Useful Links and Resources

Useful Links and Resources

Other Reaper specific resources

In addition to the already mentioned sws extensions, there are some more packs and sites (usually created by users) that further extend the functionality and knowledge of reaper. A (hopefully) comprehensive list of these follows. Please note that the accessibility of some of those is not thoroughly tested and cannot be guaranteed. However, you might find something fun or useful here, Who knows?

• mentioned in the manual and elsewhere, there is the reaper stash, where you can download presets, scripts, instrument banks, themes, language packs and so on.
• The cockos wiki has documentation available for many of the other supplied effects that are not in the ReaEffects guide
• ReaPack is a freeware utility which manages and installs user created scripts for a really vast number of tricks and functions. Its interface is accessible.
• playtime is a paid vst especially designed for Reaper which claims to add Ableton Live like features and functionality. Currently not an accessible utility.
• For some nice free sampled acoustic drums there are several versions of this kit, which was originally and especially designed to use reaper's only stock plug-ins. And a few complementary professionally designed free grooves from groovemonkee to go with it.
• Vordio is a free audio post production workflow tool that converts XML exported from an NLE video project from programs like Final cut Pro, Premiere Pro, or DaVinci Resolve, into a REAPER audio project for audio post production.
• the reaper blog provides paid one on one support, lots of free learning materials for reaper, plug-in reviews, tips, tutorials and more.
• The Ambisonic Toolkit "brings together a number of classic and novel tools for the artist working with Ambisonic surround sound." A set of reaper js effects scripts are available from their site.
• AA translator is a paid utility that aims to convert sessions or projects files from different DAWS.
• Last but not least, there are accessible spectrum (frequency) analysis, phase analysis and peak meter vst tools you can use in reaper.

This wiki also has been archived offline in wikiSyntax form only, for now.

User Groups

Reapers Without Peepers Group at groups.io

The RWP (Reapers Without Peepers) group which also functions as a mailing list, is a very helpful forum for those learning or using Reaper, and for discussing accessibility options on either the Windows or Mac platforms. For further information and details on subscribing, visit https://groups.io/g/rwp

WhatsApp Reaper Access Group

This audio chat group on the WhatsApp platform is another source of assistance for those learning and using Reaper.

To minimize the amount of spam the group receives, we've unfortunately had to pull down the direct link. Instead, we're going to give you an easy-to-follow description of what you need to do to join. Hopefully, this should keep the group accessible to humans, whilst slamming the door firmly in the face of spam bots.

To join the group, you'll need a device with WhatsApp installed (iPhone, Android etc).

Open the browser on that device, and assemble the shortened link we're about to describe in the address bar.

• The link starts with www and a dot, as usual.
• Then you'll want to type the word tiny, another dot, and the letters cc
• Next comes a forward slash.
• After the forward slash, type the word ReaperAccess written exactly as it is here.
• Notice that there are no spaces, and you'll want to make sure that the first letter of Reaper and the first letter of Access are both uppercase.

If you get stuck following those instructions, feel free to subscribe to RWP. Let them know that you'd like to be added to the WhatsApp group, and someone will get you hooked up.

Tutorials

CAVI Courses

The most comprehensive library of paid tutorial material designed for people starting with Audio Production and more specifically, Reaper, can be found here.

note: as of march 2018, all of the previously available material from this academy has been now released for free following an official announcement

ReaProducer Podcast

This free set of audio tutorials by Garth Humphreys can be found at The ReaProducer Site or by subscribing to the ReaProducer Podcast in Apple Podcasts or RSS. They have been produced on the Mac however the content is applicable to both platforms.

