Getting Started with Recording in Reaper⌗

Create a New Track
Start by creating a new track. Right-click in the track control panel (the left section of your track area) and select “Insert New Track.”

Tip: It’s a good habit to name your track. Double-click the track name area and type “Voice” or whatever is relevant for your recording.

Enable Record Mode for the Track
On the newly created track, locate the red circular Record Arm button and click it. This puts the track into record mode, letting Reaper know that you want to record audio here.

Select Your Input Device
Once your track is in record mode, you’ll see the track input section (near the volume and pan controls).

  • Right-click the input area and select Input: Mono > Input 1 (or whichever input your microphone or audio interface is connected to).
  • If you’re using a built-in microphone (for example, on a laptop), this will typically be Input 1 as well.

Set Your Recording Levels

  • Before recording, make sure your levels are correct to avoid clipping or too quiet recordings. Play some sound or speak into your microphone and watch the meter.
  • Adjust the input gain either on your audio interface until the meter shows levels between -18 dB and -12 dB. This gives you a good balance between loudness and headroom.

Important: Always adjust your input gain while monitoring the meter – never guess.

Start Recording

  • With everything set up, hit the Record button in the transport bar at the bottom of the screen (the button with a red circle).
  • Reaper will now start recording audio on the armed track. To stop recording, press the Stop button or the spacebar.

Playback Your Recording
After stopping the recording, Reaper will automatically place the recorded audio as a media item on the track. Hit Play to listen back to your recording.

Monitoring Modes in Reaper⌗

Input Monitoring
By default, Reaper is set to monitor your input, meaning you can hear yourself through your headphones as you record.

  • You can toggle monitoring by clicking the small speaker icon on the track control panel.
  • If you prefer not to hear yourself while recording, disable monitoring, but Reaper will still record your audio.

Punch-In Recording
Sometimes you need to re-record a specific section of your take, and punch-in recording is perfect for that.

  • First, position your cursor at the start of the section you want to re-record. You can press Cmd+R (Mac) or Ctrl+R (Windows) to punch in.
  • When Reaper reaches the punch-out point, it will stop recording and keep all the takes. You can later choose which take to keep by selecting the media item and right-clicking to choose your preferred take.

Auto-Punch Recording

  • If you want to be precise with punch-in recording, use the Time Selection Auto-Punch feature.
  • First, create a time selection by dragging in the timeline above your track.
  • Then go to the transport bar, right-click the Record button, and select Record Mode: Time Selection Auto-Punch. Now, when you hit record, Reaper will only record within the selected time area.

Auto-Punch Selected Items
Another useful punch-in mode is Record Mode: Auto-Punch Selected Items.

  • First, select the item(s) you want to re-record by clicking them.
  • Then right-click the Record button and select Record Mode: Auto-Punch Selected Items. Reaper will now only record over the selected items.
    Tip: To make multiple selections, split the item first by pressing S at the cursor where you want to split the recording.

Final Thoughts on Recording⌗

Reaper provides a lot of flexibility when it comes to recording and managing your takes. Experiment with different modes and find what works best for your workflow. Remember, Reaper will always keep your original take, so don’t worry about losing previous recordings.

For a more detailed overview of all the recording modes and their use cases, check out this helpful recording modes summary.