Ask Justin Frankel

justin = { main feed , music , code , askjf , pubkey };

Ask Justin Frankel
No reasonable question unanswered since 2009!

Suggested topics: programming, music, sleep, coffee, etc.

Note: please do not ask questions about REAPER features, bugs or scheduling, use the forums instead.

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[older questions]

Question: Is it possible to know the vertical cursor position through the API? As in the track you will paste from your clipboard etc... Thanks!
Asked by kriasb (84.52.206.x) on July 23 2024, 2:12pm
Reply on July 24 2024, 1:40am:

the last touched track is the term you're looking for -- reaper.GetLastTouchedTrack() Comment...

Question: hey jf- not so much super8 in the 2024?
Asked by 2024 (31.104.68.x) on July 21 2024, 1:46pm
Reply on July 22 2024, 2:04am:

I reorganized the studio and I haven't setup my super8 rig again yet, but it's so nice and tidy without it... and I need to get some new furniture for the laptop as the things I've used before have found new purposes. I do miss the looping sessions though, gotta get back to it! 1 Comment...

Question: I see a lot of different aliases under your music main feed, do you really write so much music every week? Do you publish it somewhere other than here? And if true, any advice to actually finish music ? Im the type of guy obsessing over perfection on a track and I end up never releasing it because I stop enjoying making it to the end and jump on the next no-to-be-finished project. Cheers!
Asked by Adrian (93.45.80.x) on July 21 2024, 11:39am
Reply on July 22 2024, 2:02am:

There's a lot of revisiting old tracks and stuff, and a lot of improvisation, alone and with different people. Some of the improvisation gets revisited... I never (or rarely) finish music so I'm probably the wrong person to ask, my strategy is to publish it all that way you get to see the latest evolution as it goes. Comment...

Question: If you had any of the DAWs available in 2024 with all the features they have now before you started making Reaper would you have still started?
Asked by MisterLevy (58.84.119.x) on July 21 2024, 9:21am
Reply on July 22 2024, 2:01am:

...and REAPER didn't exist, you mean? and am I in my 20s rather than 40s? not sure I have the same energy level for programming... but in this hypothetical scenario, if REAPER didn't exist and I was as I am now, I'd probably start working on Ardour to give it the things that REAPER is missing and make it (optionally) work the way I like. Whether they'd take my patches, I have no idea... 1 Comment...

Question: I want to explain someone difference between static and dynamic websites. Can you give me example of any two websites, where one is static and other one is dynamic?
Asked by Abhi (122.177.213.x) on July 20 2024, 3:42am
Reply on July 20 2024, 4:28am:

static static: I'm sure these exist but almost everything I do is at least server-generated static
server-generated static: cockos and reaper web sites - these have little or no javascript, but we have some scripts to generate the pages because it's easier to maintain that way
server-generated dynamic: this web site, or my blog. my blog has some javascript which pulls additional content, and some javascript to handle playing mp3 files automatically, so it's somewhat in between this and the last one
mostly dynamic: music.1014.org (the full archive link above) is pretty much all generated via client-side code (it fetches a list of songs, builds the ui, etc).

1 Comment...

Question: Have you ever considered living in another country? If so, where?
Asked by Will (23.125.224.x) on July 18 2024, 2:10pm
Reply on July 20 2024, 3:22am:

I would consider it, but I feel like I would need a purpose to make it feel appropriate. Probably Europe somewhere... Comment...

Question: How did you took that picture of REAPER window in reaper.fm homepage, at the top? Looks very neat and nice!
Asked by Abhi (122.176.5.x) on July 16 2024, 6:21pm
Reply on July 16 2024, 8:56pm (edited at July 16 2024, 8:57pm):

That was the work of White_Tie IIRC Comment...

Question: Have you got any future plans to support secure CRT functions, possibly in wdltypes.h? Also something unrelated, your answers' paragraphs in top level text browsers need some attention. Have a nice weekend
Asked by Gio (94.70.7.x) on July 13 2024, 1:19am
Reply on July 14 2024, 2:49am:

hmm, why? 3 Comments...

Question: Have you watched "If the Stars Had A Sound" (the Mogwai documentary) yet? If so, what do you think?
Asked by SpoiledHobo (77.181.101.x) on July 12 2024, 1:25pm
Reply on July 12 2024, 1:27pm:

ooh thanks for the reminder I need to watch that! Comment...

