Beginner starter pack ?

[Asahiart]

Hi everyone , i just jumped into reaper with the evaluation version ( for now ) , and start watching Kenny's video ( thanks to him btw ) .
I was playing with FLstudio before and found it a bit counfusing , reaper seems easier for me in term of workflow , which is good , i mean, i understand better how it works than i ever did with FL studio.

Anyway my question would be , what VST and sample packs ( free ones ) would you guys recommend for beginners , like a basic starter pack ,that would cover the essential needs, just to fiddle around with no other purpose than to get familiar with reaper .

For example FLstudio had everything it needs , granted maybe not the best quality , but still there nonetheless , i would like to build a small pack of samples and vst just to have fun and test things out while learning .

The problems with the lists found online ( the best 100 vst of 2016 yeah ) is, it seems to be addressed to people that knows what they are looking for ... me ? i don't know really i am knew , and rather than downloading stuff that i have no idea what they are, i would really appreciate if some of you folks could point me to some downloadable contents that they feels would cover any beginners needs while learning . This could be useful for others too .

Thanks again all , and sorry if this topic has already been covered , i apologize , in this case feel free to point me to the topic and delete this one .

[Lokasenna]

It ultimately depends on what genre you're into, at least as far as instruments go.

As a starting point, I'd go here and download the top two or three picks in every category: http://bedroomproducersblog.com/free-vst-plugins/ - most plugins have a good selection of presets to let you see what they're capable of.

[slipstick]

http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=52382

Contains lots of good free choices. But what you use does critically depend on what sort of music you're planning on making e.g. EDM, Metal, Orchestral, Rock etc. They all need very different instruments and effects.

But assuming some sort of electronic music I'd start with some synthesizers, Synth1, Dexed and maybe Oatmeal. You'll also want a few effects but you can make a good start with the ones that come with Reaper particularly ReaEQ, ReaVerb, ReaDelay and ReaComp.

If you particularly want to play with samples ReaSamplomatic5000 is a useful sampler you already have which will keep you going for a while but I don't know much about sample packs cus I don't really use many samples myself. It's probably easiest to pick a genre like say trance and just google "free trance samples".

Of course if you're aiming at recording vocals and real instruments, then forget everything I said, except perhaps the effects .

Steve

[Asahiart]

Hi guys , thanks for the quick answers . Yes i completely forgot to mention the music genre , even if i don't have a precise one at the moment ( i kinda like everything ) , but yep for starter i was thinking some downtempo electronic/triphop , instrumental hiphop ( Lorn , The XX , Nujabes etc ...) things of the sort, no real instruments involved ( I do have a Akai MPK mini for VST )

Much appreciated , i ll try to look the links you mentionned .

[October1]

Thanks for this thread guys, it's really helpful. Btw, I had read somewhere online that one approach for panning overheads or room mics is to pan them in the centre, and then move the individual drums to match them in the stereo space.