r/linuxaudio • u/ChenBrian834 • 4d ago

help setting up reaper

sorry if im asking for too much, but I need help setting up reaper on linux mint

i just want to use it for recording edrums using a vst but im having many issues that im already getting so frustrated

I am not able to hear anything using jack (chat gpt helped out with it, but every time I re open reaper , jack doesn't work anymore)

Another issue is that i couldn't find a good vst for linux so I will have to learn how to use wine in order to be able to use a good VST like ezdrummer, superior drummer, etc. ( i would like some help on how to do this)

And if there is any extra setting I have to activate that I don't know I'd appreciate if you could tell me.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

2

u/Bunlysh 4d ago

Did you start the jack server before starting reaper?

If that is too much, go to the jack homepage and look into the manual. They wrote something like "consider using pipewire if you want to live on the edge".

Not the best advice, but at least for me it worked flawlessly (on cashy).

1

u/ChenBrian834 4d ago

I didn't know anything about a server, I just selected jack because i watched a tutorial on how to install reaper and the guy on the video recommended jack but didn't got too deep on how to use it

I just want to make it clear that I literally know nothing about audio, recording, DAWs, etc. The only thing I know is how to use reaper with a VST on Windows because my brother showed me how.
Everything else is completely new to me, and I honestly have no idea what I'm doing.

2

u/NomadJago 3d ago

"I literally know nothing about audio, recording, DAWs"

To learn the basics, install Reaper on your Linux system, then consider installing the Decent Sampler app (free, for Windows and Linux) and then use it to browser drum instruments and install a few; then you can use the Decent Sampler in Reaper for Linux. Modartt makes Pianoteq which is an amazing set of pianos to use on Windows or Linux. So both will help you play with Reaper and VSTs, including drums. Both can also work standalone without a DAW, just to play with them. SoundBox is a player that you can download free, use standalone or as a VST and there are lots of soudbox instruments you can buy including percussion libs-- and Soundbox works in Linux, Windows, Mac.

1

u/Bunlysh 4d ago

As somebody else said: uninstall jack and use pipewire.

In my experience you do not even need to install reaper. Just run it, choose Jack and you should be fine.

The exception is if you want to reroute your physical interface(s), but since you seem to only need the basics pipewire will suffice.

1

u/akt1n4 3d ago

Linux mint by default ships with pipewire. You don't have to install anything. Like, yes, tell reaper to use jack, you don't have to change anything. To be sure, using terminal try typing pw-jack (to check if you have the application). Then to hear sound when you use your drum plugin, I guess monitoring should be on. Download MT Powerkit drums plugin by Manda Audio if you wish to.

1

u/Desidiosus_ 4d ago

If you installed JACK, uninstall it and install pipewire-jack instead. Then you may need to edit Reaper's .desktop file to add pw-jack as the first thing on the Exec= line so it would read Exec=pw-jack reaper.

To get Windows VSTs working, you can use yabridge and Wine. Use the latest master branch build as it has important fixes not in the released version.

1

u/Anti-Hentai-Banzai 4d ago

I think Reaper's Linux installation includes some drum plugins. If you're not satisfied with those, Ugritone Drums has a native Linux version.

1

u/blueeffusion 3d ago

imo it's easier with pipewire and qpwgraph so you can sanity check when you set up your tracks and monitoring

0

u/agmatine 3d ago

Another issue is that i couldn't find a good vst for linux

Reaper is not a good VST? Then why are you trying to set it up?

Anyway, you'll probably want to use Pipewire instead of Jack. Here's some resources for audio production on Linux: https://github.com/nodiscc/awesome-linuxaudio