deefstes wrote:
domhatch wrote:
majestikc wrote: Any update on this?
plenty! but profanity is not allowed on this forum... ☹ no, seriously, i'm making progress, but i've hit a stumbling block. i'm waiting to purchase a decent drum vsti, then all will be revealed...

thanks for the interest, hopefully i can put things to rights soon
dh
I hear you. After TomCat's workshop I thought I was going to churn out one masterpiece after the other but in my case it also seems like I'm being held back chiefly by the lack of a proper drum VSTi. It probably won't carry on like this for too much longer before I just bite the bullet and get Addictive Drums.

Negative! Get Steven Slate 4.0.

You will never regret that decision.

deefstes

doc-phil wrote:
deefstes wrote: I hear you. After TomCat's workshop I thought I was going to churn out one masterpiece after the other but in my case it also seems like I'm being held back chiefly by the lack of a proper drum VSTi. It probably won't carry on like this for too much longer before I just bite the bullet and get Addictive Drums.
Negative! Get Steven Slate 4.0.

You will never regret that decision.

Alright then doc-phil, you've stepped right into it ? You are now going to have to tell me what makes Steven Slate 4.0 better than Addictive Drums. And while you're at it, I wouldn't mind if you added EZDrummer and Native Instruments Battery or Abbey Road into the comparison as well.

I find it very daunting to make the right decision when I'm about to fork out more than a grand on something that I download. I've seen Addictive Drums in action, and was very impressed. That's why it has been foremost on my mind but I did intend to do some research. You seem to dissuade me from buying Addictive Drums with a fair amount of authority so I figure then you may have done that research already. Any advice please?

doc-phil

I have only used Addictive Drums very briefly. It's a solid product and I'm sure you will be happy with it.

However for me SSD 4.0 is just the ultimate drum vst cos it comes with your mix-ready kits from previous versions, as well as kits that have been recorded dry which allows you to eq/compress etc to your hearts content. The sound quality of the samples is just fantastic and it's not a lie that the kits are mix-ready. I have used the 'cracky metal kit' in a mix, and all I did to it was use the loud maximizer on Ozone to get it a bit louder.

The platinum version of SSD 4 has over 100 kits - there is so much variety, and a different kit for every situation (including a few electronic kits). You are also able to load your own samples into the SSD player if you so desire.

Another positive for me is that you can create and load your own midi maps, so you don't have to stick to General Midi mapping if you don't want. SSD 4 seems to have its own mapping out the box, which I think is a bit dumb, it should have been set at default on general midi and then given you the option to edit.

Just go to Mr Slate's website, listen to some of the demos and youtube videos and I'm sure you will part with your cash asap ?

http://stevenslatedrums.com/

=

Slate Digital customer support is also top notch. After I finished my download my license key wasn't appearing on my account for download. Mr Slate personally responded to my support ticket and sorted it out really quickly.

As far as EZDrummer is concerned, I wouldn't go near it. The basic version that just has the pop/rock kit is very one-dimensional. The drumkit from hell expansion which I had was over processed and barely usable. If you're going to go the Toontrack route, then go for Superior Drummer.

BMU

I always wonder if this type of do-gooder intention actually serves its purpose. Reaper itself has a very good quick-start guide and of course also a very comprehensive manual. Wouldn't reading Reaper's official, expertly written quick-start guide be a better use of time for both author and readers than writing/reading piecemeal information on a forum?

Certainly helped me pretty ok when I started using Reaper. I guess I'm just putting this out there to help that one somebody who may not realize Reaper itself has already provided all they'll ever need in terms of documentation.

deefstes

BMU wrote: I always wonder if this type of do-gooder intention actually serves its purpose. Reaper itself has a very good quick-start guide and of course also a very comprehensive manual. Wouldn't reading Reaper's official, expertly written quick-start guide be a better use of time for both author and readers than writing/reading piecemeal information on a forum?

Certainly helped me pretty ok when I started using Reaper. I guess I'm just putting this out there to help that one somebody who may not realize Reaper itself has already provided all they'll ever need in terms of documentation.

