This video literally has me crying right now.. I love reaper. It's the most magnificent thing to ever happen to the world of electronic musicians... If reaper didn't exist, I never would have been able to learn how to make my own music. I literally started my career by Installing reaper onto a flash drive when I was 13 at a library because I didn't have a computer of my own. This video actually hits me on an emotional level very deeply
I hate Reaper, I hate deep all DAW's. After watching dozens of tutorials I can't record...MME, WASAPI, INPUT, OUTPUT, AUDIO HARDWARE. So deep hate !!!!!
Could not have said it better! I have really been struggling with bandwidth issues working within the confines of Pro Tools 1st. Appreciate the content!
"The Reaper engineers had fixed the bug overnight." WOW! I made the same switch a few years ago. I can't even begin on how much I DON'T miss PT! Producing from a laptop the lightness, stability and transport stability are just golden and it even runs any obscure free plug you can through at it. Spectacular video, an absolute joy. Thank you so much!
In my about 18 years of experience in recording & mixing engineering I used Adobe Audition for maybe 3 years (it was called Cool Edit Pro at the moment) then I used Cubase for about 10 years and then I've switched to Reaper somewhere in 2015 and never looked back. For me the killer features are: - I've been able to run projects about 1.5 times more complex without the need to freeze tracks than in Cubase. - There were things in Cubase UI-wise that pissed me off, but with Reaper's flexibility I was able to set up everything I like it to be. - I love the approach of Reaper's creators regarding licensing. You don't need to pay to use fully featured version. Actually, you can use it forever with 5 seconds pop-up window on program start. But Reaper is so good that I WANT to pay for it to thank its developers. Especially considering the price.
I've also paid for Reaper license even though technically I didn't have to. It's just sooo good that I felt more than happy giving the money to the developer.
@@AbbasTahaie imagine you have a track that uses CPU/RAM heavy VST instrument or line of plugins. You've finished working with this track and don't need to edit it. You can freeze this track. It will print the track and unload all track plugins from memory. So, it won't eat your CPU/RAM anymore, but will play as you would expect. When you need to edit track once again, you unfreeze it. So, it's just a way of optimization.
@@accidentalibi that’s a cool feature. Is there a similar feature in Reaper? I usually bounce to audio as a separate track and mute or delete/save new version to lighten the cpu load. (I’m quite inexperienced and do what I know will work to keep moving forward when recording my own music. My workflow is sloppy because I’m still learning tricks to keep it clean)
@@sleepmachine7522 There is such feature in reaper. I'm away from machine right now, but as far as I remember it is somewhere in context menu (right mouse click). Even if not, you can easily export selected tracks and add the result to project.
I'm an old dude who used to record on 4 track cassette tape recorders back in the 80s. I dived into DAWs last year and picked Reaper. The video tutorials are excellent and even an old fart like me was recording, mixing and mastering in just a couple days. Love this software.
If you have reaper setup the items to always mix in the project setup. Maybe its standard by now but when i got reaper back in the day it was not. This is going to make a huge difference in the way you work with tracks and record, or at least it did for me. Just being able to have two or three overlapping "tracks" playing in one track is amazing. No more need to "duplicate track, unarm other track, arm new track, then record".. just "record" .. and then deal with the rest later. and for overlapping items its a godsend (and i dont even belive in god)
I can't beat early 70's for going back, but I used to use a Yamaha MT44 4 track for recording in the mid 80's, discovered DAWs a few years back when I got back into doing some collaborations, and recently started using Reaper ( was using Ableton Live 9 for a while ). Nothing wrong with Ableton, but Reaper is my go to, as someone else has quoted here 'It just works..'
7:35 it gets even better when you find out that you can assign MIDI commands to your action as well, with an easy in-built MIDI learning feature. I created a macro for resetting an ongoing recording take to where I started it and connected a footswitch to Reaper via my interface. That way, when I screw up a guitar take, I just have to hit the switch to start over and don't even have to get my hands off my guitar! What a wonderful piece of software.
Same here, and i first downloaded it just to trim a song to make a ringtone And here i am, learning music production after all these years. All thanks to Reaper
Me too... Tried Abelton Light some years ago (as it came bundled with a MIDI keyboard), and found it very unintuitive, and didnt like it at all. Could probably have watched some tutorials on it, but i dont see any reason to. I have Reaper, which i think has a very easy to understand user interface.
@@EspenFrafalne is Reaper suitable for jams? As far as I know, Abletone was made to be a "jam program"... as I've seen in 1st versions. But never tried after that... sticked to FLStudio. No, I'm not jamming in FLoops... But now I'm searching for an app for this task. It must be reliable almost like a hardware mixer.
From a recording-novice: I've played music most of my 50+ years. I have wanted to record at home - but have had several 'false-starts' over the years. I'd try - hit a wall - and eventually give up. It's bothered me that I haven't added this skill to my 'toolbox'. A couple of months ago - I decided to give it another shot - and I downloaded Reaper. I am not really computer savvy but - with the help of the many tutorials on UA-cam - I am beginning to figure it out. I have made it a lot further than I ever had before. To other beginners out there: you are going to hit bumps in the road - but stick with it. Every day I apply myself to Reaper is a day I find a new small-victory. I'm so thankful for this DAW.
This Video is by far, OUTSTANDING! and I LOVE REAPER! Since I have self taught myself at the age of 60+, to record and mix for a local band, I can't say enough good about this program. True, I probably only use a very small portion of the ability within Reaper, but I wouldn't have been able to accomplish that, without the outstanding tutorial videos supplied by Reaper.
I completely agree 👏 I used them all and landed at Reaper and since then I enjoy my modifications for quicker workflow. Enjoy your productions. Much love 💕 Matthias 👋
wow...just wow! I'm sitting at around 20yrs of using ProTools right now...started way back at version 5.3.2 and have been through almost every iteration of software and hardware. Now with both Avid and Apple yanking on the audio communitie's chain with subscription fees and bug ridden OS and version incompatibilities, I'm currently looking at switching out my DAW from ProTools to Reaper and my Mac trashcan to a Windows system. This video was exactly what I needed to see and hear. I was mostly concerned about the post production aspect, but now I'm actually more excited to get under the hood of Reaper and see what this baby can do! Thanks!
For anyone who is considering Reaper, this video is a great summary why everyone should use it. I used to use Logic until Apple bought them out and were no longer available for PC. I spent quite a few years in limbo until I came across Reaper in 2009 and have NEVER looked back, price, features, stability and regular developments have sold me. It comes with dozens of extremely useful plug-ins and the customization and workflow are extremely good. If you want midi and audio recording software, this is it!
It’s great to a very knowledgeable professional talking at length about the qualities of reaper. I’m an amateur really. I’ve been playing guitar for around 30years or more. Up until about 2013 I’d never used a daw of any kind. I’d used 4 track and digital recorders, but didn’t know were to start with audio interfaces. A musical friend introduced me to reaper and an interface he was using. So I got a tascam us1800 it came with cubase which I struggled with. So I decided to give reaper a try and have never looked back. It’s so intuitive. Even having never used one I quickly was able to find my way round the basics and it worked faultlessly right away with the tascam interface. I’m so pleased with it. Great vid. Many thanks.
This was honestly the best one I've seen so far, and I come back to this video from time to time. FYI, Reaper is developed by just 2 people, yes. Justin Frankel and John Schwartz.
You are extremely well-spoken. You put this information together in a way that is easy to understand. You brought up points that are relevant. I watched the entire video in 2021 and the information is still relevant. I found it refreshing because you did not bash any other program, you kept your comparison positive. Thank you so much for taking the time to create this video.
