Reaper as a live Guitar Rig

[StepOne]

I initially bought a Boss ME-80 multi-effects pedal (sounded pretty good), but ultimately dumped it as I could create better effects through VSTs and Reaper FX. I currently have a Behringer FCB1010 on order for a foot pedal, and want to use Reaper in a live setting with it.

Currently, I have a basic layout as:

Input (rec armed) sends original signal to all subtracks
MIDI Control input (rec as monitor only) sends to folder tracks for modulation of effects)
Folder(B1) - (wah effect - bypassed)
-SubTrack(B1P1) - Guitar Patch 1 (various effects for guitar sound)
-SubTrack(B1P2) - Guitar Patch 2 (other various effects for guitar sound)

...etc. etc.

I have actions for each foot pedal (example, mute B1P1, unmute B1P2), which seems to work pretty well. I'd like to hear how others have implemented a live guitar rig to see if I can optimize Reaper and my template for performance and easier foot pedal tweaking.


I know there must be a plethora of threads about layouts and logic for doing this, but I can't quite find what I'm looking for. Any links to threads or others experience is appreciated.

[Lokasenna]

Not quite answering your main question, but:

- Disable anything and everything you can find on your computer that isn't related to Reaper. Internet connection, virus scanner, etc... you want as little other stuff running as you can manage. Why? Because it will let you run your input/output buffers as low as possible - read: the lowest latency possible.

- Make sure you aren't using any plugins that add PDC (it'll tell you in the Performance window), since those are going to specifically add latency.

[StepOne]

Not quite answering your main question, but:

- Disable anything and everything you can find on your computer that isn't related to Reaper. Internet connection, virus scanner, etc... you want as little other stuff running as you can manage. Why? Because it will let you run your input/output buffers as low as possible - read: the lowest latency possible.

- Make sure you aren't using any plugins that add PDC (it'll tell you in the Performance window), since those are going to specifically add latency.

All good points, I have taken them into consideration, especially considering I'm running it all through an 8 year old laptop (which stacked with all my effects processing per track, still only makes Reaper peak around 15% of cpu usage), while keeping a fairly low ASIO latency around 3ms.

[mschnell]

I know there must be a plethora of threads about layouts and logic for doing this, but I can't quite find what I'm looking for. Any links to threads or others experience is appreciated.

Searching for "Live" will make most of them show up.

The maker of SWS is a guitarist and added "LiveConfigs" for exactly this purpose (switching effect patches), so searching for "LiveConfigs" might be a good start as well.

I very happily do use Reaper for live playing VSTs (and VSTis) with keyboards and Breath controller (so no audio input).

In fact I did do a short test with my band's guitarist using GuitarRig with my setup. It definitively did work.

For live playing low latency is extremely important. So you need a decently powerful computer and an audio interface specified for low latency. I use an NI "Audio6" and it works really good.

Please do some tests and come back if you have specific questions.

-Michael

[Obicere]

I have a FCB1010 which I can substitute for Rig Kontrol. I have the UnO 1.0.4 firmware... http://www.fcb1010.eu I have access to the fabulous 'FCB/UnO Control Center'. Have a look at the site for more details, it gives the FCB1010 five 'stomp boxes' in the top or bottom row. I am not associated with this company.

Stompbox mode
Through global setup, stompbox mode can be enabled or disabled.
In stompbox mode, 5 of the 10 switches are dedicated to act as 5 different stomp boxes.
These 5 stomp boxes are available for all banks, this means when switching banks (using the up/down key) the 5 stomp boxes stay available on the same 5 switches, and their ON/OFF state is still displayed.
The 5 stomp boxes are always aligned in 1 row. Through global setup, you can choose whether you use the upper row or lower row of 5 switches for the stomp boxes. The 5 remaining switches are still used to select patches, just as before.
These presets are now available in 19 banks of 5 (instead of the original 10 banks of 10).

I have ten switches and the two pedals set to a 'free' number between CC 20-31 on channel 15. My two FCB1010 pedals are on CC 30 and 31. I use a second channel to send the MIDI to the guitar channel. Two approaches, by learning the pedal, you can record the CC performance (say for wah), or record into an envelope. I prefer using envelopes.

This is a custom GTR patch for my FCB1010 Bank 1, preset 1, with most of the RK switches in place, bottom row of FCB1010 pedals configured for presets 1-5 (Program Change 1-5 in this case not CC 25-29).

http://i63.tinypic.com/20b1kdy.jpg

Btw, did you know about this? http://www.naslada.net/knowhow/fcb1010/FCB1010%20Phantom%20Power%20Adaptor.pdf Watch out for correct neutral.

[StepOne]

Searching for "Live" will make most of them show up.

The maker of SWS is a guitarist and added "LiveConfigs" for exactly this purpose (switching effect patches), so searching for "LiveConfigs" might be a good start as well.

I very happily do use Reaper for live playing VSTs (and VSTis) with keyboards and Breath controller (so no audio input).

In fact I did do a short test with my band's guitarist using GuitarRig with my setup. It definitively did work.

For live playing low latency is extremely important. So you need a decently powerful computer and an audio interface specified for low latency. I use an NI "Audio6" and it works really good.

Please do some tests and come back if you have specific questions.

-Michael

The "live configs" SWS extension seems to be exactly what I've been looking for, thanks! I have a decade old EMU 0404 USB that still gives me quite low latency.



I have a FCB1010 which I can substitute for Rig Kontrol. I have the UnO 1.0.4 firmware... http://www.fcb1010.eu I have access to the fabulous 'FCB/UnO Control Center'. Have a look at the site for more details, it gives the FCB1010 five 'stomp boxes' in the top or bottom row. I am not associated with this company.



I have ten switches and the two pedals set to a 'free' number between CC 20-31 on channel 15. My two FCB1010 pedals are on CC 30 and 31. I use a second channel to send the MIDI to the guitar channel. Two approaches, by learning the pedal, you can record the CC performance (say for wah), or record into an envelope. I prefer using envelopes.

This is a custom GTR patch for my FCB1010 Bank 1, preset 1, with most of the RK switches in place, bottom row of FCB1010 pedals configured for presets 1-5 (Program Change 1-5 in this case not CC 25-29).

http://i63.tinypic.com/20b1kdy.jpg

Btw, did you know about this? http://www.naslada.net/knowhow/fcb1010/FCB1010%20Phantom%20Power%20Adaptor.pdf Watch out for polarity.



I have checked out the mods for the FCB, including the UnO chip and the power-and-MIDI in one cable mod, I definitely may look into those in the near future! My rigs in Reaper are generally a combination of built-in Reaper effects, LePou Cab emu with impulses, and various distortion vsts etc., so I have a lot of fun tweaking to do.
Thanks for the replies all!

[ashcat_lt]

I'm not sure that I have a lot to contribute, but I noticed that you said the MIDI track was set to monitor only. Why? Don't you want to record those messages so that playback is the same as what happened live? Or are you not really recording at all?

