Which sequencer to use with students - Bring the Reaper!
If you use computers to make music with learners then take a moment to consider which program has the best outcomes for them as they progress.
What’s the most important bit of music technology I use?
Well I’d have to say that the bit I’ve put the most thought into is the sequencer or DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) that I use. I’d been using Logic, an industry standard program costing hundreds of pounds, for the last 10 years and was extremely comfortable with it as a music making tool. However looking at it’s appropriateness for the young people I wanted to work with it didn’t seem like a logical (scuse pun) choice.
For me the cons of using Logic, or any of the other major players in the field for that matter, were three fold.
- 1) The cost of this software was out of reach to the clients I was working with, let alone the cost of the hardware to run it on. This cost issue meant you would in fact be encouraging learners to go out and obtain 'cracked' versions of the software - in effect criminalising them. I've seen college lecturers do this and it's not an appropriate way to behave or example to set.
- 2) It's Mac only. As much as Apple would like it be so It's never going to be the case that every client has a mac, most people have access to a PC.
- 3) Lastly I didn’t want to do what I’d seen other people do when setting up music projects with technology which was just use the tool that the teacher was most comfortable with, at the expense of finding a tool that did the job better for the learner.
Whilst researching options on what would be a better tool I came across a sequencer called Reaper. This sequencer ticked all the boxes for me.
Learners could easily and legally download it. Importantly it had an indefinite demo period, which it didn’t involve it being disabled in any way but gently prompted you to buy a license - it will always be fully functional whether you buy that license or not. The license fee is fantastically reasonable (roughly £40 - dependent on exchange rate) the cost of which is easily built into the cost of provision to learners. It could be run on Mac or PC, meaning I could run it on a machine I felt comfortable with and learners could run it on machines they were more likely to have access to. Oh and it was brilliant.
Once I’d made the transition and moved away from Logic's paradigm of working I began to find that it is easily as powerful as Logic or any of the other programs like cubase, Live or Pro Tools. Sure it didn’t have the amazing instruments or effects that come bundled with Logic (though the EQ and compressor are fantastic) but there are so many of these available on the net these days (just look at the site ‘don’t crack’ - to find a massive treasure trove of free Synths and effects, some of which are amazing - for example check out the TAL stuff). What it did have was same amount of flexibility and possibly more intuitive editing of audio.
The last piece of the jigsaw for me is that you can run the whole programme from a USB flash drive. This means the client group I work with, who often have chaotic lifestyles where housing is an issue, aren’t tied to any specific machine. They can continue to make music wherever and whenever they choose to, using Reaper running from a USB memory stick. Previously I’ve seen provision fall over when issues like homelessness arise and where clients were tied to provision by the facilities available to them. I very much liked the neatness of being able to avoid this.
In summary then, leaving aside the fact that it's bloody brilliant and easily as professional as software costing thousands of pounds more, I’ve chosen Reaper to use with my learners for the following reasons:
1) Mac and PC, I'm over the Mac/PC debate myself but this avoids the issue - and I can work on a track on a pc and move it without a hitch to to my mac!
2) Downloadable/easily available to learners - And Legal!
3) Cheap - yup
4) No compromise on power and flexibility, Many professional studio's running pro tools rigs are moving over to Reaper - it has a great and well deserved growing reputation.
5) Can be run from a flash drive - Brilliantly flexible If your interested you can download the programme here - buy a license, these guys deserve support.
If your working with Young people or Adults and you want them to be able to continue learning after they've worked with you then It just makes sense to give them a tool that doesn't compromise on quality and is easily accessable.....bring the Reaper!
As a side note Groove 3 do a fantastic set of video tutorials that you can download, making the learning process much less painful.