I have never watched a better video of its type. So much info with so little bull. I congratulate you. You can’t imagine how often I stop watching videos because I get fed up with how obnoxious the presentation is. It seems more important these days to use buzzwords and useless expressions than to get the info out. All you do is get across the info in a concise manner without repeating useless expressions. I have subscribed and look forward to more. Thanks a lot for the info. I have used reaper for a few years and never used protools.. I never understood why anyone would want to spend so much money when there are better products like reaper to choose. It’s cool that you did not bash protools. Avid is a business and they have created a very good product that has been used by big studios since the beginning. But today it makes no sense to use something that is clearly inferior in so many important ways. I am not a person who complains about spending money on something that I use that is of decent quality but in this case the cost is so high that it simply makes no sense, especially when it comes with so much frustration and limitations. Long live reaper and people like you who are open, smart, and articulate. Other youtubers should learn from you on how to get information across Do you make a series on how to present information in a video? Man, if only all if them did it like you do, I would watch many more youtubers. Like I said, they seem to think it’s more important to use useless expressions like “first and foremost”, “let’s go ahead”, etc as many times as possible rather than just getting out the info that matters. It’s crazy how most videos start the same way, with a short blurb and the guy saying “let’s get right to it” and then a video clip that has nothing to do with the topic, and finally the info that I wanted to see. Why do we have to watch that useless intro every time. Does anyone want it? Does it make the video better? No, so why does almost everyone do if? It’s similar to why everyone wants the same fashion, model cars, counter top material, on and on. We are sheep who were once individuals. I remember the 1960’s when music was great. Bands were different. They had a sound and wrote new cool music, not afraid to be totally different. Today it’s boring and no one has the nerve to,do their own thing. They have to be part of a genre. It’s so sad . I really like Jacob Collier. Sorry for the rant and thanks again for the fantastic video.
Hi Perry - this is quite a passionate and articulate message! Thank you for taking the time. I'm just going to respond to a couple of points: First off, Pro Tools is a tool I have used for decades. It has helped raise my kids and buy me a house. There is no point in slagging Avid for PT's weaknesses - that is just not how I roll. I just happen to like the features of Reaper better, for the reasons I outline in the video. Secondly, I think the difference in writing style is because I wrote articles for Electronic Musician and Mix magazines, as well as some internet blogs, for many years professionally. During that time, I learned from some very fine editors how to get your ideas across with an economic style. I don't believe in bloated verbiage, nor am I afraid to use sophisticated vocabulary. I appreciate your comment, and it inspires me to do more scripted videos of this type.
I've almost gone through every single major DAW out there, but once I discovered Reaper I have never needed anything else again. Now I cannot bear the thought of going back to my old workflows. No way. Reaper is too empowering to just forget and move on.
I edit all of these videos using Davinci Resolve. I love that software. And I love the fact that powerful, amazing software can be inexpensive or even free.
@@UndertheBigTree I have been using HitFilm , then HitFilm Pro for a few years now. It's easy enough for me for the most part to use to edit my Handycam videos. I had also downloaded Davinci Resolve, but am reluctant to try to learn one more thing. Is it any easier to use than something like HitFilm? Also I downloaded Reaper and paid the lesser license, but I'm also apprehensive about starting to delve into it. I have a very simple mind that gets confused easily, doesn't comprehend well, and of course, a crappy short term memory. It's what holds me back from really delving in these things. I know the basic idea behind them, how they work and the basics of using them. But when I actually get into trying to use them, well, my brain functioning issues. Anyway. I'm trying. I don't quit. I have a lot of songs I want to put into play with Reaper. I did learn how to configure and make my Behringer x32 work with a WSG card, Soundgrid Impact server, Netgear switch, and the Soundgrid software with my PC. So I guess if I can make that work, maybe I can do Reaper, as well as Davinci Resolve too. Sorry about all the wordage. ;)
I'm switching to reaper just now, it's an amazing tool for music and sound. The native plugins and scripts cover all my need without any external tool, from mixing to mastering. It's awesome!
I think one of the most powerful add-ons for Reaper are the Orchestral Templates for Reaper (OTR), made by Storyteller. It's more than an add-on, it's an entire production environment designed for orchestral film scoring. I am using it for a master's degree in film scoring at Berklee and it was super easy to build a film scoring template as a lot of the work was already done by the add-on in terms of routing to reverbs, sub-mixes, etc. and has some additional bundled MIDI editing tools that go way beyond what is native in Reaper.
Thank you Nick. I changed from Protools to Reaper in 2003 purely because of stability issues. It is encouraging to hear your professional testimony and to be made aware of all the other benefits. I look forward to exploring it further. Best wishes
Awesome coverage on this great audio production software. I hope Reaper will stay true to its passion for years to come. I'm a firm believer of honest, down-to-earth software. Love Reaper.
I did the same. I was doing prep work for mixing session after recording session and i just lost it. Pro Tools is so rigid and didn't do what i wanted. So i uploaded the tracks to my homeserver, went home, downloaded and installed Reaper and was done in less than an hour.. I learned how to use it AND finished my task faster than what had taken me to about halfway point in PT.. The real moment of revelation was when i suddenly used a new key shortcut that i didn't even know was there, it was just logical continuation from other shortcuts. I laughed out loud and haven't used PT ever since. Drag&Drop, track folders, the ease of routing, custom actions... Those are the main things for me. I've since used it in theater, and foleys, SFX, recording, mixing, mastering, as a live performance host, analysis and it has done all of them, not a problem. I've used DAWs since Cakewalk 1.0 for DOS and Reaper really, really is the best i've had. The thing just works and can be customized and tailored to work like you want it, not like AVID says you have to. The best case was one theater play that i had to run on eee-pc. I installed Reaper as portable install on a USB stick and voila: i had the SAME program install i could use at work and at home, with undo levels intact. No more export/import cycles, just pop the USB stick in and use ANY windows PC since XP sp1 to open and work on your project. For the first time, i was first to leave, not last in the whole building... I've also used the inbuilt scripting to modify tools on the fly... it is quite amazing little detail.
I'm a long time Reaper user, and this is the best advertisement for it I've seen. I do all sorts of stuff with it and the editing and scripting is awesome. Really impressed with the clarity of your description and presentation. I just subscribed... Who the heck gives a video like this a thumbs down? I mean, how would it offend you. There are some weird people around.
With respect, I trusted you the moment you said Nuendo. Though it has been around for 20 years, you HAVE to know the industry, and it's tools, to include Nuendo in the list! Well done Sir!
I'm back here after almost a year of using Reaper exclusively and never looking back, thanks to you! One of the best pieces of software I've ever used and it continues to amaze me every time I use it so thank you!
Many thanks, Nick. This is a wonderfully informative, learned, and articulate 'review' of why you switched to Reaper, and why others might want to try it.
@@BillGraper Kenny Gioia has a tutorial for everything you could imagine in Reaper. It's quite amazing. I really like Jon Tidey's method of explaining, on Reaperblog. Two golden resources to learn this very deep program.
I bought the personal license for Reaper as I haven't made any money from any music production whatsoever. I'm a super noob in learning mode. One of the reasons why I chose Reaper was the immense amount of tutorial videos that help people like me get up to speed quickly. The people behind Reaper are second to none when it comes to helping their users learn the software. Since I'm starting from scratch, the learning content alone is well worth much more than $60 and they provide access to videos whether you license the software or not. The $60 felt more like a donation as the value they are providing me is worth MUCH more! It's easy an decision to support world class folks offering world class software!