I've been using Reaper live for years, but mostly just run drums and synths and then amp sims for guitar and bass. I actually did put quite a bit of effort into replacing my pedalboard with FX in Reaper - actually wrote a few JS plugs to work the way some of my pedals do, worked out the feedback loop, and mapped all the buttons, knobs and faders to a Korg NanoKontrol. This was before we had MIDI Link in Parameter Modulation, so I had hacked together a set of JS plugs to connect the CCs to parameters via Parameter Link. I'm pretty sure I can pull most of those out now and just use native Linking, except that some of them do some more complex things. For example, the wah pedal bypasses just by turning its knob all the way up, and I think a couple of them are used to adjust the taper of the control.

The main thing keeping me from going all the way there is the actual physical interface. I plan to actually build a board with knobs and toggles and footswitches laid out more or less like the physical pedals, and hack the NanoKontrol to use those, but that is a big mess of a project that I keep just putting off. There is also the concern about CPU usage. The chain I had going wasn't too bad on its own, but I often have a lot of other things going on at the same time. A lot of little bits that start to add up, ya know. Especially if we're going to do the same thing for my bassist's pedalboard, I'm a little unsure that even my new(er) quad 3.9G processor will be able to keep up at decent latencies.

[mschnell]

The "live configs" SWS extension seems to be exactly what I've been looking for,

GREAT !

Reaper rocks !
-Michael

[BenK-msx]

Hi guys, fyi here's a 'starter/explainer template' for getting your head around sws s&m live configs - which at first is maybe daunting.

http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php?p=1517914&postcount=6

Hope helps.

[hopi]

gtr rig... ummm hmmmm might want to have looky at S-Gear

https://www.scuffhamamps.com/product/s-gear

you can get the free trial to see what you think... IMHO has the best 'real' feel of them all...

[StepOne]

I'm not sure that I have a lot to contribute, but I noticed that you said the MIDI track was set to monitor only. Why? Don't you want to record those messages so that playback is the same as what happened live? Or are you not really recording at all?

I've been using Reaper live for years, but mostly just run drums and synths and then amp sims for guitar and bass. I actually did put quite a bit of effort into replacing my pedalboard with FX in Reaper - actually wrote a few JS plugs to work the way some of my pedals do, worked out the feedback loop, and mapped all the buttons, knobs and faders to a Korg NanoKontrol. This was before we had MIDI Link in Parameter Modulation, so I had hacked together a set of JS plugs to connect the CCs to parameters via Parameter Link. I'm pretty sure I can pull most of those out now and just use native Linking, except that some of them do some more complex things. For example, the wah pedal bypasses just by turning its knob all the way up, and I think a couple of them are used to adjust the taper of the control.

The main thing keeping me from going all the way there is the actual physical interface. I plan to actually build a board with knobs and toggles and footswitches laid out more or less like the physical pedals, and hack the NanoKontrol to use those, but that is a big mess of a project that I keep just putting off. There is also the concern about CPU usage. The chain I had going wasn't too bad on its own, but I often have a lot of other things going on at the same time. A lot of little bits that start to add up, ya know. Especially if we're going to do the same thing for my bassist's pedalboard, I'm a little unsure that even my new(er) quad 3.9G processor will be able to keep up at decent latencies.


To start out, I won't be recording, I just use the track as a midi master to send to other track for parameter modulation (example, a a wah effect on a bank folder). I have a "pre-master" track that everything goes to that I can set up to do loop recording/wet performance recording if need be. The great thing is that I can set it up any way I can possibly imagine.

[StepOne]

gtr rig... ummm hmmmm might want to have looky at S-Gear

https://www.scuffhamamps.com/product/s-gear

you can get the free trial to see what you think... IMHO has the best 'real' feel of them all...

Well, I've pretty much got the emulation with built in Reaper/Free Vst effects to where it sounds better than what I could get out of a multi-effects-unit (Boss ME-80), and I'm quite satisfied with the tones, but I could always check it out to get new sound ideas too.


Hi guys, fyi here's a 'starter/explainer template' for getting your head around sws s&m live configs - which at first is maybe daunting.

http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php?p=1517914&postcount=6

Hope helps.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind if I have any troubles!

[hopi]

Well, I've pretty much got the emulation with built in Reaper/Free Vst effects to where it sounds better than what I could get out of a multi-effects-unit (Boss ME-80), and I'm quite satisfied with the tones, but I could always check it out to get new sound ideas too.



right I'm sure you do... and a couple years back, I thought I did also... but kept seeing guys mention S-Gear ...so got it, about 15 mins later I bought it and never been sorry...

Just me of course, but it just sounds great and more importantly, it feels diff than anything else I've used.... there are reasons for that, that can be read about on its web pages.

so hey... free 15 day demo... %^)

[mschnell]

Why do you think S-Gear should be chosen rather than NI GuitarRig (or other offers), while GuitarRig has many more effects ?

(I am no Guitarist and so totally incompetent at that issue, but the Guitarist in my band might be inclined to invest in such as plugin.)

-Michael

[ashcat_lt]

To start out, I won't be recording, I just use the track as a midi master to send to other track for parameter modulation (example, a a wah effect on a bank folder). I have a "pre-master" track that everything goes to that I can set up to do loop recording/wet performance recording if need be. The great thing is that I can set it up any way I can possibly imagine.
Yeah, I guess if it's just your guitar anyway, there isn't much point in recording. Assuming there's like a band going on around you anyway.

Like I said, I have the whole band running through Reaper, and pretty much have to have it at least playing or the drums don't happen. So basically, I record everything, and I prefer to record the dry inputs. That way I can record rehearsal, then listen back and tweak things in the mix and then it sounds "exactly" the way I want it at the gig, but then I can tweak that if I want/need when mixing the performance for YouTube or wherever I decide to put it.

[moribund]

This is a little different than what you've got but I've used it before and it works very well:

Add 1 track to a Reaper project. Add all the FX you want to use to that track (say there's 5). Go to the env tab, and add bypass envelopes for each effect you have in the track. Set up 5 markers on the timeline about 10s apart (you can use whatever time you want here). Using the envelopes, set FX1 to unbypass at marker 1, and rebypass at marker 2. Do the same for each FX at each respective marker (i.e., unbypass FX2 at marker 2 and rebypass at marker 3, etc.).

Use a USB footswitch and a program like AutoHotKey to have a footswitch click advance to the next marker. Voila - now you have footswitchable FX in Reaper without MIDI. You could of course be more creative than this and have a 3 button (or several 3 button) USB footswitches to access individual FX by just jumping to the required marker in the timeline. There are also ways to hack a computer keyboard and use it as a footswitch if you want to get really creative: https://cycling74.com/2007/10/16/making-connections-building-a-usb-footswitch/#.WKpgIENtlpg. A Google search will reveal more DIY options...

