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Old 02-15-2018, 08:57 PM   #1
Greenerpastures
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Default Trigger recording with a signal on a line in

Hi everyone
I am just wondering if I connected a multi channel
USB interface to reaper, set for example 8 inputs
to 8 channels and armed them all,
is there any way I could for example send
a signal into input 9 of the interface which would
have its own track in Reaper, and have that signal
start the recording process for the other 8 channels
I set up earlier.

Basically I want to use an aux send on an external
mixer to send a signal into Reaper, and for that signal
to start the recording process, when the process starts
the signal can be cut / shut down yet the recording proceed,
or I can leave the signal alone as it wont be recorded.
The signal has to be an audio one, such as play a track
into the No 9 Channel to trigger the recording of the other
8 tracks.

Thanks for looking in, I look forward to hearing if this
is at all possible.
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Old 02-16-2018, 06:23 AM   #2
Greenerpastures
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Any ideas on how to do this, is it possible.

Thanks & Regards to all
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Old 02-16-2018, 06:41 AM   #3
BenK-msx
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Possible:
Reagate can send a midi note on open /close as do many of the drum trigger type FX,.
Place the best choice on a track with record settings set to 'monitor only' and volume down, then after that FX in the chain place realearn by helgoboss (you need to obtain that from his site) to assign to reaper actions to record.
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Old 02-16-2018, 07:23 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BenK-msx View Post
Possible:
Reagate can send a midi note on open /close as do many of the drum trigger type FX,.
Place the best choice on a track with record settings set to 'monitor only' and volume down, then after that FX in the chain place realearn by helgoboss (you need to obtain that from his site) to assign to reaper actions to record.
Hi BenK
Thank you for posting

I wish I understood what you just said, I have no clue about midi,
do not use it, maybe I will try and explain better.

I was hoping there would be a plug-in / VST that
may accomplish this.
If this can be made work, I can use any digital rack mixer to provide
FOH sound, these are either hard wired to a computer or controlled
over Wi Fi, I could simply play a sound out of the mixer which would be
connected to a Laptop on the stage, this sound would enter the DAW
via a set channel, and trigger the other pre set 8 /10 or 16 chanels
set up and armed in the DAW, it does not have to be perfect control
as in stopping the recording, this can be done manually, but starting it
from the same application that I sit with in the audience would be of
great benefit, though am guessing that if there is a script to start
the recording it would be simple enough to also stop it.

I hope someone can advise

Thanks & Regards to all
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Old 02-16-2018, 07:46 AM   #5
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Basically you are converting an audio signal into a midi signal that can trigger the action for record.
I've just tried it and it works nicely - cheers BenK
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Old 02-16-2018, 08:02 AM   #6
Greenerpastures
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Hi BenK, thank you for commenting.

Is there any chance you or someone else could do up
a guide to accomplish this for people like me who are
not up to speed on such.

I can create the tracks, arm them, and record no problem,
but understanding how to implement what you describe is
not so easy when I have no clue as to how to set up triggers
or use midi.

Either way, I appreciate your posting and thank you.
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Old 02-16-2018, 08:08 AM   #7
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Glad it made sense to someone!

Short explanation:
The problem to overcome is that reaper's actions system, that assigns keystrokes or midi to actions in reaper is separated from reaper 'tracks' and anything coming into them.

This is where the realearn tool bridges that gap so midi on a reaper track can be assigned to a reaper action such as 'record'.

You wish to use audio from a track to trigger that action.

To do that The audio has to be first converted to/create a midi note,
The Reagate fx has an option to produce a note when active.

That midi can't be assigned to an action like 'record' until you place the realearn tool after it and set it to trigger record on receipt of the midi note from Reagate.

If you were happy to just press a button to record you can use a midi controller or a wireless pc keyboard or a phone/tablet using the web controller feature.
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Old 02-16-2018, 08:10 AM   #8
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this is how i have it set on the channel receiving the trigger, if it's any help
Attached Images
File Type: png trig rec.PNG (27.7 KB, 347 views)
File Type: png gate.PNG (23.6 KB, 333 views)

Last edited by domzy; 02-16-2018 at 08:36 AM.
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Old 02-16-2018, 08:15 AM   #9
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I'll look at my daw later as there may a simpler method have forgotten.
But to your remote situation greener', the web controller feature could work nicely.

