Recording in Reaper

Create a new track and name it “voice”. Click the track record button to put the track into record mode. Now you should see the track input section. Change this to the input that you want to use. If you don’t have an interface plugged in it will be your build in inputs. This is usually “input 1”.

Set your recording levels so that your meters are hitting between -18 dB and -12 dB. You have to do this while playing sound. There’s no way of setting levels by just moving the input gain without looking at the meters.

Now you can record by clicking the record button on the transport. You can play back the sound now.

Monitoring modes

The default is to monitor the input. You can turn it off and still record if you don’t want to hear it play back as you’re recording. Usually it’s good to just leave this on.

Recording mode is separate from input monitoring. For the Foley lab, use Record mode: normal from the transport Record button’s right-click menu. Start before the cue beeps and stop after the sound decays. Keep alternate recordings, compare them against picture, and save a new project version before cropping to an active take or removing alternatives.

For a later punch-in exercise, choose Record mode: time selection auto-punch. Make a time selection that includes preparation before the action and decay afterward, then begin playback before that selection. The resulting recorded item covers the selected range; do not confuse its start with the exact sync point of an impact.

Finally you can choose “Record mode: auto-punch selected items”. Now you can make multiple selections of items and re-record the ones that re selected. To make different selections you need to slipt the item first. Do this with “s” to split at cursor.

Here’s a good summary of the different modes and what you should expect for each.