Hopefully this gives you some other ideas/options.

[Toft]

Why do you think S-Gear should be chosen rather than NI GuitarRig (or other offers), while GuitarRig has many more effects ?
-Michael

That's easy: if your amp sounds bad, no amount of pedals are going to fix it. Conversely, if your amp sounds awesome, pedals are pretty much optional (apart from delay which S Gear has).

The other issue is, many of the pedals in GuitarRig and similar don't actually behave like the originals. It's like the difference between fresh strawberries and tinned strawberries.

I'm a very happy user of S Gear live. I used to run it in Reaper, just to have more options (compressor etc), but I have since realised that I can do everything I need standalone.

I use and recommend Rig Kontrol. It's a rock solid unit that I've been playing live at least once a month for the last four years and never missed a beat. Latency has never been an issue - it just works.

[DigiDis]

So guitarists are actually using computers instead of amps live? What's next? the Ipad? Or even the Iphone? Wait, can I use my Iwatch?

Just kidding. I saw a video recently in which a guitarist was demoing some amp software live on his Ipad and just had to chuckle at how far the digital modelling technology has come.

I just wanted to add that when on stage the motto is KISS. The more complicated your rig is the better the chance of it ending the show short. I would keep the ME-80 ready to go as a backup just in case. I personally, as much as I am digging the latest software modellers, would show up for live events with 2 identical floor processors like the RP1000 or similar.

[Toft]

Actually not computers instead of amps, but as well as. I use my amp for monitoring, and if something dies it is the backup system.

But as I say, I have been doing this for years now. Initially I was nervous about playing through my Mac. If fact I kept my RP500 for ages just in case. I've sold it now though, and am glad to have done so. I liked the RP500 but it is not in the same league as S Gear IMHO.

If they had S Gear for iPad I would use it for sure.

[ashcat_lt]

Yeah no, I'm completely all in. If the computer fails, the whole show is over, but I'm not much worried about it. Had a couple embarrassing WTFs back when I was actually using a laptop, but now like I said I have a 3.9G quad core desktop machine in a rack. It runs XP which is Microsoft's best, most reliable build ever. I've been pounding it for a couple years now. Had it in hot humid basements. Taken it from sitting in a car below freezing all day into a club just an hour before the gig. Only problems I've ever had came from being too drunk to plug the snake in the right holes. I'm more confident in this rig than the collection of hardware sims and line mixer that I was using before. It just works.

We'll find out Saturday whether I just jinxed the whole thing. ;)

[mschnell]

So guitarists are actually using computers instead of amps live?
What is "Kemper" other than a computer in a rugged box ?

-Michael

[ashcat_lt]

Not to mention that most of the clubs in my town are running Presonus or Behringer digital mixers which are again really just computers themselves. ;)

[DigiDis]

What is "Kemper" other than a computer in a rugged box ?

-Michael

Are you kidding me? ;)

[chip mcdonald]

I'm advising my guitar students to either go all-in VST rig live, or to use a laptop in their loop for their time based effects.

A number of them have heeeyooge pedal boards with multiple delays and reverbs. I head "how can I set my stuff up to get such-and-such sound?" and then a week later "ho can I set my stuff up to ALSO get this other sound, without having to change something else?"

It's insane that people are buying $250+ pedal delays and reverbs to do one sound.

"These pedals sound better!" No they don't. I can do 1000x better with $50 for Valhalla Room, and Freq Echo. "But I don't have a laptop!", "Yeah, but you've got $1,000 worth of pedals on that board...".

"Well, maybe I should get a Fractal or Kemper?" (Me, thinking about the zillion guitar vsts and impulses I've tested over the years) "No, I highly don't recommend that".

Laptop in your FX loop, or standalone. That's the future.

[ashcat_lt]

Honestly, your students probably all have phones that would do it as well as anything else.

[chip mcdonald]

Honestly, your students probably all have phones that would do it as well as anything else.

I don't think there is a phone equivalent to Valhalla Room, or lets you use custom IR's, and rigging one for midi/switching would be a chore, and you'd have to either purchase a separate one (cost of a laptop) or use your actual phone and have to keep putting it into airplane mode....

A dedicated laptop is much easier and flexible.

[mschnell]

Honestly, your students probably all have phones that would do it as well as anything else.
Is Reaper for Android Phone out yet ? :) :) :)
-Michael

[Toft]

I don't think there is a phone equivalent to Valhalla Room, or lets you use custom IR's, and rigging one for midi/switching would be a chore ...

Still, there is something to be said for a pedal that gives you dotted eighth repeats from your tap tempo.

I'm not too sure how you'd do that with Vallhalla plugins. It's the one thing I can't currently do with S Gear (though Mike has shown interest in the issue).

You're right, though, with VSTs you have a world of control that just doesn't exist in pedal land. Specially for compression, when you look at how much people pay for a Cali76! Give me Softube FET anyday, or even ReaComp, for that matter.

I'm intrigued by the idea of a rack mount PC for live guitar. I can see how it's more robust that way, but isn't it a pain to have to set up a monitor, mouse and keyboard? Or do you have some cunning way to see what it's doing without them?

[ashcat_lt]

I'm intrigued by the idea of a rack mount PC for live guitar. I can see how it's more robust that way, but isn't it a pain to have to set up a monitor, mouse and keyboard? Or do you have some cunning way to see what it's doing without them?
My live PC is a micro ATX board in the smallest case I could find with clearance for full sized PCI cards/power supplies for less than $40. It just barely fits in just over 2 rack spaces. It sits in a 6 space rack with a Tascam US1641 (that jimmy69 gave me) and a proco patchbay. It's affixed by double-sided "carpet tape". When it's installed, I can't reach either the rear panel holes nor the front panel buttons. The bios is set to "server mode" where it just turns on and boots up when power is applied, and Reaper is in the startup menu. With an SSD disk, it has loaded my most recent project and is sometimes making noise before I can actually see it.

How do I see it? There's a secured wifi hub plugged into its Ethernet port, and so far I've been using the laptop that this thing replaced via VNC "virtual desktop". This and my GI10 guitar to MIDI thing fit just right in the left over almost 2 rack spaces.

I can do it from my phone now, but it's small. Kindle doesn't support any decent VNC clients. I just remembered I have a windows Yoga laying around... Anyway, keyboard monitor mouse is kind of an abstract concept nowadays. If I trusted it the way you trust a computer in a pedalboard, you could just plug in a USB controller and go.

[mschnell]

I'm intrigued by the idea of a rack mount PC for live guitar. I can see how it's more robust that way, but isn't it a pain to have to set up a monitor, mouse and keyboard? Or do you have some cunning way to see what it's doing without them?
My live PC is an "embedded" box with a 4 core / 8 thread 2 GHz i7 CPU, 16 GB Ram and SSD without a FAN. So no mechanical parts and very robust. I mounted it on an alloy plate together with power supply, Audio I/O and DI box and decent sockets and fixed the plate in a trunk by rubber "thingies".

