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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Question: I'm curious what software/web tools (if any) you use to keep on top of development with your team, or even just for yourself? Jira, Slack, GitHub etc
Asked by Stein (115.186.229.x) on December 5 2025, 12:56am
Reply on December 5 2025, 1:40am:

we use Slack internally, though I'm increasingly annoyed with their constant "you need to upgrade your OS" requirements combined with the relatively high cost. Github we only use for public-facing repositories, internally we use our own git server. 1 Comment...

Question: when u create a gui button to activate/deactivate a filter in JSFX plugin and clicking the button On/Off (using sliderchange) doesn't trigger coefficient recalculation for the @sample to use, but i fix this by calling functions in @gfx to trigger coefficient recalculation, is it safe? is it safe to be calling functions like that at @gfx though it fixed the issue?
Asked by @gfx (102.176.101.x) on December 5 2025, 12:40am
Reply on December 5 2025, 12:50am (edited at December 5 2025, 12:51am):

better to set a flag in @gfx that @block looks at, and then recalculates/clears there, to avoid potential race conditions etc. but in general yes, relatively safe. Comment...

Question: For a control surface and using `bool GetTouchState(MediaTrack *media_track, int is_pan)` tousch automation, this will only work for volume and pan. Is there a way to make it also work for any other param? As these now work in Latch mode
Asked by Navelpluisje (77.171.69.x) on December 4 2025, 4:54pm
Reply on December 4 2025, 10:32pm:

for FX parameters I don't think it's supported, we need to add the ability to end the touch I think. 9 Comments...

Question: In JSFX when u have a hidden slider using the hyphen, and then you do a slidershow for this slider, thinking some users may unhide that slider and when they do, that slider must show in appropriate context. but then while keeping the slider hidden (-) and using the slidershow, the slidershow overides the hyphenated hidden slider and shows up on gui. Why?
Asked by slidershow (197.251.240.x) on December 3 2025, 4:32pm
Reply on December 3 2025, 6:52pm:

that's the point, you can make it hidden and then unhide it from code in response to UI. 5 Comments...

Question: Hey Justin, did you see the new Slicer made at FL Studio? It's already the second one)
Asked by Andrey (5.187.87.x) on December 2 2025, 8:08am
Reply on December 2 2025, 11:21pm:

I haven't no Comment...

Question: Do you have a 10-band and/or 15-band eq preference you consider golden?
Asked by Will (99.100.219.x) on December 2 2025, 5:55am
Reply on December 2 2025, 11:21pm:

flat? lol Comment...

Question: Should we share content for free? There will be people attacking (us/it).
Asked by yoooo (221.215.214.x) on December 1 2025, 4:31pm
Reply on December 1 2025, 4:56pm:

not sure I understand this question! Comment...

Question: So considering the whole winamp source code fiasco, what would you recommend someone use as an alternative to it these days? Do you ever think they'll release it again, with a decent license?
Asked by Ladel (85.218.122.x) on December 1 2025, 2:41pm
Reply on December 1 2025, 4:11pm:

Shrug, no idea, WACUP I guess? Comment...

Question: When you coded the ReaPlugs in vst format, did you create and use your own GUI library? I like how simple it is and it has same slider appearance like the JSFX sliders?
Asked by ReaPlugs (197.251.240.x) on December 1 2025, 12:17am
Reply on December 1 2025, 3:02am:

they use Windows dialog controls etc, with custom controls for sliders and such. Not really a good way to build VSTs though, not cross platform really (so making standalone ReaPlugs for macOS/linux would be a huge pain). I'd go a diff route... 3 Comments...

Question: "Do you know about R2R? What do you think of this team (or company, or organization)? They have cracked literally every audio DAW, VST, VSTi plugin you can think of, including all the famous ones like Waves, Pianoteq, and even super-expensive virtual instruments like ivory grand pianos. Even REAPER has a keygen made by them. If you roughly calculate the number of things they’ve cracked, it’s absolutely astonishing. Do you think such a team should face legal judgment?"
Asked by lope (221.215.214.x) on November 30 2025, 11:30am
Reply on November 30 2025, 2:44pm (edited at November 30 2025, 5:12pm):

meh re legal enforcement. cracking software should be considered speech (though distributing cracked versions should still be considered copyright infringement). anyway, thankfully their reaper keygens require a modified .exe, which is an adequate threshold for annoyance. 2 Comments...

