JS Plugin: Arranger Track

[captain caveman]

JS Arranger plugin v1.2
------------------
v1.2 - Added slider to choose which section to start from and to move cursor between sections when stopped.

v1.1 - Changed logic of arranger section, should now work in every combination of sequences.

In Arranger mode it works like the arranger track in Cubase.

Live Looped mode that repeats the current marker section until another trigger is pressed (normal Live mode doesn't loop)

Trigger buttons in Arranger mode...

When stopped - go to markers

When playing - go to arranger section


Here is a link to a .rar file with the JS plugin, the required custom actions (pre-MIDI learned), as well as a crappy project to show it in action.

(In Windows, all the JS plugins are now kept in....

/Documents and Settings/User/Application Data/REAPER/Effects

.... so copy it to that location, I don't know where they go in OSX).

Please let me know of any issues.



Link to project/keymap and plugin rar: https://stash.reaper.fm/v/7309/Arranger.rar

Link to plugin: https://stash.reaper.fm/v/7293/Arranger

edit2: Forgot to mention that the project file uses Jeffos's omni-excellent plugin MIDIReaRoute which is part of his S&M bundle.....

http://reaper.mj-s.com/SnM_plugs_v2.2b.zip

..... instead of this you can use MIDI Yoke or someother MIDI loopback into REAPERs MIDI control.


edit3: The project has anticipative FX disabled on the track containing the plugin. This plugin does not like anticipative FX at all so if you are checking it out outside of the project file disable it per-track or globally.

[captain caveman]

A couple of other things to mention. You need to enable Smooth Seek by rightclicking on the Snap icon and checking the box or running the action Options: Smooth seek.

The MIDI items that control the plugin just need to contain any note to trigger the arranger sections. The notes that trigger the actions are the same ones as in V'gers template, they are high on channel 16 so just avoid those in the MIDI items. It is best to have the notes just short of 1 bar long* at the last bar of your arranger "regions" so that the Stop feature works.

*if the notes extend completely to the end of the item strange things happen.

[gwok]

cool, will check this out -

edit: hey, does that JS plugin work on osx too?

[DarkStar]

Just had a brief look in the .rar.

There's a lot of new shortcuts in the Arranger.ReaperKeyMap - can you list which ones are used as they might overwrite existing ones (and, possibly, the unique keys might not be unique)

[captain caveman]

Sure thing the notes that are used for control are.....

106 to 128 on Channel 16

......

and no actions will be overwritten because the instead of assigning the MIDI control keys to the stock actions, I created custom actions containing single actions for this purpose.

Arranger: Go to marker 01 Note 108 Ch 16

to

Arranger: Go to marker 20 Note 128 Ch 16

Arranger: Stop Transport Note 107 Ch 16

Arranger: Play Transport Note 106 Ch 16 (reserved for future use)

Also, as far as I know, JS plugins work fine on OSX.

[DarkStar]

Got it, thank you

[gwok]

Originally Posted by captain caveman

Also, as far as I know, JS plugins work fine on OSX.

hmmm, I havent' dealt with a lot of JS stuff, but I'm only seeing a "Unix executable file" which i thought was windows

anyway, here's what i got

[IMG]http://img816.**************/img816/6057/screenshot20101211at122.png[/IMG]

Uploaded with **************

where should I drop the arranger plugin?

tx

[captain caveman]

In Windows, all the JS plugins and now kept in....

/Documents and Settings/User/Application Data/REAPER/Effects

.... which is the standard place to stuff application data (as can be seen from the title of the folder ). I'd imagine that on OSX it's the standard place too, but I wouldn't know where that was.

[gwok]

awesome! - will be able to dig into this more later, though this is great - seems real simple and clear - the loop option is a GREAT idea!

good stuff man!

[captain caveman]

I've fixed a few issues and changed some stuff and it's now v1.0. I've also updated the .rar file containing the keymaps and updated sample project.

[captain caveman]

You should try to disable anticipative FX for all tracks to see if that helps.

I notice that the screen shot you posted is of the old sample project, so if you haven't already you should download the latest .rar package with the new project and arranger plugin. I have changed a few things since the original project/plugin which may not affect anything but is worth doing just in case.

Having said that, I get dropouts when switching on my laptop - but not after switching which is what you are getting. On the desktop everything runs fine.

