![]() In what way were those DAWs frustrating you and how did you resolve to do it better with Reaper? It’s the necessity is the mother of invention, but it seems like frustration often is as well. I think it’s very interesting that frustration is often the core invention. Then I sort of got a little bit frustrated with the way that things were done with them, so I kind of started working on something - a tool for my own use.ĭavid: Right. ![]() Before that, I did some other experiments with guitar effects processing and things like that, and at that time, I was doing recording, using software like Logic, and Vegas. It’s things you craft and try to make them the nicest, most beautiful thing that you can, and so for me, yeah, it’s - programming, writing software is really like an artform.ĭavid: So then, in 2004 is when you started working on Reaper in earnest, right? And then in 2005, it was released as Freeware. Justin: Yeah, I mean, you have discussions with people about what makes art, art, versus - is carpentry art? In many instances it is, but the question of function is an issue, but things that are art are not supposed to have function, but personally, I think things can have function and be art. That was sort of where I came away from them.ĭavid: Did the creation software feel like an expression to you? So the ability to just make software for the purpose of making it, and for the end goal of making something that’s really powerful and enjoyable to use, and not having to sort of go and think about monetization and all of these things. Wanting to just make things for the sake of making them and not have to make them - Not have to constantly justify everything with business decisions, or with business motivation. Justin: Not to be pejorative, but I went to college for less than a year before I left and made WinAmp, and so I look at AOL as sort of my college years in terms of learning a lot about working with other people and working in a big company, and when I left, I came away from it wanting to avoid that in the future. What were your takeaways, both good and bad from that whole experience? From being acquired? From getting sucked up into a big company. You got absorbed into AOL for awhile, for a few years. Things that we take for granted today, but at that point, it was a new thing.ĭavid: When WinAmp was acquired, that was a multi-million dollar deal with AOL. It was more about doing more things with that. Justin: So it was really about the experience and about having it be something you want to use and have it be an interactive thing instead of just simply playing back mp3 files. Justin: Um, there was - there were other mp3 players out for Windows, but none of them sort of had the things that I really wanted to use, like the ability to do playlists, the ability to visualize music as you’re listening to it. It was something that everybody needed, and what action inspired you to create WinAmp at the time? When you originally designed it, and for those who don’t know, or remember, WinAmp was a big deal when it came out, because it was a really easy to use media player. I want to flashback for a second with WinAmp. Then when I left, I developed an interest in making music as opposed to just listening to it, and so then, that’s how Reaper came about to be.ĭavid: Right. WinAmp was one of the earliest mp3 players, and so I worked at AOL for about five years on that. Justin: Well, I wrote software called “WinAmp” in the 90’s, and then in 1999, at the peak of the dot com boom, sold it to AOL, and so I worked for AOL. Now, were you a musician too at the time? Justin: Not in high school, no, I didn’t really get interested in playing music until about 2001.ĭavid: Okay, alright, but something important happened for you musically before 2001, which was in the late 90’s, Justin and a partner of his, or a couple of partners, right? Justin: Um, I think when I was in high school, I started programming for fun, and the first sort of really validating experience was writing software for other students to use in school.Īt the time, this was back in the 90’s, we had a Novell network that all the students could sort of use to run Word Perfect 5.1 for DOS and things like that, and one of the projects I made was an e-mail program that we could all use to send e-mail from students to students within the school, and producing that and getting feedback from other students as users was a very rewarding experience for me.ĭavid: Yeah. ![]() Justin: I am the original creator, but whatever.ĭavid: Well, the first thing that I want to ask you about is when did you discover that you had a talent for coding? We’re going to do that by interviewing Justin Frankel, who is one of the creators of Reaper. It is not often that you get to put a face on a DAW. Thank you for joining us at Sonic Scoop! Insert logo here. David: Hey everybody, this is David Weiss. ![]()
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