It's funny how many people who don't yet fully appreciate Reaper think it's for beginners because 1. it's incredibly customizable and 2. it's UI is regarded as not as good as other DAWs. All the while, beneath it's understated, elegant UI is incredible capability and possibility. I predict that Reaper will eventually replace protools as the industry standard.
Protools could be approaching the moment that happened with QuarkXpress vs InDesign in publiishing. QX got arrogant as heck and forgot that service is the *only* major driver for most economies these days. Quark also had nasty STDs (Seriously Troublesome Dongles!) for copy protection. InDesign ate their lunch. People in the industry I respect are starting to feel the same way. My take is that Reaper still suffers from a tiny bit of Linux-Disease in that you have to understand a bit of menu gymnastics and seriously need to be told that "Almost everything exists as an action! Press "?" to pop that sucker up often and make your own shortcuts and menu buttons." I'm pretty geeky and I *love* Reaper but (like all DAWs) it took a while to understand how to get it to top to MIDI and Operating System stuff and play nicely but there also seemed to be a "mystification" factor that I can only describe as that feeling when you play a new First Person Shooter or Dungeon game and have *no* *clue* why when you wander in one direction you end up in that place but why you can never find that one "power up" or whatever. For folks who can't easily adjust to a "primitive looking, slightly non-standard" interface it can be initially disorienting and intimidating. That said ... dang, I love Reaper and my mind explodes weekly lately as I discover what it can do with my new Arturia Keylab keyboard and the massive synth emulator library I bought with it. I just fell down the routing rabbit hole and side chains and sending my dang guitar signal directly into a Korg analog synth emulator like it was the real deal. I'll think "I want to do X" and Kenny will say "sure, you can do X in Reaper but you can also make that easier and more flexible of you do Y instead!" >FWOOOM< Mind blown again. I do believe you are right, though, that Reaper, especially at the price and even moreso because of the lack of Annoying Unresponsive Corporate Overlords and Marketing Dorkbags telling the software engineers and artists how to make the software.
Honestly this one is going to take a serious sit down and pay close attention session for me to know when and how to utilize as my skill set(s) continue to develop. I have to keep reminding my Type A personality and OCD brain that when overload starts to creep in to revert back to a k-i-s-s reset and relax. The #1 thing in music creation is the pure fact that it is above all supposed to be FUN!! Mastering REAPER will end up being a never ending rabbit hole of recording enjoyment (at least for me) and that is why I love this DAW.
That last quarter in this video...I was watching a Greg Scott mixing video about cutting a lower Drum Bus frequency to bring out guitars/synths/strings etc in a certain section and he said before just "driving up the guitars output"...try shaving the lower frequency by a small amount. Then maybe bring up a tiny bit after in the Guitars at around 2.5K. This is a great one for doing that as different instruments come into the mix. That was an especially great technique for me, thanks again Kenny.
it would be amazing if reaper had a native "auto gain" option. this feels like practically it will end up being a bit more cluncky, as most likely it will be too difficult to set the right balance in parameter link, specially consifering the width of an EQ band, or attack/release settings on compressor, etc. (+ the fact that this has to be set up for every single plugin + every EQ band even) TDR nova actually has auto gain, which works amazingly well considering reaper added OS per plugin, and even delta solo (2 of the craziest things ever imo), a native auto gain option, per plugin would be instanity (and not that "otherwordly" considering reaper itself)
Maybe in a future update, they can add that. It could be so easy to have a few options to input offset values, positive/negative...... That would be neat!
actually there is, it's at the bottom of tbproaudio downloads page, AB Level Matching JSFX for Reaper :) but keep in mind various dynamics audio processing compensation cannot be perfect
1) There is no DAW that has such ability out of the box. 2) Auto-gaining for compressors doesn't work like shown in the video. It can be done only by the compressor developer and still not everyone who does it do it right. Compression rate is a thing. 3) The only generic way that kinda could work is by matching RMS or other over-time loudness matching.
That makes the stock plugins a bunch more useful - thanks! Also, love that bass sound - very McCartmey-esque from the song "1985". Digging what we can hear of that track, actually.
I love that this can get me close to an appropriate amount of makeup gain without a lot of futzing around. It doesn't have to be perfect. If fact it's rather difficult to be perfect. One of my complaints about many compressor videos is that the subtly of the compressor is completely overwhelmed by the accompanying volume change. So, well done Kenny!
Can’t tell you how many times I’m verbally (and silently) singing your praises, Kenny. A ‘thankyou’ seems so lame, but it’s value to me is immense. So, thank you!
