Cockos Reaper is one of the most advanced programs for creating music, both in the studio and at home. The main feature of the program is that it has pattern, keyboard and audio editing. You can set an unlimited number of audio or midi tracks, not counting how many VST format virtual instruments you can add.
Reaper does not take up as much hard disk space and does not load the processor as programs from the FL Studio, Cubase, Reason or Sonar series. With this program you can work even on low-power computers with sound cards that do not support Full duplex operating modes. Although, if the soundcard supports this mode, you will get unlimited opportunities to create your compositions with professional sounding even in formats such as 5 + 1, and with additional plug-ins, and 7 + 1.
A huge plus of the program is that it supports VST / VST3, not counting support for DirectX plugins. You can use both the built-in editing tools for audio or midi tracks, and third-party plugins. The program also supports the ReWire virtual instrument connection system. Thanks to the harmonious interface, you can always see what you are editing at the moment. The virtual multichannel remote control is always in front of your eyes – with its help you can instantly perform operations with changing the volume, editing effects both on a single track and on the Master track.
REAPER 6.21: I dreamed I was an innkeeper in this crazy little town in Vermont.
Changelog items below may include • links to more information.
6.21
macOS: fix video issues on Catalina / Big Sur and retina displays •
macOS: fix ReWire-related crash on Catalina
macOS: revert to older macOS SDK for Catalina build (matching 6.19)
Media explorer: fix possible memory leak when importing or previewing media with embedded transient information
Media explorer: fix waveform display when zoomed in to sample level •
Media explorer: reverse inserted media if preview playback is reversed
Render: fix potentially rendering one sample too short •
Render: fix preset loading of 2nd pass render •
Track / mixer panels: improve mouse hit testing for empty FX slots •
VST: don’t show scan window when only built-in plugins are being scanned
VST: fix scanning of certain plug-ins on Windows (6.16 regression) •
Media explorer
action to open arrange view media in media explorer respects autoplay preference
add action to calculate peak volume for media files
add action to preview random file
add action to re-read metadata from media files
add action to reverse preview playback
add options to normalize preview volume and / or normalize volume when inserting media
add track number column (not displayed by default)
after deleting files, select the next file
apply volume, pitch, rate adjustments properly when inserting multiple files at once
clean up shortcut view after reordering shortcuts
clear search cache when renaming files or when new files are added
display arrow cursor over preview scrollbars on Windows
display length, sample rate, audio channels for video media
don’t re-initialize column order when the a new REAPER release changes the number of defined columns
don’t search bit depth / bitrate / length metadata (you can sort those columns though)
remove actions to delete folders without recycling or confirming
fix action to play previously played media (A / B test)
fix context menu action to browse to folder for search results or database entry
fix customized column order on macos
fix displayed length / bit depth for some non-standard .wav files
fix possible crash when removing a track / project that is being used for preview
if option enabled, don’t auto-play when initiating drag of unselected file •
improve accessibility of context menus via application-key
improve column sorting for length and bits columns
improve context menu organization and consistency
map reverse / forward preview playback to shift + leftarrow / shift + rightarrow by default
more accurate sample drawing when highly zoomed in
preserve custom column order when docking / undocking media explorer
prevent writing multiple ID3 tags to .wav files
respect preferences to apply preview volume / pitch / rate when inserting into reaper via drag or action
restore selection after renaming file •
optionally select enclosing folder in shortcut list when browsing
show filenames that will be removed when prompting to confirm deletion
tempo adjust (approximately) visual preview length of media when dragging from media explorer
improve behavior of various media format previews going to multichannel tracks •
IDE
autosuggest text (function names, variable names) while typing
add Ctrl + R for replace (after find), Ctrl + Return to insert line after current, Ctrl + J to jump to line number
support searching backwards via Ctrl + Shift + G or Shift + F3
double-clicking a user function name jumps to the function definition
improve search function, up / down changes search modes (substring, word, token)
reduce flicker in watch lists
show viewable line range in status line
add preference for watch window update interval
remember watch -enabled state
Video
do not show intermediate frames when seeking playback long distances
