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Author Topic: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love  (Read 13985 times)

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Offline StarkRavingCalm

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Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« on: August 27, 2015, 12:43:05 PM »
Just started to use Reaper a few weeks ago. So far I love it!
Love the vertical slides
Love that I can set precisely set then amperage by typing in what I want (i.e. +9.27 db)
Rendering is super fast


I would like to start a thread for all things Reaper.
What you like, what you don't and tips and tricks along the way.

Kicking things off...


Does anyone know how to have the files you import show up in the project folder you create?
Instead of the source folder you imported from?



Offline yousef

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #1 on: August 31, 2015, 04:42:26 AM »
The only thing that has stopped me from stepping up to a purchased version is my inability to time-stretch with it.

With Vegas I just hold down ctrl, grab the end of a clip and stretch it to the right length but in Reaper I can never get the stretched audio to fall into place properly. It's as if there is a minimum amount of stretch that has to be applied and I generally need less... I've disabled snapping and quantize-to-frames but to no avail.

If anyone can solve this for me I'll be immediately putting down the money for the new version
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Offline saltyheaven

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #2 on: August 31, 2015, 05:06:32 AM »
Reaper is awesome.   I've been using it for years and years.

It's not something I do regularly but on the odd occasions I've time stretched there's been no problem at all.  The Reaper forum is great too, just ask about your time stretching, the answer is sure to come quickly and comprehensively.

Offline StarkRavingCalm

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #3 on: January 18, 2016, 11:07:54 AM »
Is there a trick to having FX you have applied to a mix end up in your rendered file?
The FX are definitely there while I am mixing but the rendered file sounds quite different.
(In the Render window I am leaving the default of Master Mix)

Suggestions?

Offline Sloan Simpson

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2016, 11:50:17 AM »
Is there a trick to having FX you have applied to a mix end up in your rendered file?
The FX are definitely there while I am mixing but the rendered file sounds quite different.
(In the Render window I am leaving the default of Master Mix)

Suggestions?

By any chance did you put your effects on the Monitor track rather than on the Master? If so your rendered file wouldn't have effects applied.

Online voltronic

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #5 on: January 18, 2016, 01:14:45 PM »
Is there a trick to having FX you have applied to a mix end up in your rendered file?
The FX are definitely there while I am mixing but the rendered file sounds quite different.
(In the Render window I am leaving the default of Master Mix)

Suggestions?

By any chance did you put your effects on the Monitor track rather than on the Master? If so your rendered file wouldn't have effects applied.

I think Sloan may have nailed it.  BTW, effects applied to individual tracks should render also, but for global mix stuff (EQ, compression, limiting, etc.) I always put them on the Master bus.  I am rendering a project right now in Reaper with Ozone on the master bus.
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Offline StarkRavingCalm

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2016, 05:22:38 PM »
Is there a trick to having FX you have applied to a mix end up in your rendered file?
The FX are definitely there while I am mixing but the rendered file sounds quite different.
(In the Render window I am leaving the default of Master Mix)

Suggestions?

By any chance did you put your effects on the Monitor track rather than on the Master? If so your rendered file wouldn't have effects applied.

I think Sloan may have nailed it.  BTW, effects applied to individual tracks should render also, but for global mix stuff (EQ, compression, limiting, etc.) I always put them on the Master bus.  I am rendering a project right now in Reaper with Ozone on the master bus.


Yup, i believe that was it.
View\Montoring FX


So, is the best way choose View\FX Browser and choose the ones I want from there?
Also, it is best to apply to source I assume, not the Master Track.



Offline Sloan Simpson

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #7 on: January 18, 2016, 05:33:27 PM »
Is there a trick to having FX you have applied to a mix end up in your rendered file?
The FX are definitely there while I am mixing but the rendered file sounds quite different.
(In the Render window I am leaving the default of Master Mix)

Suggestions?

