⬤ U SEF U L Intro

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This guide has been remade!
I originally wrote this guide based on REAPER 6. Now that
REAPER 7 is out, I was surprised that many of the suggestions I
had were actually implemented. That's so awesome!

Since things have moved around and we've got some new
features, I thought it would be a good idea to remake this guide
for everyone using REAPER 7, whether you're new to it or have
been using it for a while.

I also took the opportunity to add more useful things and delve
deeper into concepts so you get an even better experience
setting up REAPER for the first time.

Let's get started!

2
 Intro

Hello, Reaperfriend! Alejandro here.

I adore REAPER with all my heart. I've been using it for over 12 years, and even
though I've tried many other DAWs, I always return to REAPER for the same
reason: no other DAW is as flexible and powerful.

Being so flexible isn't always good, though. It means options and tons of
them. That's why most people get overwhelmed when trying out REAPER for
the first time. It can sometimes feel like you're trying to pilot a spaceship. At
least that's how I felt!

In my early REAPER days, I kept encountering things that frustrated me. But
everything changed when I discovered that a lot about REAPER can be
customized to your own taste, and that's honestly huge. Investing some time
into customizing the perfect DAW is super worth it in the long run.

That's why I decided to create this eBook. I understand how overwhelming

setting up REAPER can be. This guide will be exactly what I would have loved
to have known when I was starting out.

And even if you've used REAPER for a while, I'm sure you'll find a thing or two
in here that you may like!

All made with love,

Alejandro Hernandez

3
How to use this guide
From this point on, I will provide a series of tweak suggestions divided by
categories. There's no specific order you need to follow. Just find something
that interests you and set it up~

I want to emphasize that these are only suggestions. They are heavily
biased towards what I like and dislike. It's totally fine if you skip any or most of
these!

I will, however, add a small priority tag at the top of each suggestion. Again,
highly biased!

Navigation tips
● If you are on a PC, you can use the arrows (◀/▶) to go to the next/previous
page. I separated most of the tips by pages so itʼs all aligned and easy to
skim through!

● Feel free to use the table of contents to easily find something that
interests you!

● Thereʼs also a “▲ Return to index" button at the bottom left of each tip, this
will take you back to the table of contents.

● I suggest getting a nice cup of coffee //or tea or water//, read this guide
while REAPER is open, and change whatever you think would be helpful for
you.

Enjoy and happy tweaking!

4
 Table of Contents
Backups & Projects
Export & backup your whole REAPER setup ........................................................ 8
The proper way to save projects in REAPER ........................................................ 9
Whatʼs inside project folders? ................................................................................. 10
Set up automatic backups ........................................................................................11
Clean current project directory ............................................................................... 13
Interface & Navigation
Make REAPER start up faster .................................................................................. 16
Edit names/map/reorder inputs & outputs .......................................................... 18
The Actions Menu ...................................................................................................... 19
Remove dots at the tops of selected items ......................................................... 21
Move the transport controls ....................................................................................22
Hand scrolling navigation .........................................................................................23
Vertical and horizontal scrolling ..............................................................................24
Zoom towards your mouse ......................................................................................25
Uncluttered grid lines ............................................................................................... 26
Customizing toolbars ................................................................................................27
Saving and recalling layouts ................................................................................... 28
Stop/repeat playback at the end of project........................................................ 29
Try a theme! ................................................................................................................. 30
Collapse options for folders .....................................................................................32
Change metronome sound ..................................................................................... 33
Create shortcuts to your most used plugins ...................................................... 34
Using track spacers .................................................................................................. 35
Media Items
Adjust multiple fades at once. .................................................................................37
Set default item timebase to Time ........................................................................ 38
Disable automatic fade in / fade out ..................................................................... 39
Disable tiny fade-in on playback start ................................................................. 40
 Additional item buttons ............................................................................................. 41
Disable loop and limit edge of items. ................................................................... 42
Recording & Optimization
Disable recording prompt ........................................................................................ 45
Cleaner recorded filenames ................................................................................... 46
My favorite shortcuts for recording .......................................................................47
Show takes instead of lanes ................................................................................... 49
Discard incomplete takes ........................................................................................ 50
Auto arming tracks ..................................................................................................... 51
Smoother waveforms & meters ..............................................................................52
Latency issues? Try this… ........................................................................................ 53
CPU issues? Try this… .............................................................................................. 55
Further optimize with these settings.................................................................... 59
MIDI
Input MIDI notes in one click .................................................................................. 62
Remove MIDI note velocity handle. ...................................................................... 63
The multiple ways to display MIDI ........................................................................ 64
One MIDI Editor per project or track ..................................................................... 65
Rename and reorder MIDI notes ........................................................................... 66
Best settings for working with multiple MIDI ..................................................... 68
Extensions
Extensions ....................................................................................................................75
SWS ................................................................................................................................76
Reapack.........................................................................................................................77
The end… ................................................................................................................ 80
Backups & Projects

CHAPTER 1

Backups &
Projects
⬤ MU ST Backups & Projects

Export & backup your whole

REAPER setup
Before you set up anything, I highly recommend exporting your current
REAPER settings, just in case you want to revert back to your original setup.

Luckily, REAPER makes exporting and importing every setting super simple!
This is helpful for when you are moving to another computer, sharing specific
settings with friends, or just backing up in case your computer breaks!

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > General > Select "Export Configuration"

2. Check all checkboxes, this will export everything, giving you an exact
replica of your current REAPER when you import this file into another
REAPER.

After it's done exporting, you should end up with a single .ReaperConfigZip
file. You can store this file somewhere safe.

On top of backing up that file locally, I highly recommend uploading it to the

cloud as well!

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⬤ MU ST Backups & Projects

The proper way to save projects in

REAPER
When you save a REAPER project, always do it in its own folder. REAPER will
keep all the project's media in this folder.

A quick way to do this is when you pick “File > Save As...” just tick the box at
the bottom that says "create project directory".