do not show intermediate frames when stopped and repositioning cursor, unless rapidly repositioning cursor
fix playing early frames when looping
fix possible parameter automation display flicker while stopped
fix timing glitch at playback start •
improve playback behavior immediately following small backwards seek
add optional project settings to have video affected by solo of other tracks, mute of parent tracks
add project setting to control where in the frame automation is evaluated •
spectrogram synthesis preset bugfixes
Actions
add actions to render stems on 2nd pass
add action to set horizontal zoom to default project setting
fix action to select take under mouse when empty take lanes are not visible •
fix capitalization of ReaScript, ReaEQ, etc in action descriptions
FX
faster preset listing / saving / loading with large preset counts / sizes
fix JSFX / AU pin map loading when FX pin count is larger than track channel count
FX chains can be set to compensate delay per-FX (REAPER 6.19 or earlier), per-chain, or not at all
master FX chain can be set to compensate delay at the hardware-send level for improved performance
MIDI editor
add undo state when editing MIDI event properties
fix display of linear tempo changes •
fix event list delete button •
support inserting and editing port messages, though REAPER doesn’t do anything with those messages
ReaScript
EnumerateFiles () / EnumerateSubDirectories () allow manual cache invalidation •
fix EnumerateFiles ( ) / EnumerateSubDirectories () cache bug •
GetFocusedFX () / GetFocusedFX2 () support monitoring FX
Lua gmem_attach () returns previous global memory segment name •
VST
improve plug-in scanning status messages
add option to not scan for new / updated plug-ins on startup
preferences window lists skipped plug-ins and allows manual re-scan
reduce display update frequency when scanning filesystem
fix IContextMenu compatibility issue
Envelope panels
fix redraw glitch when TCP is wider than arrange view
fix lag in display of value text
JSFX
add bit meter
change IDE behavior to use Ctrl + Shift + R to open an import line (vs Ctrl + R which is now used for search / replace)
macOS
improve listview appearance on Big Sur
Catalina / Big Sur builds are now built with the latest Apple toolchain
update table column alignment properly for multi-tab list controls (project bay, etc)
Media items
don’t reset manual fades when editing item contents with auto-crossfade enabled •
fix actions to move items up / down one lane •
fix potential crash when replacing media source for multiple items with empty items in the project •
Metadata
add preset support
fix decoding very large BWF start offset values •
MIDI
fix pre-FX fader-scaled volume envelopes transforming MIDI incorrectly
preserve MIDI port messages when importing MIDI to multiple tracks
support RIFF-based MIDI files •
MIDI recording
don’t extend existing MIDI items past the start of a following MIDI item •
fix behavior where existing MIDI item will not be extended if recording begins, but nothing is actually recorded, before the item start position
in overdub / replace mode, don’t extend existing MIDI items until MIDI has actually been recorded on the track
Project bay
fix FX developer display when using multi-out VSTs
fix undo point when dragging from FX tab to project
Render
add support for 2nd pass render
adjust 2nd pass render for resampler latency •
Timecode
format as HH: MM: SS: FF rather than H: MM: SS: FF everywhere (timeline, transport, wildcards, etc)
when timeline is in H: M: S: F format, interpret user-entered HMSF as H: M: S: F
Undo
add undo point including filename when using save-as to save to a new project file
display the undo point corresponding with the last save in undo history
WAV
fix importing embedded transients as transient markers •
import embedded cues properly for certain files •
list embedded cues in media source properties dialog
Wildcards
add $ marker (name) and $ region (name) wildcards, for example $ marker (ISRC) will resolve to “1234” if there is a project marker named “ISRC = 1234” within the rendered time range
format timecode as HH.MM.SS.FF rather than H-MM-SS-FF (saved settings in existing projects are not affected)
make help text more consistent for start / end / length wildcards (sorry, localizers)
Windows
allow longer search strings in Media Explorer •
installed executables are now signed
Automation items
fix potential crash when splitting automation item under mouse cursor •
Batch converter
add option to preserve original file metadata when possible
Freeze
disable track playback offset when freezing, re-enable when unfreezing •
FX browser
improve selection behavior when renaming FX
MIDI export
improve exporting linear tempo changes •
Mouse modifiers
add modifier to move item loop section contents respecting snap
MP3
encode chapter tags in timeline order •
ReaDelay
display formatted parameter value in REAPER envelope edit dialog
Ruler
when displaying time, always show X: XX.XXX even if the last X is zero
Scrub
add actions to temporarily enable looped-segment scrubbing
Super8
fix recording bug when in project / playback sync mode and gate was left enabled
Track panel
show bypassed indication for embedded FX, shift + click header to toggle bypass