If you are new to Reaper, it is recommended that you work through the first few tutorials in order as they build on the knowledge covered. They start with installation, and move through important concepts, importing media, recording, and editing with both time selections and items. How to Save and Render projects is also covered in the bite sized tutorials.

some more audio tutorials

Chris Belle tutorials

Reaper user Chris Belle has very generously offered a set of free tutorials, which can be downloaded from these two mirrors (mirror link 1) (mirror link 2) They contain the following:

• about the action list
• making custom actions
• editing basics, and an explanation of the reaper ripple editing modes
• noise reduction with reaper
• using stretch markers
• side chaining with reaComp

Patrick Perdue tutorials

Patrick Perdue has done a tutorial on using vocoders with reaper. The included ReaVocode is explained first and then is followed by other third party vocoders. Download: (mirror 1) (mirror 2)

podcasts by CoolBlindTech.com

a growing set of podcasts have been done by members of the coolblindtech.com team, mostly by Alex Hiironen. They cover many things, from basics to using some effects and virtual instruments. They are somewhat scattered, but the first of them are presented in a (hopefully) organized manner. Note: they seem to be applicable to windows only.

• part 1, why is reaper awesome
• part 2, rudimentary recording
• part 3, recommended configurations
• part 4 tracking your next single
• and so on and so on

Scripts

Now follows a large set of utilities and scripts created mostly by blind reaper users. Most of these are windows based, though you might find useful reaper presets and tricks as well.

aditional accessibility scripts

this is a collection of links that point to scripts that allow the user to access different thhird party plug-ins and certain parts of reaper as well . they are being developed by access4music, a small team of blind programmers.

numpad emulation and applications key script

If you are on a laptop without a numeric keypad but would like to use those keys in your reaper actions, there is a numpad key emulator script by Andrew Downie (mirror link 1) (mirror link 2)along with its corresponding auto hotkey source code (mirror link 1) (mirror link 2) for your delight. It also reminds you if you accidentally have left the script turned on by a series of beeps. You can configure how often the notification comes up. The script activates the numpad emulation by default as soon as it is opened and also displays a dialog box with configuration options and a list of the hotkeys used so it should be pretty self-explanatory.

There is also an applications key emulation script (mirror link 1) (mirror link 2) available (written by Matej Golian). launch it every time you want to work in REAPER. You can

then use the right CTRL key instead of the applications key. So for
example the shortcut alt+applications will become alt+right CTRL.

The access4music site has also got their own version of the applications key script along with another utility which makes it possible to read columns in the midi event list individually. Lastly, here is Andrew Downie's version of the applications key script (mirror link 1) (mirror link 2)

sibiac NVDA add on

A sighted programmer from Germany, known as Az, (Alexey Zhelezov) has very generously created the SIBIAC add on for NVDA an addon which aims to make third party fx or instrument plug-ins accessible. These include addictive drums 2, toontrack Ez mix and the worldwide renowned melodyne, among some others.

a list of third party accessible instruments and effects

note: this probably needs its own page if it grows too much? (see or start a discussion on this topic)

even though some of the more famous virtual instruments and effects are highly visually oriented, some of those have been successfully being controlled and used by blind users. Discussing effect parameters is certainly out of the scope of this list, but in the case of one of them corresponding to another parameter in the screen (when a parameter is being wrongly labelled for example) it will be pointed out here. And also it will be pointed out if the parameter could be manipulated successfully directly within osara's parameters list. it is recommended, but sometimes not necessary that all of the mentioned plug-ins are opened in bridged mode with dedicated process per plugin. Brace yourselves, there are MANY of them. User reports follow:

Bold text=== waves plug-ins accessibility ===

Waves plugins, when loaded in VST3 mode are accessible and parameters are labeled correctly. The only exceptions are in waves GTR3 stomps and GTR3 Tool Rack plugin, where the stomp boxes are not labeled because they are interchangeable.

