I'm ALWAYS learning something new on every video. Thank you Kenny! I've been trying to work through the back log of all your videos, and it is insane JUST HOW VERSATILE Reaper is!
I’m old and nowhere close to a pro, but being that I have many years of working within the old school rank and file observing and learning, this has been my defacto method since the 80s. My mantra has remained “I am a master of nothing and a student of everything”. Another enjoyable presentation Kenny, but I’m mentally changing the title to Mix Old & (methodically) Slow in REAPER. Creating will always bring me the most enjoyment, but man oh man mixing brings the most satisfaction especially when I get things really close.
Reaper is awesome for this kind of workflow. You can even go à step further and use a template all the préset you want on pre-labeled bus (Kick, snare, toms, bass, gtr1, gtr2, keys) and use the power of folders. If you want to mix project, simply load your template and then drag the project track in your preseted bus folders.
Thanks again, Mr. G! I’ve wondered how the “old-timers” could work with so much hardware. I’d always imagined they’d have to route the desired outboard FX to the target track each and every session. I guess that’s why I’ve done the same “inside the box.” This will help out a lot on future projects 🤠👍
I use different busses for the effect, only thing you have to do is create sends to those busses, you can use unlimited busses, works great, Reaper is a top-notch DAW, and on these busses you can add more plugins, so for delay, you can use gates, and reverb or an automated panning, I learned this from video's from Bob Clearmountain. The master of FX creating. Great video Kenny.
Great video. Chris Lord Alge said all his hardware is "Set and Forget". All in racks Vox Drum Guitars etc. Great vid. I'm fixing up a last batch of Ableton loop based tracks that are finally arranged ok... to start my mixing and mastering in Reaper.
I had no idea that's how old pros use all that outboard. Very interesting. In hindsight this and other things make sense ... the emphasis on presets and mix templates for example. And with hardware needing recall sheets, set and forget means way less to physically recall. So the ReaGate/Comp/EQ in this is like the console channel processors. And I guess bringing up outboard as inserts would be like adding a plugin ... but the plugin would have a specific default saved. My personal workflow is pretty different, but there are things I like that I could adopt. Hmm...
I've come to the conclusion that, in using the Reaper DAW, you must be willing to put in the time needed not only to learn the basics, but the time necessary to use its advanced features and customizations, scripts, custom actions, etc., in order to take full advantage of this monster program! LOL...and when you think you have it down, guess what? Even MORE updates and features become available. Seemingly endless learning is required to "master" the program, and to be realistic, we can never actually master it. If it were not for your videos, Kenny, I would have been overwhelmed with the complexity of this amazing DAW! Thanks for yet another informative, practical video!
Very helpful! I'm in the midst of composing a song in the style of Van Halen with a James Bond theme. I'm applying some of these tid bids to my Reaper tracks.
Really great video and as someone whos worked on console back in the tape days, this nails it. I think for me personally, and for my work flow, I don't want to clutter up my tracks with sends for instruments that won't be sent to a return. i.e I just wouldn't see the point in a drumverb return on my guitar track etc but some very cool stuff here. Thanks again!
On an analog console, those Aux Sends would be on every channel as well. Just like in this video, and you’d just turn them down just like the video. So Aux 1 is always Aux 1, whether you use it or not. Here though, for visual clutter purposes, you have options: 1st let me say that having the Same thing on every row on every track, for me is far less cluttered than every track with different sends. Then, you can easily just Hide all of the Sends in the mixer, as well as Plugins, or Parameters. Show All three, any two, just one, or None. (Look for Show FX inserts, FX Parameters, Sends (when size permits) in the Actions menu. I set keyboard shortcuts ^F13, 14, 15. Crazy fast & organized. Allows me to see tons of each, then hide what I’m not working on.) Lastly you can also QUICKLY Mute any sends you’re not using by simply holding Shift and clicking it in the mixer. A) they’re basically turned off, but B) they turn Red and visually guide you towards what you Are using. (FYI similarly Shift Clicking the plugins Bypasses them and turns them red as well, so like Kenny showed you can put a bunch of your favorites In Place and Bypassed, then just Shift Click them into action.) So at least try and give yourself 3 shortcuts and ratchet through those modes. Use your Sends and Parameters to full effect. See if it empowers and cleans up your workflow. It does for everyone I’ve set up this way.