Checking “create project directory” will make a folder with the same name
as your project. All the sounds you record for this project will be kept in this
folder.

Next, I will go over whatʼs inside project folders.

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⬤ U SEF U L Backups & Projects

What’s inside project folders?

If you followed the previous steps on saving projects in unique folders, you'll
notice how REAPER organizes the media:

Here's a quick rundown of what each component is:

RPP: This is the file with the extension ".RPP," located at the root of the folder.
It represents your REAPER project. Feel free to save as many versions of your
project as you need.

Media folder: This folder contains all the files used in the project, including
your recordings.

Peaks folder: This folder contains files with the extension ".reapeak" These
are small image files that REAPER generates to draw the waveforms of media
items. They can be deleted at any time, and REAPER will simply rebuild them
the next time you open the project. I recommend setting a unique path for
storing these (more on this later).

Backups folder: By default, each time you save, REAPER will save the
previous version of the project in this folder. You can adjust this setting, which
is something I will talk about next.

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⬤ U SEF U L Backups & Projects

Set up automatic backups

Every time you save, REAPER stores the old version in a folder called
"Backups" in your project folder. That's very helpful!

To make this even better, I suggest turning on Auto-Saving. This great feature
has saved me many times.

You can set up REAPER to make automatic backups of your projects with
timestamps. This is helpful when you want to go back to an older version of
your projects.

You can find these settings and more in Preferences > Backups.

Here’s what my settings look like:

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⬤ U SEF U L Backups & Projects

Why I have all my backups in one folder

As you can see in my previous
screenshot, I have the "preserve
previously-saved version" turned off,
and "auto-save to timestamped file in
specific directory" turned on.

Since I save so many times per second (I

have the ctrl+s tick), I didn't find it too
useful to keep old versions of my saves.
That's why I opted for having just one
folder where I keep all my backups. It
auto-saves every minute.

This way, I have just one backup folder where I could go in case I need to revert
to a previous version of any of my projects.

But I can also conveniently delete a bunch of old projects in there to save
storage space every now and then. If my backups were spread across multiple
folders, it would be very difficult to maintain and clean up. That's why I like to
have it all in one folder.

The same logic applies to reapeaks

I like to keep all my reapeaks in one place.
These are just pictures that REAPER uses to
show the sound waves in your media. You can
remove them anytime, and REAPER will just
make new ones when you open your project
again.

This is why it's great to have them all in one

folder. I can just go to this folder and delete
everything inside to free up some storage
space. They don't use up a lot of space, but
over time, it can add up!

To set a folder for your Reapeaks, just go to Preferences > Paths and check
“store all peak caches in alternate path”.

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⬤ U SEF U L Backups & Projects

Clean current project directory

Here's a method to eliminate all unused items in your project, such as deleted
takes, unused samples, discarded ideas, etc.

I recommend doing this every time you finish a REAPER project. It cleans up
the project and significantly reduces the size of the project folder!

Setup:
1. Go to File > Clean current project directory.

In here you will see all the items that are not being used in your project that you
can delete.

To minimize risk, I recommend checking the box at the bottom: Send files to
trash (safer).

Please note that the files listed are not being used in the current project
but MAY be used in other projects. In the next section I will go over how to
make this even safer!

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⬤ U SEF U L Backups & Projects

My project archiving workflow

Hereʼs how I like to archive my projects so they become future proof.

First, I save and copy all media items into project directory.

You can do that by going into File > Save as and then checking the box at the
bottom for “Copy all media into project directory” and save into your project
folder. (you can overwrite your project file or just create a whole new folder if
you want).

Secondly, I run the clean project directory feature I demonstrated above.

Again, you can find this in File > Clean current project directory.

And there you go – this way you ensure all media will be within the project
folder and you can clean up whatever is not used and save precious storage
space.

P.S: To make it even further future proof, I recommend freezing all of your
tracks in the case you ever donʼt have access to your plugins. Hereʼs a great
video demonstrating how to do it: Freezing tracks in REAPER

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Navigation & Interface

CHAPTER 2

Interface &
Navigation
⬤ U SEF U L Navigation & Interface

Make REAPER start up faster

By default, REAPER opens the last active project, that means that every time
you open reaper, you have to wait for it to load your last session.

I much prefer REAPER to just open a new blank project so it loads way quicker
and I can get started with whatever I need at the moment.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > General.

2. Find “Open projects on startups” and select “New project”.

You can also set it to “prompt” if you prefer. This will show you a list of your
most recent projects which is pretty cool too!

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⬤ U SEF U L Navigation & Interface

Bonus: Skip splash screen animation

Speaking of fast booting times, another thing that slightly helps start REAPER
really quickly is disabling the little logo animation that happens every time you
open REAPER.

It's honestly a very subtle difference, I think it just saves like 1 or 2 seconds, but
I appreciate REAPER opening as quickly as possible.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > General.

2. Disable “Skip animation”.

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⬤ U SEF U L Navigation & Interface

Edit names/map/reorder inputs &

outputs
If you have an interface with several inputs and outputs that are already set, it
can be helpful to rename them according to their connections.

For instance, if you have an interface with 24 inputs and outputs, and your
drums are mapped to inputs 1 to 12, you can rename Input 1 as 'Kick', Input 2
as 'Snare', and so forth.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Audio

2. In the channel naming/mapping section, click on “Edit names/map…” for

either input or output.

3. In this window, you will be able to change the name, reorder and even
remap your inputs and outputs.

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⬤ U SEF U L Navigation & Interface

The Actions Menu

The Actions menu in REAPER is the place where you will find all of REAPERʼs
functions, set shortcuts to them, and even create your own custom actions.

How to change or map shortcuts

If you ever need to change any of your
shortcuts or add a shortcut to an action you
frequently use, simply find the action with
the help of the filter.

Alternatively, if you know the shortcut, you

can use the "find shortcut" button. Then,
use "Add…" and change it to any other
shortcut that you would prefer.

