Even though Reaper rivals the much more expensive digital audio workstation, Pro Tools, making the leap from Pro Tools to Reaper was not as simple as it might sound. Long-time Pro Tools users often get used to using the proprietary plugins (effects and virtual instruments). Pro Tools used a format called RTAS exclusively for most of its existence. But some plugin providers are now creating VST (Windows) and AU (Mac) versions of their plugins, which is awesome because Reaper uses those formats.
One example of a plugin provider who has done this is AIR Music Technology with their AIR Creative FX Collection. Below is a video from the Reaper Blog reviewing these effects in Reaper:
Home Recording Equipment
Glue Effect Of Reverb
Are you familiar with the “glue effect” of reverb? Basically, ithe more or less signal you send from each of the tracks towards this bus, the more coherent the overall mix should sound. Did you get it? Do you want to know more about it? Here’s an article by Audio Fanzine and explains more about this glue effect.
Using Easy Drum Pattern Variations
Here’s a video tutorial from The Reaper Blog which talks about how to use the nudge function in FXpansion Geist or REAPERs MIDI editor actions to quickly and easily make multiple pattern variations. Here is the link to the video.
Rode Wireless Kit For Better Audio On Your Videos
Here is a wireless lavalier (lapel mic) kit by Rode to help you get better audio on your videos. I harp a lot on the prevalence of bad sounding audio that so many people seem to have on their videos. It isn’t that hard or expensive to get awesome quality on videos. See my post, How To Get Good Audio On Your Videos on ways to do this. There’s even a video of my talking head with both good and bad audio so you can hear the effect of some of the solutions. Anyway…
One of the ways I mention for improving the quality of the audio on your videos is to use a lavalier microphone, also known as a lapel microphone. This gets the mic close to your mouth, which is the key to better audio. And wireless kits like the RodeLink Wireless Filmmaker’s Kit allow the speaker to move around the room without worrying about wandering too far away from the mic. Plus they are more convenient than setting up a boom mic stand with a shotgun mic.
I’ve used a fairly cheap wireless lav kit called the Azden WMS-Pro, which runs only $149.70. It’s terrific for people like me who don’t shoot video more than few times a month. But it isn’t very rugged. I’d want something better if I were shooting video in the field and doing it super often. The RodeLink Wireless kit is $394, but offers more features and can stand up better to everyday use.
DSLR Video Shooter did a review – video and article – on the RodeLink kit, which you can read (and watch) all about here: http://dslrvideoshooter.com/rodelink-wireless-filmmakers-kit-review/
So here is yet another way to sound professional AND look professional by making sure you have better audio on your videos.
World's First Dual Diaphragm Dynamic Microphone
The Shure KSM8 Dualdyne microphone is the world’s first dual diaphragm dynamic microphone. This is pretty exciting stuff! Why? Well I should try to start at the beginning…sort of.
Okay, first you whould know the difference between a dynamic and a condenser mic. You can review our post – What Is the Difference Between Condenser and Dynamic Microphones? to do that. Basically, if you see someone holding a mic while singing live, that’s a dynamic mic (almost certainly). So the new Dualdyne mic is one of those.
Next, as you may have guessed form the title of the post, dynamic mics have always had only one diaphragm, which is the thing inside the mic that vibrates when you sing into it. Shure has sort of led the way in dynamic mic design, starting way back in 1939 with the Shure 55 “fatboy Elvis mic” (no comment about anyone’s weight or anything:-P). It was the world’s first single-element unidirectional microphone. That mic was designed to reduce feedback on stage and really was the foundation for every dynamic mic that came after. You can get a modern version of that here.
Then in 1964, Shure came out with the SM-57 and the SM-58 mics, which are so ubiquitous (they’re everywhere) that I’d be surprised if YOU didn’t have at least one of them in your house somewhere. the SM-58 was the first ice cream cone-shaped hand-held mic and continues to be the most popular live mic around.
These directional mics had what is called a “cardioid” pickup pattern, which means it is most sensitive in the front (where you would bite the ice cream), and least sensitive (which means it rejects sound – good for avoiding feedback and noise) from the rear – the area at the point of the cone would be. But this creates a well-known phenomenon called “proximity effect,” which means that as your mouth gets closer to the mic, it sounds deeper and muddier.
Shure had been looking for ways to deal with this, among other improvements in the hand-held dynamic mic and came up with the idea to put a second diaphragm inside the mic. In so doing, they ended up having to redesign everything inside the mic to make it happen. And the result is the KSM8 Dualdyne microphone, which, as we’ve mentioned, is the first-ever dual diaphragm dynamic microphone.
I will be acquiring one for review purposes in the coming weeks. Until then, check out the video below from Shure about the new mic. And if you want to learn more or buy one right now, CLICK HERE.