Amazing as usual Kenny! Do you prefer having an FX buss for projects or keep FX with their respective groups, like drum verbs with drums, vocal delay with vocals, etc.?
I'm not sure where your question was headed, or if Kenny answered it exactly, but I have one similar that I'd love each of you to chime in on: Do you keep ALL EFX send-returns together (say on the right side of the mixer) like on an Analog Console; Or since (unlike any analog console) you have virtually unlimited send-returns, do you treat each Group like it's own Sub-Mixer with it's respective EFX in the same Folder/section of the main mixer? And then... Do you Route ALL EFX directly to the Master-Bus, again like the EFX Returns on an Analog Console, or do you route each Group's respective EFX to their own Sub-Mix (Stem), then those Sub-Groups (with baked in EFX) to the Main Mix. What are the Pros & Cons of each approach? Thanks Guys!!!!
Kenny, I would like further clarification if possible? When sending from the parent track to the fx returns, it looks like the fx are then bussed by default to the master? Could i setup so the returns can be bussed to the same original track? Would this have to be via adding channels to said track to receive all of the different returns? Blessed love
Another brilliant and useful video from Kenny. I have one question, if Kenny. or anyone else can help. I've been using Reaper a while and even though I built a powerful PC in hope it would have more than enough processing power for whatever I wanted to do, it can still struggle when I start using a lot of 3rd party plugins. In particular, problems seem to crop up when I start sending too many tracks to bus effect tracks. So is this 'Mix Like an Old Pro' setup going to be overly taxing on my PC CPU?
@@serviotulio2391 Let’s say I have a compressor setup on a bus and my audio tracks are being sent to that bus (no processing on audio tracks, just the bus), can I freeze the bus comp track and still have audio flowing through the frozen track being compressed? You get me?
@@johnefrederick1590 I understood. I've never tested doing a freeze on a bus track, so I'm not the best person to answer this question, but my PC is not the best and yet I've worked with projects with 38 tracks and it didn't "choke" because I only use bus tracks for reverb and compressor. Perhaps your projects are even heavier precisely because of the number of these bus tracks.
@@serviotulio2391 Yes indeed, that's what I do when I'm having CPU problems. But if you're setting a whole load of tracks at project start like Kenny is suggesting then freezing them isn't a practical option ☹️
Kenny -(or anyone) I'm not getting the words at the top and bottom of the tracks like your video shows. Can you explain the channel setup? Fantastic video. I'm really anxious to duplicate this.
Anyone else using the SSL UF8 with Reaper? Everytime I touch a slider on the UF8, it actually plays a note in my vst (Hive) and sliding the fader changes the notes pitch. I also have Cubase where this doesn't occur, so im guessing it must be Reaper. Any help/ guidance would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance
I must admit every since my Yamaha SPX90 days I have created basic effects and then tweaked them to be saved as specific presets rather than filling the room with gear. Using MIDI I could then change the presets effects at various points in a song. Is there any value in a tutorial that emulates this? In the analoge world we were limited by the number of tracks so this was a good work around.
If you want to feel like oldy just imagine that your computer is a stack of little analogue expensive gears that buzz inside the box and start mixing finally!
