REAPER 3 advances REAPER's MIDI handling in almost every area: recording, viewing, arranging, editing, and playing.
MIDI, in case you were wondering, is a set of instructions that was originally defined (way back in the early 80's) to describe musical events for electronic devices. Since then, MIDI has been borrowed, extended, and used for almost any kind of timed event sequencing.

Within a DAW, the most common use for MIDI is creating piano-roll parts for virtual instruments, virtual drum machines, or sample players. Less common uses include anything up to, and including, controlling robots.
Custom-color MIDI events by velocity, channel, pitch, or source item. Name pitches, optionally hide unused pitch rows. Create custom actions and shortcuts specifically for the MIDI editor. Any individual MIDI item can be shown and edited in whatever way best suits that particular part.
Advanced MIDI Editing
One size does not fit all MIDI. Synthesizer piano rolls, programmed drum parts, multitimbral orchestral arrangements, drum hit correction, sample replacement, hardware sysex dumps, even karaoke programming and stage lighting instructions - it's all MIDI, but it's all specialized, and it all needs to be handled differently.

Both REAPER's built-in MIDI editor and the inline MIDI editor are fully customizable to let you arrange and edit any MIDI part in whatever way best suits you, and the part. You can customize color-coding, which data you see and which data you don't, editing behavior, how loops and tempo changes are displayed, named pitches, and a lot more.

Quick, accurate, and configurable tools like step sequencing, pattern copy/paste, quantization and humanization are available when you need them but don't get in the way when you don't.


Hardware and Software
Not all MIDI goes to the same place, either. REAPER offers total flexibility in what gets wired up to your MIDI parts. Multiple hardware controllers, virtual instruments, hardware synthesizers and sound modules can all be routed and processed with freedom and simplicity.

We've put special effort into making MIDI hardware timing and calibration as tight as it can be in REAPER 3. Our merciless beta testing team has emptied whole closets full of dusty hardware. If it has wires, and you can connect those wires to your computer, you can run it with REAPER.


Free Routing, Free Processing
REAPER makes no distinction at the routing and processing level between MIDI and audio. That means you can apply any MIDI processing at any point in the signal chain, send MIDI as freely as audio, render MIDI track output as easily as audio output, even mix MIDI and audio processing together for creative sidechaining.

You can apply MIDI track controls or MIDI plug-ins at any point in the MIDI signal chain. REAPER comes with dozens of specialized JS MIDI plug-ins, and the included JS plug-in scripting engine makes it easy to write your own, if your needs are super-specialized.


File Format Flexibility
  • Drag and drop to import single or multitrack MIDI, tempo maps, or sysex
  • Store MIDI events in-project, or as external .mid files
  • Export single or multiple items, or entire projects, as type 0 or 1 .mid files, including tempo map
MIDI Recording Options
  • Record MIDI input in replace, overdub, or touch-replace mode
  • Record track MIDI output to capture MIDI plug-in processing
  • Mix audio and MIDI on a single track, route MIDI with track channels or sends just as freely as audio
MIDI Editing
  • Edit in the built-in MIDI editor, or inline in the main arrange view
  • Piano roll, drum editor, and event list views
  • View MIDI loops in sync with the arrange view, or as a single loop iteration
  • Edit multiple MIDI items in a single editor, activate items for editing with a single click
Processing/Rendering
  • Use any of dozens of included JS MIDI processing plug-ins, or create your own
  • Route MIDI as freely as audio for creative audio-vs-MIDI processing or sidechaining
  • Quick, configurable, and accurate step sequencing, non-destructive quantization and humanization
Plays Well With Others
  • Easy-to-configure support for multiple controllers, for use as recording and/or control surfaces
  • Per-device timing calibration and fine-tuning
  • Automatic MIDI/audio record and playback synchronization