See Prefs/control surfaces then hit 'add'. Then select web control.
Press button that does most of it for you, then access the given ip URL on phone etc

EDIT: handy pic from domzy
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Old 02-16-2018, 09:03 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by domzy View Post
this is how i have it set on the channel receiving the trigger, if it's any help
Hi domzy, thank you for the images.
In the second one you show a snap of
ReaGate -> Send midi on open/close note 69,
where does note 69 come into the picture
and what does it signify.
And where it says open/close, does this
mean when the gate opens it records,
and when it closes does the recording stop.

I am guessing the -14 is enough to open the gate
and trigger the action to record, and is set low
in order to keep it silent ish, or can it be set
lower and still trigger using the mute or track
fader to ensure the sound is not heard.

Sorry for all the question but I have no other source
for such information, and thanks to all who posted.
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Old 02-16-2018, 09:04 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BenK-msx View Post
I'll look at my daw later as there may a simpler method have forgotten.
EDIT: handy pic from domzy
Thanks BenK-msx, help is much appreciated.
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Old 02-16-2018, 09:11 AM   #12
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note 69 was the default value - i think it's note A above middle C? but it's not important in this case, i don't think - ReaLearn just needs to hear any MIDI note before it can trigger the action (though i think you can set it to respond to a particular midi note if you need to)
In my case, i triggered it with a single hit and this seems to have worked for me straight away, but when i triggered it with a guitar track it did seem to be toggling rec on / off.
I'm still getting my head around this myself, but i think adjusting the settings in realern will change the behaviour (toggle, absolute, relative modes etc.)
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Old 02-16-2018, 09:37 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by domzy View Post
note 69 was the default value - i think it's note A above middle C? but it's not important in this case, i don't think - ReaLearn just needs to hear any MIDI note before it can trigger the action (though i think you can set it to respond to a particular midi note if you need to)
In my case, i triggered it with a single hit and this seems to have worked for me straight away, but when i triggered it with a guitar track it did seem to be toggling rec on / off.
I'm still getting my head around this myself, but i think adjusting the settings in realern will change the behaviour (toggle, absolute, relative modes etc.)
Thanks for explaining domzy, I will set it up later
and see how far I get.
When you say your triggered it with a single hit,
do you mean you used some sort of control surface
or key on the computer to initiate this.
This approach would not work for me as I want to send a
voice into the channel that triggers the Recording,
I can do this easy from android apple mac pc or linux,
Which can all connect to the mixer using either WiFi
or cat5 though I have cat7 as it has other uses.
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Old 02-16-2018, 09:48 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greenerpastures View Post
Hi everyone
I am just wondering if I connected a multi channel
USB interface to reaper, set for example 8 inputs
to 8 channels and armed them all,
is there any way I could for example send
a signal into input 9 of the interface which would
have its own track in Reaper, and have that signal
start the recording process for the other 8 channels
I set up earlier.

Basically I want to use an aux send on an external
mixer to send a signal into Reaper, and for that signal
to start the recording process, when the process starts
the signal can be cut / shut down yet the recording proceed,
or I can leave the signal alone as it wont be recorded.
The signal has to be an audio one, such as play a track
into the No 9 Channel to trigger the recording of the other
8 tracks.

Thanks for looking in, I look forward to hearing if this
is at all possible.
Ideally, such an external signal is simply a pre-recorded SMPTE/LTC timecode signal. You just have to define by right-clicking the play button in Reaper that you wanna use audio input xy as the timecode input. Reaper will then follow playback/record as you play back/stop this incoming signal.

This is just one solution. As always, Reaper will give you plenty of other options to accomplish the same task.
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Old 02-16-2018, 01:37 PM   #15
domzy
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greenerpastures View Post
Thanks for explaining domzy, I will set it up later
and see how far I get.
When you say your triggered it with a single hit,
do you mean you used some sort of control surface
or key on the computer to initiate this.
This approach would not work for me as I want to send a
voice into the channel that triggers the Recording,
I can do this easy from android apple mac pc or linux,
Which can all connect to the mixer using either WiFi
or cat5 though I have cat7 as it has other uses.
by "a single hit" i meant one short sound - a snare in my case
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Old 02-16-2018, 02:17 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by domzy View Post
by "a single hit" i meant one short sound - a snare in my case
I have been trying what you suggested,
I added ReaGate, did not touch the setings, it is a oo inf.
I added ReaLearn, and used the same settings I see on the image
you posted, and unless I slide the slider immediately below the
section where you set up the trigger and select the action all
the way to the right, to 100% nothing is recorded, this slider
immediately jumps back to zero, and the recording,
and unless I manually go in and slide it to the right again,
I can not record, doing this manually is no good, it defeats
the whole idea of playing a track to trigger the recording function.