By any chance did you put your effects on the Monitor track rather than on the Master? If so your rendered file wouldn't have effects applied.

I think Sloan may have nailed it.  BTW, effects applied to individual tracks should render also, but for global mix stuff (EQ, compression, limiting, etc.) I always put them on the Master bus.  I am rendering a project right now in Reaper with Ozone on the master bus.


Yup, i believe that was it.
View\Montoring FX


So, is the best way choose View\FX Browser and choose the ones I want from there?
Also, it is best to apply to source I assume, not the Master Track.

Click the FX button on the track you're using:



If you're just working on a single source, it should not matter whether you put the effects on that track or on the Master. However if you're doing a matrix you may want/need to do both. For example you could put EQ on your AUD source, a different EQ on your SBD source, and then compression/limiting on the Master, to affect the entire mix.

Online voltronic

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #8 on: August 21, 2016, 05:37:41 PM »
Bumping this thread to share some very useful Reaper stuff for editing concert recordings.  Some of this is directed at classical music session work specifically, but there's no rule saying you can't use it with other things...  :drummer:

SWS Extensions - This is the "special sauce" that makes all of the cool things below possible.

Editing Classical Music in Reaper - A great guide on using SWS Extensions to speed up your concert editing workflow.  Part 4 of this guide connects with the next link below.

Source-Destination Custom Actions - AKA 3/4 point editing, as you find in software like Pyramix or Sequoia

Classical Helper Scripts V3 - Another user's version of source-destination custom actions

Tips for working with timecode
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Offline SacredMetal

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2016, 08:06:39 PM »
Finally downloaded & paid for a subscription for this. Thanks Voltronic, you posts have been most helpful in making the decision to go for it.

Now on to join their forums & learn more about this.  :coolguy:
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Offline StarkRavingCalm

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #10 on: November 23, 2016, 01:48:38 PM »
Question on aligning sources with different time codes.  Posting here before I cross post.

Background:

Taped two bands the other week as follows:
Mics1 > DR-70D
Mics2 > DR-70D
SBD > DR-60D

For the headliner, I imported all 3 of that sets files into Reaper and used the Nudge tool to line up the first song using vocals and drums as my reference.
I noticed the last song had some shift to it so I used the stretch tool to line up the last song.
Both ends remained lined up and sounding good, drums and vocals still tight,  so I continued with the rest of my mixing.

The recording of the opener is a different story.
Performing the same steps as before, shifting the end of the recording also shifts the beginning. Now I am not sure why the headliner worked so well.

Should I be "pinning" the beginning of these once I have nudged them?

Or am I using a completely incorrect method?
« Last Edit: November 25, 2016, 05:46:58 PM by StarkRavingCalm »

Offline Scooter123

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #11 on: November 25, 2016, 07:25:05 PM »
I'm a big Reaper fan for mixing but for time aligning, there are better programs.

Adobe Audition CC has a huge advantage because it is both a DAW and a stand alone wave form editor.  In general, I drop cue points in each track to be aligned and stretch each section, usually about every 15-20 minutes depending on how fast the out of synch recorder's time clock is.  I use the wave form editor in Adobe CC to visually place the cue point.  Listening is not near as accurate as visually seeing the blown up wave form for a drum rim shot.  I do the same for the other track.  Then do the math as to how many samples the segment is off, then convert that to percentages to stretch.
Regards,
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Offline hoserama

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #12 on: November 26, 2016, 11:19:37 AM »
Hey Scooter123, can you do a video to explain that?

 ;D
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Offline StarkRavingCalm

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #13 on: January 11, 2017, 03:34:49 PM »
Is there a way in Reaper to have each channel mixed equally?
I know my mics are not matched, and usually a 2 channel mix comes out OK.