No, it won't. It should, there's no logical reason it should not, but I know creative types. They will cling to overpriced, kludgy software and hardware out of an almost cult like, religious zeal. Watch and see.
@@swingset1969 Yeah, i'm clinging to my sdi video output. and to the media databases that pro tools shares with the rest of my production chain. I must be insane.
@@swingset1969 Beat detective... For fixing up live recordings reaper is not really mature enough.. .. Build in auto tune and vocal fixing.. other softwares have this in much better manners then Reaper. Plugin packages ... reapers build in plugins are not up to the standard of other DAWs.. .. so yer Reaper is great and what i use always.. but it has its flaws. For me just the beat detective kind of thing would be enough, as i know there are workarounds but its all a bit cumbersome.
Hey Nick thank you for this in-depth and gracious overview. I've been using Pro Tools professionally ever since it came out (pre-Avid) and their "gotcha" business practices and price gauging over the years has frustrated and exasperated me to the point of no return. I downloaded Reaper and we'll see if it can be a capable alternative. I'm more hopeful and informed after seeing your video, which was great in every way. Thank you.
*I switched too. Protools is overly expensive, overly complex and buggy-as-hell BLOATWARE. Reaper enjoys a tiny footprint in comparison, runs on virtually any computer hardware and works flawlessly nearly all the time.*
I agree most of the features mentioned in this video. I’m not a professional musician and I have been using Reaper for one year and it incredibly improved my workflow speed. As I can dedicate to music just a limited amount of time, this is absolutely important.
I migrated to Reaper from Audition CC mainly because I decided to reduce my reoccurring financial spending where possible, including the $270 annual subscription for Audition CC. I did not realize I was taking a huge step upwards by doing so. I like the non-destructive mantra that forms the foundation of Reaper. I have RX7 Standard as my wavefile editor, but have not needed to use it standalone yet - the plugins work perfectly well for me within Reaper and Reaper's own Spectral editor is pretty sweet. The only thing I miss from Audition are the visual changes that plugins make to the peaks or spectral representation of the audio as settings are altered. But that is not remotely necessary and easy to do without. I am thrilled I opted to trim my expenditures and jump onto the Reaper boat.
Thank you Nick. You are a true professional. Great content, clear explanation. No fluff, just facts. Inspiring. I've been using reaper for about 10 years. I switched from over from protools when I couldn't find my license for it after switching machines. I was surprised at how easily it reaper handled a very large ensemble piece I was mixing. I had over 50 tracks audio tracks in the project. I eventually went back to protools, never having tried to record in reaper - believing that protools was the recording standard. Eventually, my recording preamp I bought with protools, became incompatible with my machine (after windows 7), and so I stopped recording. I only recently began recording again and have been pleasantly surprise, just like you were, at how easily reaper can handle recording. I am running it on a 10-12 year old machine (core2) as my back up console, and it only lags when I have other programs open eating up memory. Just a beast. Lately, I've been appreciating some of the cockos plugins' capabilities and depth - there's almost no end. And I accindenly stumbled upon the ability to script their plugins- I was shocked. Nevertheless, now I am even more confident, after hearing your testimony, that I can easily mix/master my independent film with reaper, no problem. You've proved this to me. Reaper is a Tank that runs like Camry.
I have absolutely no experience with any DAW. I just install Reaper since a mounts and I love it! The learning curve looks fast. It's a GREAT software!!! Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
For my 4 years of starting and learning to make music, this Reaper helps me step up directly into music production without me worrying of software hassles. Thank you Sir, you made me love Reaper more and more
THANK YOU for the great overview of Reaper and comparison to ProTools! I'm a long-time musician but new to DAW's and studio recording in general. After doing some googling around I realized quickly that a DAW is the core of any modern studio, but where to start? After some more searching I narrowed it down to 3 apps including ProTools, but Reaper wasn't on the list...but then I stumbled onto this vid and bam!, My search is over. THANK YOU VERY MUCH for this in depth yet not too deep overview of Reaper. I'm sold and will not look back.
Excellent points!! As a career CompSci who also dabbles in sound design and aspires to score independent films, I find that your video addresses most of my concerns in making such a switch as I have been using PT for over a decade. At this price, I can license and take my time. As a programmer, I can easily see how the ability to extend is unparalleled. Thank you again!
Great video. I went with Reaper for one simple reason - I'm a light user and didn't want to pay through the nose for something I use casually. I have a weekend warrior band, and needed something to get demos, light video editing, and doing scratch recordings of ideas. Been using Reaper for almost 5 years and haven't had to pay for an upgrade yet. I just wonder how they make any money - it's great software at an unbeatable price. Also - you can do a portable install of it on a hard drive with your VST's and run it on just about anything. I once used it for a live show with a laptop and a 8in/out interface. Drummer used an electronic kit that I had trigger Superior drummer - used line 6 pod farm for bass and guitar. show went well and we were able to track the whole thing. I want to do it again soon now that I have Helix Native. Amazing world we live in today with the mix of music and computers.
Superb. I don't know for a fact, but I think that Justin Frankel made a lot of money early in his career, and then decided to give back by forming Cockos. It is a small team, and he is focused on creating an amazing product for the world more than maximizing every dollar earned. I truly wish there were more people like Justin on the planet.
he sure made a shitload of money with AOL's Winamp purchase. the team is not small, it's small af. also they love programing. the biggest reason it can be so cheap though is because they don't do (need) marketing. marketing is the biggest price factor for big company's products. it's very expensive
It's really great to see such an objective and factual explanation for this kind of usually "emotional" topic, really well done! Also I could listen to you all day long because you have such a pleasant and engaging way to explain the facts.
Great job laying out so many aspects in depth. I am also a sound designer and have been using Avid software since Sound Designer, but fell in love with Reaper and the open source type community that it serves. Stability has become an issue for me with Pro Tools and your video is giving me the kick in the ass to configure Reaper more deeply and use it more. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!
If you're using Reaper, check out the UA-cam channel "Reaper Mania." You won't be disappointed! I've spent countless hours watching the tutorials. It can do things that you wouldn't believe! :)
Don't get discouraged with the learning curve. Make the action window your friend, and assign keystrokes to things you do all the time. My ultimate goal is to keep my hands off the mouse as much as possible, and just work using keystrokes while looking at the screen.
You should have a million followers. Your stuff rocks the free world. It's some of the most useful information I've ever seen. I am a Visual Artist, Writer, Musician, and Actor. I tend to mix those mediums together, as much as possible, in my art. You should have a million followers because you may be one of the most competent UA-cam content creators I've seen. I wish you nothing but continued success. Peace out.
May I suggest a cool alternative to Soundminer and Media Explorer: ADSR Sample Manager. It's a free VST plugin with enormously powerful capabilities. First time you open it, tell it where your sample library is located and let it index everything. It will analyze all your content and add meta tags to it automatically, based on what it found. It know what drum loops are, sound and voice samples... did I mention it is free?
Under the Big Tree Loopcloud is similar, but has more functions like auto transpose all media to the key of the project you're working in at that moment. If you want to. ADSR and Loopcloud both have the problem that the main reason that it's free is because they're both main sellers of sample packs. So they try to sneak you in to buying something if you don't watch out.