I think you are a genius! This tutorial seems like you take compression to a new level with auto gain. And you take us step-by-step through the process. You are such a good teacher! You make the amazing Reaper DAW approachable. Imagine reading this information in the manual (I'm sure it's there, somewhere)? I'd be lost in a paragraph! But you demo the technique and then prove it by performance! Thank you, oh wise one!
That would work if there were a linear relation between threshold and gain, between gain reduction and perceived loudness. Lowering the threshold 2dB does not mean you will hear 2 dB lower, so you can't just compensate it automaticaly (and linearly) with the gain.
The scale slider gives you a single order of relation delta between the parameters. If you need more, then just set up an additional parameter mod on the exact same controls with another scale value. Use offset on both to get even less linearity.
Makes sense. So, if not linear, then what? Because perceived loudness is subjective, what mathematical relationship CAN we use do we set auto gain automatically?
@@iainmackenzieUK The thing is: which parameter do you want to mantain with an autogain? Whether you want to keep peaks or RMS constant, the result of lowering the threshold depends (among other things) on the rate of the compressor.
Computers these days are powerful enough to do the RMS\LU-M as we adjust some amplitude affecting parameter. So, if we import an audio file via the Media explorer, it should have Import settings such as: normalize to RMS\LU-M\EBU128 at x dBFS. Then a plugin requested to match the such adjusted imported gain of the audio, should make RMS\LU-M automatic adjustment to match the Output value. This is currently available in: right click audio event → Item properties... → take section: Normalize Or simply: select right click audio event → Item processing... → Normalize item peal\RMS\LU... This Normalise function should be on: Media explorer → Import button right click: set import normalise options (radio buttons with user input) · by RMS: · by LU: · by peaks · source (as is) → set as default and do not ask again Then every plugin should match that value as Output volume (or not if we want to tweak the level post-FX). This way will save us so much hassle to "gain stage" audio clips before mixing.
Another super helpful tip. It comes just as I was looking for a way to streamline the auto-gain on a song I am currently mixing. It's almost like you are reading my mind ! Thanks Kenny.
I went to check this on a 3rd party plugin, but with 2-3 adjustments that individually and cumulatively affect the volume, it made me curious as to the effectiveness of this process for those adjustments. Thanks so much for ALL of the insight!
This is great, thanks Kenny. Instead of adjusting the Offset to get the auto-gain right, I adjusted the scale (for my track to -89%). I think this is better because this way the gain stays at 0 when the threshold is at 0.
Feature request to Reaper devs and/or community programmers: Regarding the (happily open source) JSFX effects it should be rather easy to add an AutoGain Feature hence you would not need top mimic this externally.
Yeah I get the idea and it's great that REAPER has that. However in the video examples I would have tweaked more the scale parameter because the amount of change between the two parameters is not the same in both the compressor (due to the ratio different from 1:1) and the EQ (because you're changing the gain only of part of the frequency spectrum). Thanks for that! Moreover, it would be useful to have a scale range of more than 100%, I see it possibly convenient in cases like this. I will check on the forum.
The forum asked: actually it seems that a value of more than 100% can be set for the scale parameter by direct numeric input, even though the slider only gets up to 100%. Have to check it :)
Thanks for the great video, Kenny. I found that IK Comprexxor provide L and R channel for its parameters. Wondering how I can do the auto gain function with its input and output knobs. Thanks.
So when I think of "Auto-Gain" it's usually something like what Hornet VU meter performed with it's AI reveling function. Seems like this is more just a method for doing offsets of parameters as you're making adjustments, not so much for brining your track levels into line.
Very interesting tutorial, as usual from Kenny. Tried it out on some 3rd party plugins and it seems to work there too. BUT, I couldn't work out how to unmake/undo a parameter link if I had got it wrong. Am I missing something?
Super cool! Is it possible to use Parameter modulation in the Batch process? I'm trying to find a way to engage a FX only when the loudness of a track is below a certain level.
scratching my head?.... on my system, it's still seams way louder, when you use the sliders in yer example? could I adjust the offset more to compensate? I know what u mean though?, In this day in age, I don't know why plug makers don't implement this feature more? lol, prolly cuz on a lot of plugins, they don't want you to know that it isn't doing all that much?..heh Cheers Kenny, love the channel!
if I want to set 2 eq parameter to the output can be done? lets say the shelf as your example + one bell eq lets at 3k or only one at a time can be done?