• all of the reverbs, including renaissance, trueVerb, echo. Built in Presets are selectable from the slider as well, but cannot be edited from the text box. Also, when setting parameters like frequency ranges (in hertz) or room sizes for the reverbs the editable field shows values that do not correspond at all with the reported parameters so its better to just stick to the slider when manipulating those effects.
• r vox, a vocal compressor and c6, a multiband compressor/equalizer can be used without any problems as well.
• Waves GTR3 : The accessibility isn’t quite as good as some of their other plugs (not all the parameters show formatted values) The only labeled parameter is the on/off switch for each box, so that will help you find out which box is which. The GTR3 Tool Rack requires a golden cursor location to load presets properly, but is doable with no problems, which when loaded will prompt an accessible context menu. It’s also very modular, so you can access just stomps, just amps/cabs etc as separate plugs and use the fx chain to switch around the order of those boxes if you want. Reaper user Gerad Deuvall has created a youtube video demonstrating its use

kontakt and some instruments

in the case of kontakt, some instruments do have their values labelled correctly, so following the manuals when adjusting a parameter should be pretty simple. These include:

• all of the symphony essentials series: woodwind, brass, strings.
• NI Absynth 5 and Guitar Rig 5: You can navigate the presets with OCR, but no names are announced when you move with the arrow keys, however it does change, you will have to reload an instance of OCR to see new presets or categories.

pianoteq 6

all of the presets for the pianos, harps ETC are now visible to reaper. Just go to the effects window of the VST by pressing f on the track that has it, and tab to the presets combo box and arrow down and up through them as you would do with any other effect.

in the case of version 6.1, Automatable parameters are accessed with p when you are on the track with Pianoteq. However, changing between the different pianos is a bit more tricky. Here's a suggested way of doing it: On the track, press f to bring up the fx chain, make sure the Pianoteq vst is selected in the list, then tab until there is an unlabelled check box. With NVDA's object navigation go to the next object from there---note that you need to use object navigation, you can't tab to that one. It's announced as unknown by NVDA. Using NVDA+shift+numpad-minus, set focus to that object. That object is Pianoteq itself, and it isn't accessible, but it reacts to some key presses. Ctrl+n switches between categories of instruments, and n switches from instrument to instrument. Your controller will continue working while you are interacting with that control, so you can play a few notes, hit n, play some more, and so on until you have found a preset you like. Performing OCR may even tell you which preset that was.

Omnisphere 2

Works with review cursor in screen mode, object mode, with the use of the number pad and clicking with, and relocating cursor. This also means all expansions like keyscape, trilion, ETC. will work here too, for you can change presets banks, and select visible lists and some other settings. To navigate more presets, you will have to scroll with a mouse wheel.

After the plug-in is added, on REAPER’s fx Window, use shift+tab or tab to move the cursor to the “add” button, then press the up arrow to get into Omnisphere’s controls. Use NVDA’s screen review to navigate to the área where NVDA will read “software version x.x, or sound sources version x.x (where x is the version you’re using. Move the mouse pointer to any of these informations with NVDA+num-pad slash, and press the num-pad slash to click. You’ll be then taken to the library tab of the plug-in. Still using the screen review, you’ll see some filters by category, type of sound, for example, bells and vibs, ARP+BPM, etc. Filter the sounds as needed by selecting the appropriate filter using the above commands again NVDA+num-pad slash to move the mouse pointer to the desired item, and num-pad slash to click. The list of sounds on that category will be at the right, after where NVDA says: “normal”. Still using the screen review, select the first sound moving the mouse pointer and clicking again. Play the keyboard and see if you like. In case you want to experiment with other sounds on that category, you can now use up / down arrows to select the sounds and play around. Please have in mind that the sound list is circular; that means if you have reached the last sound on the list, when you press down arrow again you’ll be at the very first sound.

Note: In case you need to open another instance of Omnisphere during your session, fron that instance of the plug-in onwards you’ll be taken directly to the library tab. It is a great idea to save the sounds you like as user presets on REAPER, so you can recall them as necessary, without having to go for the plug-in.