I don't need Monitor/mouse/keyboard attached when playing live. For configuration I can just plug them normally in the PC housing.

-Michael

[Toft]

VNC is a cool way to drive a hidden-away PC box. Not sure I'd want to play without any monitor, though, mschnell.

Using Rig Kontrol is great, but you have no visual feedback about what patch you're using. Most of the time I'm only switching between two or three, and know whether I need to go up or down, but sometimes I get distracted and need to check. No monitor = monster plexi tone and WTF? looks from the band...

Now I'm thinking I should be running VNC from my iPad to give me a handy interface as well as a robust PC box.

[chip mcdonald]

Still, there is something to be said for a pedal that gives you dotted eighth repeats from your tap tempo.



Can Reaper's tempo be controlled via cc scripting? Not an issue to me - delay pedals are cheap. And if one is switching a lot then that presumes you're setting up a rig for a live set where presumably you'd already have the tempos worked out. The point is to avoid dishing out trans-$1,000 money for something that doesn't sound better than what you can do in Reaper for much less and with much more flexibility.

Stand-alone "digital amps" are where digital recording was during the ADAT/Roland VS880/DA88 era. I was recording on my computer back then, it was easy to see "one day" all of that hardware would go away. I see no reason to invest in a piece of hardware that is really just a PC and some custom scripting to load an IR. YMMV.

[mschnell]

Not sure I'd want to play without any monitor, though, mschnell.
On stage IMHO a Monitor should be avoided. I am thinking about getting a Notebook for notes :) , though.
-Michael

[karbomusic]

Still, there is something to be said for a pedal that gives you dotted eighth repeats from your tap tempo.

I have two different normal pedal delays and a tremelo that do that. I think what you guys are doing (daw as your rig) is cool but that would never be something I could use, mainly because there is nothing it gives me that I want; but I can certainly appreciate who it does have value for.

[Liquid Fusion]

Surprised someone here (hint: Karbo!!) hasn't made a guitar pedal with a ssd drive, small mini chip brain, nice screen - to load in a few plugins so a guitarist can just plug in to the pedal then plug into an amp set to clean. Extra points - have smartphone access to this pedal to run / adjust plugins. Hate to bring a laptop / iPad to a live gig that can fall over / get easily stolen.

Here's a rock blues jam (https://soundcloud.com/liquidfusionmusic/test-guitar-recording) I made with SoundToys / Little plugins. Like to use this sound for a live gig. There' a Wavs Gtr3 amp sim here. For live into amp just turn that down. Or forget the amp and go to PA. Amp is always better for guitar. My experience.

For all you RME users - Tele guitar w/ EMG 85's recorded w/ Telefunken V76 into a Prism Atlas. Whatever.

[mschnell]

Surprised someone here (hint: Karbo!!) hasn't made a guitar pedal with a ssd drive, small mini chip brain, nice screen - to load in a few plugins so a guitarist can just plug in to the

As there already is a Pre-release of Reaper for Raspberry Pi, that is not that far away....

-Michael

[Jeffsounds]

Amp is always better for guitar. My experience.
I've run across some people who don't care about that. They want a DI no matter what because what you record isn't going to be as good as what they can do with an amp sim.

Can you imagine someone telling Vince Gill or EVH they want a DI so they can make his guitar sound the way THEY want it to sound? I can understand using a DI and SIM if you don't have an amp or can't record an amp because of neighbors or whatever but come one, DI everything no matter what? If something isn't to your liking, tell me and if I agree, I'll recut the track.

Now I have started just lately, to run my bass tracks through a SIM because I don't have a bass amp and just record it direct anyway. But that's pretty much standard practice with recording a bass signal, i.e., DI + mic'd amp, where the "amp" part is supplied by the SIM.

But, geez... these people think everything should be recorded with a DI and also convert the drum tracks to MIDI so they can run their own drum sounds because what you intended to record isn't what THEY want to hear for YOUR song.

Sorry... rant off...

[karbomusic]

They want a DI no matter what because what you record isn't going to be as good as what they can do with an amp sim.


Usually it's more about having a backup if something doesn't work out down the road after the tracks have been laid. With the exception of "guitar heroes" and instrumentalists where everything else is built around "their tone". Guitar tone, like any instrument, is more about does it fit in the mix and does it support the song, and if it doesn't and the performance is good, it can be reamped which means amp or SIM.

I did (or rather doing) all guitar tracks for my project that way, I used 90% real amps along with a safety DI track knowing how I wanted it to sound BEFORE I hit record. Chances are I won't use the DI tracks at all but it is there if I find myself in a bad spot at mix time - I can just reamp or whatever. But truth be told, if the song has any real vision whatsoever at tracking time, most of these endless options aren't needed.

It's when everyone wants to just "grab tracks" and move all the decision making to later in the process where people get "option vapor locked" trying to make mixing and editing the main part of the process when it really shouldn't be and will never be as good as getting it right up front for a multitude of reasons.

Oh yea, all my bass tones for the past few years have been DI only. I use a nice preamp and/or compression on the way in but 99.9% of the time, it's a DI. To be fair, I don't care for DI into pristine interface preamps FWIW though I'm sure they would work with post-record fiddling but I hate not having a bass tone I like from the get go. If anything, every 10 minutes of extra work up front results in 10 times less work that would have been needed at the mix stage. ;)

[karbomusic]

For all you RME users - Tele guitar w/ EMG 85's recorded w/ Telefunken V76 into a Prism Atlas. Whatever.

It is whatever for a few reasons. :) There is no such thing as "good" in a test, it isn't a song, it's noodling against other random instruments (I didn't listen to your test so that isn't a snarky comment lol). Proverbially make it work in a song with all the parts the song needs, including vocals whathaveyou, then whatever the guitar sounds like means something. "Wow, that sounds extra clear and 3D" of some signal, through some piece of gear doesn't FWIW. For that reason, I simply don't do tests any more unless it is for documentation purposes of some micing config that I want to be able to reference without having to set it all up again to remember what it sounds like.

The other reason is 99% of all guitar tones are gone by about 7k, by design, so the best interface in the world isn't going to make a damn bit of difference in that regard. It's far, far harder to compose and play parts with a tone that makes the song better or rather such is what makes the difference that matters, .000001% at frequencies only bats can hear, not so much.

Do I think nice pro gear matters? I do, depending on what it is and in what context, but any of us throwing a mic in front of something, recording it then listening to it, isn't going to result in any objective decisions other than confirming it isn't broken. :) Again, grain of salt as I didn't listen to the example, just mentioning why it doesn't really matter when talking interfaces et al - respect.

[pipelineaudio]

So guitarists are actually using computers instead of amps live? What's next? the Ipad? Or even the Iphone? Wait, can I use my Iwatch?

