Accessible music recording on Windows is now a reality with the use of Reaper, an extremely powerful and flexible music production software. For blind people, Reaper represents an essential tool thanks to its increased accessibility and the numerous resources available to facilitate its use.
Reaper: Powerful and Accessible Software
Reaper is renowned for its ability to adapt to diverse music production needs. With the addition of scripts and extensions, it becomes particularly suitable for blind users. With the OSARA (Open Source Accessibility for the REAPER Application) extension, Reaper provides an accessible and user-friendly interface for people using screen readers like NVDA. You can download OSARA from this link..
Resources Available on ReaperAccessible.com
The site ReaperAccessible.com is a gold mine for blind Reaper users . It offers a variety of resources to make learning and using Reaper easier:
- Alternative Reaper KeyMap
- Audio Loops
- Audio Samples for Metronome
- Behringer Drivers and Firmwares
- Accessible Behringer X-32 Mixer and X-Air Stage Box Software
- Control Surface Integrator (CSI Accessible with NVDA and OSARA“/li>
- DrumAccess, completely accessible drum libraries
- Free Instruments and Plugins
- Impulse Response
- MIDI Loops Bundle
- NKS files for Komplete Kontrol
- Reaper presets - (.fxp, .RfxChain, or .rpl files)
- The free instrument and plugins library, ReaLibrary
Using Reaper with NVDA
For blind users, the combination of Reaper and the NVDA screen reader is particularly effective. NVDA, being a free and open-source screen reader, allows for smooth and intuitive navigation in Reaper. Specific scripts like OSARA make this interaction even more seamless, allowing users to control almost every aspect of music production without difficulty.