Command Parameters

SWS supplements Reaper's functionality by adding a great number of additional actions, some of which adjust parameters such as item pitch and rate, take volume etc. These are similar to actions already provided in Reaper, but there is one crucial difference. With certain SWS actions, it is possible to alter the amount by which one application of a given action will adjust the parameter. The increments are designated from the "Command Parameters" dialogue, which, if using the keymap provided for this course, is accessed by pressing shift and the key next to the semi-colon on a UK english keyboard. If you are in doubt which key to use, search for "command parameters" in the actions list.

A description of some of the fields in the dialogue follows.

Dialogue Walkthrough

The first eight fields of the "Command parameters" dialogue pertain to item fade in and fade out times and the shape of the curve to be used. There are two configurations, a and b, meaning that you could bind a pair of keys to fade an item in and out with a 3 second fade in and a 2 second fade out with different shapes, that would be configuration a. You could bind another pair of keys to fade an item in over 1 second and out over 4 seconds with different shapes again. this covers you for two applications of item fading that you frequently use.

the shapes correspond to those in the media item defaults branches of the preferences tree and have integer values. We cannot see the curve each numbered shape creates, so you will have to experiment by ear to see which ones you like best for which applications.

Item Pitch Nudging

Skipping a few fields, there are two possible numbers to enter for item pitch nudging so that once again, you have two possible configurations to map to shortcut keys, a and b. These control actions that will both adjust the item pitch and the item pitch resampled, which is the same as adjusting the item rate.

When using the provided keymap:

• Alt shift 3 and 4 decrease and increase item rate by the amount designated in configuration a.
• Alt shift 5 and 6 decrease and increase item rate by the amount designated in configuration b.
• Alt shift 7 and 8 decrease and increase item pitch by the amount designated in configuration a without changing the rate.
• Alt shift 9 and 0 increase and decrease item pitch by the amount designated in configuration b without changing the rate.

The item/take volume and track volume fields which follow designate the amount in DB by which the relevant actions will adjust the item/take volume or the track volume. Note, there are not alternative configurations for these actions and there are not separate fields to designate increments for item volume and take volume. One value governs both.

Section Loop Properties

Looping sections of an item source in Reaper is quite fiddley if you don't have access to the mouse and, should you find that your timing when designating your section start and length was a little off, there is no way provided by Reaper itself to make corrections without going in and out of the item properties dialogue. SWS remedies this by adding actions that allow you to adjust the section loop length, the section loop start point and the length of the overlap or crossfade. The amount by which these boundaries are moved is designated by the value in the section loop properties field.

The track labelling parameters can be used to assign a default label to tracks or a prefix or suffix. For example, a prefix might be lead and might be used to apply to vocals, guitar etc. A default label might be audio, especially in a project that involved midi or video. A suffix might be draft, vocal or outtake.

Assigning values to these parameters may speed your workflow considerably or give you more precision when performing certain operations.