MIDI Footswitch Reaper Setup (Fortin Hydra or any MIDI footswitch) ReaLearn
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- čas přidán 24. 08. 2024
- It took me forever to get this to work and I feel obligated to walk you through how to do it because it was super complicated and I didn't see why it had to be so hard!
This will show you step by step how to get your MIDI foot switch working in Reaper using ReaLearn to control your FX, tracks on/off, and anything else you want to do.
This will also replace your physical guitar pedal board with Reaper using the VST plugin FX.
Links to things mentioned in the video below:
MIDI OX - www.midiox.com/
ReaLearn - www.helgoboss....
ReaPack - reapack.com/
How to Install ReaPack - reapack.com/us...
GitHub Post - github.com/hel...
I have just bought a midi footswitch and trying to figure out exactly what you had described in your video. That was really helpful. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for this video! I was considering your approach but I have taken another (much easier imo) approach:
Couple days ago I got a MC6 pro switcher from Morningstar. Aside midi messages it can also sent 4 combination keystroke messages. Since there is a keystroke for almost any action in Reaper one can entirely ommit Midi and use keystrokes only. Also in Reaper one can make custom actions which then can be called with a simple keystroke from the MC6 pro.
The advantage is that you don't have to 'learn' Reaper and the switcher to communicate to each other, the MC6 pro can send keystrokes which Reaper already understands. It's pretty straight forward.
I use it for play/record, stop, arm/unarm, next/previous marker, mute/unmute track, scroll though tracks, activate tuner, toggle/untoggle fx etc. I made a custom 'key stroke' action in Reaper which automatically arms and unmute the track you scroll to and unarms and mute the track you came from, that way I can quickly switch between amp plugins with a press of a switch.
I have set a 'recording bank' and a 'play bank' on tmy MC6 pro each with the optimal switch settings.
To adjust a setting of a plugin I rather use my keyboard. Different sounds I like I can always put these in different tracks in the fx chain and then I switch between te tracks to recall these. Of course one can still go 'partial' for a Midi/'keyboard stroke' aproach because the MC6 pro can do both. 🙂
Little update:
I've gone the midi route now with my mc6 pro controller because it was gonna be harder and harder finding new keyboard shortcuts not already used by Reaper for new custom actions I want to create.
Except for the 'CTL-Z' shortcut ('undo' in Reaper) I have set all switches I use on my mc6 on midi channel 1 and I vary the cc number per switch instead of using keyboard strokes. ( I keep the cc value on zero for each switch) And to keep overview in Reaper I made a custom action for each switch. That is because in the action list custom actions are shown first, so I can easily see which cc numbers already in use if I want to assign new switches to new actions.
If you already use another midi device in Reaper other than the MC6 pro then what you need to do is change the Virtual USB MIDI port setting to 2 under General Configuration in the Morningstar editor because there can only be one midi device on a port.
After completing all the mapping of the switches in the Morningstar editor make sure you close the editor entirely, so disconnect But also click it away. If you don't do that Reaper will be unable to open your midi device and gives a warning.
If above is to much hassle (it took me a couple hours to get it working....), you can still use straight shortcut keyboard strokes (already defined in Reaper) from the MC6 switcher without the need of any MIDI. The only downside is if you want to create a lot of new custom actions in Reaper it's gonna be harder and harder to find new shortcuts not already used by Reaper. Also if you want to use expression pedals for plugins you have to use midi to vary the CC value per switch/pedal.
GOLD! thank you!
OMG I never knew this was possible! This is a life saver. Gotta buy a foot controller now. Tested it out on my MIDI keyboard. Sweet! Thanks
Well, the Github guy is actually the creator of Realearn ;)
Really??? Awesome! Super helpful!
that's awesome. i really wish i had a midi footswitch, my life would be much easier
TY for sharing man ! I have been searching i was about to buy xtone pro but it only has 6 buttons plus i love reaper for recording and live. ive used Reaper LIVE once with a high gain Soldano SLO 100 from my AmpliTube 5 and it worked amazing about 3 months ago. Now im recently have both Neural DSP Soldano SLO 100 and the Archetype Tim Henson and they are both amazing with my audio interface and my Headrush FRFR 108 and super amazing . All that is lacking is a good footswitch with Reaper and give it Tracks and preset my plugins and assign to a pedal what i want to assign.
Cool!
This made me subscribed to your channel !
you saved my life :D
Thanks so much for the video Jason. Do you know how I would set the mapping up to play/stop a track? For example, in mapping>type, I don't see an option for Track: Play/Stop. Only Arm/Disarm, Mute/Unmute etc. Any ideas?
