I know there are quite a few people here who use Reaper to record covers and such, @howard and @terb come to mind…
I’m going to try to record a cover with Reaper. I have the backing track of the song I want to cover in Reaper, and the bass is removed from it. But I need to figure out a way to insert a count-in at the beginning, like “Tap, tap, tap, tap… go” so I can come in with my bass overlay at precisely the right time. I’d like at least one bar, but two would be even better.
Is there a way to do this?
The song is 112 BPM 4/4 if that helps.
Sadly, I can’t help, but I will follow along closely, if my next focus is to get recording equip.
First question,is reaper Mac / PC only, or are there App versions from my IPad. If no, Then I will be limited to GarageBand I think, but will still follow along closely.
Right-click on the metronome in the toolbar, select one of the multiple tap-in options
Reaper is very powerful and has lots of options. One problem with this is they can get lost in the UI a little and you might have to google stuff a lot. But if you want to do it, it’s probably there.
Anything other then GB in IOS @howard.
I know you love GB, and I am not opposed to it. I am sure I will love it. I am just wondering if there are any other options for me to consider?
Other then a new MacBook. Would love one, but that is good bass money I will be using. Haha
There’s actually a ton of music software for iOS, it’s really taken off. However I have not tried any DAWs there besides GB.
Steinberg makes a ~$50 version of Cubase for it that looks pretty good. But in the end for price/perfomance it’s hard to picture something beating GarageBand on iDevices.
Apple’s full-featured DAW, Logic Pro X, does not have an iOS version per se but allows you to use iOS devices as extra screens to control the mac app in a way that actually looks kind aawesome.
sometimes I want a more elaborate beat than the embeded metronome, and then I use drumbit.app , a little web beat box. very easy to use and with a record function. then I just import the file into a new track in Reaper.
That’s exactly what I do too, with my drum machine. And then instead of a metronome lead-in I just start playing a couple bars in to the drum track. You can then drag the backing track and bass track to start whenever you want.
In fact - I don’t use the metronome at all, just drums.
You can also make your own drum machine in Reaper pretty easily:
@Howard, I tried to follow along with him to learn how to do this, but he references the “Sound Library” at 1:06 in the video. I cannot find that in my Reaper folder. Do you know where it is?
P.S. I like his videos, but he goes way too fast and doesn’t explain much about what he’s doing.
no, sorry, I’m not used to that but in my opinion it’s much easier to use a drum machine (hardware or software) than making drum lines in Reaper. but again I’m not very familiar to all this.
Actually, no – that was for a song we (the band I played in) played in the late '70’s. It was called the Last Remake (in honour of Marty Feldman), and it just so turned out to be in 7/4.
I’m currently practicing on some very old Genesis stuff. A good workout for the right hand it is too.
but in my opinion it’s much easier to use a drum machine (hardware or software) than making drum lines in Reaper. but again I’m not very familiar to all this.