The What?
I’ll cut straight to the point: typical methods of adding white noise to a project can be kind of tedious. You can add a MIDI item, insert a noise generator FX, insert a MIDI note, and render it. You can do the same with just an empty track and a time selection. This takes time and sound designers don’t have time. We’re working with Reaper for a reason: incessant optimization. And if you’re not working with Reaper, this ain’t the blog for you, I’m afraid.
This toolbar allows you to press a button and instantly add noise, of various colors, onto a track. Here’s how to set it up and start living life to its fullest.
Setup
This toolbar requires the SWS extension, available here.
0. Save your REAPER session and close the application, if applicable.
1. Download and extract the zip file from the button labeled “NOISE RESOURCES”.
2. Import the .wav audio files from the zip into the following directory in your REAPER resource path:
> REAPER\MediaFiles\
3. Import the .png toolbar icons into
> REAPER\Data\toolbar_icons\
4. Open the following file in a text editor like Notepad:
> REAPER\S&M.ini
Find the line with "S&M_ADDMEDIA_CURTRACK". Make sure the value after the equals sign is greater than 6; I've set mine to 8. Save the file and close it.
5. Open up REAPER, then open the SWS Resources Window and go to the “Media file” section using the dropdown at the top.
REAPER Actions List > SWS/S&M: Open/close Resources window
6. Import them and name them exactly as shown in the screenshot here. File order & name matters. The easiest way to do this is to:
Right click in the empty space in the Resources window and go to Auto-Fill > Auto-Fill. If Slot order doesn’t match this image, you can just drag to re-arrange as needed. They can also be added manually using right click > Add Slot.
7. Open Reaper’s customize toolbars window and go to an empty, unused toolbar using the dropdown at the top of the window.
REAPER Actions List > Toolbars: Customize...
8. Open the "NOISE_TOOLBAR.ReaperMenu" file from the zip using a text editor like Notepad and change the toolbar number from 13 to whatever the empty toolbar you found's number is. Save the file.
9. Import the NOISE_TOOLBAR.ReaperMenu file using the “Import” button in the bottom right of Reaper's customize toolbar menu.
10. If you want to give the toolbar a name like "Noise", click the Retitle... button in the top of the customize toolbars menu.
That’s it! Now you can just open that toolbar (using the actions list, a hotkey, or from right clicking in the empty space of another toolbar) and insert all the noise, all the time.
Troubleshooting
If you run into any issues, try closing and re-opening Reaper. If that doesn’t fix it… please reach out to me! You can use the contact form on my site.