Old 08-19-2018, 12:44 PM   #1
NadirNovelties
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Default submix folder window

Generally when I have a good idea involving Reaper functionality, I come here and find it's already been implemented and developed beyond anything I could conceive of. I couldn't find this, so...

Here's what I'm thinking:

Like a lot of people, when I use Reaper, I undock the mixer and toggle between it and the tracking screen. The biggest problem with the mixer is that it's too literally based on a physical mixing desk, so when I'm working on a session with a lot of tracks, I have to scroll back and forth a lot to get from, say, my drum tracks positioned all the way to the left to my delay and reverb sends that live all the way down on the other end. If I get to wheel my chair from one end of the board to the other it's at least a fun ride, but all that scrolling brings me down. Yes there are ways to speed that process up like hiding all of the other tracks when I don't want to see them, and I can always just move the sends over next to the drums when I'm working on both at the same time, but those all seem like kluges.

When I'm getting a drum mix together, I pretty much just want to see those tracks, not the bass and guitars next to it. Color coding helps, but there's a lot of real estate taken up by stuff I don't need for the job I'm doing at a given moment.

To solve this, I'd like to propose being able to open up a separate mixer window for any given submix folder. Double click on a top-level fader for a submix (drums in this example) and it opens in a new window that just has the faders for the drum tracks visible. The layout could be the same as the basic mixer, with the top-level track in the position of the master fader.

In addition to removing the tracks I don't need to see at a given moment, this would also make it easier to open up my drum sub mixer and my reverb/delay/flange/whatever sends as 2 separate submixer windows on the screen at the same time, placing them right next to each other. Because lots of times I just need to see those 2 sections and none of the other stuff, and it would be nice to open them quickly without going through the track manager.

To make the sub mixer windows even more useful, it would be nice to be able to add faders for automation on a given track to the side of the main fader. There's going to be more horizontal room available, and I've always preferred assigning faders in Reaper to faders on my control surface, so why not?

I generally don't use the lanes for adjusting automation unless I'm fixing something I already automated, and usually that involves switching over to the tracking window. With that in mind, it might be nice to have a mode that toggles between the mixer and a compound view, where the fx/sends section of the highlighted (or double-clicked or whatever) track float beside that track.

Anyway, I think this is a good idea so I have a hard time believing that it doesn't already exist - this community is amazing at identifying and developing ideas. If this is already out there, please point me in the right direction. But if it doesn't exist... can it?
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File Type: jpg reaper-submixer1.jpg (62.4 KB, 129 views)
File Type: jpg reaper-submixer-with-sends.jpg (62.5 KB, 121 views)
File Type: jpg single-track-submixer.jpg (61.9 KB, 123 views)
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Old 08-19-2018, 10:36 PM   #2
enroe
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The solution to your "mixer-scrolling"-problem is:

Track Views!

Manual chapter 12.10: Track Views. You can define
any track-selection in your mixer, define it as
a "track view" and recall any track-view via an
action (keycommand, macro etc.). So there's already
all you need and want.
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Old 08-20-2018, 03:36 PM   #3
NadirNovelties
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Quote:
Originally Posted by enroe View Post
The solution to your "mixer-scrolling"-problem is:

Track Views!

Manual chapter 12.10: Track Views. You can define any track-selection in your mixer, define it as a "track view" and recall any track-view via an action (keycommand, macro etc.). So there's already all you need and want.
I've used the track manager before, and it's a powerful tool. But it's an added step every time I want to use it, going in and setting it up for each session. I think this can be done much more simply, and I have to think I'm not the only one who would benefit from that.

At the very least, being able to tick a box on the track manager that lets me turn off whole groups would be a step up. But I still feel like this is the sort of function that should be available directly from the mixer, not a separate window.
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Old 08-20-2018, 04:14 PM   #4
ThrashJazzAssassin
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I recommend the following script, available on ReaPack

Lokasenna_Show only specified tracks.lua
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Old 08-21-2018, 12:49 PM   #5
NadirNovelties
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ThrashJazzAssassin View Post
I recommend the following script, available on ReaPack

Lokasenna_Show only specified tracks.lua
I actually find the track navigator faster than this script. Still, it seems to me like this could be a lot more user friendly and efficient. I'm beginning to think this just might be me, though.
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