Hey guys, in this video we’ll be covering some of the effects in Reaper. This video
will go over the compressor, delay, and equalizer plugins. The plugins tutorial for Reaper has
been split into two parts, and we’ll cover a few more in the next video. Before getting
started, just make sure you’ve checked out the previous videos in this series.
The first plugin we have to work with is the compressor,
called ReaComp in Reaper. Compression is used to control the dynamics of an audio track.
That means the volume level. The compressor can be used to decrease the dynamic range
by lowering the volume level when it passes a threshold, and you can make the track punch
through or smooth out by changing the attack and release. Let’s start with how we can
use this plugin. At the top, there’s a dropdown that we can use to change the preset for the
plugin. Even if we choose a preset, we can make adjustments to the settings, so we can
use it as a starting point instead. The first control for the compressor is the
Threshold. The threshold sets the level the compression will start to be applied at. When
the sound level passes the threshold, compression starts to be applied and the volume level
is reduced. Next up we have some timing controls. The
compressor doesn’t have to activate immediately when the threshold is reached, and it also
doesn’t have to deactivate right away when the signal drops back below the threshold.
The attack allows the compressor to come on gradually if it is set high, or it can be
set low and the compressor will turn on abruptly. The release is similar to the attack, but
it sets how fast the compressor turns off when the signal level drops. The pre-comp
can act as a lookahead in this case to apply compression slightly before the audio level
peaks. The autorelease box below can be selected to prevent the compressor from releasing suddenly.
The ratio helps us determine the amount of gain reduction applied once the threshold
is exceeded. Let’s consider a ratio of 3. If we have a signal that is 3 above the threshold,
it will be reduced to 1 above. If the signal goes 9 above, it will be reduced to 3 above.
The knee size allows the ratio to change gradually around the threshold, but it can be left as
an abrupt change if the knee is set to 0. Classic attack allows the ratio to reduce
as the volume level increases so that high level sounds are not compressed.
Down below we can set what signal the compressor uses as its reference for the audio level.
The dropdown allows us to select the main input, or an auxiliary input if we want to
use sidechain compression instead. To setup a side chain, we need to do a little
signal routing first. Go to the track’s signal routing that we’re working on. At
the top, select for there to be 4 track channels instead of 2. This allows it to receive an
auxiliary input from another track without playing that audio, and tracks 3 and 4 will
be used as the detector input. Then setup a receive from another track as we did in
the previous video. When you set the receive, you’ll see audio 1/2 with an arrow going
to audio 1/2. We need to change this so it goes to the auxiliary input instead of the
main input, so that way it’s not heard. Change where it’s going to 3/4. Now that
receive is playing on ¾ instead. We can’t hear it, but it will now be what is detected
by the auxiliary input on our plugins. The lowpass sets the maximum frequency the
detector will use and the highpass sets the lowest. RMS size works to average out the
levels over time that it detects. The preview filter box on the right allows us to compare
the low pass and high pass, vs the sound without it.
To the right, we have a gain reduction meter. Next to that is the output level meter. The
wet mix is usually left at 0, unless you are adding makeup gain, and the dry is set to
–infinity. We can also use the auto make up gain instead to compensate for the lost
volume. Last, there’s the limit output box that we can use to set the compressor as a
hard limiter, even if we push the volume with the output level control.
Our next plugin is ReaDelay, which is a delay plugin. Once again, there are a few presets
at the top, but I prefer to work from scratch when using a delay plugin. The cool thing
about this plugin, is that we can have multiple delays within the same plugin. The first option
is wet and dry mix, so we can increase or decrease the volume of the original and delayed
signal. We can also change the volume of the individual delays. At the bottom, we have
the options to add or delete a tap, which are basically just separate delays. They can
be switched between with the knotches at the top. At the top, we can turn that delay on
or off with the enable button, or solo it from all the other delays. Next we can set
the length as time in milliseconds or musical time. Only use one of these and set the other
to 0. Feedback will add a small amount of the delayed signal back into the original
dry signal to be reprocessed. High and lowpass filters adjust the frequencies that the delay
is applied to. Resolution is used to change the bit depth of the wet signal. The stereo
width can be used to narrow the stereo width of a stereo track that has delay. The volume
is used to adjust the volume of the individual delay tap so that we can get a balance between
them. We can also pan then with the slider to the right. Then you can use the wet and
dry mix to get a balance between all the taps and the dry signal.
The ReaEQ is the included equalizer in Reaper, and it’s another one of the important plugins
that will be used in most mixes. Equalization allows you to cut and boost certain ranges
of frequencies on a track to shape the sound and allow them to all fit together nicely.
The default is 4 bands that can be switched between in the same way as we saw for the
delay plugin. We can also add bands, delete bands, reset defaults, and turn the grid view
on and off. Let’s cover how to adjust the individual
bands. The first box allows us to turn a band on and off. Then we have type. We can switch
between a normal band and a few other types. The low and high shelf allow us to cut or
boost all the low frequencies. The high pass cuts out all the low frequencies and the low
pass cuts out the high frequencies. These are more drastic changes with a sharper frequency
drop off than the shelf type. There’s a few other types, like a notch that can cut
out specific frequencies that are worth experimenting with.
Each band of the EQ has a frequency control, gain, and bandwidth that sets the width of
the change around a central frequency. All these controls can also be adjusted by
clicking and dragging on the circles that appear on the EQ grid. Dragging left and right
controls the frequency, up and down the gain, and the bandwidth is controlled with the scroll
wheel on the mouse. Lastly, there’s a gain control on the side
to either add or reduce gain to the track after the EQ is added.
Thanks for checking out this video on some of the plugins available in Reaper. If this
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