Using Compression in REAPER (ReaComp)

okay how you doing I'm kenning Joya welcome to another one of my tutorials in this video I want to show you how I use compression in Reaper mainly using the compressor that comes with Reaper re comp now although I'm doing this in Reaper and I'm using the specific plugin most compressor plugins are pretty similar so much of this can really be applied to anything you're using I just happen to prefer this one as it works great for me and it's free as it comes with Reaper we're going to do is go through the most common sources I use compression on it's not every source but it's the most important ones for me and I'm going to show you how I generally use compression on these sources but please keep in mind that this is a general overview it's not how I always do it and it does depend on a source but I will say that for the most part this is how I use compression on these common sources so let's jump in let's start off with a kick drum here's a compressor before we hear it let's go to the preset that we're going to start with the threshold is pretty much off the hack is pretty quick and the release is pretty quick a ratio is four to one and I have Auto makeup gain turned on this way the output will be pretty consistent so let see what the kick sounds like now now let's slowly bring down the threshold so compresses over here we can see the gain reduction now let's go over with the attack and the release - with the attack if we make it really quick it's going to cut off the attack of our sound so the compresses can react very quickly which on something like a kick drum will shave off the attack or the transient of the sound see how it's pretty much gone but if we bring it up it'll bring back the attack while still compressing the rest of the kick and if we go too far it loses it all together and no compression is really taking place as the entire kick sound is passing through and not compressing now the release does is it decides how quickly the compressor comes back so after it compresses it will need to stay or will snap back for the next attack so if we start really quickly it grabs every hit but if we make it slower it doesn't bounce back in between each hit which makes a smoother sound but it doesn't react on each hit so round there is what we want so the tax still cuts through and the release bounces back to grab each hey somewhere around there feels pretty good before and after and using a compressor on the kick will make each hit more consistent so none of the hits jump out on different sections of the saw and each hit sounds more even now it's here on a snare drum sounds like first now to put the compressor on there and see if we can't contain this and bring up the snap again we'll start off by bringing down a threshold again if we make the attack too quick we'll lose the attack of the sound now to adjust the release before and after that sounds pretty good right there now let's try it out on the room mics now if you notice we're not doing the overhead mics that's cuz I don't usually compress the overhead mics an awful lot maybe just slightly but not enough that it's worth showing you how I do it but the room mics we can create different room sounds just using compression what's here we have now now the room isn't very big but we can make it sound bigger using compression this is a pretty good one to really hear the attack or these times and how they work let's make the attack really fast notice it cuts off all the attack of the sound if we slowly bring it up the attack comes back now it's probably the release notice how responsive it is as it bounces back after each hit right there feels pretty good before and after notice how much bigger the room sounds now let's check out the bass guitar let's see we have now let's see if we can contain this to give them or even low in response to a track notice what's release you want to get it in time so each hit or movement by the threshold is in time with the song we can bring the ratio up a bit to make it more even before and after that sounds a lot more even to me now let's try to invoke Allah now you're probably wondering why we didn't compress our piano acoustic guitar electric guitar to be honest I don't usually compress that stuff that often especially not acoustic guitar I don't really care for the way that sounds sometimes I'll do a bit of electric guitar if it's a little clean and it's not played very consistently but for the most part piano is a guitars I don't tend to compress them too much so I don't think it's worth showing you but vocals are very important to me for compression what's here we have now you have me go and I believed everything everyone that just said from the start which here with the plug-in again we're starting at 41 you have me going I believed everything everyone that just said from the start and again we'll play around with you tack and release times to get the sound just right the attack is too quick it's gonna cut off or transients you have me go and I believed everything everyone that just said from the start you kept me close you had me tattoo the strings now you're watching it all fall apart you spend too much and so you can't get it all like you used to now the release time you have me go and I believed everything every word that just said from the start you kept me close your hand it's a to the strings now you're watching it all fall apart the quicker this is the more reactive it is to the sound passing to the threshold you have me go and I believed everything everyone that just said from the start you kept me close your head mitts out to the strings now you're watching it all fall apart you spend too much and so you can't get it all like you used to you've got nothing no you don't have anything notice how it puts the sound more in your face so to sit in front of the track when you're mixing it and overall it'll be more consistent so anyway this is how I use compression in Reaper using the recom compressor that comes with Reaper I hope you learn something I hope you use it and I'll see you next time thanks

Channel: REAPER Mania

Views: 58,951

Rating: 4.9366422 out of 5

Keywords: DAW, REAPER (Software), Pro Audio, Tutorial, Compression, Compressor, Software (Industry), Electronic

Id: K-v1euba3V0

Length: 13min 45sec (825 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 30 2015