Kind of a newb question

[jjones1700]

I've recently started recording with Reaper (other than just tinkering with it) and have a question or two.

While I record, should I have the ReaComp set up for the bass track or does it even do such a thing during recording? I'm not sure if it's a mix only type of plugin or not. I'm new to digital recording if you couldn't tell. I know I could always run the bass into the outboard compressor first, but figured I would save myself a little hassle (portable set up, for the moment) and use the included plugin.

Man I feel stupid...

 

[TimOBrien]

Unless you set the track to record the output, it will only affect what you hear.
(the sound that is recorded on the track will be what went into the computer)

You can always throw a compressor on before it the signal hits the interface,
but at that point you cannot make adjustments to it and you're stuck with what you got.

 

[jjones1700]

Unless you set the track to record the output, it will only affect what you hear.
(the sound that is recorded on the track will be what went into the computer)

You can always throw a compressor on before it the signal hits the interface,
but at that point you cannot make adjustments to it and you're stuck with what you got.

Good point. I did alright on my first recording, it's just a bit different trying to do a mix down and not hitting "0" vs. pushing +3 or +6 on tape. Just figured if I hit about 3:1 ratio coming into Reaper, maybe it would squash it a little bit, but not enough to make it sound dull. Gonna have to do alot of experimentation with headroom while recording.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

I'd generally hold off on the effects until after tracking. If you track with the compression but don't like it, you're stuck.

If you track a little quieter so that it just doesn't clip and add the compression later, you should be fine.