Just kidding. I saw a video recently in which a guitarist was demoing some amp software live on his Ipad and just had to chuckle at how far the digital modelling technology has come.

I just wanted to add that when on stage the motto is KISS. The more complicated your rig is the better the chance of it ending the show short. I would keep the ME-80 ready to go as a backup just in case. I personally, as much as I am digging the latest software modellers, would show up for live events with 2 identical floor processors like the RP1000 or similar.

Im in the middle of an experiment to see how this goes, running an ipad and blueboard. We've had ourkids' bands running thru reaper live for EVERYTHING including the drums, for years...Didnt do much midi pedalboard stuff, but definitely ran all the guitar and bass thru sims....A single guitar should be UBER. As soon as I'm done with this iOS rabbit hole, I'll see if I can't get some sort of wireless pedalboard working with reaper and VSTs instead of this iOS nonsense

[Jeffsounds]

Usually it's more about having a backup if something doesn't work out down the road after the tracks have been laid. With the exception of "guitar heroes" and instrumentalists where everything else is built around "their tone". Guitar tone, like any instrument, is more about does it fit in the mix and does it support the song, and if it doesn't and the performance is good, it can be reamped which means amp or SIM.

The problem with the people I am talking about is the "IF" doesn't exist for them. They have figured out a way to make a guitar sound cool using the SIM and that's all they want to use. To them, the amp that I'm playing through is just my security blanket to get the clean track down.

Chances are I won't use the DI tracks at all but it is there if I find myself in a bad spot at mix time - I can just reamp or whatever. But truth be told, if the song has any real vision whatsoever at tracking time, most of these endless options aren't needed.

And that is how it SHOULD be, IMHO...

It's when everyone wants to just "grab tracks" and move all the decision making to later in the process where people get "option vapor locked" trying to make mixing and editing the main part of the process when it really shouldn't be and will never be as good as getting it right up front for a multitude of reasons.

They just don't get that last part...

I use a nice preamp and/or compression on the way in but 99.9% of the time, it's a DI.
Can compression be done on the way into Reaper with plugins, NOT outboard gear? Just curious...

To be fair, I don't care for DI into pristine interface preamps FWIW though I'm sure they would work with post-record fiddling but I hate not having a bass tone I like from the get go. If anything, every 10 minutes of extra work up front results in 10 times less work that would have been needed at the mix stage. ;)

Yes!

[mschnell]

. Amp is always better for guitar.
Of course the "Real" and "pure" instrument and signal chain is "better" (in fact meaning "more like what you expect") than any simulation or alternative equipment. True with Guitar Amps and even more with an "unplugged" singer, a Grand Piano, a Hammond with Leslie, ...

But when recording or needing enhanced volume on stage that might be different, as trying to handle the original signal (e.g. by microphone in a given location) produces more problems than a digital simulation. In fact on the final recording there is nothing but bits, and in theory the same sequence of bits could be created by whatever means :) .

-Michael

[karbomusic]

The problem with the people I am talking about is the "IF" doesn't exist for them. They have figured out a way to make a guitar sound cool using the SIM and that's all they want to use.

If they are happy with their sound, I'm happy for them. I'll have some SIMs on my project, it isn't a deal breaker for me either way per se but that's my bigger point at the end of the day... No one should be on a mission to dis one in the name of the other.

I doubt many of them really have the choice as far as the average bedroom producer goes - but I have 'em so I enjoy using them and... there is no preset that sounds like my room, my mics and position and so on - simple uniqueness but typically people don't want unique, they just want to sound like everyone else.

[karbomusic]

Can compression be done on the way into Reaper with plugins, NOT outboard gear? Just curious...


Sure, and compression is the first thing someone will screw up learning but it isn't "that" hard to get a handle on judicious use without screwing things up. Knocking a dB or two off of something you know is going to need it anyway isn't going to hurt anything but over compression will. All of my vocal tracks get a decent amount of compression on the way in too - at some point we should get better at what we do and actually be able to predict the outcome. :)

[tzzsmk]

major thing I would take care of is separate monitoring and main downmix,
that means a robust reliable software solution for "main" AND zero-latency direct monitoring through serious audio interface,

also IF your hardware+software is strong enough, I'd prefer multitrack session using midi controller to toggle entire tracks/busses/chains instead of directly enabling/disabling individual effects, this is something which needs to be properly tested depending on what you are playing and how your arrangements are done

[Jeffsounds]

I doubt many of them really have the choice as far as the average bedroom producer goes - but I have 'em so I enjoy using them and... there is no preset that sounds like my room, my mics and position and so on - simple uniqueness but typically people don't want unique, they just want to sound like everyone else.
Exactly! If you have to, that's one thing but just to do it because it's there is not the way to go.

Sure, and compression is the first thing someone will screw up learning but it isn't "that" hard to get a handle on judicious use without screwing things up. Knocking a dB or two off of something you know is going to need it anyway isn't going to hurt anything but over compression will. All of my vocal tracks get a decent amount of compression on the way in too - at some point we should get better at what we do and actually be able to predict the outcome. :)
I just used compression as an example but good points for sure. Now the question is, how do you use a plugin on the way in? I didn't know that was possible with a DAW.

[karbomusic]

I just used compression as an example but good points for sure. Now the question is, how do you use a plugin on the way in? I didn't know that was possible with a DAW.

Well you could use one on inputFX which gets 'burned in' but a slightly different subject.

The answer is I don't, one of my preamps (UA 4-710D) has 1176 compressor circuits on each of the four preamp channels which means I have compression available in the preamp before it hits the A/D converters. And I have two other compressors I can use that are hardware but tbh, the 1176 types in the UA are just very musical and wonderful for things like vocals and bass so they almost always go through it without question.

[pipelineaudio]

I just used compression as an example but good points for sure. Now the question is, how do you use a plugin on the way in? I didn't know that was possible with a DAW.

I don't understand the question...You can turn input monitoring on, stick a compressor vst on and hear it. What's wrong with doing that?

[karbomusic]

I don't understand the question...You can turn input monitoring on, stick a compressor vst on and hear it. What's wrong with doing that?

It isn't about hearing it (though that does certainly help some performers), but for burning it in on the way in.

Not a thing prevents doing so if the only need is to add the fx on the way in via InputFX. That's is why I said "slightly different subject" because some might want to compress a little or limit to stay under the ADC and I didn't want to open a can of worms to answer a question that isn't really about that and more about knowing what they want before they record.

I do like a number of safety nets but to be honest, I don't have to change much ITB because I usually know what I wanted before I record (within reason of course) and I spend the majority of my time at the source during tracking and it certainly pays off at mix time.

[Jeffsounds]

Well you could use one on inputFX which gets 'burned in' but a slightly different subject.
So THAT's what InputFX is for! I had forgotten totally about those!