For example, you can map a shortcut to turn your metronome on and off. To do
this, input "Toggle metronome" into the filter, find the action, and click on
"Add..." to set a shortcut. I have this mapped to my "/" key, which is very handy
for quickly turning it on and off with my keyboard!

Itʼs so awesome how you can map shortcuts to pretty much every REAPER
function! And even combine them together to work as a custom action.

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⬤ U SEF U L Navigation & Interface

What’s a custom action?

Custom actions allow you to chain together multiple actions into one action
that you can later run it in one click!

For example, you could create a custom action that will turn on ripple editing,
remove an item, and then turn off ripple editing. This is a way to quickly "ripple"
delete without having to turn ripple editing on and off. All in one go!

To make a custom action,

1. Click on “New action… > New custom action”.

2. Click and drag actions from the Actions menu into the Custom Action
menu in the order that you want.

3. Give the action a name. I suggest also checking “consolidate undo

points”

4. Hit OK and your custom action should now show up in your Actions menu.

Quick ripple edit custom action

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⬤ NI T PI C K Navigation & Interface

Remove dots at the tops of selected

items
REAPER 7 introduced small indicators in the form of dots on top of the items
you have selected. They look like this:

I am not a fan and I prefer to switch this off. I find that it gets clutter really easily.

If you wish to turn this off, hereʼs how you do it.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Media.

2. Disable “Draw selection indicator on items”.

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⬤ NI T PI C K Navigation & Interface

Move the transport controls

You can move the transport bar anywhere in REAPER. By default, it's
positioned at the bottom, which isn't very visible to me.

I like to place it at the very top and centered like this:

Setup:
1. Right click the transport bar and select Docked Transport Position > Top
of Main Window

2. I like to keep it centered. Right click again the transport bar and select
“Center transport controls”.

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⬤ NI T PI C K Navigation & Interface

Hand scrolling navigation

Once I discovered that you could hand scroll your way around REAPER, I
couldn't go back. This is my favorite way to navigate around the Arrange View.

I like to set this to my middle mouse click.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Mouse Modifiers

2. From the dropdown list, select Arrange View / Middle Drag

3. Double click the default action and select “Hand scroll”

4. Done! Now you should be able to click and drag with your mouse-wheel to
navigate around the Arrange View.

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⬤ U SEF U L Navigation & Interface

Vertical and horizontal scrolling

Now, if you are not into hand scrolling, you may prefer the more traditional way
of using your mouse wheel, which is for vertical and horizontal scrolling.

By default, REAPER will zoom in and out using your mouse wheel. And if you
want to scroll, you have to hold Alt/Opt to scroll horizontally and hold Alt/Opt
+ Ctrl/Cmd to scroll vertically.

Now, I actually prefer this behavior because using hand scrolling takes care of
both vertical and horizontal scrolling for me. And I like zooming in and out using
my mouse wheel as demonstrated in the tip before.

However, if you prefer to change this behavior to scroll with your mouse wheel
and zoom by holding a modifier, here's how to do it.

Setup:
1. Go to the Actions menu (Shortcut: “?”) and search for “View: Scroll
vertically (MIDI CC relative/mousewheel)”

2. Click on “Add…” to set a shortcut, then press “Special key”.

3. Drag using your mouse-wheel until it detects it. Press OK.

Now, we need to set a shortcut to Horizontal Zoom.

1. In the actions menu, search for “View: Zoom horizontally (MIDI CC

relative/mousewheel)”

2. Click on “Add…” to set a shortcut, then press “Special key”.

3. Hold whatever modifier key you want for your horizontal zoom. I suggest
Alt/Opt + Mouse-wheel. Press OK.
Done! Now you should be able to scroll vertically with your Mousewheel,
scroll horizontally using Shift+Mousewheel and zoom using Alt/
Opt+Mousewheel.

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⬤ NI T PI C K Navigation & Interface

Zoom towards your mouse

By default, you have to click and place the edit cursor wherever you wanna
zoom towards, and I think that's just unnecessary extra work.

I find it better to zoom towards my mouse cursor. It feels way more natural this
way!

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Zoom/Scroll/Offset.

2. In Horizontal Zoom Center, select Mouse Cursor.

Also the same thing can be done with your track height.

You can adjust the track height by holding Ctrl/Cmd + Mousewheel.

By default it will zoom towards the track in the center, but you can switch this
to zoom towards the track under mouse.

To do so, in the same menu as before, change “Vertical zoom center:” to

“track under mouse”.

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⬤ NI T PI C K Navigation & Interface

Uncluttered grid lines

It has always bothered how projects look when zooming out because of how
cluttered the grid lines look like.

I prefer to set a bigger minimum grid line spacing. This way when I zoom
in, it will reveal more grid lines and the opposite will happen when I zoom out.

Before (8 pixels) After (18 pixels)

Setup:
1. Right click the grid icon in your top left toolbar above tracks.

2. Play around with the minimum of pixels. I like to set it at 18.

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⬤ U SEF U L Navigation & Interface

Customizing toolbars
One of the things that made me fall in love
with REAPER is how you can pretty much
set different toolbars filled with your favorite
actions and position them strategically.

For example, I often use the freeze and unfreeze actions. It would be a great
idea to set them up on my main toolbar.

To do that, just right click any empty space of the toolbar and select
“Customize toolbar”.

In this menu you can add and remove any action and even set icons for them.
In this case I will press “Add…” and find the actions for freeze / unfreeze and
select them. They will now get added to the list.

You can add a separator by right clicking the list and selecting “Insert
separator”

And there you go! You can spend some time here and maybe delete some
actions you donʼt use much just so it looks cleaner.

In the next tip I will show you how to set up some cool layouts using this
knowledge!

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⬤ U SEF U L Navigation & Interface

Saving and recalling layouts

You might wonder how people achieve these cool layouts in REAPER:

What makes REAPER so powerful is the ability to switch between these

layouts using shortcuts. While it may seem complicated, it's actually quite
easy to set up!

