Recording Soft Synths in REAPER

[elmerbumpkin]

hey folks,

Can someone steer me in the right direction here?

All I am wanting to do is to record the audio output of a soft synth, as a new track, in REAPER. I would then like to be able to listen to the previously captured tracks while recording the audio output of a different soft synth as a new track, etc. etc. etc.

I am using a microKorg as a controller, plugged into an Maudio Fast Track Pro USB device, into an XP box.

FWIW, I can use the same Fast Track Pro and record line/mic signals just fine into REAPER, just can't seem to figure out capturing the 'live' output of a soft synth.

Any help appreciated, I have the Reaper user's guide, but I'm not sure where the info is that I am needing in there.
Thanks.

 

[Daddydex]

By Soft Synth do you mean VSTi?

If so, first go to options, preferences, midi device and and make sure your controller shows up.

Next, add you software (vsti) as you would any effect.

Make sure you click the record button and the button underneath it.

Right click on the button underneath record and follow the path to your midi device. I set it to all channels.

Thats it. Hit record and go

Dan

 

[elmerbumpkin]

yes, ones I got from the VST plugin section of KVR audio, like this one.

 

[Daddydex]

I edited my first post to provide instructions. I hope it helps. If not, I will catch you when I get back from dinner.

Dan

 

[elmerbumpkin]

By Soft Synth do you mean VSTi?

If so, first go to options, preferences, midi device and and make sure your controller shows up.

Next, add you software (vsti) as you would any effect.

Make sure you click the record button and the button underneath it.

Right click on the button underneath record and follow the path to your midi device. I set it to all channels.

Thats it. Hit record and go

Dan

I think I hit the roadblock here:

"Next, add you software (vsti) as you would any effect."

so, I would right click and add a new track, then add the vsti like an effect? That seems easy enough, I think I kept looking for 'soft synth' since that was the parlance used in ACID. I'll poke around this evening and see what happens, thanks for the reply!

 

[Daddydex]

Yes, just like you are adding a reverb plugin. There should be a section of just VSTi's.

Some DAW's have separate audio and midi channels. This is not the case in Reaper

Dan

 

[elmerbumpkin]

After taking the steps you listed, I still wasn't getting anything, so I checked the options, and hit 'enable' next to the FastTrack entry on the MIDI tab, and there you have it, SOUND! Thank you!

So, when I did record, I ended up recording MIDI, not audio. I was able to right click and 'apply effects as new track' or something like that, and it made a wav file of the midi. I could open that in an editor and mess with it like I wanted. It made the single track look like a stereo track, with the midi events on top, and the waveform on the bottom.

Is there a way to right click and make an entirely new track that is a wav?

Is there a way to record directly to a wav file? or is there a better way to do what I want?

Thanks for your help, I'm close!

 

[Daddydex]

If you are trying to convert the recorded midi to wav you already did that by applying the track fx as new take. You can go back to the midi take anytime by highlighting the top half. If you highlight the bottom half you will hear only the sound that was selected when you applied the track fx. Am I making sense? I think I need my ice cream soon.

Dan

 

[elmerbumpkin]

It all makes sense, and it's all working pretty well.

Thanks again for your help, I should be occupied now for awhile!

 

[elmerbumpkin]

well, after a few weeks of messing around, I have come up with a few more questions about using REAPER.

Is there a way to record via MIDI device > VSTi and capture directly to .wav? I realize I can right click on the midi info once I've recorded, and generate a .wav that 'shares' that track, but it gets in the way visually, and I am working only with the .wav file once I have captured.

Second, when applying FX, is the amount of effect typically controlled somewhere in the plugin itself? I didn't see anything in Reaper, and each plugin seems to have an 'output' or 'volume' that can be adjusted.

Third, when using a DX effect, some of the plugins don't show all the presets or options that they will within a wav editor. Any ideas on that one? (specifically, I was trying to use one of the compression settings in SoundForge's WaveHammer effect, and the only thing on the pulldown menus just said 'default', but about 12 options show up using SoundForge).


Thanks for the help!