Watched this video a while ago, and just recently it occure d to me this parameter linking might be useful in other context. so question Kenny: could you link two plugins on difference channels; for example, have same EQ on two channels and link the low/hi pass so when you change it on one, it also changes on the other? e.g. have low pass at 1K con ch1, and high pass at 1K on ch 2. When you change to say 500Hz on one, the other follows?
I'm trying to link the length controls of two taps on ReaDelay. I need them to be 4ms offset from each other. I can't really use the offset % slider because that sends it way apart, even at 1%. I need these to move together like ganged faders on the mixer. Any idea how to do this?
Oversampling per plug in/chain and now this. Reaper is the absolute business.
Thank you Kenny (and Dan Worral).
It's funny how many people who don't yet fully appreciate Reaper think it's for beginners because 1. it's incredibly customizable and 2. it's UI is regarded as not as good as other DAWs. All the while, beneath it's understated, elegant UI is incredible capability and possibility. I predict that Reaper will eventually replace protools as the industry standard.
Protools could be approaching the moment that happened with QuarkXpress vs InDesign in publiishing. QX got arrogant as heck and forgot that service is the *only* major driver for most economies these days. Quark also had nasty STDs (Seriously Troublesome Dongles!) for copy protection. InDesign ate their lunch. People in the industry I respect are starting to feel the same way. My take is that Reaper still suffers from a tiny bit of Linux-Disease in that you have to understand a bit of menu gymnastics and seriously need to be told that "Almost everything exists as an action! Press "?" to pop that sucker up often and make your own shortcuts and menu buttons."
I'm pretty geeky and I *love* Reaper but (like all DAWs) it took a while to understand how to get it to top to MIDI and Operating System stuff and play nicely but there also seemed to be a "mystification" factor that I can only describe as that feeling when you play a new First Person Shooter or Dungeon game and have *no* *clue* why when you wander in one direction you end up in that place but why you can never find that one "power up" or whatever. For folks who can't easily adjust to a "primitive looking, slightly non-standard" interface it can be initially disorienting and intimidating.
That said ... dang, I love Reaper and my mind explodes weekly lately as I discover what it can do with my new Arturia Keylab keyboard and the massive synth emulator library I bought with it. I just fell down the routing rabbit hole and side chains and sending my dang guitar signal directly into a Korg analog synth emulator like it was the real deal. I'll think "I want to do X" and Kenny will say "sure, you can do X in Reaper but you can also make that easier and more flexible of you do Y instead!" >FWOOOM< Mind blown again.
I do believe you are right, though, that Reaper, especially at the price and even moreso because of the lack of Annoying Unresponsive Corporate Overlords and Marketing Dorkbags telling the software engineers and artists how to make the software.
Well said! ❤
Honestly this one is going to take a serious sit down and pay close attention session for me to know when and how to utilize as my skill set(s) continue to develop. I have to keep reminding my Type A personality and OCD brain that when overload starts to creep in to revert back to a k-i-s-s reset and relax. The #1 thing in music creation is the pure fact that it is above all supposed to be FUN!! Mastering REAPER will end up being a never ending rabbit hole of recording enjoyment (at least for me) and that is why I love this DAW.
That last quarter in this video...I was watching a Greg Scott mixing video about cutting a lower Drum Bus frequency to bring out guitars/synths/strings etc in a certain section and he said before just "driving up the guitars output"...try shaving the lower frequency by a small amount.
Then maybe bring up a tiny bit after in the Guitars at around 2.5K.
This is a great one for doing that as different instruments come into the mix.
That was an especially great technique for me, thanks again Kenny.
it would be amazing if reaper had a native "auto gain" option.
this feels like practically it will end up being a bit more cluncky, as most likely it will be too difficult to set the right balance in parameter link, specially consifering the width of an EQ band, or attack/release settings on compressor, etc. (+ the fact that this has to be set up for every single plugin + every EQ band even)
TDR nova actually has auto gain, which works amazingly well
considering reaper added OS per plugin, and even delta solo (2 of the craziest things ever imo), a native auto gain option, per plugin would be instanity (and not that "otherwordly" considering reaper itself)
Maybe in a future update, they can add that. It could be so easy to have a few options to input offset values, positive/negative...... That would be neat!
actually there is,
it's at the bottom of tbproaudio downloads page, AB Level Matching JSFX for Reaper :)
but keep in mind various dynamics audio processing compensation cannot be perfect
@@TazzSmk i love you man!
1) There is no DAW that has such ability out of the box.
2) Auto-gaining for compressors doesn't work like shown in the video. It can be done only by the compressor developer and still not everyone who does it do it right. Compression rate is a thing.