But a multi-channel mix seems to widen that gap.
Here is a screenshot and sox output of one I just mixed:






             Overall     Left      Right
DC offset  -0.000175 -0.000175 -0.000175
Min level  -0.977043 -0.607173 -0.977043
Max level   0.950666  0.688010  0.950666
Pk lev dB      -0.20     -3.25     -0.20
RMS lev dB    -27.01    -28.75    -25.76
RMS Pk dB      -8.41    -13.05     -8.41
RMS Tr dB      -1.#J     -1.#J     -1.#J
Crest factor       -     18.84     18.97
Flat factor     0.00      0.00      0.00
Pk count           2         2         2
Bit-depth      24/24     24/24     24/24
Num samples     270M
Length s    5623.153
Scale max   1.000000
Window s       0.050



Is there away to have both channels mixed to the desired output level equally/
Even if one needs to be raised more than the other, the final outcome would be at the same level.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2017, 03:37:25 PM by StarkRavingCalm »

Offline Chilly Brioschi

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #14 on: February 06, 2017, 06:18:49 PM »
Are there multiple EQ FX? - especially a multiband processor like this one:

http://www.waves.com/plugins/linear-phase-multiband-compressor

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Offline Sloan Simpson

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #15 on: February 06, 2017, 06:24:02 PM »
Are there multiple EQ FX? - especially a multiband processor like this one:

http://www.waves.com/plugins/linear-phase-multiband-compressor



Reaper includes ReaXcomp for multiband (haven't used it personally), or you can use any VST effect you already own, like Waves Linear Phase MB.

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #16 on: September 14, 2022, 06:30:39 PM »
Bumping this thread because I have recently discovered the greatest thing for Reaper since SWS Extensions.

This stuff isn't just for people doing "classical" music, but anyone who needs more powerful options for editing in general, especially comping from multiple takes.

https://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=265145
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnoAQtkIUu7yv5mmmFR_JDQ/videos
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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #17 on: September 14, 2022, 06:34:40 PM »
Here is the theme I have used on and off for years, and recently went back to. IMHO, it is the most polished and well-thought-out Reaper theme. You don't need multiple monitors; you just use CTRL+M to toggle between your edit lanes (with mixer panel off) and the mixer. You do need at least 1080px vertical resolution.

https://www.houseofwhitetie.com/reaper/imperial/wt_imperial.html


If your monitor cannot handle Imperial, this is a very nice one:

https://stash.reaper.fm/theme/1702/Default_Commala_5.ReaperThemeZip

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Offline boomfizzle

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #18 on: September 26, 2022, 12:50:53 PM »
RE:  Easier Matrixing!

I believe I've struck upon something pretty major in Reaper for our needs:  Stretch Markers.  More specifically, Magnetic Stretch Markers.  The relevant part comes at around 1:10 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjKBp1b8n6o
(when I saw those wavs moving around together my jaw dropped)

I did a little more digging and found this trick, to create Transient Guides automatically https://youtu.be/GRO-ecLZqmw?t=448

I used the transient guides to automatically locate the identical transients between the waveforms and used Magnetic Stretch Markers to line them up (snap and grid disabled) at the beginning and the end of the show.   Once those were synced up perfectly, I just started scrubbing through the files looking for stuff that seemed out of phase.  I'd zoom in, look for a pair of transient guides that seemed to match up, click them to automatically create stretch markers, and I'd line them up using the Magnetic trick (zoomed all the way in to the level of plotted samples) and try again.   As long as I left the playhead within the stretch-markered region I was working on, every additional sync point would add additional clarity and phase alignment.  If I added a new sync point and playback got wonky, I'd delete that set of markers and dive back into the transient guides, looking for a better match nearby.  Then I just cleared the Transient Guides when I was done to leave it with a cleaner look in Reaper.

As I got better with this process, it really got quite easy.  I was able to sync 6 shows that first day I dove in, and although my ears were fatigued enough that I revisited some of them, for the most part I think this idea is sound.  I tried the Excel-Adobe Audition 3.0 method and it was just too confusing for me to get as much work done as I needed to.