My only problem with reaper currently is the CPU usage spikes … it will spike and crash with one track minimum effects … not like I have some huge projects going just a track for guitar to play over backing tracks …
@@brownpunk1794 Someone plz explain to me how and why REAPER is popping,cracking , spiking cpu% like crazy - one track minimum fx - what’s the fix ?!- I’m updated I use reaper like every day - why the pops - I’ve changed cables , reset , dumped unused storage items . Installed again. Track pops for no good reason . Help !!! Kenny help !!! That’s copied from another of my comments months ago . Sounds more like a “free” Daw problem to me personally everything works great on my end and is sound no janky gear or PC
@@ARE_YOU_SICK_OF_YT_CENSORSHIP I spent hours this AM listing and going through my laptop and all the VST and program files I had installed and some still in zip and yada . I think I may have found and fixed problem . As mentioned every thing was great till one day and even with one track would spike so hard it sounded like transformers getting it on lol few more test runs but I think I’ve got it back to recording capabilities
I tried a project with multiple effects in the past and I found uploading the project was tracking a very long time. Any tips about managing resources. Perhaps some third party plugins like fabfilter take more time to upload? Have you experienced something similar?
@@davidsprivate5609 yes. This is what I was referring to. I had plenty of memory and CPU power but the template was still taking a long time to upload. Once uploaded everything ran fine.
Before saving your template, go to project bay, select all FX and set them offline. It’ll load faster then you just bring them online as you need them. Command shift click on any FX in the mixer window to bring it online
Something to mention is changing track colours. Because the different coloured tracks show the different colour on the matrix. Really helpfull I think
I'm ALWAYS learning something new on every video. Thank you Kenny! I've been trying to work through the back log of all your videos, and it is insane JUST HOW VERSATILE Reaper is!
As ever I 'like' Kenny's videos before watching. Kenny never fails to demonstrate something interesting/useful and in a crystal clear way.
u-to-be has a feature - likes do not score when hit before you watch a half. So you are liking your favourites twice, aren't you?
Once again you have taken me to school, this is an awesome video for new comers like myself and Pro's alike. Thanks a ton for all your hard work.
I’m old and nowhere close to a pro, but being that I have many years of working within the old school rank and file observing and learning, this has been my defacto method since the 80s. My mantra has remained “I am a master of nothing and a student of everything”. Another enjoyable presentation Kenny, but I’m mentally changing the title to Mix Old & (methodically) Slow in REAPER. Creating will always bring me the most enjoyment, but man oh man mixing brings the most satisfaction especially when I get things really close.
I know that I know nothing.
Reaper is awesome for this kind of workflow. You can even go à step further and use a template all the préset you want on pre-labeled bus (Kick, snare, toms, bass, gtr1, gtr2, keys) and use the power of folders. If you want to mix project, simply load your template and then drag the project track in your preseted bus folders.
Yes! All of this work makes sense if you make it reusable.
Salut Mellow ;trés bonne suggestion comme d'hab
Kenny isn't next level... he is WAY above that!
great workflow solution. off topic but just watched the Kenny interview on
IDDQD Sound. Very cool worth the watch
Once again, you get a big old "Attaboy" for making another very helpful video! Thank you sir.
My ageing brain can't keep up but this is another excellent tutorial for ongoing reference. Thanks Kenny.
I don't know how I missed this one. I have a Writing template that's similar but I see several ways now I can improve it! Thanks!!!
My face hurts from all the slapping in these videos 🤣
Holy moley, what a time-saver. Hell yes!
Thanks again, Mr. G! I’ve wondered how the “old-timers” could work with so much hardware. I’d always imagined they’d have to route the desired outboard FX to the target track each and every session. I guess that’s why I’ve done the same “inside the box.” This will help out a lot on future projects 🤠👍
New tee-shirt? 🧐😁 Could you do a video on replicating an analog recording/mixing path, in Reaper (maybe using free plugins. NB. Airwindows Tape6 etc)
Now we’d like to see you rockin that template with a homerecording. Thanks
I use different busses for the effect, only thing you have to do is create sends to those busses, you can use unlimited busses, works great, Reaper is a top-notch DAW, and on these busses you can add more plugins, so for delay, you can use gates, and reverb or an automated panning, I learned this from video's from Bob Clearmountain. The master of FX creating. Great video Kenny.
Kenny Gioia is the reason that I committed to Reaper. I am having great results and every time I have a question, there is a video to answer it.