Might be, might not be. The REAPER manual is pretty impressive, but rather daunting. It is intended to explain EVERYTHING. The average guy, like me or Domhatch (actually, we're still working out if he's average) doesn't need to know EVERYTHING and, indeed, would be overwhelmed when trying to absorb everything. I for one am glad that he decided to undertake this exercise. It means I am likely to see where he stumbled and hopefully then, as a result of his do-gooder intention, not stumble in the same places myself.

domhatch

actually, depending on the day, i waver on either side of average. but never right on the line.

I always wonder if this type of do-gooder intention actually serves its purpose. Reaper itself has a very good quick-start guide and of course also a very comprehensive manual. Wouldn't reading Reaper's official, expertly written quick-start guide be a better use of time for both author and readers than writing/reading piecemeal information on a forum?

Certainly helped me pretty ok when I started using Reaper. I guess I'm just putting this out there to help that one somebody who may not realize Reaper itself has already provided all they'll ever need in terms of documentation.

so, i'm the type of guy who loves quick-start guides. if you could point me in the direction of this, i'd much appreciate it. in my download pack, the quick-start guide consists simply of short-cut keys http://www.reaper.fm/guides/REAPER%20Quick%20Start.pdf .

that said, TomCat's session was intended as an introduction to what could be done with reaper, and his ideas and processes/workflow on how to do it. from what i gathered, the guy has extensive knowledge of the product, and has used it to great effect for a good while. i got a lot out of the session.

as for my intentions here, per se, hell, it's probably going to turn out to be an exercise in self-deprecation more than anything else!

peace
dh

TomCat

I have downloaded and gone through the manual for Reaper and for me it's daunting..... ? ?,...but it also shows me that there is still a long way for me in terms of extracting all that Reaper offers.....

The journey for me continues..... ? ?

I find that often I learn the most when I hit a wall on something then do the research to overcome that....be it in the manual or by other means......

singemonkey

I've also started recently. Many light-years from producing professional sounding recordings.

TomCat

Here is what turned out to be probably the most difficult song I've recorded in Reaper.

http://www.box.com/s/4d86036f4cbfb3d0c023

Turned out to be something like 46+ tracks, but Reaper handled it well.

Synth: Zebra-2
Electric Guitar: 50th Anniversary Strat
Acoustic Guitar : Cort
Drums: Live Kit (Tama Starclassic)
Bass: Live
Vocals: Ren Bester and Mariann

All recorded in our lounge as part of Mariann's Album. Many tracks are layered and lots of harmonies done and mixed together.
The song also has quite large dynamics and mixdown was real Fun.....It is also quite a long song at about 7+ minutes long....

BMU

No the hands-on get together idea is good, respect to Tom. Demonstration is so much easier to absorb than written text.

Talking about trying to write a how-to guide in a forum probably not being good use of anybody's time. (The OP started out that way, but then didn't do it probably cos he figured this out too ? )

Anyway, for those asking where it is - huh? On the same web page you get the Reaper manual..?

domhatch

BMU wrote:
A Talking about trying to write a how-to guide in a forum probably not being good use of anybody's time. (The OP started out that way, but then didn't do it probably cos he figured this out too ? )

B Anyway, for those asking where it is - huh? On the same web page you get the Reaper manual..?

A it's less a case of it not being a good use of anybody's time - just more of a challenge than i realised up front. that said, it does devolve into being of no immediate use to any bugger... :-[

B searched hi and, lo, all i can find is the aforementioned keyboard shortcut guide. however, in searching i have found a heap of other resources. they're almost all for pc users though, so i'm struggling through applying them to the mac environment. not much of a problem, but it does take a little more headwork...

cheers
dh

Nitebob

@Tom...sorry about the 'oooh squirrel' but thanks for that link...the drums are jawdropping to me...well done!

BMU

@domhatch - I was thinking of the 'getting started' chapter in the manual, sorry. Yeah there are a lot of internet resources. Much better than trying to write yet another one. But you already figured that out!