[pipelineaudio]

Hey while we are talking about this sort of thing and godDAMN I'm glad you guys are!!!! I had some questions about MIDIot stuff

I'm going to talk to SWS and grab the live configs stuff, but I had a few questions before

I notice that some plugins, I can right click a parameter and then REAPER's own midi learn window comes up and works perfect, but some plugins don't do that...is there some setting I have to make so all plugins work that way?

I have been trying some iOS amp sims and aside from the epic fail they are in most every conceivable way, one of them, Tonestack had something really cool: If you have the CC assigned to a wah, it can be off as long as the pedal is all the way down, stepping on the pedal and moving it forward turned it on and then the CC controls the wah pedal position. Same CC

It wasn't perfect, it needed a way to map its curve and the dead area for turning it on took up a bit too much of the wah travel, but I figure stuff like this is editable in reaper!

How could I set up say amplitube, or even a JS wah to respond this way?

Say CC7 0-16 turns off the wah, CC7 17-128 controls the wah position? Is there a way to do that?

[mschnell]

I notice that some plugins, I can right click a parameter and then REAPER's own midi learn window comes up and works perfect, but some plugins don't do that...is there some setting I have to make so all plugins work that way?
It's the other way round. If you right-click a parameter at a plugin's GUI (e.g. with Kontakt) you might get the plugin's "Midi learn" dialog if the plugin provides this. Reapers "Midi Learn" dialog is available by the "Param" button on the FX window's rim. Here you can choose any of the "(VST-) Host Parameters" the plugin provided. (Beware the name of those might be different from the names shown in the plugin's GUI.

(The JSFXes provide all the sliders as Host parameters with the same names as read in the GUI.)

BTW.: You also can route the parameter source to other parameters (here e.g. ReaControlMidi does nice tricks) or to realtime audio volume detection with lin/log functions, upper/lower limit, ...

-Michael

[karbomusic]

, I can right click a parameter and then REAPER's own midi learn window comes up and works perfect, but some plugins don't do that...is there some setting I have to make so all plugins work that way?

Click the param you care about to make it "last touched" then in the learn menu, that last touched param is the one being accessed. Otherwise, it's as mschnell described where something like kontakt includes it's own learn function via right-click.

[ashcat_lt]

Just want to mention that Reaper's MIDI Learn is different from MIDI Link, which is different again from using the plugs own Learn functions.

The thing with turning the wah off at the end of the travel - basically turning a knob into a knob with a switch on it - needs a plugin to mess with the MIDI before it gets to the actual wah (or whatever) plug that you want to control. I've done it and it works. Made a JS plug that monitors the input CCs, and when the specific one we're looking at crosses the theshold, it sends a different CC that is mapped to toggle the bypass. It could really be used to do whatever you want. Turn on some completely other plugin, whatever.

Actually, I built that plugin before MIDI Link was a thing. It worked by moving its own sliders in response to MIDI input and the using Parameter Link. Works about the same either way. This kind of plugin can also be used to adjust the taper of the control by doing a little math on the input before sending it on.

mschnell - I think you were talking about MIDI Link because you also talked about other Parameter Modulation functions. Note that PM from audio control signal doesn't really do "linear", though you can almost come close if you adjust the curve just right. I have a post (https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=196674) in Feature Requests for an actual linear mode, but haven't had any replies.

[pipelineaudio]

Whats midi link, and is that JS plugin you made available?

This is so ridiculously powerful!

During reaper 1, me Justin and Robo were talking about using reaper as a guitar fx rack/preamp thing with a midi pedalboard...it was a pretty simplistic way of running it, but Justin said something like "reaper's midi doesnt work that way". I think I was trying to change actual vst presets from the list on different plugins or something silly.

Fast forward to today and holy crap! This is dream setup stuff here, like the best of digitech's midi with the best of software based...unreal

[ashcat_lt]

MIDI Link is under the Param button as Parameter Modulation/MIDI Link. It responds to MIDI messages running through the track itself. That's the same as plugs with their own Learn functions - they respond to MIDI on the track itself. Reaper's MIDI Learn is found by right-clicking, and responds only to MIDI messages in the Control Path. It won't "hear" any MIDI on the track. To get messages into the Control Path, you either need your MIDI controller enabled for control, or to use that MIDItoReaControl plug to bridge from track MIDI.

The JS I built is kind of specific to my situation, but I could post it for you if you want. Like I said, it doesn't actually use any of these systems, but rather Parameter Link (also in the PM window) which "directly" links parameters within and between plugs on the same track.

[mschnell]

BTW.: what exactly are you trying to accomplish ?

-Michael

[pipelineaudio]

For me, turning on the wah from minimum to the first little bit of the pedal, like Tonestack does and the same pedal then controlling the wah

Also, what cheap interfaces work well with both Windows and iOS? That have actual ASIO drivers for windows...I see a focusrite with RCA outs, a presonus with a good set of outputs and some apogees with 1/8" yuk outs.

[atza]

Don't forget to turn off screensaver :)

[ashcat_lt]

Don't forget to turn off screensaver :)
No but seriously definitely disable windows automatic updates!

[cycosuicide]

I use Reaper to play backing tracks, to play samples, and Perhaps to run a VSTi like a synth.

Its important to ask yourself what it is exactly you are trying to accomplish. I don't recommend using Reaper for a guitar rig just because you can. What is it you are trying to do exactly? Then figure out a solution.

For me I don't use Reaper as a Live Guitar Rig. I only have one laptop, and to run a reliable and dependable rig, its important to have a dedicated laptop to do so. If you rarely gig, then maybe constant reliability isn't an issue for you.

As far as making things more portable because you don't have to lug an amp and pedalboard, are you sure going all laptop is making things easier? You need an appropriate carrying case/bag for your gear, don't forget your power cable. You need a table or a stand for that laptop. But you also need a decent audio interface which has midi for your footcontroller, the USB cable, and where are you putting the audio interface? on a table or a stand? I wouldn't put these things on the floor.

Oh, and I'd bring some spare USB cables as you never know. Like I said, you have to figure out what it is you are trying to do rather than do it just because you can.

One thing people don't think about is long term. Eventually your computer or your hard drive will die. You'll have to replace it. Or your operating system becomes obsolete. So any third party VSTs may not work. Don't even get me started on iLok.

Perhaps using a laptop and Reaper is great because you get to have nearly unlimited routing and combining VST FX as presets. Unless you are using IEMs, which tend to be consistent in monitoring, every room will sound different. Every monitoring system will sound different. You have to tune your guitar rig and its FX to the room. That's just a fact of life. Is it easier for you to mouse around to change some settings, or easier to turn a physical knob?

Lastly, I want you to consider one thing in terms of guitar gear. I bought a Lexicon MPX-1 back in 1999. It still works, and I still dig in and program wonderful FX and sounds on it. No software updates, no operating systems, nothing. It just works and has done so for nearly 20 years. I had a Triaxis and 2:90 amp setup for nearly 20 years. Yes I did have to change out Power tubes (which was expensive), but it always worked. Bought a Lexicon PCM 81 last year. 20 year old product and its an amazing piece of gear. What VST FX from 1997 still works on today's modern computer without having been updated.

