The INSANE Evolution of REAPER's Interface 

Thank you for watching!! ❤let me know your thoughts :D 🎨 Check out my REAPER theme: www.reapertips.com/freebies/reapertips-theme ✨Join the Reapertips discord → discord.gg/BfEnFwjeWZ

The lineage from Winamp to Reaper is truly glorious

I think Reaper's team should contract you, so we could enjoy a better interfaz.

I'll never understand the mind behind Reaper defaults

Those feature requests are on point, I really wish they made those avaliable. Also a Reapertips 7 theme would be awesome :)

They should 100% bring back pre defined layouts. If there isn’t already a way to do it.

You are absolutely right about everything regarding the design of Reaper 6 and 7 and the appearance of the built-in plugins! Reaper 5 had an incomparable advantage in choosing fixed layouts for TCP and MCP. It is a pity that this technology has been removed. I'm already tired of writing everywhere, my indignation about this... Thank you so much for the analysis!

You have just articulated my present frustration with reaper 7. Surely it would be better to release reaper 7 WHEN a fully functional theme adjuster is ready and not wait for an update. I want to spend my time creating music and not spend endless amounts of time on the computer finding out how seemingly an ever increasingly customisable but complex reaper works. Mixing is an ever increasingly complex endeavour itself, without making the daw your using a barrier, due to it's complexity.

Reaper 4 had the best default theme. I still use a modified version of the Janne2016 theme everyday.

Man, this video is gold, and thank you for making the Reapertips theme, I enjoy using Reaper so much better with it, I started with Reaper 6 so its been an adjustment for me visually, the experience of how Reaper works and what it can do I am happy with. Deadmau5 commented on this fact, that visually Reaper couod be better because it really is a great DAW and it would be more adopted with a better UI experience, sounds silly but it is important

Reaper, please hire Alejandro! This video was such an awesome idea! It was like watching a time lapse of a child growing into an adult lol great suggestions at the end as well for improvements. Thanks for adding so much value to Reaper! Much respect! ✌️😎 - Cole Mize

I love this type of video (designer/person reviews some sort of interface/app and gives suggestions) in general, and you did this VERY well. I love this style of longer in-depth videos, keep up the great work.

yeahhhhh duuuude!

That Reaper 4.0 reveal hit me with a massive wave of nostalgia! As someone who hasnt been on the default theme in a long time, it was really cool to have this in depth look at all the changes throughout the years. Appreciate all the hard work that must've gone into this! 🙏

I totally agreee, and honestly, the last few default themes in reaper kinda make me sick. Currently, I'm using my own extensively modified version of the default 6 theme, but hopefully I'll be able to move to the new "Anti-Theme" once the Reaper 7 theme adjuster is out. That one actually looks quite good, and seems like it would be an objective improvement in terms of UX design.

Of course it's a good thing. I've returned to Reaper after a couple of years with Studio One and YOUR theme was one of the reasons I decided to stay with Reaper. Having this level of customization, may not be for everyone, but for those who like it, it's absolutely amazing. I remember doing videos 3 or 4 years ago and having people asking me in the comments "what DAW is that?" and it was just Reaper with some dark theme I found online. It's awesome!

100% on point of user confusion when Reaper 6 came out with the non-descriptive A,B,C layouts and then add on top of that the non-logical default items that were turned on, it became complete frustration. The theme adjuster just seemed so disconnected, that I never considered I needed to use it to turn items on where it seemed they should have been turned on by default. Many strange theme decisions occurred from 5 and onward.

Early Reaper 4 user, I switched from Cubase based on the responsive design e clean graphics. 11 years later I'm using Reaper 7 with 6's theme because I find the 7 graphics really confusing. The development team should really pay attention to this video content and your final considerations, which are all on point and given for free!

what a thoughtful, respectful human you are :)

i still use default 3.0 theme and i love it

Great video! It was really well put together and quite timely. I've been using Reaper for around 3 years now and have always had a love/hate relationship with its UI and default configurations. Reaper's like that DIY project you thought would take a weekend but ends up consuming your life-I’ve spent countless hours tweaking it with scripts and plugins. I could have probably released a double album in that time! Eventually, I decided to make the shift to Cubase. Sure, the UI is more restrictive, but it’s like trading in a multi-tool for a well-designed Swiss Army knife. It’s not perfect, but those constraints help me just get on with making music. Reaper still sits on my hard drive like a loyal pet, but for now, Cubase is the one fetching my creative sticks. I love the Reaper community, and Reaper is a fantastic DAW with so much potential. If they could just nail the UI/UX experience and set up the defaults right from the start, it would be unstoppable. Thanks again for the great content!!

