@Headlands said:

Thank you so much for this, Sam.

I'm new to Reaper after many years on Cubase and can't figure one thing out with your routing: Everything looks good but I can't figure out why I'm not hearing audio from any of the MIDI tracks. I'm seeing audio (colored red) on them, just not hearing it. I'm sure it's a stupid mistake but I just can't figure it out.

When this happens to me, the two main culprits are:

1) I forgot to turn on "Input Monitoring" in the track itself (not the one with the Ensemble Pro Server plugin, but the track that's actually inputing MIDI and receiving audio back).  Depending on the theme you're using, you can find this in the TCP (Track Control Panel) or Mixer.

2) The Expression or Volume CC (11 and 7, respectively) are accidentally turned down for that particular instance of VI or Synchron Player.  I can't tell you how many times I've tweaked CC envelopes, forgot I had done so, and then freaked out thinking the audio wasn't working when the reality is that Expression was just set at 0 the whole time!

Does one of those two fix your problem?

- Sam

@Seventh Sam said:

When this happens to me, the two main culprits are:

1) I forgot to turn on "Input Monitoring" in the track itself (not the one with the Ensemble Pro Server plugin, but the track that's actually inputing MIDI and receiving audio back).  Depending on the theme you're using, you can find this in the TCP (Track Control Panel) or Mixer.

2) The Expression or Volume CC (11 and 7, respectively) are accidentally turned down for that particular instance of VI or Synchron Player.  I can't tell you how many times I've tweaked CC envelopes, forgot I had done so, and then freaked out thinking the audio wasn't working when the reality is that Expression was just set at 0 the whole time!

Does one of those two fix your problem?

- Sam

Yes, expression and volume CC are always ghosts in the closet, hahaha.

Thanks for the help!

It was total rookie routing error, it turns out...years on Cubase and getting used to Reaper. 😊

@Seventh Sam said:

When this happens to me, the two main culprits are:

1) I forgot to turn on "Input Monitoring" in the track itself (not the one with the Ensemble Pro Server plugin, but the track that's actually inputing MIDI and receiving audio back).  Depending on the theme you're using, you can find this in the TCP (Track Control Panel) or Mixer.

2) The Expression or Volume CC (11 and 7, respectively) are accidentally turned down for that particular instance of VI or Synchron Player.  I can't tell you how many times I've tweaked CC envelopes, forgot I had done so, and then freaked out thinking the audio wasn't working when the reality is that Expression was just set at 0 the whole time!

Does one of those two fix your problem?

- Sam

Yes, expression and volume CC are always ghosts in the closet, hahaha.

Thanks for the help!

It was total rookie routing error, it turns out...years on Cubase and getting used to Reaper. 😊

Most welcome 😊  Let me know if there's anything else you need.

Also, I tend to be a bit of a broken record on this, but check this out:

https://reaticulate.com/

This articulation management system (for REAPER) - if you like its workflow - will save you HOURS of time diddling with keyswitches.

- Sam

EDIT:

This post I made might be of use to you as well:

https://www.vsl.co.at/community/posts/m290245-For-REAPER-users--Articulation-Management-System-for-all-Strings--Woodwind-and-Brass-VI-Libraries#post290245

One question: I'm able to get this to work perfectly for the first port in VE Pro (which is Strings in my template), but I can't get any MIDI going to the second port (Brass in my template). I tried MIDI bus 2 and bus 1, with no luck. Is there something I might be missing? 

@Headlands said:

One question: I'm able to get this to work perfectly for the first port in VE Pro (which is Strings in my template), but I can't get any MIDI going to the second port (Brass in my template). I tried MIDI bus 2 and bus 1, with no luck. Is there something I might be missing? 

Make sure the following settings match, as pictured:

https://imgur.com/x57kq5Z

Essentially:

When using MIDI Bus/Port #1, the following settings should be made:

In REAPER's Send configuration window:

MIDI: [All] and [Channel #]

In Ensemble Pro:

Port: 1 Channel: [Channel #]

Once you want to expand beyond 16 instances and use Bus/Port #2 and beyond, REAPER's syntax gets a little confusing.  I'll use examples:

Let's say you want the track to receive MIDI data on Bus #2, Channel 12.

- Set REAPER's Send configuration for that track to:

MIDI [All] -> [Bus 2, 2/12]

- Then, set Ensemble Pro's settings to:

Port: 2 Channel: 12

Hopefully that clears it up and fixes your problem!