It's all about understanding how to customize toolbars, how docking works,
and how to save and recall layouts using screensets.

To access your screensets, navigate to View > Screensets. In the windows

tab, you can save your current layout for later recall, either from here or using a
shortcut.

To map screensets to shortcuts, visit the Actions menu, search for

“Screenset: Load window set #”, and assign a shortcut to the screenset
number you desire.

I've made a quick video to demonstrate how all of this works and to provide
some ideas on how to use it.

Watch: How to set up custom layouts + 3 layout ideas!

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⬤ NI T PI C K Navigation & Interface

Stop/repeat playback at the end of

project
By default, REAPER will stop your playback once it reaches the end of the
project. I like to disable this for the following reason:

When I play with a metronome, I get annoyed that the project would stop at the
end and return to the beginning. Disabling this makes sure it keeps going
forever. I find it makes arranging and playing a little more flexible.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Audio > Playback

2. Disable “Stop/repeat playback at end of project"

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⬤ NI T PI C K Navigation & Interface

Try a theme!
Not happy with how REAPER looks? No worries, there are many themes that
the community has made for you to try.

REAPER themes only change how the software looks without touching any of
your settings. So, you can try any theme without any risk. You can always go
back to the default theme easily.

You can find great themes on the REAPER stash or the REAPER forum.

Here are some themes I quite enjoy! (Click on the name to get the link)

Reapertips Theme (This is what I use)

iLogic v3.90

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⬤ NI T PI C K Navigation & Interface

Peace_MOD

Paulie

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⬤ NI T PI C K Navigation & Interface

Collapse options for folders

So, you know how when you have a folder and toggle the collapse state, there
are usually three states: normal size, medium size, and tiny tracks.

It has always bothered me that there are three states for this. I always wished it
was just two states, and I have always wanted to simply show and hide the
tracks.

Luckily, REAPER 7 introduced a setting that allows you to customize how

folders collapse!

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Appearance > Track Control Panel

2. In here you can configure it to behave in four different ways:

● Normal, small, collapsed (Default)

● Normal, small, hidden

● Normal, collapsed

● Normal, hidden (My favorite )

Setting it up as Normal, hidden will make it so you just have to click to show
and hide all the child tracks. This creates a very clean look for the project!

You are free to try any of the other options, though! I very much also like
“Normal, small, hidden” being able to toggle all children tracks small is very
handy as well.

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⬤ NI T PI C K Navigation & Interface

Change metronome sound

If you are like me and you don't enjoy REAPER's metronome sounds so much, I
have good news! You can change it to whatever sound you want and it's
pretty simple

Let me show you how to change it and make it the default sound for all your
future projects.

How to add a custom metronome sound in REAPER

1. Open a REAPER blank project and right click the metronome icon.

2. Put the metronome sound you want in these boxes

To save this as the default metronome for all future projects:

1. Go to File > Project Settings.

2. Click on “Save as default project settings”.

Download sounds
I put together a bunch of metronome sounds that you can try.

Link→ Metronome sounds for REAPER DAW

It has sounds from other daws and a few others. My favorite is Pro Tools
marimba!

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⬤ U SEF U L Navigation & Interface

Create shortcuts to your most used

plugins
Just as you can create shortcuts for any REAPER functions, you can also
create shortcuts for your plugins!

This is ideal for quickly adding your favorite plugins to your tracks, significantly
speeding up the mixing process.

If you do a lot of mixing, I highly recommend setting this up.

How to set shortcuts

1. Open the FX browser

2. Right click any plugin and select ”Create shortcut...”

3. Enter whatever key you want that plugin be assigned to.

I like to set all of my most used plugins to my number keys. So I just need to
press one key to bring anything I want up!

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⬤ U SEF U L Navigation & Interface

Using track spacers

REAPER 7 introduced a new track type called
"Track Spacer" that can be inserted in the
Track Control Panel. This track can be used to
separate tracks and create a more organized
space.

How to insert a Track Spacer

The easiest way to do this is by right-clicking
any track and selecting "Visual Track
Spacer" and "Insert spacer before tracks"
from the dropdown menu.

You can also find these options in the

Actions menu. Just search for "Track
Spacer" and you will be able to set shortcuts
or add them to your toolbar for quick access!

Another easy way to add track spacers is by using the Track Manager (View
→ Track Manager). In the Track Manager, you will find a column labeled
"Spacer". Simply click on it and the spacer will be inserted before the track

Customizing the Track Spacer

By default, track spacers are set to a height of 16 pixels, but you can change
this in the Preferences panel.

To adjust the height, navigate to Options > Preferences > Appearance, and
modify the value of the track spacer size to your preferred number. I personally
like to set it to 24 pixels!

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 CHAPTER 3

Media Items
⬤ U SEF U L Media Items

Adjust multiple fades at once.

It is so weird to me that by default, REAPER wonʼt allow you to edit multiple
fades when selecting multiple items. Luckily, itʼs an easy fix.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Mouse Modifiers

2. Select context: Media Item fade/autocrossfade | Left drag

3. Double click default action and select Move Fade > “Relative edge edit”

4. Now you should be able to edit multiple fades at once!

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⬤ U SEF U L Media Items

Set default item timebase to Time

A lot of people get confused when they import an audio file into REAPER and
change BPM, all of their files get stretched and pitched.

For more context check out this example case.

I like to set the default timebase to Time instead of Beats so that case above
doesnʼt happen.

Setup:
1. Go to File > Project Settings…

2. Where it says “Timebase for items/envelopes/markers” select “Time”.

3. To save this as the default, click on “Set as project default”.

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⬤ U SEF U L Media Items

Disable automatic fade in / fade out

Alright, this is honestly a very strange default that I have never seen in any
other audio editor ever. Every time you make a split in REAPER, it creates an
automatic fade in and out that looks like this:

The intention with this is that it saves you from pops and clicks. And while it
works, I find that it causes more trouble than it solves.