I got a three-month ProTools trial with an audio interface I bought. PT is the big kahuna, of course, and I wanted to be one of the cool kids, so I tried very, very hard to like it. But after a few weeks of effort it was just not designed the way my brain works. Reaper is so clean and intuitive. There are very few things about it that leave me scratching my head as PT does. If you don't like something, you can customize your way out of anything in Reaper. And I was unaware of the language integration until watching this video. I'm a Python programmer by trade so will definitely be checking that out. Other commenters seem to think PT 'sounds' better. Really? It's all digital coming from your audio interface, isn't it? Zeroes and ones, people. Whatever. If there is a difference, I can't tell. Coupled with my appreciation for good clean software design, the value-for-money simply makes Reaper (vis-a-vis PT) a no-brainer.
One interesting thing I never see pointed out is, that it runs a lot smoother than its competition - whilst having not even a half of the same VSTs in FL or Ableton I already get a performance penalty, whereas Reaper keeps running smooth. I don't know if it is just something that keeps happening to me, but I guess it's worth noting.
I have the same experience. I think that Reaper has VERY tight, well written code. That results in a tiny executable, and presumably faster performance.
I totally agree with you. Why didn't I see your video clip before I wasted an astronomical amount of time and money checking out Pro Tools, Cubase, Sonar, and Magix Music Maker? Thank you for your clip which I find very informative. At last, I found out Reaper and I found my Daw. Today is the 3rd day I am evaluating Reaper. I have figured out what I wanted to do already. This is the model for licensing. Reaper is not chasing me and treating me like a crook. I want to buy it. A good product at a reasonable price will make anyone want to buy the product. Good luck to you and keep up the good work.
Thank you, and I totally agree. I've gone through so many DAW's in the last 3 decades. But Cubase for sample-based music creation and Reaper for everything else is definitely the ticket for me. :)
There are things to be said for getting very good at something and sticking with it. But I've never been that guy - always looking for the better mousetrap.
I switched from cubase to reaper more or less 14 years ago....totally another planet! Fast, light, stable, and deeper than any other daw! Awesome support/forum/video tutorial/community ecc ecc... 10+ !
i already had a license for Music Maker and recently got a demo of Reaper with my Peavey mixer. After watching your video, I'm ready to buy Reaper and I can't even tried it yet. Thanks for the great video and incredible insight!
@@ThisIsVersatile Once you load a script you can call it with action markers. In the script window you can right click and copy the marker ID. Then create a marker that starts with an "!" and paste the script ID after. When it rolls past the marker it will call the script.
Thanks for the great video Nick Peck. During this COVID-19 thing we are not able to gather physically and need a music solution. Unfortunately, half of us are on Mac with Garageband the other half needs something. Then I found this video! One person will be using her electronic drums via MIDI and the rest of us will be doing audio. Also, one person has an older computer and I notice it supports XP and 32 bit. This software should be really good news for us. Again thank you for the great synopsis of Reaper!
Such an excellent video ! I''m from Brasil, and can't wait to buy the license of the reaper, because all person involved to democratization of technology, deserve all respect and gratitude for life!
Haha I'm the same...I've done loads of research on DAWs over the years. I used Cubase back in school then I had no money for years and used various bits of freeware. I'm a Reaper user now after wondering whether I should splash out on Pro Tools. I just had to remind myself that I am recording guitars and vocals, and that's about it. Sometimes a synth sample, sometimes some programmed drums, but nothing complicated. Tracks get some reverb and EQ and done. I look at these features lists sometimes and I have no idea what the majority of them do. Great that all this stuff exists for the hardcore users, but at a basic level Reaper is so user friendly I can safely ignore all the complex stuff and just concentrate on my tracks.
This video literally has me crying right now.. I love reaper. It's the most magnificent thing to ever happen to the world of electronic musicians... If reaper didn't exist, I never would have been able to learn how to make my own music. I literally started my career by Installing reaper onto a flash drive when I was 13 at a library because I didn't have a computer of my own. This video actually hits me on an emotional level very deeply
Does it come with free VST?
Wow! Right on. That's really great. I'm glad this video meant something to you. :)
Yes, Cockos includes a number of their own plugins with Reaper. They aren't fancy or pretty, but they sound good.
Brooo 🥺🥺🥺
I hate Reaper, I hate deep all DAW's. After watching dozens of tutorials I can't record...MME, WASAPI, INPUT, OUTPUT, AUDIO HARDWARE. So deep hate !!!!!
The more i used it, the more i used it.
That was deep.
deep only if youre in junior high
the less I used it. the more I used pro tools
@@gabepenn7386 welcome to the joke
Fat Lip the less i use them, the less I use them
Haha. The moon is smaller than the earth but it is farther away
This is one smart guy. Half the time I have no idea what he’s talking about, but then again I’m a drummer.
I've seen alot of these 'why I switched to reaper' videos, but this was by far the most in depth and informative. Good job man thank you
Thank you! Glad you liked it.
Could not have said it better! I have really been struggling with bandwidth issues working within the confines of Pro Tools 1st. Appreciate the content!
Baby bum
you might as well switch to gay men too
They're written with tight and lightweight code.
"The Reaper engineers had fixed the bug overnight." WOW!
I made the same switch a few years ago. I can't even begin on how much I DON'T miss PT!
Producing from a laptop the lightness, stability and transport stability are just golden and it even runs any obscure free plug you can through at it.
Spectacular video, an absolute joy. Thank you so much!
11:26 is huge. A software update for an overnight fix is no small task. Huge props to the software engineers behind reaper.
This was the video that got me to switch From PT to Reaper 3 years ago. I have absolutely no regrets.
In my about 18 years of experience in recording & mixing engineering I used Adobe Audition for maybe 3 years (it was called Cool Edit Pro at the moment) then I used Cubase for about 10 years and then I've switched to Reaper somewhere in 2015 and never looked back. For me the killer features are:
- I've been able to run projects about 1.5 times more complex without the need to freeze tracks than in Cubase.
- There were things in Cubase UI-wise that pissed me off, but with Reaper's flexibility I was able to set up everything I like it to be.
- I love the approach of Reaper's creators regarding licensing. You don't need to pay to use fully featured version. Actually, you can use it forever with 5 seconds pop-up window on program start. But Reaper is so good that I WANT to pay for it to thank its developers. Especially considering the price.
I've also paid for Reaper license even though technically I didn't have to. It's just sooo good that I felt more than happy giving the money to the developer.
What is freeze track ? Is it like bouncing or power icon in Audition that render track ?
@@AbbasTahaie imagine you have a track that uses CPU/RAM heavy VST instrument or line of plugins. You've finished working with this track and don't need to edit it. You can freeze this track. It will print the track and unload all track plugins from memory. So, it won't eat your CPU/RAM anymore, but will play as you would expect. When you need to edit track once again, you unfreeze it. So, it's just a way of optimization.
@@accidentalibi that’s a cool feature. Is there a similar feature in Reaper? I usually bounce to audio as a separate track and mute or delete/save new version to lighten the cpu load. (I’m quite inexperienced and do what I know will work to keep moving forward when recording my own music. My workflow is sloppy because I’m still learning tricks to keep it clean)
@@sleepmachine7522 There is such feature in reaper. I'm away from machine right now, but as far as I remember it is somewhere in context menu (right mouse click). Even if not, you can easily export selected tracks and add the result to project.
I started to download Reaper about half way through your vid and it was up and running before the end !
Less than a 12MB installer - and it installs on the slowest computer in under a minute. Brilliant - and shows how efficient the code must be.
That's awesome!
How can anyone give thumbs down on this comment. Shows you the mentality of too many people. Scary.
me too!
@@perrypelican9476 wait what? you cant view thumbs down stats on comments or can you?