I will add that instead of using an external input, for testing am
just playing a track in reaper, with the two plug-ins assigned, the
Reagate at the top of the list, followed by ReaLearn, this is the order
I added the plug-ins.

I must be doing something wrong.
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Old 02-16-2018, 02:22 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SonicAxiom View Post
Ideally, such an external signal is simply a pre-recorded SMPTE/LTC timecode signal. You just have to define by right-clicking the play button in Reaper that you wanna use audio input xy as the timecode input. Reaper will then follow playback/record as you play back/stop this incoming signal.

This is just one solution. As always, Reaper will give you plenty of other options to accomplish the same task.
I tried what you have said, I went online and created a LTC time code file,
added that to a track, it is in wav format, I then sent this to ReaRoute 1,
I then right clicked on the play button and selected ReaRoute 1 as the source,
and no record when I play the track with the LTC file.
If I press CTL and r, I get the message waiting on time code.
I even selected the typ of time code under the right click
menu of the play button, and still no record.
What am I not doing right here.
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Old 02-16-2018, 02:47 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Greenerpastures View Post
I have been trying what you suggested,
I added ReaGate, did not touch the setings, it is a oo inf.
I added ReaLearn, and used the same settings I see on the image
you posted, and unless I slide the slider immediately below the
section where you set up the trigger and select the action all
the way to the right, to 100% nothing is recorded, this slider
immediately jumps back to zero, and the recording,
and unless I manually go in and slide it to the right again,
I can not record, doing this manually is no good, it defeats
the whole idea of playing a track to trigger the recording function.

I will add that instead of using an external input, for testing am
just playing a track in reaper, with the two plug-ins assigned, the
Reagate at the top of the list, followed by ReaLearn, this is the order
I added the plug-ins.

I must be doing something wrong.
are you using a short single sound (clap, snare etc) to trigger the gate or a continuous sound?
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Old 02-16-2018, 03:03 PM   #19
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and try setting mode to "toggle" in Realearn - i've just tried multiple hits and this results in record being turned on/off in absolute and relative modes
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Old 02-16-2018, 03:05 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by domzy View Post
are you using a short single sound (clap, snare etc) to trigger the gate or a continuous sound?
Hi, am using continuous sound as it is easy for me to
route a sound source temporarily of full time if needed
to the daw, I have spare stereo outs on the digital mixer
that will sit on the stage alongside the laptop, the mixer
can do FOH and send channels into the DAW at the same time.
Though am only trying to get Reaper to function as of now,
I just play a sound file into the channel with the gate and
the ReaLearn plug-ins.
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Old 02-16-2018, 04:23 PM   #21
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" I have been trying what you suggested,
I added ReaGate, did not touch the setings, it is a oo inf.

** best to raise the threshold a bit to get it to 'open' and produce a midi note.

also ensure your track's monitoring mode is ON

there are settings in realearn below the ones shown in domzy's picture where you can set to 'toggle' too.

seemed to work ok here shouting into a mic.
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Old 02-16-2018, 04:32 PM   #22
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try this
https://stash.reaper.fm/32925/start-...RTrackTemplate

any decent level into that track, once you have set the input, should begin recording.

to stop recording, run over to the computer and hit stop, don't want any accidents do we!?
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Old 02-16-2018, 07:24 PM   #23
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Default SOLVED thanks to BenK-msx and his track template

Quote:
Originally Posted by BenK-msx View Post
try this
https://stash.reaper.fm/32925/start-...RTrackTemplate

any decent level into that track, once you have set the input, should begin recording.

to stop recording, run over to the computer and hit stop, don't want any accidents do we!?
Hi BenK-msx, and thank you ever so much.
Your track template worked the instant I played an
audio file on it.
All I did was add 4 tracks, armed them,
added a fifth track, (using your track template),
put an audio file on it, hit the space key and the
recording process began.

My set-up was the same as yours in all respects,
except the way you set up the gate in ReaGate to trigger.
I initially copied the settings from the images in this thread,
and they just would not work with an audio file,

I did get things to work earlier using the web controller feature
you mentioned, another good alternative, though the one you
have shown me is better suited to my needs,
there is quite a lot of WiFi traffic in the places I be and that
could be just another thing to go wrong,
though a great feature for certain locations.

I must say, it would be good to know more and save
you all this effort.

Thanks to all who posted.

Last edited by Greenerpastures; 03-20-2021 at 07:09 PM.
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Old 02-16-2018, 08:30 PM   #24
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no probs glad works ok - knowing reaper long enough and fiddling between seemingly endless unsatisfactory takes (my own.... ) meant was little energy spent..
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