Question: How can one ship presets with a one-file JSFX plugin, so that when users load on their pc the presets will show up in the presets menu? Is that possible?
Asked by presets (197.251.240.x) on November 29 2025, 5:08am
Reply on November 29 2025, 2:05pm (edited at November 29 2025, 11:27pm):

if your jsfx's filename is "myeffect", then save a .rpl as "myeffect.rpl" next to it and it will be auto-imported on first instantiation of the jsfx. But -- single file: not supported. Maybe I'll think about a syntax for that! 1 Comment...

Question: What's the real point of streaming services / FLAC that offer 24 bit depth at 96 khz lossless if our ears simply do not have the hardware capability to perceive a difference vs 48khz (OPUS encodes, for example).
Asked by Will (99.100.219.x) on November 26 2025, 4:00pm
Reply on November 26 2025, 10:02pm:

For listening purposes, 24/96 is marketing IMO. Lossless, less so, though somewhat (at least it takes the "was-this-adequately-encoded" question out of the equation, since lossless is always yes). If you're going to process the audio after the fact, then lossless/24/96 all become more significant. Comment...

Question: What's preferable - practising bass voice regularly or have two beers and a whisky and sound like Mark Lanegan the next morning?
Asked by Sunblister (147.161.164.x) on November 26 2025, 11:37am
Reply on November 26 2025, 10:03pm:

I'm the last person who should be giving singing advice lol. Whatever you enjoy? I don't practice enough (at all?) so somewhere in between I guess. 1 Comment...

Question: In a DAW, should the audio thread only render the audio graph? Should the another thread handle parsing the midi clips and generating note on / off events to send to the tracks? Sorry if this is obvious
Asked by Edward (45.62.219.x) on November 25 2025, 9:00am
Reply on November 25 2025, 12:05pm:

you could very easily keep the MIDI events in memory and have the audio threads process those too, but it's up to you. If you're reading them from disk, though, you'll want some worker threads to stay ahead of that. Comment...

Question: Does your food change seasonally? If yes, what's your favourite winter dish?
Asked by PedalingPanda (77.12.112.x) on November 24 2025, 5:24pm
Reply on November 24 2025, 8:21pm:

out of necessity! I'm all for any kind of stew really. Comment...

Question: I just saw a fabfilter plugin reporting gain reduction to REAPER, as in its showing the gain reduction in REAPER. I thought this was a JSFX variable and REAPER only thing? How? So VSTs can also do that? What about in other DAWs?
Asked by wooow (197.251.240.x) on November 24 2025, 3:59am
Reply on November 24 2025, 12:14pm:

there is a Presonus VST3 extension for this that plug-ins can support. 1 Comment...

Question: Have you tried Musicbee? It's freaking awesome and feels like the spiritual successor to winamp. It's immediately useful, super fast, and makes organizing large libraries an absolute breeze. Skinnable and also very easy to drop in AVS/milkdrop and it just works. Not a shill btw :)
Asked by Will (99.100.219.x) on November 23 2025, 4:57pm
Reply on November 24 2025, 1:14am (edited at November 24 2025, 1:15am):

SHILL!!!! Just kidding. I haven't, don't really care about music players since I play everything in a browser at this point anyway (or on my phone). Other than the stuff in REAPER of course. Comment...

Question: How is a project like WACUP not sued if it's derived from a commercial release?
Asked by Jonny (184.75.221.x) on November 22 2025, 5:20pm
Reply on November 23 2025, 1:06am:

No idea about the legalities of it but in general suing people is expensive so you'd only want to do it when there's an upside. Comment...

Question: Hey Justin, nothing to ask but just want to appreciate how life-changing reaper has been . I am a small creator making folk/kids songs in a regional Indian language. Reaper has brought my dream of actually making a studio quality (ISH) dream to life. I have some beautiful songs. The main reason why is your free trial. Once it made me confident I can use (I am a software noob) I have bought the licence. Many thanks for your hard work. You give wings to Indie musicians like me. God bless.
Asked by Chandi (87.115.229.x) on November 22 2025, 6:47am
Reply on November 23 2025, 1:05am:

aww thanks! Comment...

Question: I went back to 2010 questions and someone asked you "Why marriage rather than co-habitation?" and you answered "What, you mean vs living in SIN?" I thought that was brilliant, but why did you use the word SIN? Were you somewhat religious at that time?
Asked by brilliant (154.161.241.x) on November 21 2025, 10:26am
Reply on November 21 2025, 12:18pm (edited at November 21 2025, 12:19pm):

I was being facetious unfortunately Comment...

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