For example, if you split a snare right at the start, it will completely remove
some of the attack and it's a very audible dip.

Another issue is that itʼs set to 10 ms and sometimes thatʼs too long or too
short, so I have to adjust it anyway.

So I much prefer to disable this and just do the fades myself whenever I need
them.

To change this,
1. Go to Preferences > Item
Fade Defaults

2. Uncheck these boxes→

Done! Now you will be able to
fine split items without worrying about fades getting in the way.

And if you ever need to apply auto-fades, thereʼs this handy SWS action that you
can run called “Set item fades to default length”. This will use whatever length
you have in your preferences. More info about SWS here.

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⬤ U SEF U L Media Items

Disable tiny fade-in on playback

start
This is a similar situation to the previous tip, but this time is on playback. By
default, you hear a tiny fade in when you press play. This fade-in is enough to
misjudge a kick or a snare because it will remove some of the attack.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Playback

2. Uncheck “Tiny fade in on playback start”

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⬤ U SEF U L Media Items

Additional item buttons

One of the coolest things about REAPER is all the processing and tweaking
you can do to individual items. You can insert effects, automate volume/pitch/
pan, mute, add comments, and more!

By default, REAPER displays a volume knob, mute, and FX buttons on top of

items. Hereʼs how you can add more features like automation, comments,
locking, and more!

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Appearance > Media

2. In here, you can check the boxes for "No active envelopes" or anything
else that you'd like to see like notes, lock or item properties.

Disable resampled media icon

Another thing you may want to uncheck is "Item properties only if
resampled media". I don't think it's necessary to have that icon when items
are resampled.

Btw, this happens when you import a file that doesnʼt match your sessionʼs
sample rate and REAPER has to resample it. The little icon is just letting you
know itʼs happening. Itʼs okay to ignore it.

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⬤ U SEF U L Media Items

Disable loop and limit edge of items.

By default, when you drag the edge of an item, it will start looping instead of
extending the item. Most people, including myself, find this odd and prefer to
have always extend the item.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Media Item Defaults

2. Disable all these boxes “(Loop source for...)”

3. Hit 'OK' and now you can extend MIDI items without worrying about loops.
Note: I came up with a pretty cool to toggle this by double clicking the edge of
the item. Check it out here!

Now, thereʼs only one small problem…

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⬤ U SEF U L Media Items

Audio items don’t have a limit!

This works great for MIDI items, as you can now extend them without worrying
about loops.

However, audio items just keep expanding beyond their limits, and I honestly
donʼt see why I would want that.

Luckily, thereʼs an option to enable a hard limit for audio items when you are
extending them, so they wonʼt go beyond their limit and will just snap at the
edge.

To enable limit edge of items:

1. Go to Preferences > Mouse Modifiers.

2. In context, select "Media Item Edge" | "Left drag".

3. At the bottom of the window, enable "Limit edits to source media

content for unlooped media items".
Now, when you extend items, you will have a hard limit at the item's edge.

▲ Return to index 43
 CHAPTER 4

Recording &
Optimization
⬤ NI T PI C K Recording & Optimization

Disable recording prompt

I find this prompt really annoying! It just
gets in the way every time you stop
recording and gives you a bunch of
options.

Some people like it because they can

choose to delete the file and save space.
But I prefer to set a shortcut for that
using the action "Transport: Stop
(DELETE all recorded media)". This
makes recording way quicker and
straightforward.

Let me show you how to get rid of that prompt:

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Recording

2. Uncheck “Prompt to save/delete/rename new files”

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⬤ NI T PI C K Recording & Optimization

Cleaner recorded filenames

The way REAPER names recorded files is veeeery long and detailed.

It's usually something like this:

That's track number, track name, year, month, day, hour and minutes.

Most of this data is already being stored in your .wav file, so in many instances,
there really isn't a need to include that in the filename.

The way I like to name these is just using the track name and the recording
pass number. So your files look a little cleaner like this:

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Recording

2. In filename format, type: "$track- $recpass00" and save.

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⬤ U SEF U L Recording & Optimization

My favorite shortcuts for recording

By default, you have to press Ctrl + R to start recording. This is two keys,
which is honestly a lot for an action that you will use repeatedly.

I prefer to change the Record shortcut to a single key shortcut like “E”.

I also find it time-consuming to constantly stop with the space bar, then having
to delete or keep your takes.

What I like to do instead is setting a single key shortcut to the action called
“Stop (Delete all recorded media)”. That way I could press this key to stop
the recording and delete the take.

I only press this key when I am 100% sure that I messed up and I donʼt wanna
keep that take. And in the case I want to keep the take, I press space.

In short,
I press “E” to start recording.

If I want to keep the take, I press “Space”

If I mess up while recording, I press “Q” to trigger the action “Stop

(Delete all recorded media)”

Setup:
Go to the Actions menu and set single key shortcuts to the following actions:

● “Transport: Record” – I set “E”.

● “Transport: Stop (DELETE all recorded media)” – I set “Q”.

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⬤ U SEF U L Recording & Optimization

See it in action
Iʼve been using this combination of shortcuts for a long time. However, I
recently found a way to make this a bit more efficient.

It involves creating a custom action that will delete and start recording again,
so I can simply press that key whenever I make a mistake and want to instantly
try again.

Hereʼs how I do it → How I record guitars in REAPER

▲ Return to index 48
⬤ NI T PI C K Recording & Optimization

Show takes instead of lanes

You may have noticed that if you record on top of another item, REAPER
shows you all the different takes in multiple lanes.

This is useful but not always ideal. I prefer to set the default to show me takes
instead of lanes.

Showing all takes (default) Disabling show all takes

I can then go to the next take by pressing “T” and the previous take by
pressing “Shift + T”.