REPLY
I'm an old dude who used to record on 4 track cassette tape recorders back in the 80s. I dived into DAWs last year and picked Reaper. The video tutorials are excellent and even an old fart like me was recording, mixing and mastering in just a couple days. Love this software.
If you have reaper setup the items to always mix in the project setup. Maybe its standard by now but when i got reaper back in the day it was not. This is going to make a huge difference in the way you work with tracks and record, or at least it did for me. Just being able to have two or three overlapping "tracks" playing in one track is amazing. No more need to "duplicate track, unarm other track, arm new track, then record".. just "record" .. and then deal with the rest later. and for overlapping items its a godsend (and i dont even belive in god)
Plus you're cheap
You may well be an old dude but the old fart I claim for me since I can date back recording tracks until the early 70s. :-)
I can't beat early 70's for going back, but I used to use a Yamaha MT44 4 track for recording in the mid 80's, discovered DAWs a few years back when I got back into doing some collaborations, and recently started using Reaper ( was using Ableton Live 9 for a while ). Nothing wrong with Ableton, but Reaper is my go to, as someone else has quoted here 'It just works..'
@@grahamritchie9537 - I still have my MT44. Don't know what to do with it, and can't bear to just throw it away.
7:35 it gets even better when you find out that you can assign MIDI commands to your action as well, with an easy in-built MIDI learning feature. I created a macro for resetting an ongoing recording take to where I started it and connected a footswitch to Reaper via my interface. That way, when I screw up a guitar take, I just have to hit the switch to start over and don't even have to get my hands off my guitar! What a wonderful piece of software.
I am so spoiled. Reaper was my first DAW and I've never looked anywhere else. "It just works"...always has.
Same here, and i first downloaded it just to trim a song to make a ringtone
And here i am, learning music production after all these years. All thanks to Reaper
Me too... Tried Abelton Light some years ago (as it came bundled with a MIDI keyboard), and found it very unintuitive, and didnt like it at all. Could probably have watched some tutorials on it, but i dont see any reason to. I have Reaper, which i think has a very easy to understand user interface.
@@EspenFrafalne is Reaper suitable for jams? As far as I know, Abletone was made to be a "jam program"... as I've seen in 1st versions. But never tried after that... sticked to FLStudio. No, I'm not jamming in FLoops... But now I'm searching for an app for this task. It must be reliable almost like a hardware mixer.
same dude. been using reaper since 2014, and never looked anywhere else.
same reason. it just works. it also runs on all the computers i own.
From a recording-novice: I've played music most of my 50+ years. I have wanted to record at home - but have had several 'false-starts' over the years. I'd try - hit a wall - and eventually give up. It's bothered me that I haven't added this skill to my 'toolbox'. A couple of months ago - I decided to give it another shot - and I downloaded Reaper. I am not really computer savvy but - with the help of the many tutorials on UA-cam - I am beginning to figure it out. I have made it a lot further than I ever had before. To other beginners out there: you are going to hit bumps in the road - but stick with it. Every day I apply myself to Reaper is a day I find a new small-victory. I'm so thankful for this DAW.
And I thank you for those words of confidence!
This Video is by far, OUTSTANDING! and I LOVE REAPER!
Since I have self taught myself at the age of 60+, to record and mix for a local band, I can't say enough good about this program. True, I probably only use a very small portion of the ability within Reaper, but I wouldn't have been able to accomplish that, without the outstanding tutorial videos supplied by Reaper.
Guy at the start of the video: "I'm not bashing Pro Tools"
Pro Tools after the video: "goodbye cruel world"
lol
I completely agree 👏
I used them all and landed at Reaper and since then I enjoy my modifications for quicker workflow.
Enjoy your productions.
Much love 💕
Matthias 👋
I chose Reaper on two principles.
1. Price.
2. Glenn Fricker said it was good.
Obligatory Reaper video Glenn Fricker shout-out!
Fricker Reaper.......F you Glenn! Yes I play bass
SAMe
It really worked for me after I look and try some tutorials, yours is the one that worked. Owe you a lot.
Fun fact: Reaper is created by the same developer who created Winamp.
didnt know this that was my first favorite player
That's really cool. Winamp is what I've used forever. Makes me trust Reaper more now.
What a legend!
it really whips the llamas's ass !!
you mean the lama people? lol
wow...just wow! I'm sitting at around 20yrs of using ProTools right now...started way back at version 5.3.2 and have been through almost every iteration of software and hardware. Now with both Avid and Apple yanking on the audio communitie's chain with subscription fees and bug ridden OS and version incompatibilities, I'm currently looking at switching out my DAW from ProTools to Reaper and my Mac trashcan to a Windows system. This video was exactly what I needed to see and hear. I was mostly concerned about the post production aspect, but now I'm actually more excited to get under the hood of Reaper and see what this baby can do! Thanks!
For anyone who is considering Reaper, this video is a great summary why everyone should use it. I used to use Logic until Apple bought them out and were no longer available for PC. I spent quite a few years in limbo until I came across Reaper in 2009 and have NEVER looked back, price, features, stability and regular developments have sold me. It comes with dozens of extremely useful plug-ins and the customization and workflow are extremely good. If you want midi and audio recording software, this is it!
It’s great to a very knowledgeable professional talking at length about the qualities of reaper. I’m an amateur really. I’ve been playing guitar for around 30years or more. Up until about 2013 I’d never used a daw of any kind. I’d used 4 track and digital recorders, but didn’t know were to start with audio interfaces. A musical friend introduced me to reaper and an interface he was using. So I got a tascam us1800 it came with cubase which I struggled with. So I decided to give reaper a try and have never looked back. It’s so intuitive. Even having never used one I quickly was able to find my way round the basics and it worked faultlessly right away with the tascam interface. I’m so pleased with it. Great vid. Many thanks.
Man I sure would pay to have a reaper tutorial class from you...
This was honestly the best one I've seen so far, and I come back to this video from time to time.
FYI, Reaper is developed by just 2 people, yes. Justin Frankel and John Schwartz.
Thanks for sharing this Nick
My pleasure! I know you already cover Reaper very nicely, but I might have to spread the word more as well. The more the merrier, I suppose.
You are extremely well-spoken. You put this information together in a way that is easy to understand. You brought up points that are relevant. I watched the entire video in 2021 and the information is still relevant. I found it refreshing because you did not bash any other program, you kept your comparison positive. Thank you so much for taking the time to create this video.
I have never watched a better video of its type. So much info with so little bull. I congratulate you. You can’t imagine how often I stop watching videos because I get fed up with how obnoxious the presentation is. It seems more important these days to use buzzwords and useless expressions than to get the info out. All you do is get across the info in a concise manner without repeating useless expressions. I have subscribed and look forward to more. Thanks a lot for the info. I have used reaper for a few years and never used protools.. I never understood why anyone would want to spend so much money when there are better products like reaper to choose. It’s cool that you did not bash protools. Avid is a business and they have created a very good product that has been used by big studios since the beginning. But today it makes no sense to use something that is clearly inferior in so many important ways. I am not a person who complains about spending money on something that I use that is of decent quality but in this case the cost is so high that it simply makes no sense, especially when it comes with so much frustration and limitations. Long live reaper and people like you who are open, smart, and articulate. Other youtubers should learn from you on how to get information across Do you make a series on how to present information in a video? Man, if only all if them did it like you do, I would watch many more youtubers. Like I said, they seem to think it’s more important to use useless expressions like “first and foremost”, “let’s go ahead”, etc as many times as possible rather than just getting out the info that matters. It’s crazy how most videos start the same way, with a short blurb and the guy saying “let’s get right to it” and then a video clip that has nothing to do with the topic, and finally the info that I wanted to see. Why do we have to watch that useless intro every time. Does anyone want it? Does it make the video better? No, so why does almost everyone do if? It’s similar to why everyone wants the same fashion, model cars, counter top material, on and on. We are sheep who were once individuals. I remember the 1960’s when music was great. Bands were different. They had a sound and wrote new cool music, not afraid to be totally different. Today it’s boring and no one has the nerve to,do their own thing. They have to be part of a genre. It’s so sad . I really like Jacob Collier. Sorry for the rant and thanks again for the fantastic video.
