[Rwp] [RWP] Silencing audio and a synth VST question

[Crystal Dennis]

Hello!  I have two questions so instead of sticking them in two
emails, I figured I'd just stick them both in here ;)

I just finally started to figure out reaper - I've had it for a long
time, but something just clicked yesterday I suppose and I've been
navigating/figureing it out all last night lol.  But one thing I
haven't been able to figure out is - how do you silence audio at the
beginning/end of a track?  I want to be able to just select that
segment and silence it.  In audacity, there was a simple keystroke, so
I'm wondering if there is in reaper?  If not, then how do you do it
without messing up the timing of the track you're working with?


Also - Another question, pardon my synth noob-ness!  But I have some
synths that work right out of the box in reaper, and some that don't.
I'm wondering if anyone knows why that would be?  I load them on the
track and try to play them, and nothing happens, and I've never been
able to figure out why.

Thank you in advance for the help!

Crystal