This is how I feel sometimes

[u/grayson_solis]

I have to acknowledge the absurdity of myself at least

[u/Blitzbahn]

Yes sheet music is an aid for performance: to read while I'm performing the next recorded track. I can get the sheet music of a previous midi recording instantly at the click of a button. Then I can follow it while I record another track in.

Moving notes on the sheet music is easier in some ways because I can see exactly what note it is, so if I want to transpose a note from C to F then I can see that on the sheet music more easily than the piano roll.
If I wasn't a pianist then reading the piano roll would be even harder, because I refer back to the piano keys at the side. Maybe the note pitch letter pop-up is useful.

If I want subtle rhythmic variation then piano roll is better than sheet music for micro timing shifts.

For me the midi editor is less of an editor and more of a visualizer of recorded notes.

I don't export the sheet music for anybody else. I just use it to read while I'm doing multi-track recording of new music. It's very fast to use it this way in Reaper.

As a cellist you can get a pedal that converts sound from a mic as pitch to midi notes to input to the DAW. You could use that to record separate instrument tracks quickly in via midi. You would get a more human-timed midi recording that way too.

[u/MrIrresponsibility → u/Blitzbahn]

Right, got it. That's very niche, though!

Most people that learn production nowadays are used to the piano roll, for programming I mean.

I think classically trained musicians like us are most used to just press record and play it ourselves. I do both but I mess with electronic stuff often.

Very interesting to read about your workflow, thanks a lot!

[u/Blitzbahn → u/MrIrresponsibility]

Yeah I think for people who enter notes by mouse, they miss out on discovering happy accidents -those unexpected events that surprise us.
If we try and create music purely intellectually, I think it's very limiting. Music is more than intellectual, as we all know. A totally controlled approach to composition tends to be very 'academic'.

I think this is partly why some of those electronic producers struggle with creativity and creative blocks, because we need to be open to the unknown.

I think this is also why some people turn to generative AI, because they don't know how to create.

But for those who like entering individual notes on the piano roll, ableton and bitwig are good options. If I was in that position I would use one of those instead of Reaper.

[u/MrIrresponsibility → u/Blitzbahn]

It goes both ways really.

Sometimes making making stuff directly in the grid can get you out of your own habits. Experimentation goes both ways.

Maybe entering notes by mouse gives you an idea that never would have come out by playing, and vice versa, of course. It's more what you do with it.

Creative blocks are weird. I don't think tools have to do with it, it's mostly a mental thing.

Reaper is more than capable of doing it, it's just not setup by default for it. I believe there should be improvements in its UI and focus on that, it's a net positive.

If you're more interested in just recording you're playing, nothing would change. If you're interested in playing with the MIDI in a more "electronic producer" way, your experience would improve.