[captain caveman]

I've just checked this out and it turns out that I get smoother performance on the laptop when the timestretched items are glued. You could try changing the project timestretch options or gluing.

On that plus side, I found a bug that repeated section 3 twice instead of once when section 2 plays once.

v1.01 uploaded.

https://stash.reaper.fm/v/7293/Arranger

[captain caveman]

No worries, I am glad you like it!

I have just updated it again to v1.1, cause the "sequencer" in arrange mode wasn't working in every case so I went back to basics and changed it with better logic. Now it should work as expected all the time.

[Jae.Thomas]

Originally Posted by DarkStar

Just had a brief look in the .rar.

There's a lot of new shortcuts in the Arranger.ReaperKeyMap - can you list which ones are used as they might overwrite existing ones (and, possibly, the unique keys might not be unique)

one of the reasons we need some way to import only certain things and see how they affect our current setup...

[captain caveman]

Hopefully the details outlined in response to DarkStar's post is enough to at least kick-start someone's memory into remembering that they have stuff learned on the high notes on Ch 16 though.

Anyway, this is just a small post to say 1.2 is released and the plugin should be finished.

[Jeffos]

I tried it out, cool stuff captain!!
on a sidenote: the next version of MIDIReaRoute will automatically turn off anticipative FX processing when needed (only for the track where it resides, of course).

[gwok]

Originally Posted by Jeffos

I tried it out, cool stuff captain!!
on a sidenote: the next version of MIDIReaRoute will automatically turn off anticipative FX processing when needed (only for the track where it resides, of course).

and osx support?

[V'ger]

Originally Posted by captain caveman

In Windows, all the JS plugins and now kept in....

/Documents and Settings/User/Application Data/REAPER/Effects

.... which is the standard place to stuff application data (as can be seen from the title of the folder ).

As opposed to program files which of course has nothing to do with applications?

Very nice app this, but maybe an idea to include a line how to install it to avoid people giving up when they see an extensionless file with no explanation what to do with it, the fact that JS plugins are not like normal plugins might not be common knowledge.

I certainly was confused after installing it in the Effects folder in Program Files and nothing worked, but after some searching found the right place for it. Added confusion when the ReaRoute plugin was to be put in "hosts plugin directory" which after some trial and error meant the VST plugin folder..

Anyway, a useful plug this with the loop function etc, very close to the Cubase type now. But what does the "starting from section" column mean?

[captain caveman]

Originally Posted by V'ger

But what does the "starting from section" column mean?

It starts the arranger sequence from the section (1, 2, 3, 4 etc) selected by the slider. It means that rather than playing the new arrangement from start to finish every time, you can choose where to play it from.

I've copied that line about the install location of JS plugs to the OP, I still don't know where they go in OSX.

[kurt1111]

Does this plugin work on both 64 and 32 bit?
Will it work on the reaper 4.0 alpha release?

[V'ger]

Originally Posted by captain caveman

It starts the arranger sequence from the section (1, 2, 3, 4 etc) selected by the slider. It means that rather than playing the new arrangement from start to finish every time, you can choose where to play it from.

Ah yes of course, that's a nice feature.

Thanks for this, gonna use it a lot. (all projects more like)

[kurt1111]

Bump to my previous question

[captain caveman]

Originally Posted by kurt1111

Bump to my previous question

You should maybe think about trying it out?

[kurt1111]

I did check it out. I couldn't get it to work, but maybe I didn't do it right, that's why I asked.

[captain caveman]

It works in 32 bit R4 Alphas over here on a 64 bit OS. JS is just a scripting language and Reaper does the compiling of it so it's unlikely that one particular JS plugin wouldn't work.

Did you install the JS plugin in the right place, import the key commands and are you using either MIDIReaRoute/MIDIToReaControlPath or MIDI Yoke/LoopBe/Etc to get the notes sent by the plugin into the control path?

[caseyjames]

I'm having tons of trouble trying to get this to work. Im using ReaMidiControlPath as MidiReaRoute wasn't working.

Only the arranger mode seems to do anything. It loops marker 5 way more times than is listed. In general everything seems to not follow the settings. If you need a list of specifics let me know.

Any ideas? Anyone else have this issue on x64?

[captain_caveman]

Are you experiencing these issues with the example project contained in the zip file (with that version of the plugin)?

If so, do you have anticipative FX turned off for the track? (I don't know ATM if this is stored with project (should be, but never know)).