Amazing video that I'm definitely going to try on some mixes moving forward
Kenny reminds me of the laid back tropical beach sunglasses version of Billy Joel.
Nice. That's a great idea and it's pretty simple. I'm planning on setting up a mixing template now. Thanks again for the great material!
Great video.
Chris Lord Alge said all his hardware is "Set and Forget".
All in racks Vox Drum Guitars etc.
Great vid. I'm fixing up a last batch of Ableton loop based tracks that are finally arranged ok... to start my mixing and mastering in Reaper.
Thank you so much, Kenny! You're THE MAN! 👊🏼
Don't even feel I'm ready for this yet. did very little DAW work, Intersesting though, I think I need a "Mix like an old Amateur" video.... lol🤣
Very interesting, Kenny. Thank you (Italy is watching you!) 😄 👏
Brilliant. Thank you, Kenny!
I had no idea that's how old pros use all that outboard. Very interesting. In hindsight this and other things make sense ... the emphasis on presets and mix templates for example. And with hardware needing recall sheets, set and forget means way less to physically recall.
So the ReaGate/Comp/EQ in this is like the console channel processors. And I guess bringing up outboard as inserts would be like adding a plugin ... but the plugin would have a specific default saved.
My personal workflow is pretty different, but there are things I like that I could adopt. Hmm...
That was SO COOL Kenny!
You should upload this vídeos to rumble, friend.
Brilliant! I’m going to do this tonight !
Cool stuff. This will save time, thanks! After two years I am still learning how powerful Reaper is.
Thank you AGAIN, Kenny 👍
I've come to the conclusion that, in using the Reaper DAW, you must be willing to put in the time needed not only to learn the basics, but the time necessary to use its advanced features and customizations, scripts, custom actions, etc., in order to take full advantage of this monster program! LOL...and when you think you have it down, guess what? Even MORE updates and features become available. Seemingly endless learning is required to "master" the program, and to be realistic, we can never actually master it. If it were not for your videos, Kenny, I would have been overwhelmed with the complexity of this amazing DAW! Thanks for yet another informative, practical video!
Your videos are GOLD! Thanks for your time and dedication. 😉
Wonder when this will be on reaper stash :). Great video as always.
my usual reaction applies very well here: "hmm... ok, but why wou-- wait, holy crap, this is absolutely brilliant, damn, wow!"
This guy never stops delivering 🤝
Awesome as always! I have really been getting into fx returns. Thanks man!
This is great. And.... How I think about mixing because this is how I learned to do it. One more template to add to my collection.
It's the first time i see your face haha awsome content!
Excellent demo and a great time saver
This is Great. Need a book.
Man I love your videos, do you have one on making metal mixes sound huge? Mine always sound abit 2 dimensional.
Great workflow ideas! I would go on a bit further and hide the FX returns tracks if you are not going to tweak them a lot to have a cleaner view.
Thanks again Sir
I really appreciate all your videos.
And I always say, if it was possible to subscribe second times, I would do
I will give this a try , thanks
Very helpful! I'm in the midst of composing a song in the style of Van Halen with a James Bond theme. I'm applying some of these tid bids to my Reaper tracks.
Kenny you are the man!
I've never set up a mixing template before. I'm certainly emboldened to now, though. Thanks as always for the great info!
Thanks for this.
Fantastic Kenny! Thank you!
Wow! Thank you!
Really great video and as someone whos worked on console back in the tape days, this nails it. I think for me personally, and for my work flow, I don't want to clutter up my tracks with sends for instruments that won't be sent to a return. i.e I just wouldn't see the point in a drumverb return on my guitar track etc but some very cool stuff here. Thanks again!
On an analog console, those Aux Sends would be on every channel as well. Just like in this video, and you’d just turn them down just like the video. So Aux 1 is always Aux 1, whether you use it or not.
Here though, for visual clutter purposes, you have options:
1st let me say that having the Same thing on every row on every track, for me is far less cluttered than every track with different sends.