So I use an actual guitar rig because of reliability, and I know that if my laptop should somehow fail or simply not turn on at all that night, I can still make music because my guitar rig will work. Oh and at home? Turn on the amp and practice. I don't have to wait for my laptop to turn on, and my file to load so then I can play.

What works for me and what I'm trying to accomplish may not work for you. But really consider and think about what it is you are trying to do. Ultimately it doesn't matter what anybody in this forum says. The only way for you to truly know, is to go do it.

So if you do play some gigs using just the laptop, let us know how that goes. I'd love to hear about it. :)

[pipelineaudio]

Since we already used the computer to run all the kids' shows through, I actually already have the entire setup and move it easily, easier than my rack+412, but I was always not sure about the MIDI switching part of it, I did it very simple, but I'd like to use a real pedalboard and see....For right now I'm trying out some iOS stuff instead and a wireless midi pedalboard, which is fun, but you miss all the cool stuff from the REAPER setup

[mschnell]

and to run a reliable and dependable rig, its important to have a dedicated laptop to do so.
... So if you do play some gigs using just the laptop, let us know how that goes. I'd love to hear about it. :)

Very true ! (Read the LiveConfigs guide chapter on that issue, as well ! )

In fact I built an "embedded" PC (without monitor, mouse and PC-keyboard, without a FAN and with SSD, so no moving parts, I7 CPU, 16 Gig RAM) in a trunk together with an Audio6 (very low latency) A/D - D/A - Midi interface and DI for live playing with keyboards. This trunk is fine-tuned for reliably and performance, absolutely dedicated for this usage and hardly ever runs other software than just Reaper.

We also tested using GuitarRig, which did work fine but the Guitarist now uses a different gear.

I use the trunk daily for practicing and playing with the band and of course on stage for gigs. Up till now, it never failed me.

-Michael

[serr]

Goes without saying to have two of everything whenever possible for gigging. You can get crafty with your redundancy so that the 2nd whatever it is gives you extra features when nothing is going wrong.

Two audio interfaces in an aggregate device for more I/O. A single interface will get you through a show.

You can squeeze two hard drives in a laptop. You know that 2nd drive with a fresh clone of your system will boot no matter what. And now you have more storage.

Consider the Powermac G5 tower for a stage computer. You can find them for $150 nowadays and they absolutely have the CPU power to run a real time low latency live instrument rig. Something smacking into your laptop that could total the poor thing would be barely a light scratch on that Powermac case. Then there's the bit where ageing software turns into shareware.

[ashcat_lt]

I did have some problems when I was running the laptop itself as the CPU. One show it just wasn't making sound when we got up to play. Luckily, we were able to let the next act go on while I fucked with it. It was one of those things where I plugged and unplugged a couple cables and checked some settings but didn't actually change anything at all but it worked. :/

A couple of times it just glitched out right in the middle of the performance - usually right at the climax or what I call the "punchline" of the song. That really sucked. It would just go like "bzort" and the silent, and by the time I got over to see WTF, "trozb" and its back up. Of course, it never did this in rehearsal and I couldn't reproduce it at home. I'm pretty sure it had something to do with CPU overload. It's just like 2.3G dual core.

So built my "embedded PC" and the only trouble I've had with it is the time I left the power strip it was plugged into accessible to the drunk punk kid on the stage. That would have shut down an analog system too, and it actually doesn't take the audio machine very long to boot straight back into the last saved Reaper project. It'll be up and making noise before the laptop is anywhere near ready to VNC to it.

I haven't found a real good app for VNC from any of my other devices. I've got an iPhone, a kindle fire, and Lenovo yoga. Yoga runs windows, but I can't get the same application that I'm running on the laptop for some reason. I've been meaning to try Reaper's own mobile app, but when it comes down to it, I fall back to what I know works. Honestly, most of the time when I'm on stage, it's just right there anyway, but when I mix other folks, it would be nice to be wireless and handheld.

[mschnell]

Keyboard and "trunk" PC (Monitor etc only used for configuration):

http://www.schnellphoto.de/keyboard.jpg

http://www.schnellphoto.de/koffer_300.JPG

:)
-Michael

[StepOne]

I've been using Reaper as a live guitar rig for the last few shows, its been rock solid on my old laptop and Presonus Audiobox 96 running @ 64 samples.

It wasn't easy to set up at first, the audio did have occasional stuttering issues.
I was able to fix all these issues by d/ling a new presonus driver, and configuring W10 properly (best performance of background services, setting any connection as metered/disabling cortana/windows search/etc.). I have not had a single hiccup in a live environment yet (knock on wood).

Setting up Reaper actions for live gigging was quite a headache for a long time. In the beginning I tried to create actions mapped to my foot pedal that would mute the selected track, move to another track and unmute it. This worked ok, until the track order changed (or i accidentially selected another track with my mouse), then everything messed up. I tried installing the SWS extensions and live configs settings, but all these made things more complicated than I thought they should be.

I resolved these issues by writing a couple small and simple Lua scripts - the first script mutes all tracks except the ones with "locked" somewhere in the title, and then unmutes the track(s) with a specific name in the title. So, if my title has (00 01) in it, I know that mapping that action to my FCB1010 pedal bank 00 preset pedal 1 will always activate that track, regardless of where the track is located in my TCP. The second script globally enables/disables any track fx that I label "Expression". This is for activating the expression pedal, if I want it to be available on my selected preset. Writing these two small scripts just glued everything together, making it all so much easier.

I even added GLoop to the mix, and now have a looper on my project controlled by my foot pedal.

I'm quite happy with my rig and the ability to make it as flexible as I want. It was a hassle at first, but after all the struggles, everything came together.

[StepOne]

I use Reaper to play backing tracks, to play samples, and Perhaps to run a VSTi like a synth.

Its important to ask yourself what it is exactly you are trying to accomplish. I don't recommend using Reaper for a guitar rig just because you can. What is it you are trying to do exactly? Then figure out a solution.

For me I don't use Reaper as a Live Guitar Rig. I only have one laptop, and to run a reliable and dependable rig, its important to have a dedicated laptop to do so. If you rarely gig, then maybe constant reliability isn't an issue for you.

As far as making things more portable because you don't have to lug an amp and pedalboard, are you sure going all laptop is making things easier? You need an appropriate carrying case/bag for your gear, don't forget your power cable. You need a table or a stand for that laptop. But you also need a decent audio interface which has midi for your footcontroller, the USB cable, and where are you putting the audio interface? on a table or a stand? I wouldn't put these things on the floor.

Oh, and I'd bring some spare USB cables as you never know. Like I said, you have to figure out what it is you are trying to do rather than do it just because you can.

