MIDI controllers and REAPER?

[das]

Hi All!

I am a newbie on this forum and to music creation in general, so I suspect that my question has been asked many times! So if you can answer or point me in the right direction, much appreciated.
My aim is to record songs that I have written over the years - words on paper, melody/tune in my head (and one-fingered on a keyboard)at present. So hearing about REAPER and MIDI controllers seems to be the way to go.

Which keyboard controller works best with Reaper? I would like "plug & play" compatibility if possible - or a simple click menu type of installation.

I do not have a midi controller yet and I have not downloaded Reaper yet, but got the book off Amazon as a first step! I obviously want the least hassle in hardware configuration etc. I will be using WIN 7 OS and quite like the look of M-Audio Oxygen25 or M-Audio Axiom25 keyboard controllers.

I have already bought a second-hand TASCAM US-144 MK2 (USB 2) interface from Ebay, so ready for the next step -- "but a fool and his money.... etc".

Hope you can help a complete newbie into what looks like a fascinating hobby/pastime. THANKS IN ADVANCE!

[DarkStar]

Hello das and welcome to these forums. You'll find many helpful people here and a lot of useful information.


Many (tens, hundreds?) work perfectly well with Reaper (and with other DAWs).

Most have a simple driver install, and some have a separate Editor to allow you to configure them (assign different MIDI CC messages to the knobs etc)

Those two you mentioned should be fine - both have the correct software drivers for Windows 7 (64-bit?). Many people here use them (or their bigger versions).

Some things to consider:
-- the Oxygen and Axiom are quite different pieces of gear (one's double the price of the other, as an indicator)
-- do you need the MIDI pads on the Axiom?
-- and I'm not sure that the Instrument Maps are useful (they seem to be for instruments supplied with the DAW, and Reaper has very few),
-- both of those have 25 keys - sooner or later you will want more keys, consider the bigger models
-- both have Hyperlink - to enable easier mapping of the keyboard controls to your DAW, but Reaper is not listed as a supported application,
-- the "key-action" (how they feel when you play them) is different - "synth action" vs "semi-weighted" I recall - visit a local store and try them (and others) out to see which you prefer.

Have a look at Novation and Alesis too.

I've probably just made your choice more complicated. But the good news is you can download and install Reaper and evaluate it for 60 days, without needing a keyboard controller. You can enter MIDI notes directly in the MIDI Edito / Piano Roll or by clicking Reaper's Virtual MIDI Keyboard.

[das]

Thanks for welcome & info DarkStar! I'll take a look at Novation.

""both have Hyperlink - to enable easier mapping of the keyboard controls to your DAW, but Reaper is not listed as a supported application,""

If not listed - does that mean Reaper is not recognised, if so, how do you get Reaper to work with say, M-Audio controller?

[DarkStar]

Oh, they both will work, just that the Hyperlink functionality may not be supported.

Instead, you would need to map the keyboard controls yourself to various elements in Reaper. Hyperlink is meant to make it easier, but depends on M-Audio writing some special software for each support DAW.

Perhaps someone here who has one will chip in.

To use either in Reaper:
-- enable it as a MIDI Input device in the Preferences,
-- select it as the Input for a track,
-- add a software instrument (not included in Reaper, hundreds available, many free) to the track,
-- Arm the track for recording and enable Input Monitoring,
-- click Record and start playing

[das]

Thanks once again!

[BobF]

I'm pretty happy with my new Samson Graphite 49 keyboard/controller. But I'm a guitar player, not a key player ... so keep that in mind when weighing various recommendations

[Solve Et Coagula]

I'm working on syncing it with my Axiom 25, but it doesn't even show up in the MIDI devices menu. ( NoRecognition)
If you know what I'm referring to, please give feedback.

[TeeBlack]

i have M-Audio Axiom Air 25 but hypercontrol is not supported in Reaper so basically i mapped everything i wanted manually and saved it on the controller.