- Sam

Also, there's a little obscure pair of settings that might be the culprit of Bus 2 and beyond are not working.  Do the following:

- Open the Ensemble Pro Server FX window in REAPER.  Make sure you are using the VST3i version of the Ensemble Pro Plugin.  As far as I'm aware, Ports/Buses beyond #1 won't work in REAPER unless it's VST3 (this might have been fixed in REAPER 6).

- Click on the button in the top right part of the window that says something like "2/64" out.  It will open a window with a grid.

- On that new window, click the small button that says I/O, again in the top right.  You'll get a drop down menu.

- In that menu, you need to change a few settings.  They are:

• Midi Input -> Map REAPER MIDI Buses to VST3 MIDI Buses
• Midi Output -> Map VST3 MIDI Buses to REAPER MIDI Buses

Make sure both those are checked.  Once they are, Buses 2 and up will interact correctly with Ensemble Pro, allowing you to have 256 separate instruments in a single Ensemble Pro instance.  Yay!

@Seventh Sam said:

Also, there's a little obscure pair of settings that might be the culprit of Bus 2 and beyond are not working.  Do the following:

- Open the Ensemble Pro Server FX window in REAPER.  Make sure you are using the VST3i version of the Ensemble Pro Plugin.  As far as I'm aware, Ports/Buses beyond #1 won't work in REAPER unless it's VST3 (this might have been fixed in REAPER 6).

- Click on the button in the top right part of the window that says something like "2/64" out.  It will open a window with a grid.

- On that new window, click the small button that says I/O, again in the top right.  You'll get a drop down menu.

- In that menu, you need to change a few settings.  They are:

• Midi Input -> Map REAPER MIDI Buses to VST3 MIDI Buses
• Midi Output -> Map VST3 MIDI Buses to REAPER MIDI Buses

Make sure both those are checked.  Once they are, Buses 2 and up will interact correctly with Ensemble Pro, allowing you to have 256 separate instruments in a single Ensemble Pro instance.  Yay!

THAT was it - I had forgotten about that. Thank you again good sir.

@Seventh Sam said:

Also, there's a little obscure pair of settings that might be the culprit of Bus 2 and beyond are not working.  Do the following:

- Open the Ensemble Pro Server FX window in REAPER.  Make sure you are using the VST3i version of the Ensemble Pro Plugin.  As far as I'm aware, Ports/Buses beyond #1 won't work in REAPER unless it's VST3 (this might have been fixed in REAPER 6).

- Click on the button in the top right part of the window that says something like "2/64" out.  It will open a window with a grid.

- On that new window, click the small button that says I/O, again in the top right.  You'll get a drop down menu.

- In that menu, you need to change a few settings.  They are:

• Midi Input -> Map REAPER MIDI Buses to VST3 MIDI Buses
• Midi Output -> Map VST3 MIDI Buses to REAPER MIDI Buses

Make sure both those are checked.  Once they are, Buses 2 and up will interact correctly with Ensemble Pro, allowing you to have 256 separate instruments in a single Ensemble Pro instance.  Yay!

THAT was it - I had forgotten about that. Thank you again good sir.

No worries.  I guess the trade off for REAPER's flexibility is the interface is a little...unintuitive 😊

I recommend saving those settings into a track template so you never have to deal with it again.

- Sam

Thank you for your original post Sam.

I was close to pulling my hair out over this.

Many thanks!   👍👍👍

@Rellek said:

Thank you for your original post Sam.

I was close to pulling my hair out over this.

Many thanks!   👍👍👍

You're welcome!  Glad to have helped.

Hey - Just a thank you for the tip about using the VST3i version of the plugin as well as NOT using the Event Plugin. I was using both the 'wrong' vst version as well as the event plugin and not getting anywhere fast. I also agree that routing inside Reaper is very much 'non-intuitive' at first... :-D

Thanks Sam ,

very useful tip . One Question : 

I tried to set up a send  to an fx on a track that sends the midi data to VE Pro. After that, the track doesn't seem to send the midi data anymore. Is there a workaround for sending the midi data to VE Pro with a track, receiving audio from VE Pro on the track and additionally sending it to an fx?

Thanks and greets 

Markus 

Hi,

Reaper 7 now supports 128 buses/16 ports compared to Reaper 6 only 16 buses/16 ports. But it doesn't seem to work above bus 16. No midi on 17/1+ for me. I checked "Map Reaper MIDI Buses to VST3 MIDI Buses" in I/O for both input and output. VEPro7 Server is set to 48 midi ports per instance and VEPro VST3 plugin to 48 midi ports too.

Anyone?

Thanks.

Matej

I'm having some issues with the mod wheel when i set it up like this :

@justjero said:

I'm having some issues with the mod wheel when i set it up like this :

turns out you can't have omni selected with sine player