Drum sequencing in Reaper

pac0naut · 03-07-2013, 02:41 PM

Hi all! I just downloaded Reaper to check it out. TECHNICALLY, I don't have a DAW, so I figured I'd give this one a fair shot. Before i install it, however, I'd like to know how to sequence drums in it or if it's possible. Let me explain:

I'm Paco. I do hiphop. Pleased to meet you all. I've been using a program called Making Waves now for over a decade as my primary weapon. I decided it's time at the ripe old age of 36 to get into some big-boy stuff. I just got a Core i7 with 16 GB Ram, 128 GB SSD for a launch drive and various data drives. I'm saving up for Maschine as well. I know it has a DAW type of software with it, but I really want to support the independents who do this. My issue is that Making Waves made drum sequencing so freaking easy, I'm wondering if I'll be able to do it on another program. I'm not big on doing drums yet via keyboard / pads because I'm not quiiiite coordinated yet.

The way that making waves works is it has a multi track screen. I can select a kick on one track, snare in another and hi hat in a third. I can then change the samples from one-shot to percussion. I can then choose 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 etc. etc. up to 1/32. Let's say I choose 1/8'ths for all. For a basic "boom boom bap, boom boom bap" type beat, my tracks look somewhat like this (I hope this makes sense):

Kick - XX XX
Snare - X X
Hi Hat - XXXXXXXX

With that, I can then fill in the sequencer bars with the sequence. I can also right click on everything and edit the sequence bars:

Kick - XX X X
- X XX
- XX X

(It doesn't work when I post it. The forum formats it differently. Sorry. Just think of a simple drum beats with kicks on the one, two, five and six with the typical snares on the 3 and 7 and the hi hats on every note in an 8 count.

Etc., etc. down the line. From what I've seen so far, it does have something like Acid with grids and moving things in the grids, and so on and so forth. Does Reaper have something that allows me to do this or do I need to find a plug-in or something?

Hopefully someone here will have worked with Making Waves and be able to help me. Thanks to all and I appreciate your time.

DarkStar · 03-07-2013, 03:23 PM

If I understand correctly, yes you can do all of that.

Just as an illustration, here is a screenshot of your two patterns:
(a) repeated on an Arranger track, 4 times each
(b) and the first pattern in the MIDI Editor

Big pic: https://i.imgur.com/LVs6t8c.png

I have set the grid to 8ths (of a bar), set the note shape to diamonds (better for illustrating drum hits), add Note Names to the MIDI Editor. Please note that you will not see those toolbars in your MIDI Editor - they are ones that I have customized myself.

[Oops, I miscounted your sequence, but you'll get the idea. For 8ths of a beat you would set the grid to 1/32nds.]

pac0naut · 03-07-2013, 03:29 PM

Okay, so you did this in Midi Editor? Can you use your own drum samples without going through a midi controller?

DarkStar · 03-07-2013, 03:33 PM

Yes - I would load a Sampler, such as Kontakt, SampleTank or TW16Wx onto the track. Reaper has its own basic sample player too. Or you can route the MIDI out of Reaper to drum hardware.

pac0naut · 03-07-2013, 05:08 PM

Is there also a "swing" feature?

Susan G · 03-07-2013, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pac0naut

Is there also a "swing" feature?

Yes. The MIDI Editor grid can be set to "straight," "triplet," "dotted" or "swing."

-Susan

beatbybit · 03-07-2013, 06:04 PM

as an alternative to MIDI based beats, you can just drop/edit your samples on the timeline - no VSTi, or other kind of plugins needed. plus its what you see is what you get, unlike MIDI notes.

it easy to replace samples (even on the fly), and there are so many tools/things that are not possible or very hard to do the MIDI way.

if id have to say something "bad" about this workflow then it would be : this method is more like "programming", not play/recording. (tho "playing in" / recording these is also possible, but thats another story)

here are some random examples, i hope youll find something useful in these videos

http://beatbybit.com/reaper/videos/b...amples_001.swf
http://beatbybit.com/reaper/videos/another_one-001.swf
http://beatbybit.com/reaper/videos/D...s_demo_001.swf
http://beatbybit.com/reaper/videos/Cue-Fun-003.swf

one more on the "cons" list : no swing for the main grid, thats only possible with an extension/action. swing grid for the main timeline is an old feature request..

pac0naut · 03-08-2013, 08:31 AM

Thanks so much guys. I can't WAIT to load this up tomorrow!

Beastmode Beats · 03-15-2019, 10:15 PM

The best part about the grid is you can create a cycle action that toggles the grid time using one shortcut key or one midi cc, making it easy to make adjustments to different cc notes with randomized timing, rather than prototypical use of one time setting on a grid; with the cycle action editor you can do things faster and better than FL Studio.