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:
daw
Use This Simple Technique To Make A Boring Song Pop
I just watched a cool video from Graham over at The Recording Revolution, showing how he turned one of his songs from one that was a bit boring (his word:)), to one that really popped. He did this using just one plugin – a vocal pitch effect similar to Antares Auto-Tune and Harmony Engine EVO. It was called Neptune Pitch Adjuster & Voice Synth, which is part of a recording software program called “Record,” by Propellerhead. Of course, you can do the same thing with other DAWs and vocal pitch and harmony plugins. I use Reaper as my main DAW, and you can use any VST plugin with Reaper.
Anyway, the key here was that Graham used this effect to create contrast in his mix, making it more interesting and complex. He used a combination of extreme vocal pitch tuning – think T-Pain or that one song by Cher in the 90s – along with a sort of robotic sounding harmony generator creating some nice vocal harmonies on the verses. Then he left the vocal on the chorus untouched by those effects such that the natural sound of his voice there is very different from what it is on the verses. The overall effect is a mix that now pops more.
Watch the video – and more importantly – listen to the before-and-after audio here:
http://therecordingrevolution.com/2015/03/05/a-simple-way-to-make-your-mixes-pop-video/
Check Out MusicTech's Bluffer's Guide To Music Technology
For the musicians out there: MusicTech.net has started an article series that might interest you. It’s called The Bluffer’s Guide to Music Technology. I am a believer in looking at the same basic concepts from multiple points of view, and the Bluffer’s Guide presents much of the same material as we do in our 6-part series, “How To Build A Home Recording Studio.” It assumes from the start, however, that the reader is going to be interested primarily in recording, mixing, and mastering music (hence the word “music” in the title). As with most of our content, our series is a bit more broad and is written for both musicians AND folks doing voiceover recording (including video narration, podcasts, VOIP audio, etc.). Also, I am pretty sure the MusicTech author is British (or possibly Australian) because he debates the pronunciation of the word “DAW” (digital audio workstation) by suggesting that it could be “door.”
To start with part one of The bluffer’s Guide To Music Technology, see www.musictech.net/2014/10/bluff-1/.
Cheers!
Propellerhead Reason Recording Software Tutorial
Propellerhead Reason was originally program that focused only on making music by providing the user with a virtual “rack.” Into this rack, you could put virtual instruments, effects, and mixers. It has been around since 2000, and up until last year (2012) it was a MIDI only program, meaning you could not record audio with it. That relegated it to the realm of a support program, requiring you to sort of attach it to a real recording program like Reaper or Pro Tools.
Recently though – with the release of version 6 – Reason became a a real stand-alone digital audio workstation (DAW), being given the ability to record audio.
Though you can record audio into Reason with any audio interface, you might want to check out Propellerhead’s own Balance, which has a few very interesting and awesome features. One that sounds like something I’d like to see on more interface units is something called Clip Safe. When activated, Clip Safe records two versions of your audio – one as normal, and another that has a limiter applied automatically to prevent any extra loud audio from distorting (clipping). Very cool.
One limitation with Reason, which truly holds it back from competing better with the big-boy DAWs, is its lack of support of VST. Propellerhead has such a large collection of effects and instruments already, that it might not be a problem for some. But most users feel severely hampered by the inability to easily use VST instruments and effects (I say “easily” because it is still possible to use them, but you have to use a thing called “rewire” to do it. So be warned.
Here is a link to a short tutorial on how to record audio with Reason:
http://www.musictech.net/2013/09/reason-power-recording-1/
Reaper 4.5 Has Awesome MIDI Improvements
Reaper, the incredibly awesome recording software (DAW – digital audio workstation), just released a major update in version 4.5 yesterday, Sep 2nd. If you are not aware already, you don’t pay for for this update if you already have Reaper. This is one of the unique and awesome features of Reaper ownership. By the way, I have no affiliation with Reaper other than how much I like it.
Despite the incredible features and community of Reaper – totally unique honor-based pricing system, uncrippled 60-day trial that never actually stops working, lightweight code (and hence, download), same basic professional features you find on DAWs costing 3 times more, etc., etc., (read our post about Reaper for more detail here – Why Reaper Rocks as a DAW ), one common complaint has always been its weakness in MIDI features and capability. This update has changed that!
Make no mistake, this update is huge across the board. But the MIDI changes are the coolest. Here are just a few of the improvements:
- See all the midi tracks/items in the editor
- Draw CC events on multiple tracks at once
- See the next/all items in the track
- New Track List (in MIDI Editor) that allows you to not only see, but also edit (!) multiple tracks and items ath the same time
One person in the Reaper forum said he used to dread getting up in the morning knowing he had to face the Reaper MIDI Editor, and now he looks forward to it. Of course, it’s only been 2 days;).
But that brings up another point. Reaper has ALREADY pushed an update to 4.5 (4.51) with even more improvements! That’s 24 hours between updates. Short of some iOS apps, can you think of any other software companies that do this?
To see the complete list of the new stuff in the new version of Reaper, see it here – http://forum.cockos.com/showthread.php?t=127648 . Be sure to read through the entire thread for some explanations and pics of some of these updates.
To download Reaper, and/or find out everything about it, go here: http://www.cockos.com/reaper/