Setup:
1. Go to top menu Options and uncheck "Show all takes (when room)”

2. To save this as default, go to top menu File > Project Settings and click
"Save as default project settings"

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⬤ U SEF U L Recording & Optimization

Discard incomplete takes

If you do loop recording, I highly suggest enabling this. It will basically discard
whatever take is not completed. That means you won't have takes that are
literally guitar noise as you are reaching for the stop button.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Audio > Loop/Lane Recording

2. Check the first box, and set the threshold for complete take to 90%.

P.S: If you are unfamiliar with loop recording, I made a video about it
here → Loop recording in REAPER

▲ Return to index 50
⬤ U SEF U L Recording & Optimization

Auto arming tracks

REAPER has a feature that automatically
record-arm your tracks as soon as you
select them. This is useful for music
producers because it allows them to quickly
listen to and record different instruments
without having to turn tracks on and off.

Setup:
1. Right click the recording button on a track
and select “Automatic record-arm when
track is selected”.

2. If you want this to be the default of all new

tracks in the future, go to Preferences >
Track/Sends Defaults and where it says
“Record config”, enable “Automatic
record-arm when track is selected”.

P.S: If you have any other setting you would like as default for your tracks, this
is the right place to change it!

▲ Return to index 51
⬤ NI T PI C K Recording & Optimization

Smoother waveforms & meters

Smoother waveforms
You may have noticed that when REAPER is recording, waveforms are drawn
very slowly. And it's because the default refresh rate of this is only 3 Hz. We
can crank this to 30 Hz and make it look waaay smoother.

This is especially cool if you film videos like this!

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Recording

2. Where it says "Show preview ...update frequency" set it to 30 Hz.

Note: So far I haven't noticed any performance hiccups when setting this up,
even when I have it at 60Hz.

Smoother meters
Just like the previous tip, you can make all meters in REAPER look much
smoother.

Setup
1. Go to Preferences > Track Meters

2. Where it says “Meter update frequency” set this to 30.

3. I also suggest changing “Meter decay” to about 40.

Feel free to change these settings to your liking!

A higher meter update frequency makes it look smoother.

The meter decay controls the speed of the meter's decline.

▲ Return to index 52
L AT ENCY I SSU ES Recording & Optimization

Latency issues? Try this…

Lower your block size
When your buffer size is high, you give REAPER more time to process things,
this however introduces latency. The key to latency-free tracking is to have the
lowest buffer size.

In Preferences > Audio >

Device, check "request block
size" and go as small as you
can go.

Start with 96. If you hear cracks

and pops, try 128 or 256.

The rule of thumb for block size is:

● Set to high buffer size if you are mixing.

● Set to low buffer size if you are tracking.

Side-note: if you have Reapack installed, there's a series of scripts to quickly

change block size. I love having this as keyboard shortcuts for quick switch.
Check it out here.

▲ Return to index 53
L AT ENCY I SSU ES Recording & Optimization

Bypass high-latency plugins

Some plugins like multi-band compressors, limiters and saturators introduce a
great amount of latency to your sessions.

You can check which plugins are introducing latency by going into the top
menu View > Track Manager.

In here you will find a column called "PDC" – This means "Plug-in Delay
Compensation" and the number is the amount of samples of delay.

Whenever you spot a track using PDC, you can go to the track FX and bypass
the plugin adding the latency. Or you can click the PDC number in the Track
Manager to bypass the whole track.

Alternatively, there's a super convenient script called "Toggle bypass all

project FX with latency (PDC) higher than 128 samples”. This script is
available through Reapack. I use this all the time!

▲ Return to index 54
C PU I SSU ES Recording & Optimization

CPU issues? Try this…

Increase your block size
Once again, the rule of thumb for block size is:

● Set to high buffer size if you are mixing.

● Set to low buffer size if you are tracking.

In this case we want it high, so go to Preferences > Audio > Device, check
"request block size" and type 1024. If still struggling, go 2048.

▲ Return to index 55
C PU I SSU ES Recording & Optimization

Track freeze
This renders the tracks and removes all the FX. Super useful for when you have
tracks with lots of effects like guitars or sound effects.

To do this: right click track(s) > Render/Freeze Track > Freeze Tracks

And if you ever wanna go back, you can go to the same location and unfreeze
it.

I highly recommend setting up shortcuts to these actions or add them to a

toolbar if you find yourself using this a lot:

● “Track: Freeze to stereo (render pre-fader, save/remove items and

online FX)"

● "Track: Unfreeze tracks (restore previously saved items and FX)”

▲ Return to index 56
C PU I SSU ES Recording & Optimization

Subproject
If you don't know about sub-projects, I highly suggest watching this
awesome video by Akash Thakkar about how useful these are!

I use this a lot for when I am going crazy with sound design in my sessions. I
just grab all of my layers and move them into a subproject. Or maybe all my
drums. Or any other group of tracks!

▲ Return to index 57
C PU I SSU ES Recording & Optimization

Apply FX to items
You can right click any item and select "Apply track/take FX to items as
new take".

This is perfect for when you are having a small section with tons of plugins and
you just wanna render that part.

This isn't destructive either, you will still have the original as a take!

▲ Return to index 58
⬤ U SEF U L Recording & Optimization / Further optimize with these settings

Further optimize with these

settings
Media buffer size
This is how long you give REAPER to get the audio from the hard-drive and
start playing it back. By default it's set to 1200ms/100% which is a little too
much.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Audio > Buffering.

2. Locate Media buffer size. Drop this to about 600ms/50% and you will
notice a snappier response when you press play!

You can also play around with setting a number of threads for audio
processing as shown in this video by The REAPER Blog.

However, I personally didn't notice much of an improvement so I just left it at

auto-detect.

▲ Return to index 59
⬤ U SEF U L Recording & Optimization / Further optimize with these settings

Set render block size

By default, REAPER renders using whatever block size you have going in your
session. This may make some plugins underperform in the rendered version.
It's better to set this to 1024 samples, this way it has enough processing time
for plugins to work properly.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Audio > Rendering.

