Sonar user -> Reaper experimenter

[LeedyGuy]

Okay so I am trying Reaper today. So far, it's been a few hours and I have been able to record audio, play it back, and add some effects. My initial impression is that this is a great program and really easy to use right off the bat, but doing anything that I think should be easy (or at least was really quick and easy in Sonar) sometimes takes me several menus deep.

A few questions though from anyone who can help me out because I just can't figure it out.

1. In order to make a send, I created a new track (named reverb) then I made my guitar track send through it and added a Waves RVerb and made an attempt at trying to figure out what all those sliders all over the place meant. Is that right? I'm not sure how I feel about having the reverb be a track rather than a bus...but I can't figure out how to bus anything anyway!

2. How do I solo a track AND here the send as well? In Sonar, if you solo anything, it plays it with all the sends etc. that are tacked on it. In Reaper, I'm getting a no-send solo signal. Weird or am I too used to Sonar?

3. How do I delete a piece of a track? In Sonar, I just click on the picture of the audio and it highlights and then I press Delete and it's gone. Reaper deletes half my other tracks as well when I try to do this!

Any other long time (since Sonar 1!!) users out there trying to make this switch?

-Ken

[mjau]

Any other long time (since Sonar 1!!) users out there trying to make this switch?

-Ken

I tried, but gave up after a few attempts. I'm too used to the Sonar interface, and I've learned all the keystroke shortcuts and all that fun stuff. I'm still on Sonar 3.1...so that tells you that I'm not one to change it up much.

[Wilkesin]

Hmmh,

1. Call it a bus, a track, or a whatsawhosit, but all you have to do is create one, plop a reverb on it, click the IO button on that track either in the track control panel or the mix control panel, click the receives drop down menu and click on gtr or whatever channel (by name) you want that reverb on. ..

2.When you solo the gtr track you should still hear the reverb (automatically solo safe). The sliders are there for level and panning but should already be set.

3.works for me, just be sure that you only have that item highlighted.

[LeedyGuy]

1. Got it. A little getting used to, but...awesome.

2. Okay, I have no idea what I was thinking before. Works fine.

3. If I click on an item (track 6 let's say) and it turns green I then hit delete and a large portion of track 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 is ALSO deleted. Am I the only one? Do I have something set weird? The part that gets deleted seems to have nothing to do with anything...seemingly random!!

[jakerock]

Did you possibly group the items together by hitting "G"?
To see if you did:

select the item that you are trying to delete and hit "U" to Ungroup it,

or right click on the item, GROUP>"select all of selected items groups"
Then hit "U" to ungroup all of the items in the group

Then see if you can delete to one item!


Best, Jake

[Wilkesin]

be sure you are clicking on the waveform/item within the track and not the track itself on the left edge of the screen because (i think) that will delete the entire track and then Reaper automatically renumbers all previous and subsequent tracks to keep them in sequential order...

[Tallisman]

Jake item grouping doesn't work like that here.
It sounds like inadvertent adjacent selection, to me, but I can't reproduce that here...

Kentothink... you have probably already figured all this out but try it anyway:
* right-click+drag = marquee selection.
* add [Alt] before releasing the right mouse button, to make a marquee + time selection (try this over the portions of an item you want to delete, then press ctrl+delete)

*quickly send a bunch of tracks to the same reverb: select the tracks in the TCP, right-click the i/o icon on one of them and navigate -->Sends-->the track you want

*...you have created a track and put a reverb on it. Right click the i/o button-->Receives-->the track(s) you want feeding the reverb.


if you come and visit us over at the forum dot cockos dot com, you will find a good many longer time sonar users happy to help (many of whom are still active sonar users and cakewalk forum members - who said daw affiliation has to be exclusive?)

greetings
.t

[calaverasgrandes]

I tried Reaper a year or two ago and found it fast and flexible.
But I also found it very ugly. Maybe its my OCD or my ADHD or some other acronym, but the visual interface was just too cluttered and unorganized. Iwas always squinting at my screen and getting headaches.
I guess I would make the analogy of linux.
I have installed linux on several machines. Its interesting, it goes faster for given hardware than windows. It's flexible and powerful. But at the end of the day I just want my windows back. Call me when this linux thing has a compelling thing that windows lacks.
Reaper is kinda the same thing. It works, but it doesnt compel me to use it.

[Tallisman]

In deed reaper was fugly! and by some accounts it still is despite the efforts of White Tie, and the many, many themers. But cluttered? I gues it could be considered such. Personally I am lobbying to see some of the empty GUI space donated to some new tools and macro buttons.



be well

.t

I tried Reaper a year or two ago and found it fast and flexible.
But I also found it very ugly. Maybe its my OCD or my ADHD or some other acronym, but the visual interface was just too cluttered and unorganized. Iwas always squinting at my screen and getting headaches.
I guess I would make the analogy of linux.
I have installed linux on several machines. Its interesting, it goes faster for given hardware than windows. It's flexible and powerful. But at the end of the day I just want my windows back. Call me when this linux thing has a compelling thing that windows lacks.
Reaper is kinda the same thing. It works, but it doesnt compel me to use it.

[LeedyGuy]

Yeah, I had something called ripple editing enabled as well as item grouping via those little push things in the upper left hand corner. Man that was causing me a world of hurt! This is a breeze now.

[calaverasgrandes]

its not so much the usage of empty space or not. Sonar and cubase tend to eat up every pixel with buttons and such. But it also is obvious that they spent a while refining their gui. Sonar is the 3rd generation for TTS. And its on its 8th rev now. So they have had a while to refine the visual space. Stupid things like how big the buttons are and how the meters work tend to influence what we "feel" about the DAWs.
I wish reaper all the luck in teh world though. because as it stands NONE of the major DAWs are independent. Cubase=Yamaha, Sonar=Roland, PT=Avid. Sure their are others, but who is gonna use frooty loops studio for all their production?

[@?,*???&?]

I tried Reaper a year or two ago and found it fast and flexible.
But I also found it very ugly. Maybe its my OCD or my ADHD or some other acronym, but the visual interface was just too cluttered and unorganized. Iwas always squinting at my screen and getting headaches.
I guess I would make the analogy of linux.
I have installed linux on several machines. Its interesting, it goes faster for given hardware than windows. It's flexible and powerful. But at the end of the day I just want my windows back. Call me when this linux thing has a compelling thing that windows lacks.
Reaper is kinda the same thing. It works, but it doesnt compel me to use it.

Are you making records or recording these days?

[calaverasgrandes]

I tried Reaper a year or two ago and found it fast and flexible.
But I also found it very ugly. Maybe its my OCD or my ADHD or some other acronym, but the visual interface was just too cluttered and unorganized. Iwas always squinting at my screen and getting headaches.
I guess I would make the analogy of linux.
I have installed linux on several machines. Its interesting, it goes faster for given hardware than windows. It's flexible and powerful. But at the end of the day I just want my windows back. Call me when this linux thing has a compelling thing that windows lacks.
Reaper is kinda the same thing. It works, but it doesnt compel me to use it.

Are you making records or recording these days?

No I am making CDs
Only turntablists, punk rockers and stoner metalers make records.