How we do automatic guitar patch changes (with two guitarists) 

Glad we could be of some help. Bless 🙏

Glad you found it helpful!

So I can expect you to start playing shows soon, yeah? ;)

21:48 my guy

To be totally fair to you though, that is a really easy detail to miss - I often forget to do that, myself, and have a grand old time trying to figure out why the automation's not working. It's a lot to remember and that's why it helps to make a blank "show file" template with all the proper routing already done.

​@@theevanwilliamsproject"for those of you that have set ups that only support program changes, Congrats, you're done." 12:04. Otherwise great video. Thank you, it did help out a lot.

@@matthewtickel845 Ah shit, you got me there. I'll have to better organize my talking points next time. Glad to hear it was helpful regardless!

The basis of science is, after all, trying stuff and seeing if it works 😂

Decidedly the opposite

I'm not totally sure off the top of my head - let me try a few things and get back to you on that.

Okay, so Neural plugs in Reaper are super annoying, as it turns out. First off, you can't use the VST3 version of the plugin, you HAVE to use the VST version. I have no idea why this is the case. It might be Reaper-specific, as I've had issues with other VST3/VST plugs (like Analog Lab V) where the VST3 version doesn't respond properly to MIDI value changes but the VST version works perfectly. You'll need to have a sub-track for your automation - either as a child track to the track with your Neural plug on it or by sending MIDI via the routing menu. Then, in the plugin, you have to click the little MIDI button next to the tuner on the bottom left. Here you'll have to set the parameters that you want to trigger with MIDI messages by clicking on the + symbol and choosing a message type, parameter to modulate, channel and MIDI value, and then there are two other spots that are dependent on the message type. Personally, for my own ease of use, I'd only use Program Change types, and I'd use either Program Change Toggle, Program Change Preset, and Program Change Value. Toggle will let you choose any parameter in your current preset and toggle it on and off - good for turning your drive pedal on for a little boost, or turning on the pitch pedal on the Gojira Archetype to play Stranded. Preset lets you load any preset you have saved (after a delay which is unreasonably long to do in the middle of a song). Value will let you set the value of a parameter to a number that you enter in the "Value" tab. So it's a bit more work on your part, because you have to determine what parameters you want to modulate and then map them to a PC value. But you only really need to do it once - in the MIDI mappings window in your plugin there's a little three bars on the top left that will let you save and load your mapping decisions. And then it's as simple as creating your MIDI item, going into the Events tab, adding a new event, choosing "Program Change" from the dropdown, and choosing the value that you've set in the MIDI Mapping on your plugin. You can also set multiple parameters to one PC message - for instance, I could map PC 0 to toggle my drive pedal, delay pedal, and reverb pedal for an easy switch to a lead sound - then it's just one PC 0 message to go to lead and another to go back to rhythm. You can get pretty creative with it, which is nice, but you're gonna find that switching amps and presets is going to give you a large gap in your signal - so I'd recommend sticking to only automating the settings of the preset you've got loaded.

@@theevanwilliamsproject thanks for the in depth reply and great video man! This was by far the most helpful video on this topic. Late last night I got it to work in reaper with Plini X as a VST3 receiving midi commands through a child track. In the events list I just clicked add, CC, and looked for "blank" controllers, which for me where 3, 9, 14, 15, and a bunch after 20. So i made one CC preset command to #20 and the next to #21. I did notice the gap when changing entire presets so I'll have to try the multiple parameters to one PC message. Still pretty new to automating midi, but our other guitarist is using a helix that's fully automated through reaper and thats being sent from our interface. Would we have to worry about any weirdness if we have both our midi in one session? Hoping to have this be our live rig soon. thanks again!

looks like youre using the u-phoria as the interface? thats what we have as well

Glad I could help! I wonder if they've fixed the VST/VST3 communication in Reaper with the advent of the Plini X - I was using Rabea and Gojira for my tests. You shouldn't have any issues - the MIDI being sent to your Neural track is only being sent to that track, and it won't go anywhere near the Helix unless you specify a MIDI Hardware Send out to it in the routing menu.