Hope this helps others as I really couldn't find anything on the web about this process as it applies to our usual use cases.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2022, 11:15:07 AM by boomfizzle »
Mics: Busman BSC-1 | Nak CM300s | AKG C1000s | AKG C568 EBs | AT853s 4.7k mod | AT2021s | Superlux S502mkii | Superscope EC-3S | Superscope EC-33S | SP-MS-BMC-3 |
Recs: Zoom F8n Pro | Tascam DR-70D | Zoom H6 | Tascam DR-22WL

Offline mountainhop

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #19 on: November 03, 2022, 05:14:58 PM »
Finally downloaded & paid for a subscription for this. Thanks Voltronic, you posts have been most helpful in making the decision to go for it.

Now on to join their forums & learn more about this.  :coolguy:
would you mind sharing your best discoveries? its daunting to jump into something new with no guidance

Offline mountainhop

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #20 on: November 03, 2022, 05:16:50 PM »
RE:  Easier Matrixing!

I believe I've struck upon something pretty major in Reaper for our needs:  Stretch Markers.  More specifically, Magnetic Stretch Markers.  The relevant part comes at around 1:10 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjKBp1b8n6o
(when I saw those wavs moving around together my jaw dropped)

I did a little more digging and found this trick, to create Transient Guides automatically https://youtu.be/GRO-ecLZqmw?t=448

I used the transient guides to automatically locate the identical transients between the waveforms and used Magnetic Stretch Markers to line them up (snap and grid disabled) at the beginning and the end of the show.   Once those were synced up perfectly, I just started scrubbing through the files looking for stuff that seemed out of phase.  I'd zoom in, look for a pair of transient guides that seemed to match up, click them to automatically create stretch markers, and I'd line them up using the Magnetic trick (zoomed all the way in to the level of plotted samples) and try again.   As long as I left the playhead within the stretch-markered region I was working on, every additional sync point would add additional clarity and phase alignment.  If I added a new sync point and playback got wonky, I'd delete that set of markers and dive back into the transient guides, looking for a better match nearby.  Then I just cleared the Transient Guides when I was done to leave it with a cleaner look in Reaper.

As I got better with this process, it really got quite easy.  I was able to sync 6 shows that first day I dove in, and although my ears were fatigued enough that I revisited some of them, for the most part I think this idea is sound.  I tried the Excel-Adobe Audition 3.0 method and it was just too confusing for me to get as much work done as I needed to.

Hope this helps others as I really couldn't find anything on the web about this process as it applies to our usual use cases.
this is interesting, ive always lined up tthe tracks in vegas and used time stretch, but this sounds more accurate

Offline Scooter123

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Re: Reaper Audio Tips and Tricks: Show Reaper some love
« Reply #21 on: November 04, 2022, 03:56:42 AM »
My experience is that Adobe CC extends time stretch by percentage to something in excess of 8 decimal points, unlike Reaper.  With a simple audience file, a few (under 10 samples) might not be noticeable, but once you get into soundboard files, most people can tell the difference between 10 samples.  Adobe Audition 3.0 is, I have been told, more accurate, and can improve time synching by 3-4 samples per synch point, but Hoserarma is the expert in this matter.  I use Adobe CC for placing the markers and stretching.  Mr. Hose uses Adobe CC for placing markers and then uses Adobe 3.0 for the stretching. 

Just count the samples in base file within the markers, usually every 10-20 minutes, with the file to be stretched, and figure out the percentage difference, whether to shrink or stretch.  There is an excel spreadsheet with preprogrammed formulas widely circulated with room for about 20 marker segments.  Copy the percentage difference, which might have 8+ decimal points, into Adobe CC or Adobe 3.  Repeat for every marker segment.  It is super easy.  The hard part is placing the markers at precisely the right location, and Adobe CC with its wave form mode makes that pretty easy. 
Regards,
Scooter123

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