Addictive Drums 2

Can make some changes and preset selections with OCR. You can also change kit pieces and presets, but it's limited.

for Windows/NVDA, the Sibiac framework allows almost complete operation (except MIDI file selection). At the moment its an alpha version with one developer and one user But this approach allows creating an accessibility layer for almost any plug-in. Visit official site by following this link

iZotope plugs

• Nectar 2 and Neutron 2: Once you find the presets menu with OCR, you can browse the subcategories with NVDA speech, using the arrow keys, however, the main category title is not announced. It behaves like a folder tree though.
• Nectar elements: In adition to parameters being reported correctly, there is a user created rpl (reaper presets library) file which allows these to be selected just like any other preset from the regular effects dialog. It contains all presets of Nectar Elements, plus two special packs: Styles 1 and Utility pack. Many thanks to Alan Escola. The file can be found via this dropbox link (mirror 1) (mirror 2)
• iZotope OZone 8: Once you find the preset menu with OCR, a dialog box will pop up and you can arrow through the presets with speech.
• The iZotope DDLY Dynamic Delay and iZotope Vinyl plugins are all properly labeled from the parameter list. The DDLY plugin allows two different delays to be applied to the same track, and can be downloaded as a trial if you want to see it for yourself. The Vinyl plugin is free, and adds a vinyl noise effect to the track which you apply it to.

Cakewalk Dimension Pro

Use OCR to find the preset selection, and when you hit enter, a dialog box will pop up with speech. Scripts are also available at the music access site.

Superior Drummer 2

OCR works okay with this in Classic Mode since all kit pieces are stationary, no matter the expansion selected. Problem is, you have to use OCR to go to some menus to select classic mode, then from there, you have to find some text, move your cursor slightly above, and right click and you will be able to read the context menus with speech for kit selection pieces. The Learn button is also somewhat visible, making this extremely tricky but can be done. Probably not worth the headaches though.

SoniVox VSTs

I've noticed that SoniVox VSTs are accessible. You can just tab down to the presets menus, and it lists all the different instruments there. I have SoniVox Orchestra companion Strings, Brass, and woodwinds, and they all work in that exact same way. I also have SoniVox's Harpsichord, session drummer, classic bass, big band percussion, and singles taylor acoustic guitar and they all work perfectly accessibility wisse. Also The classic series of plugs works well, the free ones you can download from Mixcraft - classic delay, reverb, eq, chorus, that entire set of plugs.

Sugar Bytes

The Sugar Bytes Unique virtual synthesizer is a virtual synth that specializes in vowel sounds. The parameters are visible in the list but are not labeled, but the preset list is accessible from the dropdown list that is found in the FX chain window. It can be downloaded as a trial as well.

Versilian Studios

Versilian Studios makes a ton of free and extremely affordable plugins that all seem to be fully accessible. I've purchased a couple and have all the free ones, and have had no issues with the standalone versions, and I believe there are Kontakt versions of many of the plugins as well. However, note that the VSCO instruments are strictly Kontakt instruments, except for the community edition which is a free library of raw wave files from the Kontakt versions. http://vis.versilstudios.net/products.html

korg virtual instruments

• KORG Legacy: when I modify some parameters they do not cause any effect. Example, with KORG MS-20. It is a monophonic (or polyphonic) analog synthesizer from the 70s. There are some presets that are polyphonic, when I modify the parameter that is used to change the polyphony, I can not do it even though I used the slide bar in the corresponding parameter. It is something strange. The same happens with other parameters. Almost all parameters have a name, but some do not. Not only happens with the MS-20, it also happens with MonoPoly and Polysix. they are all from KORG Legacy.
• Regarding WaveStation and M1, there are no problems. WaveStation parameters are accessible through the GUI, while some can be accessed in the FX parameters box.

using Yamaha SYXG 50 on modern machines

lastly, for those wanting a gm compatible synth, there is a recently updated version of this rather popular Yamaha soft synth (mirror link 1) (mirror link 2). since newer windows systems do not have the ability to allow a particular midi device to be selected as the system default (older windows versions did), you must install this midi mapper (mirror link 1) (mirror link 2) (you can log in with a google account or create one to be able to download it or just use the mirror links) after installing the vst midi system synth driver first (according to the procedure described on the first link) and you should be ready to go. it basically acts as a midi mapper just like it did on the older windows installations so that you can select the vst midi system synth as the system default. The response of this vst is just as good. It tends to stutter a little especially when some new patches come in, but no major issues have been reported. If you plan to make music or do music production with it, then you should load this vst into reaper, inserting it as a track fx.