One thing people don't think about is long term. Eventually your computer or your hard drive will die. You'll have to replace it. Or your operating system becomes obsolete. So any third party VSTs may not work. Don't even get me started on iLok.

Perhaps using a laptop and Reaper is great because you get to have nearly unlimited routing and combining VST FX as presets. Unless you are using IEMs, which tend to be consistent in monitoring, every room will sound different. Every monitoring system will sound different. You have to tune your guitar rig and its FX to the room. That's just a fact of life. Is it easier for you to mouse around to change some settings, or easier to turn a physical knob?

Lastly, I want you to consider one thing in terms of guitar gear. I bought a Lexicon MPX-1 back in 1999. It still works, and I still dig in and program wonderful FX and sounds on it. No software updates, no operating systems, nothing. It just works and has done so for nearly 20 years. I had a Triaxis and 2:90 amp setup for nearly 20 years. Yes I did have to change out Power tubes (which was expensive), but it always worked. Bought a Lexicon PCM 81 last year. 20 year old product and its an amazing piece of gear. What VST FX from 1997 still works on today's modern computer without having been updated.

So I use an actual guitar rig because of reliability, and I know that if my laptop should somehow fail or simply not turn on at all that night, I can still make music because my guitar rig will work. Oh and at home? Turn on the amp and practice. I don't have to wait for my laptop to turn on, and my file to load so then I can play.

What works for me and what I'm trying to accomplish may not work for you. But really consider and think about what it is you are trying to do. Ultimately it doesn't matter what anybody in this forum says. The only way for you to truly know, is to go do it.

So if you do play some gigs using just the laptop, let us know how that goes. I'd love to hear about it. :)

You bring up a lot of good points -

I'd say what I want to accomplish is to have the power/flexibility in a multi-effects box to build and stack fx any way I want, and not be limited by the box itself. I've gone through many guitar multi-fx pedals, between $200 and $400 - each has their pros and cons, but they are inheritly limited to only presets and effects that are built-in or specifically made for that model. Due to the limited processing power of these pedals (which is much less than even my 10 year old laptop) I can only stack a few effects at a time, and most don't allow for stacking of like effects.

As far as reliability, a guitar rig / multi-fx hardware unit can definitely be more reliable than a laptop. Its all about the build quality, and there are some well-built laptops out there. As far as speed, I put an SSD in my old laptop and it boots from power off to ready to play in Reaper in 15 seconds. I press the power button, plug in the extension cord to the amp/foot pedal, and by the time I sit down and plug my guitar in, its ready to go. If I want to build tones or tweak my presets at home, I prefer to remote into my laptop from my desktop. I can also back up the entire guitar rig in 10 seconds when doing this.

Physical knobs definitely trump using the mouse, and they make dialing in a sound much quicker. With my foot pedal, I can find some middle ground. For example, adjusting room EQ, my FCB has 10 pedals in two rows. I can have the first column adjust UP/DOWN for bass, second column UP/DOWN for mid, etc., and the last column can reset. More work, yes, but it can still be relatively efficient.

The laptop way can be much more difficult than real hardware and it also has more potential areas of failure. The upside is the flexibility, and that's what appeals to me. I've worked with computers my entire life, and still find them to be a major PITA.

[ashcat_lt]

I feel like I'm not doing anywhere near what other people are doing with this. The original plan did involve replacing my hardware pedalboard (as in multiple pedals physically plugged together) with software and a controller, but that hasn't come together yet for several reasons, so I (and whoever else I'm playing with at the time) pretty much still use the pedals and the computer just does amp sim.

Well...no... I also sometimes run my MIDI guitar through different synth/drum/FX chains, and we did replace the ring mod>distortion chain that used my guitar and the bass as the two sources, and the Mr Rogers Mic that tries to convert the full band mix to MIDI playing a wind chime type thing along with whatever happens, and then there's the drums which mostly just pound away at a steady rhythm, but their velocity follows individual instrument volumes. We were doing most of this with hardware synths and pedal chains and hardware amp sims for years, and I have managed to replace all of the hardware except our personal pedal chains.

But I don't run backing tracks the way others do, so I've never had to jump from one song to another. One time we sort of did, but I actually just had three different sets of drum tracks all running at the same time and I switched between them on the fly. Our songs don't have very well defined structure, and can change from performance to performance. Extended intro, extra solos, vamp under spoken word for ten minutes in the middle. This is the best solution I've found so far. I have not worked out a way to do this without actually touching the computer yet, though.

We've talked about wiring my father's organ to the computer and giving him a knob maybe for tempo and a button to change beats and maybe an all mute button. I'm not sure I trust him though. :)

I did one time a solo set where I had four parallel tracks each running my JS "delay pedal" and used my MikroKontrol to fade between them and switch which one my guitar was feeding and stuff. That was cool, but a bit awkward and I really should have rehearsed it better and drunk less before I took it to the stage.

[StepOne]

Keyboard and "trunk" PC (Monitor etc only used for configuration):

http://www.schnellphoto.de/keyboard.jpg

http://www.schnellphoto.de/koffer_300.JPG

:)
-Michael

Nice Trunk...how much was your I7 build?

[mschnell]

The embeded PC box was some € 1000 (Plus Windows OS).

A year later I ordered two more of them to use as office PCs, as it's really nice to have a perfectly silent box sitting on your table :). (No need for a huge drive as I use a NAS as mass storage, anyway.)

-Michael

[pipelineaudio]

Hi guys, fyi here's a 'starter/explainer template' for getting your head around sws s&m live configs - which at first is maybe daunting.

http://forum.cockos.com/showpost.php?p=1517914&postcount=6

Hope helps.

Benk! Thanks I'm going through this again, but I was planning on sending PC messages not CC, is that doable?

[mschnell]

Search the Forums for "liveConfigs" to find several more threads and a lot of messages regarding that issue.

Benk! Thanks I'm going through this again, but I was planning on sending PC messages not CC, is that doable?

I's easy (once you know how to do it). You might want to check my extended LiveConfigs User guide that includes a description.

The essensce is:
- route the PC messages to a track and not to "control messages" in the driver
- use a JSFX (e.g. PCtoCC) in that track
- use the MidiToReaControlPath VST to route the (now CC) messages to LiveConfigs.

It would be great to have a dedicated subforum for "Using Reaper Live" for such issues.

-Michael

[pipelineaudio]

Thank you! I am soon going to be bugging you. Where is your user guide?

[pipelineaudio]

Actually, the action SWS/BR Restore tracks' solo and mute state to all tracks sl01, slot 2 etx....

But where do I set those slots?

[mschnell]

LiveConfigs features a GUI to set the actions to be done when it sees an incoming CC (please see the User Guide). You usually don't need the actions in the Reaper action list.

On a CC it can be set to
- unmute a track (and mute all others it this config sheet)
- push presets onto plugins (as you configured for that track)
- execute Reaper actions
- ...

-Michael