I still keep around Reaper 4 theme. For me it is earier to read than any newer versions and I tried custom themes too.

I agree with pretty much everything you said. One of Reaper's biggest problems is that so many of its defaults are bad, not just in the user interface but all over. There are so many videos about how to fix this stuff but that just underlines the point. The defaults should be user friendly and obvious. Even Kenny had a video about the first settings to change and he works for them! Reaper is a great daw but they'd get loads more new users if the defaults were better (and make life easier for their existing ones). (And while we're on flexibility why is Ctrl+mousewheel over the TCP still hard coded to mess up your track layout? Why is that STILL not in the action list? 😔)

I really hope they add the pin track function!

What a great video my friend, loved the wishlist in the end and would 100% agree!

I agree with you 100% - Reaper 4 Theme was awesome! 10/10 I hope White Tie will take into consideration what you've said in this video!

I think Reaper has come a looong way. And for that really low price it's just perfect. Every DAW has its flaws - even the "industry standard" ones... I love reaper and I'll stick with it until the end. :D

Really great video and points. 1000 Thumbs up for you

themes is one thing I like about reaper. I tried many and if I like one I stick with it for a while. Tho I might always check on a new one^^

Amazing video. Wholeheartedly agree with your stance on the direction of REAPER's UI. Thanks for putting this all together in such a well thought out and cohesive way. This video is something users can now point to, and hopefully it will inspire some positive changes.

The GUI is a very important part of a DAW for me. Unfortunately, I never got used to any Reaper GUI, wether default or one of the dozens of themes I tried. In some places so much space is wasted, while in others, everythnig is crammed. The re-arranging isn't nearly as flexible as the re-design options. And much more. I started using Reaper with version 4. During version 6 I switched to Studio One. It is not the better DAW. But every part of the GUI is clean, neat and logically arranged. You can't do aynthing else than change the overall color scheme. But that's a price I'm wiling to pay for a GUI, that I have to look at every day and be comfortable with. I even experienced the loss of meter dB values - they miss in Studio One as well. Still, it is amazing how much more inspired I am now. Even with a worse DAW.

I'm still hoping they finally implement some day all the child windows and controls also fully skinnable and not just that legacy system ones.

completely agreed about your UX suggestions! A must have to put in wishlist forum!! (maybe some of theses ideas are already in)

So cool! Great job, very enjoyable.

Wow, this was an amazing video, and it was quite amazing to go back and see how Reaper has evolved and how some of the things were low-key better in older versions vs the newer versions. I personally started with the v5 and I really liked the theme, but I'd say I really appreciated the dark mode in v6 theme as well but IMO the v7 theme was kinda disappointing but on the hindsight the Reaper Tips theme is what the v7 theme should've been to begin with, so I'm not too bummed about it. I do agree with the criticisms about the over-customization of Reaper, as much as I love Reaper's customization and flexibility compared to any other DAW and nothing even comes anywhere close to Reaper on that aspect as it's one of the selling point of Reaper, but sometimes I do think that I'd rather have the devs spend the resources to make the default theme and UI UX of the software much better and cleaner and more ergonomic which they've been doing lately which is exciting. Also, as much as I love all the community made scripts that I use every day, considering how people nowadays make music vs previously, I'd really love the devs to incorporate more producing focused features and tools out of box like a step sequencer, a better sampler, a macro system maybe part of the FX chain, more midi editor tools and the list goes on and on.

Thank you for this trip down memory lane! I've been on Reaper since 2016, and with its rolling releases, it's easy to forget how much it changes!

For me the Reaper 7 theme was the first time that really felt that did something wrong in a Reaper update, i just went back to the 6.0 theme. Amazing feature requests! Hope Justin and the team is taking notes

Keep up the good work!!

Reaper 4. Legendary. Good times back then.

Love your input on version 6. Would be a great idea... great video. I never got to see some of the first version since I got on late version 5 almost 6. I hope the reaper folks watch this!

Always impressive production and attention to detail with your uploads! I’ll take reaper however they give it to me. I’ve been chilling on Reaper 6.something while I finish off my current project. Then i’ll be off to Reaper 7!

Outstanding presentation, thank you! I barely know what is happening with Reaper changes, because over the years I started with a v4 Default, and have slowly customized, borrowing from other themes, making many changes in rtconfig that I wouldn't remember how to undo, so were I to start with a clean copy I would probably be totally lost. But I like what I have, with both the visual UI and the custom macros etc. all working well for me.

