The other day, I stumbled upon a video showcasing this awesome Ableton trick. It lets you split MIDI notes into equal parts, resulting in super interesting beats that go off-grid.
Excited to try it out in REAPER, I tried all day but I couldn't find a way to do it. So, I turned to the REAPER forum and asked if anyone knew a script that could do the trick. To my surprise, within just a few hours, someone came through and created a script that works incredibly well!
Here’s how it looks 🤩
Shoutout to Erik Martinez for creating this script! And by the way, you should check out his other scripts like MArpeggiator, MVelocity and MiniFXlist. And totally consider supporting his work, he loves pizza!
I made a short video walkthrough of this script and also the additional add-on he created to change the offset of the splits.
How to split items in equal parts using your mouse wheel
To get the script, you need ReaPack installed. If you don't have it, check out this guide: How to install ReaPack.
Once you have ReaPack installed, you need to import the following repository. To do so, paste the following link into: Extensions > ReaPack > Import a repository.
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ErrrikMarrrtinez/ReaperScripts/master/index.xmlCopyTo use the script, open the Actions menu (shortcut: ?) and search for "mrtnz split". You will find the two scripts:
- Script: mrtnz_split selected notes to equal(mousewheel ctx).lua
- Script: mrtnz_set the offset after splitting (add-on to splitting notes).lua
Now, just assign a shortcut to these scripts. In my case, I have the first one set to ctrl + shift + mouse wheel and the second one set to ctrl + shift + alt + mouse wheel.
That’s it
I highly suggest trying out the tip from the reel I mentioned and getting those super interesting off-beat fills. It’s also perfect for creating polyrhythms. I like to use it on my cymbals to add some variation to the groove.
Hope that was useful! Let me know if you have any questions!
