PluginPie

DAW guide

REAPER

PluginPie uses a small EEL2 ReaScript to load plug-ins in REAPER. The in-app setup guide walks you through installing and configuring the script to auto-start.

Open the in-app setup guide

PluginPie includes a guided setup for REAPER as part of its first-run experience. To reopen it later, open PluginPie Settings, select REAPER, and choose Open REAPER Setup Guide.

Install the REAPER bridge

This bridge script allows PluginPie to communicate with REAPER.

  1. Close REAPER.
  2. In the REAPER setup guide, choose Export PluginPie Bridge and select the Scripts folder.
macOS ~/Library/Application Support/REAPER/Scripts
Windows %APPDATA%\REAPER\Scripts

This will create Scripts/Yamp/pluginpie_bridge.eel.

Set up automatic startup

Adding a startup script makes the bridge available whenever REAPER opens. This step is optional, but recommended so you don't have to launch the bridge manually each session in order to use PluginPie.

__startup.eel is a special script that is run when REAPER first launches. You may or may not already have a startup script in your Scripts folder:

macOS ~/Library/Application Support/REAPER/Scripts/__startup.eel
Windows %APPDATA%\REAPER\Scripts\__startup.eel

If __startup.eel does not exist

  1. In PluginPie's REAPER setup guide, choose Export Startup Script.
  2. Select the same REAPER Scripts folder.

If __startup.eel already exists

Manually add these two lines:

@import Yamp/pluginpie_bridge.eel
start_plugin_shortcut_bridge();

Starting the bridge manually

If you skip automatic startup, you'll need to open REAPER's Action List, load Scripts/Yamp/pluginpie_bridge.eel as a ReaScript, and run it once per REAPER session.

Adding plug-ins

In the top-right corner of the PluginPie Editor, choose + Add Plug-in.

Entry fields

Name The name shown in PluginPie. When Search Alias is empty, PluginPie uses this value to find the device in REAPER.
Search Alias Optional alternate lookup text. When this field has a value, PluginPie uses it instead of Name to search.
Vendor Optional. Use the vendor shown in REAPER to narrow the results when multiple items have the same name.

Using an alias

Leave Search Alias empty for a normal Name lookup. Add an alias only when the plug-in label in REAPER differs from the name you want shown in PluginPie.

When adding a plug-in, you can optionally specify the format.

Auto Inserts the first matched plug-in regardless of format.
VST3 Steinberg VST3 plug-in format.
VST2 Steinberg VST2 plug-in format.
CLAP CLever Audio Plug-in format.
LV2 LADSPA Version 2 plug-in standard.
JS REAPER's native JSFX format.
AU Apple Audio Unit plug-in format.
DX Microsoft DirectX plug-in format.

Insert a plug-in

  1. Select the destination track in REAPER.
  2. Open the Pie and select a plug-in.
  3. The bridge adds the plug-in to that track. If Show FX window after insertion is enabled in PluginPie's settings, REAPER opens that track's FX window to the new plug-in.

PluginPie communicates with the bridge over localhost TCP. REAPER listens for requests on port 47891 by default.

Troubleshooting REAPER

Connection refused or timed out

Verify that the EEL2 bridge is running. You should see Running Script: __startup.eel under REAPER → Actions.

TCP port unavailable

In rare cases, unrelated software may already be using REAPER's default request port 47891. You can manually specify a different port in the installed bridge script.

  1. Quit REAPER and PluginPie.
  2. Open Scripts/Yamp/pluginpie_bridge.eel in a text editor.
  3. Near the top of the file, change the PORT value to an unused TCP port from 1 through 65535 while preserving the exact format. 
    Example: PORT = 47892;
  4. Save the file, then reopen REAPER and PluginPie.

Plug-in not found

Open REAPER's FX browser and test the same search text. Try Format Auto first, then select the exact format and use Search Alias to match REAPER's visible name.