Hi Perry - this is quite a passionate and articulate message! Thank you for taking the time. I'm just going to respond to a couple of points: First off, Pro Tools is a tool I have used for decades. It has helped raise my kids and buy me a house. There is no point in slagging Avid for PT's weaknesses - that is just not how I roll. I just happen to like the features of Reaper better, for the reasons I outline in the video. Secondly, I think the difference in writing style is because I wrote articles for Electronic Musician and Mix magazines, as well as some internet blogs, for many years professionally. During that time, I learned from some very fine editors how to get your ideas across with an economic style. I don't believe in bloated verbiage, nor am I afraid to use sophisticated vocabulary. I appreciate your comment, and it inspires me to do more scripted videos of this type.
I've almost gone through every single major DAW out there, but once I discovered Reaper I have never needed anything else again. Now I cannot bear the thought of going back to my old workflows. No way. Reaper is too empowering to just forget and move on.
I tested REAPER 12 years ago.
It's been my DAW ever since.
Any blender users here? Reaper is like Blender. It's like switching from Autodesk 3ds MAX to Blender.
XD, Reaper , blender , unreal engine 4, davinci resolve 16 ....
i was thinking the same thing. have used blender a lot.
I edit all of these videos using Davinci Resolve. I love that software. And I love the fact that powerful, amazing software can be inexpensive or even free.
@@UndertheBigTree I have been using HitFilm , then HitFilm Pro for a few years now. It's easy enough for me for the most part to use to edit my Handycam videos. I had also downloaded Davinci Resolve, but am reluctant to try to learn one more thing. Is it any easier to use than something like HitFilm? Also I downloaded Reaper and paid the lesser license, but I'm also apprehensive about starting to delve into it. I have a very simple mind that gets confused easily, doesn't comprehend well, and of course, a crappy short term memory. It's what holds me back from really delving in these things. I know the basic idea behind them, how they work and the basics of using them. But when I actually get into trying to use them, well, my brain functioning issues. Anyway. I'm trying. I don't quit. I have a lot of songs I want to put into play with Reaper. I did learn how to configure and make my Behringer x32 work with a WSG card, Soundgrid Impact server, Netgear switch, and the Soundgrid software with my PC. So I guess if I can make that work, maybe I can do Reaper, as well as Davinci Resolve too. Sorry about all the wordage. ;)
Yep I use Blender. I used to use Lightwave. I also use Iclone for character animation ect...... ua-cam.com/video/Vtz99DB7uqM/v-deo.html
I'm switching to reaper just now, it's an amazing tool for music and sound. The native plugins and scripts cover all my need without any external tool, from mixing to mastering. It's awesome!
I think one of the most powerful add-ons for Reaper are the Orchestral Templates for Reaper (OTR), made by Storyteller. It's more than an add-on, it's an entire production environment designed for orchestral film scoring. I am using it for a master's degree in film scoring at Berklee and it was super easy to build a film scoring template as a lot of the work was already done by the add-on in terms of routing to reverbs, sub-mixes, etc. and has some additional bundled MIDI editing tools that go way beyond what is native in Reaper.
Thank you Nick. I changed from Protools to Reaper in 2003 purely because of stability issues. It is encouraging to hear your professional testimony and to be made aware of all the other benefits. I look forward to exploring it further.
Best wishes
What a well presented and professional video - one of the best I've seen.
Awesome coverage on this great audio production software. I hope Reaper will stay true to its passion for years to come. I'm a firm believer of honest, down-to-earth software. Love Reaper.
I did the same. I was doing prep work for mixing session after recording session and i just lost it. Pro Tools is so rigid and didn't do what i wanted. So i uploaded the tracks to my homeserver, went home, downloaded and installed Reaper and was done in less than an hour.. I learned how to use it AND finished my task faster than what had taken me to about halfway point in PT.. The real moment of revelation was when i suddenly used a new key shortcut that i didn't even know was there, it was just logical continuation from other shortcuts. I laughed out loud and haven't used PT ever since. Drag&Drop, track folders, the ease of routing, custom actions... Those are the main things for me.
I've since used it in theater, and foleys, SFX, recording, mixing, mastering, as a live performance host, analysis and it has done all of them, not a problem. I've used DAWs since Cakewalk 1.0 for DOS and Reaper really, really is the best i've had. The thing just works and can be customized and tailored to work like you want it, not like AVID says you have to.
The best case was one theater play that i had to run on eee-pc. I installed Reaper as portable install on a USB stick and voila: i had the SAME program install i could use at work and at home, with undo levels intact. No more export/import cycles, just pop the USB stick in and use ANY windows PC since XP sp1 to open and work on your project. For the first time, i was first to leave, not last in the whole building...
I've also used the inbuilt scripting to modify tools on the fly... it is quite amazing little detail.
I'm a long time Reaper user, and this is the best advertisement for it I've seen. I do all sorts of stuff with it and the editing and scripting is awesome. Really impressed with the clarity of your description and presentation. I just subscribed... Who the heck gives a video like this a thumbs down? I mean, how would it offend you. There are some weird people around.
Reaper deserve videos like this, and much more good things.
With respect, I trusted you the moment you said Nuendo. Though it has been around for 20 years, you HAVE to know the industry, and it's tools, to include Nuendo in the list! Well done Sir!
Reaper gives me hope for humanity
Immediately liked the video because of the opening, I appreciate how you already list simply your reasons within 6 seconds so I appreciate that
Been contemplating making this jump....I think I’ll download the demo and give it a try. Thanks Nick!
I'm back here after almost a year of using Reaper exclusively and never looking back, thanks to you! One of the best pieces of software I've ever used and it continues to amaze me every time I use it so thank you!
Many thanks, Nick. This is a wonderfully informative, learned, and articulate 'review' of why you switched to Reaper, and why others might want to try it.
Thank you for those kind words. I really appreciate it.
when you’re in the channel rack, click on gms to open up the gms nu, in the light blue screen on the top left look where it says
this is one of the best UA-cam vids I've ever seen. excellent work!
Indeed!
Bravo!!! Not a better introduction to Reaper on the internet. So glad I found it!!
I was an audition user for 10 years, i watched this video and i've just decided to switch to reaper.
thank you for making such a great video !
Check out the tutorial UA-cam channel called "Reaper Mania." You won't be disappointed!
@@BillGraper Kenny Gioia has a tutorial for everything you could imagine in Reaper. It's quite amazing. I really like Jon Tidey's method of explaining, on Reaperblog. Two golden resources to learn this very deep program.
Nick, you should be a Reaper spokesperson. Very well said and tasteful to boot. Nicely done sir.
I bought the personal license for Reaper as I haven't made any money from any music production whatsoever. I'm a super noob in learning mode. One of the reasons why I chose Reaper was the immense amount of tutorial videos that help people like me get up to speed quickly. The people behind Reaper are second to none when it comes to helping their users learn the software. Since I'm starting from scratch, the learning content alone is well worth much more than $60 and they provide access to videos whether you license the software or not. The $60 felt more like a donation as the value they are providing me is worth MUCH more! It's easy an decision to support world class folks offering world class software!