100% agree with you on everything. I think we jumped to the reaper boat at the same time, and it has become so dear to my heart that even with the later installments i wish it still improves and grows to more streamlined experience. Right now if a total novice comes to me to recommend a daw, i cant suggest reaper, because it overwhelmes immediately. It didnt do that when i was starting at reaper 4, so that should be a concern.. I also think that reaper should hire you as the designer, the same way legendary Tantacrul took over Musescore. Your reapertips theme is my default now and it will continue to be that probably until you'll do the new default one :)

Thanks, such a great video showing the evolution of the Reaper UI 💯😃👍

Agree about reaper plugin skins. I also wish they had reworked some of the plugins like ReaTune, Synth, etc to make them usable in 2024

Excellent video as always. I always hope that Cockos (and WT) will one day update the UX for Reaper - particularly the FX Browser, which I now see has been essentially untouched since version 0! I do love Reaper and I'm not likely to switch DAWs anytime soon, but I do sometimes feel like it doesn't feel like a modern DAW, especially not without the hard work of people like you (I'm using the Reapertips theme and love it).

I totally Agree and you made some really great suggestions.

Excellent review and critique! I adore Reaper, but your suggestions are 100% on point.

Good points and you have a great eye for design and have the skills! Thanks a LOT!

Great video

As a new Reaper user I found this video very interesting and helpful. Thanks for making it!

Alejandro, thank you for a wonderful overview! I totally agree with the V7 default layout problems, layouts in v4 were excellent, but the A, B, C layouts in V6 theme adjuster layouts were possibly better. V7 theme adjuster is now in the 7.16+dev development build so hopefully we'll have it in V7.17! Maybe in a few days?

I am not a fan of version 6 and 7 themes. Thankfully there are many older themes to choose from.

Great video! I agree with your thoughts.

Personally, Default 7 is the theme that I liked the most (with some small modifications that I made with the theme adjuster). In fact, what I liked the most is how minimalist and flat the mixer panel is, without so many bars as they cause eye strain, bars that only look good on Default 5, which is also my second favorite theme, the only thing What I see against it is that it does not have an indent folder in the mixer, but of course this was only recently added in Reaper 6, which for me is one of the greatest visual tools, especially when working in long sessions. And the default graphics of the buttons on the toolbar introduced in version 6 also seem much more organized, intuitive and pleasant to me. On the other hand, I never saw that strange behavior when shortening the track panel (in the smallest size there is always the rec and volume button and not the cut graphic as seen in the video) but possibly it is something that It was later corrected in updates. Then the ones I liked the least were Default 3, especially the gray mark in the indented folder, in fact it looks more like a glitch than a normal graphic. And above all, Default 4 is the one I liked the least, I find it very loaded, many gray bars everywhere, on the panels, on the faders, on the labels. The buttons are not to my liking either, especially the Rec button, I find it really unpleasant, especially in the Track panel. And also in this both themes the peaks looks very chunky (Put a Big Chungus meme here). Pero como decimos en español: "Para gustos, colores".

I use the theme of version 5 with some slight modifications, I don't know maybe it's just habit, I started with this one. I didn't like 6 and 7 and I don't have patience to make them better. Cool video!

YESSSSS NEW REAPERTIPS LETS GO

Interesting retrospective) I have a big request to you about ReaperTips Theme. Please make 1st priority for track icon size, when change the track width(to the left/right).

Thank you for this journey! And I agree with most of your comments

Cool video! Do you know how to make reaper to have that blue bar that appears at 11:36 below the folder track when you drag a track to a folder? Mine shows a light gray bar instead of blue, and that gray color make it so hard to tell where is landing the track that I’m moving. Thanks!

Hi @Reapertps, is there an Adobe Audition theme?

I want to go back to the default reaper 4 theme! Lol. That's where I started with reaper, before I left for other daws for some years...and I just realized how much freaking better the layout was! All your controlls were automatically there and where I want them! Wow. Is there a LOW EFFORT, EASYway to go back to that, without downgrading the version? Lll

I never really noticed or payed attention to any of these things. I just get in reaper and start making music. It's a tool i use to do what I love. Maybe I just got so used to it from using it everyday but I was oblivious to all the things you mentioned. I never really thought about reaper in that way. I put more thought into my music and reaper was just what it is...if that makes sense at all. After watching this video I will be thinking of these things now. Thanks for sharing and i love what you do on your channel.

Reaper is a great software. Today I'm testing UAD Luna and i already miss Reaper

Nice feature requests! I need also ability to adjust sends level in multiple tracks and insert same plugin at once like in Cubase

thanks buddy you are amassing .. how to get that theme adjuster

You should be running it under Linux and most likely KDE if customisation is your thing.

