WhatsNewReaper7Summary_r2.pdf — page 16

REAPER 7.0: What’s New
Alternative Keyboard Shortcuts
The different action list sections can be used in different environments. In most cases, these present you with 
the actions (for example, when you are recording) that are most relevant to the particular context.
These are Main, Main (alt recording), Main (alt-1 thru Alt-16), Media explorer, MIDI editor, MIDI 
event list editor and MIDI in-line editor.
Having separate sections for different environments lets you assign the same shortcuts 
to different actions in different environments. 
Various combinations of keys could be used in the MIDI editor to select what is 
displayed in a CC lane. That same set of shortcuts could be used, say, in the MIDI 
Event List Editor to determine which channels are displayed, and, say, in the Media 
Explorer to browse thru various folders. None of the assignments that you make in any 
of the other sections will have any impact on keyboard shortcuts in the Main section.
The options for alt-1 to alt-16, however, require further explanation. They allow you to 
determine keyboard shortcut behavior in various contexts rather than environments. 
No two people’s needs are likely to be the same, so let’s look at a couple of simple 
examples. Try not to focus on the actual examples (which might or might not be 
relevant to you) but rather on the technique.
By default S will split selected media items or, if no item is selected, all media items, at 
the current cursor position. There will be times when this might be what you want, but 
other times, perhaps at a certain stage of tracking, when you might prefer to use S to 
solo/unsolo a currently selected track.
Likewise, at that same stage of your project you might not yet be ready to worry about 
markers and will prefer to use M to mute/unmute a currently selected track, rather 
than create a marker.
Example
You will want to create a shortcut for switching between the different shortcut sections, and also override the 
REAPER’s default settings where necessary. With any project open, this is how this could be done:
1.
Open the Actions window.
2.
Find the action Main action section: Toggle override to alt-1. Select it.
3.
Click the Add button, press Alt 1, then OK, and OK again to Override mapping.  
4.
With the Actions editor open, from the section drop down list select Main (alt-1).
5.
Find the action Track: Toggle solo for selected tracks.
6.
Click the Add button, type s in the Shortcut edit box, click OK. Again click OK to Override mapping.
7.
Find the action Track: Toggle mute for selected tracks.
8.
Click the Add button, type m in the Shortcut edit box, click OK. Again click OK to Override mapping.
9.
You could continue to define more custom shortcuts for this section, but we’ll leave it at that for now.
10.
Make sure the Main section is selected. Close the Actions editor.
11.
Press m. A marker will be inserted. Press Ctrl z to undo. Select any track.
12.
Press Alt 1. Now press m. The currently selected track will be muted. Press m again to unmute.
13.
Press s. The track will be soloed.
14.
Press v. A volume envelope is added – this action has been passed through from the main section.
15.
Press Alt-1 to restore the main action list.
Tip: You can create custom icons for actions that alternative keyboard sets and add them to 
tour toolbar. A single mouse click would then be all that was needed to toggle these sets on 
and off.
Note: In the above example, we have defined the keyboard shortcut Alt 1 to toggle keyboard shortcuts 
between Main and Main (alt-1) but we don’t seem to have added this definition in the alt-1 section as well. 
This is because any and all keyboard Main section shortcuts that are not defined in an alternative section are 
automatically passed thru to the alternative sections. In this case, for example, Ctrl S in the Main  (alt-1) 
section would still save the project, Ctrl Z undo, and so on.
Page 16