SampleRecast guide

A granular and sampler instrument for the selected take in REAPER. The last 30 seconds you played are always recorded.

On this page

Getting started
The window
Common tasks
Preferences
Shortcuts
Requirements

Getting started

Open REAPER's Actions list, search for SampleRecast and run Script: YH-M_SampleRecast.lua.
If the project has no SampleRecast track, the window says The engine is not running. Press Create the SampleRecast track. It adds a record-armed track named YH-M SampleRecast at the end of the project.
Select an item that holds audio. Its active take becomes the material, and its name appears at the top.
Play your MIDI keyboard. The ROOT key (C4 by default) plays the material at its own pitch.

Nothing sounds? The dot at the top left is red when the track is record-armed, and only then does MIDI reach the engine. Click it to arm. Preferences > Playing > MIDI in shows whether Input is ready. Without a keyboard, switch on Show the on-screen keys in Preferences > Appearance > Window.

A paid tool runs with every feature for 14 days; see Install > Licence key and trial.

The window

Top bar: The record-arm dot, the material's name, the preset bar, a status line, an output meter, then buttons: keep points, lock the material, move the edit cursor, hide the track, Preferences, close.
Waveform: The material, with up to eight grain positions (points). Drag a point sideways to move it, up or down to pan it. The LIST strip at the right edge lists the points when you hover it.
Sound source: The vertical tab at the waveform's left, GRANULAR or SAMPLER. Click to switch.
Granular controls: GRAIN ENVELOPE; GRAINS, RATE or SYNC and DENSITY; a randomisation row under the waveform (POSITION to REVERSE); and, at the right, SPEED, ALIGN, WARM and a three-band EQ applied to each grain.
Sampler controls: Each point becomes a segment. The right column holds Loop, direction, X-FADE and One shot.
Common row: For both sources: ROOT, GLIDE, BEND, SEMI CENT, HARMONIC, SHIFT, PHASE, UNISON, DETUNE. Below it, the ADSR amplitude envelope.
FX column: The plug-in chain of the SampleRecast track, at the left. The engine is always first.
MOD rack: Lower right. Holds up to eight modulators: LFO, ENV or CC.
Live recorder: The strip along the bottom. It records the sound after the plug-ins in the chain.

Common tasks

Choose the material

The material follows the item you select, a range you drag over the waveform in REAPER's Media Explorer, or a file dropped on the waveform. Only audio takes load. The lock button stops the first two from replacing it; the pin button keeps your points when the material changes.

Place grain positions on transients

Double-click an empty spot on the waveform to add a point. Hover LIST and click the lightning-bolt button to snap every point to the nearest transient; right-click it for Replace all points, which puts one point on each transient. The dice button beside it rolls a new grain character.

Switch to the sampler

Click the vertical tab and choose Sampler. Drag a segment's start, end and repeat start. With Loop on and more than one segment, each pass jumps to one of them at random.

Save and load a preset

Click the name in the preset bar. It reads Init until you load or save a preset.
Type a name and press Enter or Save.
Click a name to load it; right-click to delete it. < and > step through the presets.

A preset holds the controls, modulators and points. Points are stored as proportions, so a preset fits other material too.

Put what you played onto the arrange

Drag across the recorder strip to pick a range, then drag from inside it to the arrange. The result is one item with two takes: the MIDI you played, with the engine and your plug-ins as take FX, and the audio you heard (the take showing). Hold Alt as you drop to get the audio only.

Play to picture

Switch on the film button and play. While REAPER is stopped, the edit cursor advances in real time as you hold notes, so the video window follows, and it returns to where it began. Right-click the button to set how long it keeps going after the last note.

Add plug-ins

Press + Add FX, which appears when you hover the empty space below the FX column's rows. The PlugRail panel opens: type to search, then press Enter to insert. New plug-ins go in front of the recorder, so they are recorded.

Add a modulator

Press + LFO, + ENV or + CC under the MOD rack. Drag the dot of its rack row onto a cell; the connection starts at 25 % depth. With several points selected, it connects to each of them. Right-click a cell to adjust its connections. Dropped on an FX column row, it lets you pick a parameter of that plug-in. For CC, press LEARN and move a knob.

Preferences

The gear button opens it.

Material: What the material follows (the selected item, the Media Explorer), keeping points across materials, and what is loaded now with Lock the material and reload buttons.
Playing: MIDI in (record-arm, Auto, All notes off), Dragging out (Drop with the system drag), and While you play (the edit cursor).
Appearance: Theme (Dark or Light), accent, density, and which parts of the window show: the on-screen keys, the live recorder and the FX column.
Engine: Whether the engine runs, its sample rate and the recorder's length; the track, with a button to create it when it is missing; Reset every parameter.
License: Your key and trial; see Install.
About: Version, and Copy system info for bug reports.

Shortcuts

On macOS, Ctrl is Cmd and Alt is Option.

Space: With the window focused: audition. It plays the material from the selected point at its own speed; playing a note stops it.
Ctrl+Z: Undo in this window, separate from REAPER's Undo.
Ctrl+Shift+Z, Ctrl+Y: Redo.
Cell: Drag to change; Shift+drag for fine steps; Ctrl+click to type (50% and +3 st work; Esc cancels); double-click for the default.
Ctrl+drag a cell: Gives all selected points the same value. A plain drag moves them by the same amount.
Alt+drag a cell's lower edge: Changes the modulation depth. While Alt is held, right-click the edge to remove the connection.
Right-click a cell: A choice cell (SCALE, SYNC) lists its choices; a cell that accepts modulation opens its modulation panel.
Waveform: Double-click adds a point; Alt+click removes one; Ctrl+click adds to or removes from the selection; Shift+click selects a range; the wheel over a selected point sets its level. In LIST, right-click the lightning-bolt or dice button for its options.
EQ: Double-click an empty spot to add a band, a band to remove it. Right-click a band for its type; wheel for Q.
Recorder: Drag to pick a range; drag its ends to resize; drag inside it out to the arrange (Alt: audio only). Middle-drag slides the contents; middle double-click resets.
Top bar: Right-click: the dot for Auto, the film button for the time it keeps going, an empty part for Dock.
MOD rack: Click a row to open its window; right-click to delete the modulator.
FX column: Alt+click a row removes it, Ctrl+click selects it (right-click to make a container), Shift+click bypasses it. Alt+click the ring at its right for delta solo; Alt+click FX removes everything but the engine. Right-click a row for a menu, or an empty part of the column for Paste.
PlugRail panel: Enter or double-click inserts; the up and down arrow keys move; Esc closes.
Preset name: Enter saves.

Requirements

REAPER: 7.0 or later
ReaImGui: 0.10 or later (from ReaPack)
System: Windows or macOS
YH-M Native extension: Optional. Lets you drag what you played into other applications. Without it, what you played can only be dropped onto the arrange.
js_ReaScriptAPI, SWS: Optional. Smaller conveniences; without js_ReaScriptAPI, Auto record-arm cannot tell whether the window is in front, so the track stays armed.