3) The only generic way that kinda could work is by matching RMS or other over-time loudness matching.
no. go set the gain with ur ears. like any producer had ever done.
love the new format, and it is so good to put a face to your channel. Thank you for providing great instruction over the years. :)
That makes the stock plugins a bunch more useful - thanks!
Also, love that bass sound - very McCartmey-esque from the song "1985". Digging what we can hear of that track, actually.
There is free JS from TBPro Audio, AB LM, which is working properly when changing gain, by matching outlet to inlet. Based on RIMS or LUFS.
I love that this can get me close to an appropriate amount of makeup gain without a lot of futzing around. It doesn't have to be perfect. If fact it's rather difficult to be perfect. One of my complaints about many compressor videos is that the subtly of the compressor is completely overwhelmed by the accompanying volume change. So, well done Kenny!
Thanks. And I agree. Most real auto-gain isn't perfect either.
Can’t tell you how many times I’m verbally (and silently) singing your praises, Kenny. A ‘thankyou’ seems so lame, but it’s value to me is immense. So, thank you!
Me too.... the word "stretch-markers" will be forever linked to his voice.
@@miquelmarti6537 😂
I think you are a genius! This tutorial seems like you take compression to a new level with auto gain. And you take us step-by-step through the process.
You are such a good teacher! You make the amazing Reaper DAW approachable.
Imagine reading this information in the manual (I'm sure it's there, somewhere)? I'd be lost in a paragraph! But you demo the technique and then prove it by performance!
Thank you, oh wise one!
That would work if there were a linear relation between threshold and gain, between gain reduction and perceived loudness. Lowering the threshold 2dB does not mean you will hear 2 dB lower, so you can't just compensate it automaticaly (and linearly) with the gain.
The scale slider gives you a single order of relation delta between the parameters.
If you need more, then just set up an additional parameter mod on the exact same controls with another scale value. Use offset on both to get even less linearity.
Linear is still better than nothing, especially for small moves
Makes sense. So, if not linear, then what? Because perceived loudness is subjective, what mathematical relationship CAN we use do we set auto gain automatically?
@@iainmackenzieUK The thing is: which parameter do you want to mantain with an autogain? Whether you want to keep peaks or RMS constant, the result of lowering the threshold depends (among other things) on the rate of the compressor.
I concur, but t's only an approximation. In many ways it's just good enough. It's certainly helpful.
Computers these days are powerful enough to do the RMS\LU-M as we adjust some amplitude affecting parameter.
So, if we import an audio file via the Media explorer, it should have Import settings such as: normalize to RMS\LU-M\EBU128 at x dBFS.
Then a plugin requested to match the such adjusted imported gain of the audio, should make RMS\LU-M automatic adjustment to match the Output value.
This is currently available in: right click audio event → Item properties... → take section: Normalize
Or simply: select right click audio event → Item processing... → Normalize item peal\RMS\LU...
This Normalise function should be on:
Media explorer → Import button right click: set import normalise options (radio buttons with user input)
· by RMS:
· by LU:
· by peaks
· source (as is)
→ set as default and do not ask again
Then every plugin should match that value as Output volume (or not if we want to tweak the level post-FX).
This way will save us so much hassle to "gain stage" audio clips before mixing.
Another EXCELLENT tutorial and a "hidden" trick for our Daw! Once again, thank you Kenny! 🙏🙏🙏
I remember this idea from the master plugin video but i dig this idea w the EQ. Thank you KG
Another super helpful tip. It comes just as I was looking for a way to streamline the auto-gain on a song I am currently mixing. It's almost like you are reading my mind ! Thanks Kenny.
Thanks Kenny I always look forward to your lessons
I love your channel man. I love Reaper and your channel has helped me a lot to get the most out of it. Thank you.
Tip: It could be helpful to use a Meter plugin to set the best "scale" value in order to keep loudness consistent.
Never thought of doing something like this. That's genius (as always, I shouldn't even be surprised anymore, Kenny!) Thanks.
Thanks
I went to check this on a 3rd party plugin, but with 2-3 adjustments that individually and cumulatively affect the volume, it made me curious as to the effectiveness of this process for those adjustments. Thanks so much for ALL of the insight!
This is great, thanks Kenny. Instead of adjusting the Offset to get the auto-gain right, I adjusted the scale (for my track to -89%). I think this is better because this way the gain stays at 0 when the threshold is at 0.
Very useful. But I would be great if each Reaper plugin had a checkbox for autogain
But this is customizable.
Reaper is the king of DAW cause you cab create the DAW you want, make it looks like you want, in simple words you are the DAW
Liking the new intro Kenny!
