Hi all! I do a lot of MIDI CC editing in Reaper, but I feel I lack the basics in drawing curves, points etc., both in terms of workflow and effective curve shaping. For example, I don't know the easy way to draw a sawtooth, so my editing gets wonky and takes longer than I think is reasonable. I don't even know if this is a Reaper question, as it was the first DAW I started editing these curves extensively... This is more like an Adobe Illustrator doubt, maybe lol! I searched for some 'back to the basics' guide, but couldn't find any. If you happen to know a tutorial like this, please chime in!

 

It's quite a lot I don't use seriously daws, but it seems to me that in Reaper there are options to choose waveforms (ramps etc.) for CC envelopes, and even manipulation of splines.
Let me some time to recall.

 

I think the real question is, if it is worth worrying about it too much. If you draw in the shapes by hand it is good enough for 90% of cases at least. Personally, I think it is more useful to use a midi controller and record in the movements as you can add groove and variation a lot easier than editing it precisely by hand.

 

you gotta adjust (custom) actions, else MIDI indeed is wonky in Reaper,

this YT channel is great, here's what you should probably start with:

 

I totally agree with you! I start by playing and only then proceed to fine tune with the trackpad. The problem is, with some instruments, the note-on event and the CC point have to be in perfect sync, and I wish I could improve my drawing skills for these cases. I always draw a point, press shift (dodge the grid), bring it back a hair, so I can insert another point just at the next note-on etc. ... which seems sketchy to me, but maybe it's just the way to do it, I don't know.

In fact, I wish Reaper had an alignment function to make CC points snap to nearest note-on event, so I could randomize rhythm or play with morphing swings, but that's another issue!

 

Automation items in Reaper...

 

Yeah, I've never tried editing CC in lanes... Maybe the editing tools are better indeed.

 

During the Gig Peformer trial period I was absolutely blown up by their fantastic midi implementation & tools, easy, powerful & almost infinitely capable as no other midi manager known by me. Reaper has (obviously) the same midi potential, but is far more complex in this field, so that I end giving up each time that I try it (I'm not certainly a very wise guy). I dream that Reaper has someday the same **fool's proof** midi ways, sadly not for now. Obviously, Reaper is a daw, not Gig Performer, but Gig Performer sounds a lot less than Reaper. Have no will to start another religious discussion, but there's something in some part of the GP code that makes it to sound really poor compared to Reaper, so my dream to manage really complex guitar & midi-guitar chains on stage has to wait.

 

More often than not, when I am doing a good amount of CC automation, I put the track into Latch automation mode with the plugin I'm going to automate being displayed on the screen. When you hit play, any parameter on the plugin you move will create a CC automation lane for that parameter and it will begin recording the movements of those controls and drawing in the corresponding data. When you hit stop, all those lanes remain available for editing. You switch the track back to Read mode. After that you can edit/shape those automation envelope data however you want with automation curve tools and the more detailed mouse options.

It is different than using Touch mode. Touch will reset to prior data after you stop moving that control. Latch Mode will make everything after it the same value it is when you hit stop; to the end of the project timeline. The times you actually need to lookup a CC # become pretty much zero.

Another "trick" I do frequently, which also works with external hardware; is I will put the Seqund pattern sequencer MidiFX plugin on that track. It has 3 seperate lanes you can assign to any CC# you want per instance of it. It is like drawing the heights of items on a bar chart. You can just move the CC# each lane is sending to up and down until it hits the parameter you want to be hitting with that data.

You can turn Automation Snap on and Off with Option+S keyboard shortcut.

 

I used kind of spline to pitch down, in post only.
Initially pitch lane was recorded live, but it was not that smooth.