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Originally Posted by planetnine View Post
Do predominately MIDI-users want to contribute or at least request areas that need covering? The coverage suits my needs, but the MIDI crowd are usually quite vocal
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenny Gioia
I'd be interested to hear as well.
As you correctly noted, I tend to use a few midi tracks, than print everything to audio.
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Well, you did get to hear from a Midi user here a few posts back. I wouldn't count myself being part of the 'midi crowd' using Reaper for audio 95 percent of the time. The one time I did try to use it for something midi though, took me six hours to figure out. I explained all that above. No big deal.
I wouldn't say I was quite vocal either. I voice my concerns and move on. I can see now why Reaper gets so much flak by the midi crowd. I thought it was to do with the god-awful (no offense) midi grid, but no, it runs deeper than that.
To use Reaper for midi, is like using a spoon to peel potatoes. You can do it if you try long enough, but there are better tools out there.
Kenny, I don't know how much more succinctly I could have put things. I'm certainly not angry or even a bit miffed. I simply shared my experience with you all to show another perspective. I can see why you would not make a video though of what I tried to work out. It would show the inherent weaknesses within Reaper itself.
And I'm ok with that. Use Reaper for Audio, not for Midi.
But please, let's not pretend there is going to be some kind of renaissance with Midi for Reaper, because it ain't ever gonna happen. It is what it is. And that's ok.
For the sake of my sanity and my integrity, I did a little test after posting about the difficulties I had (six hours to learn how to route midi to build a drum machine track - noted above).
It took me about 3 seconds in Studio One, to figure out what I wanted to do. About 10 seconds in Energy XT2. About 20 seconds in FLStudio. I gave up then, not bothering to check my other DAWs. Reaper took six hours. That is more than an order of magnitude for an experienced user, that is several orders of magnitude, again.
I was teaching people how to make music with Cubase 20 years ago. I was one of the first to get the program, to figure it out, and to disseminate that information.
Now. I don't want any of this taken out of hand. It's just a 'FYI'.
Everything I want from Reaper it gives. Everything I need to know, I can figure out myself. But ask yourself this: If it takes me six hours to work out how to do a midi build up drum machine style, how long would it take a noob? Answer: They would not be able to do it. Hence, lots of shitty posts on shitty forums about how crap Reaper is. Where Reaper is not crap at all. It is bloody amazing. I love this software.
Kenny, you could to a video about how to layer hi-hats on top of a beat via midi in Reaper, but you won't. Because it would take too long. And more than that, it would show up the greatest weakness in Reaper that there is.
And I'm ok with that too. I worked it out. It took me six hours. It took me 3 seconds in Studio One. 10 Seconds in Energy XT2, 20 seconds in Fruity Loops. I don't need an explanation now. I know how this software works. And I'm happy.
Reaper fills a niche no other software does. To moan about its poor midi implementation is like saying lemons taste bitter.
I love the software, I love the community. I'm even going to buy the v5 update pretty soon, I like it so much.
But, you know...
I'm not part of the Midi crowd. Anyone that users Reaper for Midi needs a head check - it's like using lemons to sweeten tea. Leave Reaper alone! (in the vein of that "leave Britney Spears alone" video on youtube). And I'm certainly not vocal.
Justin and the boys, just keep doing that voodoo that you do so well!
I'm happy as can be.
And Kenny, I really did mean 'thanks' when I said it for the free videos you put up for Reaper 5. I learned stuff I didn't know before. I like your style of teaching and I think it's very generous of you - lots of people are going to have the learning curve shortened a whole amount by you helping them out.
I back my mouth up with templates you can download. It's almost impossible to describe routing in English Conversation. Templates are needed. You got them. If I had had them, it wouldn't have taken me six bloody hours! Feel free to take my templates and add about 50KB to the next installer of Reaper. Your users will thank you. I won't go through that all again. I will load up my template - and you know what - Reaper is even faster then! That's right, it's not a lost cause at all. It just needs a bit of a rethinking and a rejig of the ego. Reaper is pure dynamite for midi (when you get it set up) - it might even end up being the most powerful midi sequencer out there.