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I would like to record my music and am completely new to recording (besides using the Windows OS inbuilt voice recorder) I downloaded Reaper to use as my DAW software and its completely overwhelming.

I would like to record my piano/guitar and my voice as individual tracks and put them together, and I recently purchased an MPK Mini MIDI keyboard for creating drum tracks (although now I'm not sure if that is possible with Reaper)

Are there any easy to follow beginner walkthroughs explaning what I would like to do? Alternatively, are there any inexpensive DAW softwares for Windows OS that would be suitable for a newbie like me? I'm willing to learn but would like to see results early on for what I'm trying to do (it seems simple enough) without getting bogged down by all the advanced options!

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    Just a word of 'reassurance': It is, in fact, very easy to work with. It just looks overwhelming a first because there's a lot of tools and buttons for things that you'll rarely end up using. Please do not feel demotivated -- once you work through one or two tutorials, you'll find out that it's quite an intuitive DAW to use. :)
    – Lee White
    Jan 12, 2015 at 8:44
  • Jon at reaperblog.net/about-contact is a great resource. I highly recommend.
    – nellipalooza
    Aug 15, 2017 at 3:34

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Reaper is an awesome tool and can do A LOT, so it's a bit overwhelming but in its basic use, it's quite simple, once you know what you're doing. You can find a lot of tutorials and resources on the Internet about this software (because it is inexpensive, a lot of non-professional use it).

I like a lot the website Tutorials For Reaper, you can start with their first one, "Basic overview" and check the other ones.

I also follow The Reaper Blog, where you might find useful information (and their Youtube channel), and you'll find a few interesting links in the "more resources" menu. There is also a Reaper 101 category that might give you some additional tips on how to use the software.

If you understand french, Reno Mellow does some really great video tutorials.

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I don't have time for a full-blown answer tonight, but as a user of Reaper myself, I can say that it is certainly capable of doing what you want, though I agree that it can be a tad overwhelming at first. Even after years of use, I certainly don't understand all of its features -- just the ones that I've come to use regularly.

I encourage you to stick with it, and check out the Reaper documentation wiki. It contains some excellent tutorials, including several that are oriented towards beginners (see the section headed Start Here If This is All New To You). There are also plenty of video tutorials to be found on YouTube. As a last resort, the Reaper forums might contain answers to more specific questions. And it never hurts to just get into the software and play around a bit.

Reaper is an excellent and powerful tool, but like any powerful tool, you do need to look at the documentation first.

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