I actually like not having the numbers next to the meters. It makes me worry less about levels, and focus on the music more 🤗

7:44 respect for that poster hahahaa

mooved from cubase and logic to reaper. Reaper has a much better structure. The workflow is unparalleled. No crashes. no bugs so far as with cubase and logic wich was a nightmare. Logic left literally 1000s of mac catalina users behing by not providing updates and continuous problems with funcionallity. Thank U!😊

Agreed with pretty everything you said. I actually really like Reaper 0 and 3, I was surprised about that. But I agree that while I love the customization, the UX pretty much peaked in 4. I still think 7 default is very much an eyesore, which boggles my mind, considering some of the beautiful design White Tie has done in other stuff like Imperial or the other software he has in his portfolio.

Repaer really does need a saner theme language. The current thing is almost incomprehensible. I managed to increase the size of the labels in the 7.0 theme, but gave up doing anything more.

Glad to know I wasn't the only one let down with the changes in the default UI. I've had to spend way too much time customizing to bring back very basic things.

Is there a high DPI Reaper 4 theme compatible with Reaper 7?

Your suggestion about layouts is what developers have to hear! 16:37

Great vid! I still can't believe that there's no way to get all the panels to accept dark mode on Windows (e.g. fx side panel stays white etc) . Works fine on Mac.

But theme choice doesn’t affect functionality, right? So if I have Reaper 7, but want to use the version 4 theme, I still have the up-to-date features of v. 7, correct?

well done video

Reaper 3 and 4 are the best. Is there a way to put tcp fx on the right? Thanks

Do you offer one on one sessions to help others learn Reaper?

I've had the Abbey Road mixing board ever since I could on my Reaper

I love Reaper but some of the choices they make are just mind boggling. For instance why not just hire on of these guys to create the default theme so it’s just amazing out the box? I know they like to keep the download as small as possible so it can be potable but now with memory they can increase that by like 4 fold and be fine. And Reaper has great default plugins, why not polish them up more.

It is so nice to have the choice

Hello, thank you for your videos they’re amazing. I really liked reaper but I noticed that my recordings lost quality. I record a sample with audacity and then exported the audio and I processed it using the same plugins and the same order on garage band and reaper. The final audio on garage band sounds much better and clear than the one processed on reaper, but I like more reaper. Do I need to change any settings or reinstalled reaper?, please help me or if someone knows any solution let me know. Thank you

Great job, love your theme. I only mod the Ripple tool button to have a third color when Ripple all tracks is selected. To my eye is hard to tell on the peripheral whether I am in Ripple one or Ripple all. I would love to be able to have just a color bar where the tack number is to adopt the color and not the whole track panel (a la Logic, Pro Tools, Reaper 7 default) and I would be pleased.

Having started using Reaper the last 3 months as a composer, I can tell you this flexibility comes at the cost of good workflow. It takes a huge amount of time to get Reaper behaving similar to other DAWs, and even then you need to use many add ins. Plus, you still can't get it to do some things other DAWs just automatically do, in terms of workflow. So yeah, I really wish they focused on enhancements rather than making it so flexible.

I really like the reaper 4 theme and I don't like the reaper 7 theme at all. I think the Reapertips theme is the best of all.

Very interesting and fun. But can things be too customisable? I'd say yes. Take Studio One - which is my preferred DAW: there is very little to tweak, so I spend a much more time actually making music than I do with Reaper. With Reaper, I find I end up spending more time either tweaking things or trying to find out how to actually do.

I started with REAPER 5 and I still prefer that theme

At 23:57 moving the plugin in any fx slot its already possible.

I wish it had a Harrison mixbus interface. It would actually work lol

That's great, but you can't hide the fact that the plugin container still looks atrocious XD

Is the DAW any good tho? I've been a Logic user since 1996 and I can't see Reaper being as complete as Logic.

Proof that Reaper has always been awesome!

oldest versions of Reaper looks like a Acid from Sonic Foundry at 2000

I kinda wish there were a light theme similar to v5... I really love how clips look in ProTools and that v5 version is the closest to that. I LOVE Reaper but the themes have always felt kinda off...

I’m still using a slightly modified Reaper 4 theme.

Reaper is great because of his quality and amount of options. Design is not his strong point.

Yes!

Yeah that's one major put off for me switching to reaper is the default layout, which doesn't look very appealing. If I'm using a DAW I kinda just want to get into my work, rather than becoming a UI UX designer. Which is a shame because it sounds extremely capable.