Bug reports & end-user support for Akai's MPC Software 'controllers' including the new MPC Studio 2, the MPC Touch, MPC Renaissance & original MPC Studio and MPC StudioB lack.
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By fdodds Tue Jun 24, 2014 12:24 pm
So I've used Reaper in the past for mixing large scale audio projects, and for making beats with vst's like shortcircuit etc. with an MPD, and while Reaper can be set up well for composition, I personally didn't have the patience to keep setting up and tinkering with stuff, it was a pain for me to unarm tracks, rearm tracks, select vsts, etc.

Now we all know the ren's mixing is confusing at best, but at it's core it's sequencing, sampling ability is really tight (at least on my setup) and it's flow is great for constructing tracks quickly. Using Dazastah's tip to use ReaRoute, you can route your audio straight into reaper, and from there you've got reapers amazing system to actually achieve a mix, quickly apply lfos, go crazy with vst experimentation.

Once I set up Reaper like this I knew straight away I had to track out my beats to it to mix and master them so they all sound similarish so they mix together for a release. I figured I would just use my old saved sequences in the project song modes, but once I actually started doing some edits on tracks with reaper connected I realised there's really no point to use song mode at all any more. when i'm happy with my sequences recording direct to reaper is way better than the song mode since you can now actually make use of the live next-sequence effects (next sequence has a use!!)

if you haven't checked out reaper I strongly advise you to. it's cheap with a free trial that includes a nag screen but no lock-out for saving or rendering. honestly, i'm not interested in the 1.7 update anymore, i could use reaper with 1.6 and be happy forever
Last edited by fdodds on Tue Jun 24, 2014 12:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By fdodds Tue Jun 24, 2014 12:25 pm
basically the image i had in my head was ren and reaper superheroes that have each other's back, they both have their weaknesses but together they're amazing.

:smoker:
By dazastah Wed Jun 25, 2014 3:39 pm
Hey fdodds, you know it works the other way around too... as in sampling in mpc sof.. you can route a reaper track back into mpc... plus about this is you can apply effects when sampling in reaper it's called input track fx rather than the normal track fx...

change the hardware output for a track to rearoute out 1 and 2 ...Make sure masterparent track send box is unchecked..

change the input to a normal input 1 and 2 (like where your turntables/mixer is plugged into on soundcard) arm and monitor it..
then go to mpc softwre sample record and start.. you should see the meters bouncing if done right...
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By fdodds Wed Jun 25, 2014 5:01 pm
ah that's cool, rearoute makes it super flexible. i have to say tho that using the mpc sampling functionality while reaper is open seems unnecessary, it's a piece of cake to split whatever audio you want to transfer from reaper, right click it and select apply fx as new take, then holding ctrl + alt you can click and drag the new take directly into the mpc software, even dropping it straight onto a pad. if you've set reaper to the same bpm as your mpc project, it makes it easier than using the mpc sample record to get it the perfect length for your sequence on the first try without needing to adjust the start time. then after you're done you can just select the old take in reaper, or just tap ctrl z a few times and revert the whole edit.
By dazastah Thu Jun 26, 2014 2:36 am
fdodds wrote:using the mpc sampling functionality while reaper is open seems unnecessary, it's a piece of cake to split whatever audio you want to transfer from reaper, right click it and select apply fx as new take, then holding ctrl + alt you can click and drag the new take directly into the mpc software, even dropping it straight onto a pad.


Damn!! yes.. Chopping in reaper for me is way faster... You have a great timestretch as well. tab to transient.. Well I've changed the key mappings... I'm gonna try and do chopped bunch of samples and see if the bunch gets layed out over pads....
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By fdodds Thu Jun 26, 2014 4:00 am
i use windows 7. the click and drag only works for one item at a time, as far as i know. it's kinda a pain. for me i hold ctrl and alt and click and drag while keeping ctrl and alt held the whole time. if it doesn't let you drop it straight onto a pad, it might let you drop it into the file browser instead and drop it from there? BUT that's pretty weird you can't drag and drop from windows explorer even... real weird. i can click and drag like 50 samples at once from windows explorer and drop them onto the pads, it maps them out in alphabetical order across the pads... or you can even drag 4 samples at a time, then press shift and drop them all onto one pad to layer them.... or you can even ctrl + alt click and drag from reaper a sample, then start holding shift when you're on the mpc program and drop it directly on top of a pad that already has a sample as another layer too.