Then, you can easily just Hide all of the Sends in the mixer, as well as Plugins, or Parameters. Show All three, any two, just one, or None.
(Look for Show FX inserts, FX Parameters, Sends (when size permits) in the Actions menu. I set keyboard shortcuts ^F13, 14, 15.
Crazy fast & organized. Allows me to see tons of each, then hide what I’m not working on.)
Lastly you can also QUICKLY Mute any sends you’re not using by simply holding Shift and clicking it in the mixer.
A) they’re basically turned off, but B) they turn Red and visually guide you towards what you Are using.
(FYI similarly Shift Clicking the plugins Bypasses them and turns them red as well, so like Kenny showed you can put a bunch of your favorites In Place and Bypassed, then just Shift Click them into action.)
So at least try and give yourself 3 shortcuts and ratchet through those modes.
Use your Sends and Parameters to full effect.
See if it empowers and cleans up your workflow.
It does for everyone I’ve set up this way.
Amazing as usual Kenny! Do you prefer having an FX buss for projects or keep FX with their respective groups, like drum verbs with drums, vocal delay with vocals, etc.?
I rarely find myself using the same FX on different groups. But it does happen.
I'm not sure where your question was headed, or if Kenny answered it exactly, but I have one similar that I'd love each of you to chime in on:
Do you keep ALL EFX send-returns together (say on the right side of the mixer) like on an Analog Console;
Or since (unlike any analog console) you have virtually unlimited send-returns, do you treat each Group like it's own Sub-Mixer with it's respective EFX in the same Folder/section of the main mixer?
And then...
Do you Route ALL EFX directly to the Master-Bus, again like the EFX Returns on an Analog Console, or do you route each Group's respective EFX to their own Sub-Mix (Stem), then those Sub-Groups (with baked in EFX) to the Main Mix.
What are the Pros & Cons of each approach?
Thanks Guys!!!!
@@G_handle I keep them all on the right side of the mixer out of habit.
thank you so much !!
Cool video, Kenny!
Kenny, I would like further clarification if possible? When sending from the parent track to the fx returns, it looks like the fx are then bussed by default to the master? Could i setup so the returns can be bussed to the same original track? Would this have to be via adding channels to said track to receive all of the different returns? Blessed love
That's a really interesting question. I have to think about it and get back to you.
Wow.
I try to buy reaper but always stuck at playment gateway. I did everything which could be possible but result is zero
I will mix like a pro, one day, ty Kenny
LOL
Thanks Kenny!
Great content! How to move fx's tracks to right side in mixer? Thxs
Just grab them and move them.
Thank you bro... you're the best one 🙏
Another brilliant and useful video from Kenny. I have one question, if Kenny. or anyone else can help. I've been using Reaper a while and even though I built a powerful PC in hope it would have more than enough processing power for whatever I wanted to do, it can still struggle when I start using a lot of 3rd party plugins. In particular, problems seem to crop up when I start sending too many tracks to bus effect tracks. So is this 'Mix Like an Old Pro' setup going to be overly taxing on my PC CPU?
I've noticed it as well.
Try freezing some tracks to help save system processing
@@serviotulio2391 Let’s say I have a compressor setup on a bus and my audio tracks are being sent to that bus (no processing on audio tracks, just the bus), can I freeze the bus comp track and still have audio flowing through the frozen track being compressed? You get me?
@@johnefrederick1590 I understood. I've never tested doing a freeze on a bus track, so I'm not the best person to answer this question, but my PC is not the best and yet I've worked with projects with 38 tracks and it didn't "choke" because I only use bus tracks for reverb and compressor. Perhaps your projects are even heavier precisely because of the number of these bus tracks.
@@serviotulio2391 Yes indeed, that's what I do when I'm having CPU problems. But if you're setting a whole load of tracks at project start like Kenny is suggesting then freezing them isn't a practical option ☹️
Thnx Kenny 😉🎼👍🏽
Kenny -(or anyone) I'm not getting the words at the top and bottom of the tracks like your video shows. Can you explain the channel setup? Fantastic video. I'm really anxious to duplicate this.