This is excellent! Thanks, Kenny! I can’t wait to try it out.
I wish ReaEQ had autogain that worked for the adjustment of as many bands as you have and use.
Feature request to Reaper devs and/or community programmers:
Regarding the (happily open source) JSFX effects it should be rather easy to add an AutoGain Feature hence you would not need top mimic this externally.
So simple and so good. Thanks Kenny
Yeah I get the idea and it's great that REAPER has that. However in the video examples I would have tweaked more the scale parameter because the amount of change between the two parameters is not the same in both the compressor (due to the ratio different from 1:1) and the EQ (because you're changing the gain only of part of the frequency spectrum). Thanks for that! Moreover, it would be useful to have a scale range of more than 100%, I see it possibly convenient in cases like this. I will check on the forum.
The forum asked: actually it seems that a value of more than 100% can be set for the scale parameter by direct numeric input, even though the slider only gets up to 100%. Have to check it :)
Thanks Kenny! As usual, this is a great video!! This will help immensely
Thanks for the great video, Kenny. I found that IK Comprexxor provide L and R channel for its parameters. Wondering how I can do the auto gain function with its input and output knobs. Thanks.
Simply brilliant!
Very nice! Love that music piece too :)
:)
The songs you use are always awesome! Did you make this and do you sell beats? 😂
No. I get them mostly from Epidemic Sound.
Amazing tip! moreover to get a better snapshot of your craft, rather than tricking yourselve with more and more volume per vst intance! thanks Keny
So when I think of "Auto-Gain" it's usually something like what Hornet VU meter performed with it's AI reveling function. Seems like this is more just a method for doing offsets of parameters as you're making adjustments, not so much for brining your track levels into line.
Man you are giving us GREAT STUFF. Thanks a bunch Kenny.
excellent sir.
They should just add an auto gain feature that can be added to any plugin.
You rocks man. You just rocks.
Very interesting tutorial, as usual from Kenny. Tried it out on some 3rd party plugins and it seems to work there too. BUT, I couldn't work out how to unmake/undo a parameter link if I had got it wrong. Am I missing something?
thanks Kenny .... you unlock my daily chakras, 😉🎼💙
Holy Kenny!
Nice one Kenny !!
This is awesome thanks!
reaper really does everything huh, thank you so much!
Very clever.
NIce new intro
Amazing
Doing it manually with eq will be more efficient for me
Super cool! Is it possible to use Parameter modulation in the Batch process? I'm trying to find a way to engage a FX only when the loudness of a track is below a certain level.
this realy working ty man
scratching my head?.... on my system, it's still seams way louder, when you use the sliders in yer example? could I adjust the offset more to compensate? I know what u mean though?, In this day in age, I don't know why plug makers don't implement this feature more? lol, prolly cuz on a lot of plugins, they don't want you to know that it isn't doing all that much?..heh Cheers Kenny, love the channel!
Cool tune.
YAAAAAAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
if I want to set 2 eq parameter to the output can be done? lets say the shelf as your example + one bell eq lets at 3k or only one at a time can be done?
Genial. gracias
Watched this video a while ago, and just recently it occure d to me this parameter linking might be useful in other context. so question Kenny: could you link two plugins on difference channels; for example, have same EQ on two channels and link the low/hi pass so when you change it on one, it also changes on the other? e.g. have low pass at 1K con ch1, and high pass at 1K on ch 2. When you change to say 500Hz on one, the other follows?
Is there a way, i can use the volume of one track to control the volume of another
Yes. Track Grouping.
@@REAPERMania wow ! Interesting, thanks
Mr Gioia, you sir are a genius .... is your Reaper brain available from Amazon? LOL!!
Take care brother.....
LOL
I'm trying to link the length controls of two taps on ReaDelay. I need them to be 4ms offset from each other. I can't really use the offset % slider because that sends it way apart, even at 1%. I need these to move together like ganged faders on the mixer. Any idea how to do this?
That was cool!
Amazing. Thanks your your help. :)
Question, can you set it up to automate all bands in an instance of ReaEQ or just one?
You can set up many but it might get complicated.
THANK YOU!!!!!!
Wauuuww iam cubase user but that is amazing wauuuww I need Reaper
this works for 3rd party plugins too?
Works with anything.
Here 8:20 when i click knob global gain it's doesn't work. How?
I am surprised it doesn't have auto gain, I mean reaComp does.
Comment no.100 ❤⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is why Reaper is the best.
Coz it ships with Kenny
Big fan of Dan Worrall as well... it's his favorite DAW
2:25 5:39 7:41
😍😍😍😍😍🔥❤