2. Where it says “Block size to use when rendering” type 1024.

▲ Return to index 60
CHAPTER 5

MIDI
⬤ U SEF U L MIDI

Input MIDI notes in one click

The way you have to insert notes in the MIDI editor in REAPER is by clicking
and dragging a bit. This is a bit slow and troublesome especially when dealing
with drums!

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > Mouse Modifiers, Context: MIDI Piano Roll | Left
Click

2. Double click on default action. Select "Insert note > Just insert"

3. Now you should be able to insert notes in the MIDI editor in just one click.
Now, you may now wonder “how do I unselect notes now?”. You can press
shift + click anywhere in an empty field of the MIDI editor.

▲ Return to index 62
⬤ NI T PI C K MIDI

Remove MIDI note velocity handle.

You may have noticed MIDI Notes have a little horizontal line that you can drag
to adjust the velocity. While this is handy, it's very easy to accidentally click.

Setup:
1. In the top menu of the MIDI Editor go to View > Piano roll notes > Show
velocity handle on notes
Bonus tip: You can alt+click+drag up/down to change a note's velocity
up and down. I way prefer doing this!

▲ Return to index 63
⬤ U SEF U L MIDI

The multiple ways to display MIDI

You can customize the way you see MIDI notes further with the menu options. I
very much like displaying the note name and having quick access to color by
either velocity or note.

Setup
● To show the note name, go to View > Piano roll notes > Select “Show
note names on notes”. Or press alt+0.

● To change color, go to View > Color notes by > and select your preferred
way.

I like to alternate between "by pitch" and "by velocity". And I do that by
setting a shortcut to these two in the Actions window or placing them in the
MIDI editor's toolbar.

▲ Return to index 64
⬤ U SEF U L MIDI

One MIDI Editor per project or track

Normally, when you double click a MIDI item it opens up the MIDI editor. By
default, REAPER will continue to open different MIDI editor windows for any
other MIDI item you double click. This can get a little messy and confusing.

I prefer to set a MIDI item per project instead of per media item.

Setup:
1. Go to Preferences > MIDI Editor

2. Select "One MIDI editor per Project”

Note: You can also try by track or leave it at media item. However you prefer!

▲ Return to index 65
⬤ U SEF U L MIDI

Rename and reorder MIDI notes

Rename MIDI notes
One of the things that makes drum programming much more enjoyable is
naming your MIDI notes. This way you can have a nice map of every sample
available. No more memorizing or guessing

Setup:
Just double right click on the piano roll and
set a name for each key.

Btw, this works better if you switch to

named notes mode (Shortcut: alt/opt + 2).

Save and load MIDI note names

You can save and load your custom names for later use.

Setup:
1. In the MIDI Editor window, right
click above the piano keys to
access the menu.

2. Select File > Note/CC Name >

Save or Load.

You don’t have to do all the manual work, though!

Someone probably did it already for you

Check out the REAPER Stash where people upload tons of custom MIDI
maps for many instruments!

You can load these using the method I explained above

▲ Return to index 66
⬤ U SEF U L MIDI

Reorder MIDI notes

You can reorder MIDI notes however you want in
REAPER.

This is perfect when dealing with samples,

especially drums!

A lot of times, drums are mapped using the GM

standard mapping, which makes sense on a
keyboard, but the order is a mess in a MIDI editor.

The old way to solve this was to create your own

mappings and adjusting the notes in the sample
engine itself… but then youʼd be stuck with a
custom mapping that isnʼt very friendly with
other samplers or people you are collabing with.

But now that you can reorder the notes, you

donʼt have to mess up with custom
mappings! You can pretty much keep using GM
mapping and reorder it however you like

How to reorder MIDI notes

In the REAPER MIDI Editor, make sure you are in named note view. You can
do so by going into View > Mode: Named Notes or just press Alt/Opt + 2 .

Now, hold Ctrl/Cmd as you click and drag up and down to reorder the MIDI
note.

▲ Return to index 67
⬤ U SEF U L MIDI / Best settings for working with multiple MIDI

Best settings for working with

multiple MIDI
If you often work with several MIDIs simultaneously, these settings are super
useful. Huge thanks to SeventhSam for this amazing MIDI workflow guide
which inspired this tip!

These settings lets you quickly switch between MIDI items, visualize and even
edit and write on them all at once.

Apply the settings:

1. Go to Preferences > Editing Behavior > MIDI Editor

2. Apply the following settings:

Simply put, these settings let you open an item in the MIDI editor just by
clicking on it. It's most effective when you have the MIDI editor docked at the
bottom.

▲ Return to index 68
⬤ U SEF U L MIDI / Best settings for working with multiple MIDI

Before we proceed, we need to adjust one more thing.

1. Open the MIDI Editor.

2. If the Editor is docked, right-click just above the piano keys to bring up the
MIDI Editor Menu. If the Editor is undocked, the menu can be found at the
top of the window.

3. Go to “Options > CC events in multiple media items” and ensure “Draw

and edit on all tracks” is checked, like so:

Turning this setting on allows us to draw and change CC lane data across
several tracks when we can edit secondary items.

▲ Return to index 69
⬤ U SEF U L MIDI / Best settings for working with multiple MIDI

The workflow
Once you have enabled these settings, I suggest you dock the MIDI editor to
the bottom. This way you can view both the arrange view and MIDI editor at
the same time.

To dock the MIDI editor, just double click any MIDI item to open the MIDI editor,
and right click above the piano keys and select “Dock window”.

If for any reason, it doesnʼt dock to the bottom, hereʼs a video on how docking
works and how to save and recall these layouts.

With your MIDI editor docked, you can now:

● Click on any MIDI item in your arrange view to quickly switch to it.

● Select multiple MIDI items to see them all in the MIDI editor at once.

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⬤ U SEF U L MIDI / Best settings for working with multiple MIDI

Switching active take

When you select multiple MIDI items, the first you select will be the active
item. The others become secondary items.