It should be an option to setup a toggle button to control play/stop, pause, record, mute, etc. all of the buttons should be available to control with a toggle. Check the list of things you can control and you’ll see it. I’ve done it so I know it’s possible. Play around and you’ll find it I think.
@@Plusplusultra Amazing, thanks for the quick reply :) Just found it. Project: Invoke transport action. Your video has been so useful.
@@jamiethomsonmusic That makes me happy to know. I was so annoyed this video didn't exist when I was trying to figure all of this out so I'm happy it's been useful to you!
@@Plusplusultra This is a bit of a long shot, but any idea how I'd get Reaper to regonise a bluetooth midi controller (M-Vave Chocolate)? It all works via USB cable but doesn't communicate with Reaper without the cable.
@@jamiethomsonmusic hmmmm no idea. I haven’t used any Bluetooth with reaper so not sure how to set it up….
I really appreciate this video man! Very helpful. Do you use this to control guitar plugins such as neural dsp? I just bought the fcb1010 to change my guitar presets because I'm use to automating them in reaper, which takes a really long time. If you have any knowledge on this I'd really appreciate the help. Also just subscribed!
Hey Tyler, yes I use it to control effects in reaper and toggle on/off the fortin nameless plugin. With realearn you can do a lot, as I show in the video, but I just use it to do the basics like turn FX on/off, mute tracks/FX I'm not using, etc.
@@Plusplusultra I have the gojira plugin and am trying to set it up where I can use my expression pedals on my fcb1010. I just created separate tracks for different tones and set each pedal to a track. For some reason midi mapping is not working in the Neural DSP plugin. I will have to explore re-learn more I didnt have enough time to get it all so ill come back to this video
This one helps. One more thing, where will you place the guitar input signal along with the MIDI device input?
Hi Paul, do you mean where to plug in the guitar into the computer? If yes, I just use an audio interface and plug the 1/4" cable into that. I use the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. The MIDI device is connected to the computer via MIDI to USB cable where the USB just plugs into the computer USB port. In Reaper you setup your MIDI signals in settings as shown in the video. If you mean where the guitar goes in Reaper, I arm any track in reaper and tell it what input to listen to. In this case, the guitar input on whatever port the guitar is plugged into on my Focusrite. Then another track is setup so the input is reading the MIDI signal. Then with Realearn loaded on the MIDI track, Realean tells any other track what to do when you push whatever button on the MIDI device. Does that help? Make sure you setup your audio settings by clicking on the top right area (in my video) so Reaper knows where your sounds are coming from.
@@Plusplusultra Thanks for the detailed response. I will do that and get back to you.
I’ve followed this to a t and I get to the last part where assign my button to enable/disable an effect on a track and when I press the button nothing happens :(
I completely understand the frustration. Imagine trying to figure out every step without any kind of walk through? Haha! That's why I made this video. For some reason on the Hydra the 2nd button does not work for me. I never figured out why and just ignored it. Are you trying to setup the 2nd button? Try changing the settings to see if any buttons are working for you.
Make sure your MIDI device is making a little yellow mark on the track it's set to when you push a button which means MIDI signal is coming in.
Make sure you have the correct input device selected in ReaLearn under Controller Input.
Make sure controller mappings is setup for all buttons (Compartment, controller mappings). Once this is setup, save it as a preset so you never have to do this again. I did this and called it 'Hydra' as shown in the video around 16:30.
controller
Make sure the button type under Target is virtual.
Once controller mappings is complete, switch ReaLearn on the home screen Mapping Group to main mappings and then 'Add One' and edit the one it adds to tell it what you want it to do.
If Controller Mappings is setup properly it should control the functions you want the pedal to toggle.
Hope this helps.
@@JCADInc thanks for the reply!! I’m using a tech 21 midi moose pedal and I think that’s the problem but I’m not sure. I can get one button to work now (button 2?) and when I try to map another button it gets wacky. Sometimes it works but it will trigger the first button control as well as the second button. By the way thanks for the tutorial. I would have given up by now. I feel like I’m close to achieving my goal of triggering different effects on a track.. ughh
I can possibly make a reply video and go through the steps. Maybe you can see if I’m doing anything wrong..
@@davelindomusic2207 yeah you're getting close. Make sure the Source MIN/MAX numbers are both the same number as the button.
@@Plusplusultra I´m having that same issue. havent found a solution yet but i found out when i press learn and then select the button on the footcontroller it does not learn that specific button but instead every button on the whole bank is recognised as the same. thats why every button does the same action in the whole bank. what "On the DL Productions" is writing sounds like the same issue. I´m using Behring FCB1010 Board. I Think maybe Learn does not function but instead i have to manually type in the button. not sure yet how the specific button can be described