I totally agree.
Nick, this was the best overview and deep dive on not only DAW's but just about anything I can remember. Thanks!
I'm even more confident now, Reaper will be the new industry standard. It's just a matter of time
No, it won't. It should, there's no logical reason it should not, but I know creative types. They will cling to overpriced, kludgy software and hardware out of an almost cult like, religious zeal. Watch and see.
@@swingset1969 Yeah, i'm clinging to my sdi video output. and to the media databases that pro tools shares with the rest of my production chain. I must be insane.
@@swingset1969 thats called marketing lol stupid people are easily led
There's other competition like fl studio, studio one, cubase and ableton don't make your judgement too soon lol
@@swingset1969 Beat detective... For fixing up live recordings reaper is not really mature enough.. .. Build in auto tune and vocal fixing.. other softwares have this in much better manners then Reaper. Plugin packages ... reapers build in plugins are not up to the standard of other DAWs.. .. so yer Reaper is great and what i use always.. but it has its flaws. For me just the beat detective kind of thing would be enough, as i know there are workarounds but its all a bit cumbersome.
Hey Nick thank you for this in-depth and gracious overview. I've been using Pro Tools professionally ever since it came out (pre-Avid) and their "gotcha" business practices and price gauging over the years has frustrated and exasperated me to the point of no return. I downloaded Reaper and we'll see if it can be a capable alternative. I'm more hopeful and informed after seeing your video, which was great in every way. Thank you.
*I switched too. Protools is overly expensive, overly complex and buggy-as-hell BLOATWARE. Reaper enjoys a tiny footprint in comparison, runs on virtually any computer hardware and works flawlessly nearly all the time.*
As a newbie I found this to be an invitation that is both informative and welcoming. Thanks
moved over to Reaper about 5 years ago, couldn't be happier!
understand the basics of the software untill now. Your guide is very very good quite simple and very helpful. I gave you a like and a sub
Don't fear the Reaper. And remember, you can't have too much cowbell!
drummer
Just Gotta LOVE that
cowbell....TURN IT UP!!
Seasons dont fear the reaper, so why should we?
LOL
Facts.
I agree most of the features mentioned in this video. I’m not a professional musician and I have been using Reaper for one year and it incredibly improved my workflow speed.
As I can dedicate to music just a limited amount of time, this is absolutely important.
I migrated to Reaper from Audition CC mainly because I decided to reduce my reoccurring financial spending where possible, including the $270 annual subscription for Audition CC. I did not realize I was taking a huge step upwards by doing so. I like the non-destructive mantra that forms the foundation of Reaper. I have RX7 Standard as my wavefile editor, but have not needed to use it standalone yet - the plugins work perfectly well for me within Reaper and Reaper's own Spectral editor is pretty sweet. The only thing I miss from Audition are the visual changes that plugins make to the peaks or spectral representation of the audio as settings are altered. But that is not remotely necessary and easy to do without. I am thrilled I opted to trim my expenditures and jump onto the Reaper boat.
Thank you Nick. You are a true professional. Great content, clear explanation. No fluff, just facts. Inspiring.
I've been using reaper for about 10 years. I switched from over from protools when I couldn't find my license for it after switching machines. I was surprised at how easily it reaper handled a very large ensemble piece I was mixing. I had over 50 tracks audio tracks in the project.
I eventually went back to protools, never having tried to record in reaper - believing that protools was the recording standard. Eventually, my recording preamp I bought with protools, became incompatible with my machine (after windows 7), and so I stopped recording. I only recently began recording again and have been pleasantly surprise, just like you were, at how easily reaper can handle recording. I am running it on a 10-12 year old machine (core2) as my back up console, and it only lags when I have other programs open eating up memory. Just a beast.
Lately, I've been appreciating some of the cockos plugins' capabilities and depth - there's almost no end. And I accindenly stumbled upon the ability to script their plugins- I was shocked.
Nevertheless, now I am even more confident, after hearing your testimony, that I can easily mix/master my independent film with reaper, no problem. You've proved this to me.
Reaper is a Tank that runs like Camry.
I switched to Reaper ~15 years ago and never looked back either. Nice video!
I have absolutely no experience with any DAW. I just install Reaper since a mounts and I love it! The learning curve looks fast. It's a GREAT software!!! Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Been using it for 3 years now, from a 14 year pro tools stint. Our stories are very similar, and I totally agree with everything you said.
Thank you Chris. Glad to see I'm not alone.
For my 4 years of starting and learning to make music, this Reaper helps me step up directly into music production without me worrying of software hassles. Thank you Sir, you made me love Reaper more and more
Reaper buys me cars, houses, and nice vacations...not bad for a $60 investment
hell ye
Maybe you should buy the Professional “edition”?
Trollface.jpg
No but seriously
Stop it, Chuck!😁
Good thing there is no Reaper police! lol!
Not buying it.
THANK YOU for the great overview of Reaper and comparison to ProTools! I'm a long-time musician but new to DAW's and studio recording in general. After doing some googling around I realized quickly that a DAW is the core of any modern studio, but where to start? After some more searching I narrowed it down to 3 apps including ProTools, but Reaper wasn't on the list...but then I stumbled onto this vid and bam!, My search is over. THANK YOU VERY MUCH for this in depth yet not too deep overview of Reaper. I'm sold and will not look back.
Nick! It’s you. I knew that Under the Big Tree rung a bell in my memory (Chaco here.)
Chaco! So good to hear from you, my old friend. I hope that you and your family are staying safe and well.
Excellent points!! As a career CompSci who also dabbles in sound design and aspires to score independent films, I find that your video addresses most of my concerns in making such a switch as I have been using PT for over a decade. At this price, I can license and take my time. As a programmer, I can easily see how the ability to extend is unparalleled. Thank you again!
Great video. I went with Reaper for one simple reason - I'm a light user and didn't want to pay through the nose for something I use casually. I have a weekend warrior band, and needed something to get demos, light video editing, and doing scratch recordings of ideas. Been using Reaper for almost 5 years and haven't had to pay for an upgrade yet. I just wonder how they make any money - it's great software at an unbeatable price. Also - you can do a portable install of it on a hard drive with your VST's and run it on just about anything. I once used it for a live show with a laptop and a 8in/out interface. Drummer used an electronic kit that I had trigger Superior drummer - used line 6 pod farm for bass and guitar. show went well and we were able to track the whole thing. I want to do it again soon now that I have Helix Native. Amazing world we live in today with the mix of music and computers.
Superb. I don't know for a fact, but I think that Justin Frankel made a lot of money early in his career, and then decided to give back by forming Cockos. It is a small team, and he is focused on creating an amazing product for the world more than maximizing every dollar earned. I truly wish there were more people like Justin on the planet.
he sure made a shitload of money with AOL's Winamp purchase.
the team is not small, it's small af. also they love programing.
the biggest reason it can be so cheap though is because they don't do (need) marketing. marketing is the biggest price factor for big company's products. it's very expensive
Man I love this channel, this guy talks in a very clear and down to earth manner 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 that intro was very Rick Beato-Esque too. Subscribed now!
Yup. I use Studio One 4 Pro now. PT is only used to open files.
It's really great to see such an objective and factual explanation for this kind of usually "emotional" topic, really well done! Also I could listen to you all day long because you have such a pleasant and engaging way to explain the facts.