In other words, active items are editable and fully visible, while secondary
items are transparent and not editable.

But what if you wanted to maintain your selection and just change the active
item?

There are two shortcuts we can use for this.

In the Actions menu (shortcut “?”), map shortcuts to these two actions (or
place them in your MIDI toolbar):

● “Activate previous visible MIDI item”

● “Activate next visible MIDI item”

Using these actions you should be able to quickly switch the current active
item from the items you have selected.

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⬤ U SEF U L MIDI / Best settings for working with multiple MIDI

Toggling multi-track note/cc editing

Now that we are able to quickly switch between active items. Sometimes, you
may want all items you select to become active and edit them all at once.

This is possible with one handy toggle action that we can place in our MIDI
toolbar.

Setup:
1. Find the “Options: Avoid automatically setting MIDI items from other
tracks editable” action in the MIDI Editor Action List.

2. Assign that action to a toolbar button, a keyboard shortcut, or both.

I suggest setting it in your toolbar since you get a nice visual of when “single-
track” editing is enabled or not.

▲ Return to index 72
⬤ U SEF U L MIDI / Best settings for working with multiple MIDI

How do I close the MIDI editor now?

To close the MIDI editor when is
docked at the bottom, I like to set
the action “View: Toggle show MIDI
editor windows” to my toolbar.

I set it with a text icon that says “X”

and I placed it on the far-left side of
my MIDI toolbar.

Setup:
1. Right click on your MIDI toolbar and select “Customize toolbar…”.

2. Click on “Add…” and search for the action “View: Toggle show MIDI
editor windows” and select it.

3. Once itʼs added to the list, you can click and drag it to place it in any order
you want. I like to have this as the first icon on the far left, so I will place it at
the very top.

4. Click on “Icon > Text icon…” and type “X”. This way your icon will look like
an exit icon.

5. Hit “OK” and now you can use this icon to close the MIDI editor.

▲ Return to index 73
 BONUS CHAPTER

Extensions
⬤ U SEF U L Extensions

Extensions
The next couple of sections are popular “add-ons” you can install on REAPER.
They are not necessary, they just offer some extra functionality.

I recommend them. I use both extensively as part of many of my workflows

and most tips I upload involve one or both extensions!

▲ Return to index 75
⬤ U SEF U L Extensions

SWS
SWS is an extension that just make REAPER more powerful than it is. It adds
tons of extra capabilities and functionalities that otherwise it wouldnʼt be
available to you.

What you get

Tons of new seamlessly integrated features, such as track auto-coloring, mix
snapshots, loudness analyzers, tempo mapping, contextual toolbars, region
playlist and more. Plus, you get hundreds of awesome actions!

How to install:
1. Go to sws-extension.org and select a download that matches your
system.

2. In REAPER, go to Options > Show REAPER resource path.

3. Go to UserPlugins folder and drop the .diy / .dll file you just downloaded.

4. Restart REAPER and you should now have an extensions menu.

Boom! you just made REAPER 10x times more powerful.

You are free to explore all the tips I have that involve the SWS extension on
this page.

▲ Return to index 76
⬤ U SEF U L Extensions

Reapack
Reapack is a package manager tool that installs ReaScripts, JS effects,
extensions, themes and more.

This is project was started by cfilion and itʼs simply one of the biggest
achievements the REAPER community has ever had. If you want to support
this project, check out the official project page to read more about it!

Why do I need it?

Itʼs mostly just convenience. The old way of installing and discovering
scripts was time consuming and involved a lot of manual work to keep them
up-to-date. This tool pretty much takes care of all of that for you!

You will be able to search, discover, install any REAPER script all in one place in
just a few clicks. Plus it will let you know if thereʼs some that needs to be
updated!

And donʼt worry. It will be a seamless integration. Even though tons of scripts
will be installed, they will mostly just be extra actions and tools available. Your
REAPER will remain identical!

Hereʼs some more reasons I can think of:

● A lot of the tips on this website make use of one of the scripts from this
pack.

● Itʼs a seamless and convenient integration that makes your REAPER more
powerful.

● Itʼs a fantastic way to discover new scripts and tools.

● It will keep everything up-to-date for you.

▲ Return to index 77
⬤ U SEF U L Extensions

How to install Reapack

1. Go to Reapack.com and download the right version for your OS.

2. Open REAPER and go to Options > Show REAPER resource path in

explorer…

3. Put the downloaded file in the UserPlugins folder.

4. Restart REAPER after that.

5. Next time you open REAPER, you will be presented with the following
screen:

These are the default repositories available. Each repository is its own set of
packages. I recommend you leave them checked and install all of these!

A quick way to install them all is to click on Options… and enable Install new
packages when synchronizing.

Then just press OK to begin the installation.

Once the installation is completed, you will notice thereʼs now an Extension
tab with Reapack in your top menu. In here you can synchronize, browse,
import and manage your packages.

▲ Return to index 78
⬤ U SEF U L Extensions

How to import Reapack repositories

Sometimes you will need to install some extra repositories. I will make sure to
leave the link to it. Hereʼs all you need to do to import them:

1. Go to Extensions > Reapack > Import repositories.

2. A window will pop up. Paste the repository URL in here. And press OK.

If you have any trouble or just want a more in-depth explanation, please check
out the user-guide for more info.

▲ Return to index 79
 The end…
for now!

Heeey, thank you so much for reading this! Hopefully your setup feels much
better now!!

If you have any questions or any feedback, feel free to send me a message on
instagram, or discord, or via email! Happy to chat REAPER things with you!

Support
If you found this ebook valuable and would like to show your support, you
can do so by buying me a coffee.

Or if you want something super awesome in return, you can buy my

modern metal songwriting template! I am super proud of it

Donations help me keep the Reapertips website alive and allows me to put
more time into creating more free resources like this!

If you donated to get this eBook, I want to express my deep gratitude for
helping make my ambitious Reapertips projects like this a reality. I am truly
thankful!

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