Help a newbie out?

[DJSoto13]

I'm new to the forums (I've been a listener of this site since about January) and I just found the time to start this. Only problem is... How do I start?

I mean, I've been trying to gather information here and I've downloaded what I believe to be the basics (LAME encoder, REAPER, ZynAddSubFX, Soundfonts(DarkeSword), Synth1, VST plugins)... Now what?

I'm in the process of reading the REAPER manual... But if someone could be so kind as to walk me through this (where do I get the music? do i just create it?). I'm familiar with music (proficient in guitar, trumpet, french horn), but just not in this fashion (synths, REAPER, etc)

Right now... Any and all help would be appreciated, OCR

[Rozovian]

Yep, enter notes, make music.

Dunno if you've written music yourself before, but everyone works a little diffferent. Some people will write the song in their heads or on a real instrument, then write the midi, others will record, some ppl will just start writing in midi, some ppl will start by creating cool sounds and see where that takes them... I mean, whatever works for you.

With ocr, you're making new arrangements for the music, so I advise against just loading up a vgm midi and screwing with that, but some ppl work like that, I've done it myself occasionally, and while it easily makes things too conservative, it's an easy way to get started with the program and seeing how stuff looks.

Good luck.

[DJSoto13]

Rozovian, thank you

I think I can handle writing in MIDI and tweaking VGM MIDIs... If I knew what software to use.

Does REAPER do MIDI, or do I have to find something else to do it?

[DJSoto13]

So now I'm in the process of viewing a ballsload of Reason tutorials on YouTube.

Reason or REAPER - your opinion: which is better?

[Brandon Strader]

Having used Reaper but never used Reason, I'm gonna say that Reason is better

[loomcore]

I found REAPER pretty awkward to use tbh. Reason's pretty easy to pick up, and surprisingly powerful if you learn some sound design.

[dJb]

Reason is very, very intuitive if you're already familiar with studio hardware. If you're not, it may be a little intimidating.

[zircon]

You're comparing apples to oranges. Reason is an all-in-one virtual studio that cannot load external plugins or record/multitrack audio. If you are ONLY planning on doing sample-based music, Reason MIGHT be a better bet simply because it has a ton of built-in content. On the other hand, REAPER comes with relatively few samples/synths and is designed more like a typical DAW (like Cubase or Sonar.) However, it has more flexible options, multitrack audio editing and recording, and it can load VST plugins.

So, they're really two very different applications. If you use Reason you will hit a ceiling at some point in terms of your ability to record/edit and load powerful external synths, FX and samples. On the other hand, REAPER doesn't offer as many built-in tools.