Question: Sometimes I want to do drastically different mixes and want to switch back and forth to compare easily. Do .RPP files work well with Git? If not, what workflow would you suggest to do something similar?
Asked by willitwork (89.187.187.x) on July 12 2024, 7:42am
Reply on July 12 2024, 1:27pm:

they should as long as you don't have conflicts, if you do have conflicts you'll have to make sure you resolve them correctly. Or you could save separate projects and use project tabs... Comment...

Question: Wow, I am seeing one of your code somewhere in github. You used a for loop like this "for (;;)". I never seen this thing and can't find anything on google about it. It basically looks like a loop without any arguments, I think. Then what is the use of this?
Asked by Abhi (106.201.176.x) on July 10 2024, 7:24am
Reply on July 10 2024, 2:38pm:

it is the same as while (true) { 2 Comments...

Question: Hi Justin...this is a first for me, but I'm actually a procurement official working with Eastern Kentucky University and our music department trying to update our Reaper license but because of state reporting requirements, I need to speak to someone directly regarding Reaper's security documentation if you issue certain reports. Is there a way that I can contact you directly? I reached out through Cockos customer support email, but we haven't had much luck there.
Asked by Shane Harris (157.89.75.x) on July 9 2024, 5:44pm
Reply on July 9 2024, 7:33pm (edited at July 9 2024, 7:36pm):

That is the way. It might take a few days for them to respond to these types of requests. Comment...

Question: Sorry if I am wrong, and please correct me. As far as I know, you don't have knowledge about traditional music notations, right? Music staffs and all that. Then how you added a nice notation view like Musescore software into REAPER? Have you hired somebody else for that or you learnt everything and implemented it by your own?
Asked by Abhi (122.162.184.x) on July 9 2024, 1:23pm
Reply on July 9 2024, 5:06pm:

I have some knowledge but I am by no means an expert on that. Schwa has a lot more expertise, and thus did most of the score editor, and has a big reference book on it. 2 Comments...

Question: So, with the nature of this site being open to anyone. Do you worry about spammers?
Asked by Matthew (76.37.54.x) on July 9 2024, 2:51am
Reply on July 9 2024, 1:08pm:

The human=yes prompt seems to get a lot of the automated ones... and it's pretty low traffic and relatively easy to moderate. But if that changes then it'll change... Comment...

Question: What music gets you in the zone / inspires you these days during productive coding sessions?
Asked by Will (23.125.224.x) on July 8 2024, 2:59pm
Reply on July 9 2024, 1:09pm:

Still go to instrumental things like Mogwai a lot. 1 Comment...

Question: Do you use auto complete when coding or do you type every single character out by hand every time ?
Asked by tab to complete (149.102.244.x) on July 7 2024, 3:24pm
Reply on July 8 2024, 1:39am:

mostly type or copy/paste, only auto-complete I use regularly is when writing lua/eel2 code in the reascript/jsfx IDE. Comment...

Question: I am really sorry, but I am discussing here to make my favorite DAW follow an external MIDI clock. forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?p=...I want to cut the recorded content to fit the grid in order to reuse the improvised content of Renoise and REAPER as a pattern. 0x0.st/XBmc.mp4You once said that `REAPER needs predictability.` I am not sure what you mean by that. What does that mean? askjf.com/index.php?search=midi%20clock
Asked by tkna (153.240.222.x) on July 6 2024, 1:27pm
Reply on July 6 2024, 3:54pm:

REAPER needs to be able to predict tempo changes in the future in order to transform media, pre-render FX, etc. If you want to sync in realtime to tempo changes, a lot of things will break. 1 Comment...

Question: What are your pros and cons of cargo bikes vs bike trailers?
Asked by PedalingPanda (194.156.7.x) on July 6 2024, 7:04am
Reply on July 6 2024, 3:54pm:

Bike trailers you don't have to use all of the time, and when you're not using it you can treat it like a normal bike (easier to deal with, take indoors, etc). But for moving a lot of stuff I'd prefer a cargo bike, much less tedious to ride. Comment...

Question: Can you tell in easy language what is ReaScript and if I learn python fully, what I can do? Create my own effects or even instruments for REAPER?
Asked by Abhi (207.244.71.x) on July 6 2024, 6:10am
Reply on July 6 2024, 3:53pm:

Comment...

Question: You said you use Mac and not Windows. Then why REAPER's manual has Windows' version in almost all pictures?
Asked by Abhi (171.48.1.x) on July 6 2024, 5:57am
Reply on July 6 2024, 3:52pm:

I am not the author of the user guide Comment...

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