Thank you for those kind words. I really like teaching, and create these videos when I can to try to share what I know with others.
Hands down best software review ever. Not only of Reaper, but of any software. Both coherent and in-depth. Fantastic job Nick!
Great job laying out so many aspects in depth. I am also a sound designer and have been using Avid software since Sound Designer, but fell in love with Reaper and the open source type community that it serves. Stability has become an issue for me with Pro Tools and your video is giving me the kick in the ass to configure Reaper more deeply and use it more. Thank you so much for taking the time to do this!
Im getting Reaper.
Do so :D .. and if any questions .. ask ;)
If you're using Reaper, check out the UA-cam channel "Reaper Mania." You won't be disappointed! I've spent countless hours watching the tutorials. It can do things that you wouldn't believe! :)
Excellent comprehensive run-down, thanks Nick. As a long time DP user (almost 30 years) you've really got me re-considering Reaper.
Thanks so much! Just purchased Reaper and can't wait to start and explore my new DAW...(ps. I'm a pro tools User since PT5) :D
Don't get discouraged with the learning curve. Make the action window your friend, and assign keystrokes to things you do all the time. My ultimate goal is to keep my hands off the mouse as much as possible, and just work using keystrokes while looking at the screen.
@@UndertheBigTree Hi There. Right clic is your friend too.
You should have a million followers. Your stuff rocks the free world. It's some of the most useful information I've ever seen. I am a Visual Artist, Writer, Musician, and Actor. I tend to mix those mediums together, as much as possible, in my art. You should have a million followers because you may be one of the most competent UA-cam content creators I've seen. I wish you nothing but continued success. Peace out.
Wow. That is high praise indeed. Thanks for those lovely words of encouragement - it really inspires me to do more.
May I suggest a cool alternative to Soundminer and Media Explorer: ADSR Sample Manager. It's a free VST plugin with enormously powerful capabilities. First time you open it, tell it where your sample library is located and let it index everything. It will analyze all your content and add meta tags to it automatically, based on what it found. It know what drum loops are, sound and voice samples... did I mention it is free?
Very cool! Perhaps I'll check it out.
Under the Big Tree Loopcloud is similar, but has more functions like auto transpose all media to the key of the project you're working in at that moment. If you want to. ADSR and Loopcloud both have the problem that the main reason that it's free is because they're both main sellers of sample packs. So they try to sneak you in to buying something if you don't watch out.
Great video as always!
Mate, you've nearly sold me!
I got a three-month ProTools trial with an audio interface I bought. PT is the big kahuna, of course, and I wanted to be one of the cool kids, so I tried very, very hard to like it. But after a few weeks of effort it was just not designed the way my brain works.
Reaper is so clean and intuitive. There are very few things about it that leave me scratching my head as PT does. If you don't like something, you can customize your way out of anything in Reaper. And I was unaware of the language integration until watching this video. I'm a Python programmer by trade so will definitely be checking that out.
Other commenters seem to think PT 'sounds' better. Really? It's all digital coming from your audio interface, isn't it? Zeroes and ones, people. Whatever. If there is a difference, I can't tell.
Coupled with my appreciation for good clean software design, the value-for-money simply makes Reaper (vis-a-vis PT) a no-brainer.
One interesting thing I never see pointed out is, that it runs a lot smoother than its competition - whilst having not even a half of the same VSTs in FL or Ableton I already get a performance penalty, whereas Reaper keeps running smooth. I don't know if it is just something that keeps happening to me, but I guess it's worth noting.
I have the same experience. I think that Reaper has VERY tight, well written code. That results in a tiny executable, and presumably faster performance.
I totally agree with you. Why didn't I see your video clip before I wasted an astronomical amount of time and money checking out Pro Tools, Cubase, Sonar, and Magix Music Maker? Thank you for your clip which I find very informative. At last, I found out Reaper and I found my Daw. Today is the 3rd day I am evaluating Reaper. I have figured out what I wanted to do already. This is the model for licensing. Reaper is not chasing me and treating me like a crook.
I want to buy it. A good product at a reasonable price will make anyone want to buy the product.
Good luck to you and keep up the good work.
Thank you, and I totally agree. I've gone through so many DAW's in the last 3 decades. But Cubase for sample-based music creation and Reaper for everything else is definitely the ticket for me. :)
that "bug fix over night" story tells it all. gj reaper!
That's the power of a small, dedicated, passionate company.
@@UndertheBigTree A company of 2 (two) persons
best you could hope for from Avid is them saying, "Ya that's a bug" and never fixing it lol.
I also switched to REAPER from Pro Tools. Great video.
It's cool to see people switching who have worked with pro tools for so long.
There are things to be said for getting very good at something and sticking with it. But I've never been that guy - always looking for the better mousetrap.
SOLID overview.
I switched from cubase to reaper more or less 14 years ago....totally another planet! Fast, light, stable, and deeper than any other daw!
Awesome support/forum/video tutorial/community ecc ecc...
10+ !
Reaper is an amazing piece of software. I had no problem buying the license, and I'm a bit of a cheapskate with that stuff lol
i already had a license for Music Maker and recently got a demo of Reaper with my Peavey mixer. After watching your video, I'm ready to buy Reaper and I can't even tried it yet. Thanks for the great video and incredible insight!
The scripting and being able to fire off scripts with action markers on the timeline might be the single most useful thing I have found so far.
j_dublay How do you use THAT PART?
@@ThisIsVersatile Once you load a script you can call it with action markers.
In the script window you can right click and copy the marker ID. Then create a marker that starts with an "!" and paste the script ID after.
When it rolls past the marker it will call the script.
Action markers ... that's news to me. I'm gonna have to look at that. Thanks
Thanks for the great video Nick Peck. During this COVID-19 thing we are not able to gather physically and need a music solution. Unfortunately, half of us are on Mac with Garageband the other half needs something. Then I found this video!
One person will be using her electronic drums via MIDI and the rest of us will be doing audio. Also, one person has an older computer and I notice it supports XP and 32 bit. This software should be really good news for us. Again thank you for the great synopsis of Reaper!
At 09:03 ... I love it when I see an apostrophe used correctly. Thank you. Enjoying the video so far as well!
Thank you, Gene. I wrote articles for Electronic Musician and Mix Magazines for many years, and those editors whipped me into shape.
You can't just install multiple versions on multiple systems. You can install multiple reaper instances ON THE SAME MACHINE.
Such an excellent video ! I''m from Brasil, and can't wait to buy the license of the reaper, because all person involved to democratization of technology, deserve all respect and gratitude for life!
Yeah I’m almost full time on reaper, it just does what you need without taking your whole machine hostage
Just off the honesty in how he is expressing his reasoning gets a thumbs up ,great vid
Uh. I use Reaper to record myself playing acoustic guitar. So. Yeah. I’m basically a power user like this guy 😂
You should have been the one making this video. lol
Haha I'm the same...I've done loads of research on DAWs over the years. I used Cubase back in school then I had no money for years and used various bits of freeware. I'm a Reaper user now after wondering whether I should splash out on Pro Tools. I just had to remind myself that I am recording guitars and vocals, and that's about it. Sometimes a synth sample, sometimes some programmed drums, but nothing complicated. Tracks get some reverb and EQ and done. I look at these features lists sometimes and I have no idea what the majority of them do. Great that all this stuff exists for the hardcore users, but at a basic level Reaper is so user friendly I can safely ignore all the complex stuff and just concentrate on my tracks.
Teach me, master! 🙌
12. Fully fledged video suite. The Reaper Blog uses it for every aspect of every single one of his videos.