What words?
@@REAPERMania presumably the FX and send names in the Mixer channel slots
try dragging the Mixer channels up having grabbed them by the very top and holding down Ctrl so they're all ganged up
Could you make a video or two on the Reaper mixer and what you can do with it please?
But how to mix like a moist pro?
Lol. Haven't heard that in a while!
Kenny always brings the moisture.
🤔 Tim-Me and Jim-Beaux, heh.
LOL
Anyone else using the SSL UF8 with Reaper?
Everytime I touch a slider on the UF8, it actually plays a note in my vst (Hive) and sliding the fader changes the notes pitch.
I also have Cubase where this doesn't occur, so im guessing it must be Reaper.
Any help/ guidance would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thanks in advance
👍
You're damn amazing! :)
I must admit every since my Yamaha SPX90 days I have created basic effects and then tweaked them to be saved as specific presets rather than filling the room with gear. Using MIDI I could then change the presets effects at various points in a song. Is there any value in a tutorial that emulates this? In the analoge world we were limited by the number of tracks so this was a good work around.
automating presets isn't very intuitive in REAPER, if you're looking to know how i'll post a link to a vid which showcases this
How you open that mixer
If you want to feel like oldy just imagine that your computer is a stack of little analogue expensive gears that buzz inside the box and start mixing finally!
My nebula 4 Acustica programs load fast in reaper comapred to other daws.
My only problem with reaper currently is the CPU usage spikes … it will spike and crash with one track minimum effects … not like I have some huge projects going just a track for guitar to play over backing tracks …
Upgrade ur RAM
@@brownpunk1794 for one track ?when it has worked fine for over a year no problem everyday hour after hour till few updates back
@@brownpunk1794 Someone plz explain to me how and why REAPER is popping,cracking , spiking cpu% like crazy - one track minimum fx - what’s the fix ?!- I’m updated I use reaper like every day - why the pops - I’ve changed cables , reset , dumped unused storage items . Installed again. Track pops for no good reason . Help !!! Kenny help !!!
That’s copied from another of my comments months ago . Sounds more like a “free” Daw problem to me personally everything works great on my end and is sound no janky gear or PC
@@ronswary revert to the build which was working without a hitch, if the problem doesn't recur with EXACTLY THE SAME SETUP, report a bug
@@ARE_YOU_SICK_OF_YT_CENSORSHIP I spent hours this AM listing and going through my laptop and all the VST and program files I had installed and some still in zip and yada . I think I may have found and fixed problem . As mentioned every thing was great till one day and even with one track would spike so hard it sounded like transformers getting it on lol few more test runs but I think I’ve got it back to recording capabilities
Did i see a massive passive
Kenny, you look so tired! Get well!
Do you intentionally try to sound like a robot?
I tried a project with multiple effects in the past and I found uploading the project was tracking a very long time. Any tips about managing resources. Perhaps some third party plugins like fabfilter take more time to upload?
Have you experienced something similar?
I meant taking a very long time not tracking a very long time 😟
I think he's saying that the template takes a while to load, because of all the fx.
@@davidsprivate5609 yes. This is what I was referring to. I had plenty of memory and CPU power but the template was still taking a long time to upload. Once uploaded everything ran fine.
Before saving your template, go to project bay, select all FX and set them offline. It’ll load faster then you just bring them online as you need them. Command shift click on any FX in the mixer window to bring it online
@@IDDQDSound sounds good . I will give it a try! Thanks. I am glad I asked😁
Hello Spok ;-)
now yer talking
too complicated
This is so cool and potentially so very useful. Just great! Thanks so much! 🎤🎧🎹🎸🪘🪕
Reaper interface is so depressing
It's highly customizable, though. So, if you don't like something, you can probably change it.
Loads of alternate skins or you can add colour, change the windows etc etc.
use your ears