i don't know what's up with that dazastah, maybe it's possible that reaper has some rendering settings that i'm not aware of? also i'm using a version of reaper from around last year, but none of that would explain why you can't even drag and drop from windows explorer.

the last couple of days i've been listening through radio shows from the 50's and cigarette ads, shit like that in reaper. hitting m whenever i hear something i want to chop out to leave a marker, then when i'm done i'll go through and split out all the marked sections and put them all on the first track (which i keep muted as a space to keep chops and interesting sounds) then I drag them into a folder where i keep all my samples and from there drag it into MPC software, and obviously it lays it all over the pads like that.
By Nubian Mindz Thu Jun 26, 2014 12:15 pm
Seems like I didn't tick the ReaRoute box when I originally installed it so don't have the option to use it.

A fresh install should rectify the problem :)
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By fdodds Thu Jun 26, 2014 1:56 pm
definitely do it!! i get some great sounds from the ren but a lot of my tracks sound wildly different, reaper is helping me get a handle on them and get the levels more similar between tracks for release
By dazastah Thu Jun 26, 2014 2:51 pm
YEp.. For all those starting to use rearoute.. MAke sure for each channel (in reaper) you arm them and also turn on the monitor input button on.. This improves the latency...
I have a template for anyone in the reastash for reaper as example or for your use if you wish to change it...


here..

http://stash.reaper.fm/21082/mpcrenrearoute.RTrackTemplate

To load this in reaper you can right click on the left arranger pane and choose
insert track template.. or via the menu bar under the 'track' header.

This assumes that rearoute is installed and ready to go...

When you open the mpc software afterwards choose the driver to be the asio rearoute driver...

When changing the routing in mpc via pads or track in the prg mixer or track mixer you;lll notice which outs of the mpc will correspond in the reaper template as you should see the meter's bouncing...
By Nubian Mindz Thu Jun 26, 2014 4:12 pm
Ok. Have it reinstalled and all old projects & fx chains.etc.. were kept!!

Ticked the Rearoute box this time round.

Now I've loaded MPC Ren up within Reaper and going to mess around for a couple hours to see what the fuss is all about ;)
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By fdodds Thu Jun 26, 2014 4:32 pm
just a few more tips for you nubian mindz

you probably want to uncheck the option to stop the audio driver when you're not focused on reapers window in reapers preferences (ctrl + p, then the option is found in the audio tab on the left), if you're like me you will still switch to the mpc software from time to time for doing things like applying the same filter on multiple pads, and if the audio driver stops in reaper you won't be able to audition sounds.

also i've been setting reaper's audio driver to the ren audio driver (since the ren is actually using ReaRoute as it's driver). i haven't tried it yet but that should let you record audio tracks into reaper through the ren's inputs, as well as letting you monitor through the ren's outs
By Nubian Mindz Thu Jun 26, 2014 8:54 pm
A few projects will be getting a mix down again within Reaper as this reroute opens up a whole range of possibilities!

And to be able to setup Reaper's mixer when I'm starting a beat from scratch is quite a godsend as I prefer to mix as I go as I get much better mixdowns that way.

Thanks for the tips and the folks and the very useful template dazastah!

Much appreciated :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:
By Nubian Mindz Fri Jun 27, 2014 8:05 am
I relate to the sentiment that the sound of the Ren can change wildly from track to track and routing everything through Reaper/Rearoute allows for a consistent sound on your work.

At least that's what I've found so far.

Now I have to learn about Reaper's intricacies like audio editing/markers, Parameter modulation, envelopes, shortcuts (this is the most confusing factor for a Cubase user)
LFO's, etc...

Always something to learn and do.

:smoker: :nod: :mrgreen: