Hello just to say thank you for the informations here, and ask further questions ... I've just tracked some 8 bars sequences from my MPC Live ( with "live" track mutes and Q links to send fx, and finger-drummed add ons) using MPC software in VST plugin in Reaper. Everything looks to stay in sync (I've just pushed a little bit the buffer size of my soundcard Behri UMC 8 so that my very old PC with windows 7 can handle)
Had some problems to figure it out and i would like to tell my workflow in case of someone has better ideas.
Project in Reaper 48000 khz 16 bit
First track holds the MPC plugin , with a quite heavy project on it ( 25 sequences with lot of sample and programs, some skeches and ideas and beats, not a full song, but something like 12 differents tunes. )
First problem, route the mpc plugin in separate tracks ( I found it in the I/O tab in the upper right corner of the vst window in Reaper FX pop up) ...
But If I route anything to out 1 or 2 , just can't get it to output in a mono track ( I like to have Kick and snare on out 1 and 2, rest of drums on 3 and 4 ) . So I've started my outputs chain with 3 and 4.
You have to unlock some channels in the vst matrix so that you can use receive on other tracks in reaper.
Every program or pad inside program is routed to the 8 submixes depending on categories :
1 kick (routed to output 3
2 Snares (output 4)
3 Overheads (ouptut 5/6)
4 Bass ( out 7)
5 Keyboards (out 9/10)
6 Lead Synths (out 8 )
7 Extra percussion loops ( out 11/12)
8 Extra drumloops and/ or internal FX returns ( out 13/14)
Then I've created some audio tracks receiving "MPC multi" , with the corresponding channels ( Kick receive MPC channel 1, etc..)
Mono or stereo tracks now receive everything separated.... Just take care to set RECORD OUTPUTS on revery tracks on reaper to record receives and not physical inputs of the audio interface; Now I can play my song with track mutes, q links, finger-played breaks. and chain sequences, etc... The tempo is from Reaper ( it's locked on host and you can't change it on the MPC as it works in VST)
And come the Next problem : My project is made of very different small beats and mini songs, at different tempos... so you have to manually enter the tempo of the song or sequence you are playing. Unfortunately on your project there is no way to know the original tempo of the sequence you made, they are now all set on the "HOST" tempo, and if you save your project, all the sequences changed tempo... so first lesson : ALWAYS SAVE a "controller" version of your project if you don't want To lose all your routings and tempos defined in standalone
But at the end, i've got my 8 audio tracks perfect in sync (could'nt do this in standalone, as ther eis only 6 outputs on MPC LIVE ) .... And if I need to separate more, there is 32 out maximum.... And the good point is editing song structure on reaper is know very easy, and you keep all your happy accidents.
So if every one as a hint or tip to a better workflow with reaper, I'd like to know
Thanks for reading.