# My first completed (more or less) recording using REAPER - or any DAW for that matter



## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

http://www.box.net/shared/r1f8yl0o6a

hope this works. Let me know if it doesn't. The effects are a little heavy handed (I was playing!) and I had a cold so the singing isn't my best. It is one of my Favourite Danial Lanois songs though, so enjoy!

matt


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

It sounds great ....


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## jimihendrix (Jun 27, 2009)

Sounds pretty good...thumbs up...!!!...


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Actually from listening to this I'd say the effects aren't heavy handed at all. There's a nice intimacy to this song and I'm glad to hear you didn't go overboard with multiple tracks and effects. Nice job Matt.


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

Thanks guys. Even though I've listened to it a hundred times, I still can't believe I did all that. I wish I'd started computer recording years ago! 

matt


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

mrmatt1972 said:


> Thanks guys. Even though I've listened to it a hundred times,
> 
> matt


 That is the hard part .....


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

A few people have listened recently, please let me know what you think (god or bad).

Matt


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## the-patient (May 19, 2009)

Hey Matt! Great job!

I really dig it, and I'm glad to see other people here use reaper. I actually migrated to it from Logic and Pro Tools, and LOVE it.

I think it sounds great! A couple things I would change is, add a low pass on the reverbs/delays on the main vocals so that the sibilance's don't echo so clearly. 

I'd probably add a longish reverb to the background vocal so that it give the sense that they're behind the main vocal while maintaining that volume. 

Thanks for posting!



mrmatt1972 said:


> A few people have listened recently, please let me know what you think (god or bad).
> 
> Matt


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## Stratin2traynor (Sep 27, 2006)

Good job. Sounds great Matt.


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## pattste (Dec 30, 2007)

Sounds great, Matthew. Can you tell us a bit more about the recording process, especially the acoustic guitar. You get a very balanced sound, not too bright, not boxy sounding at all.


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## Greg Ellis (Oct 1, 2007)

Nice job, Matt. Sounds great!


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## mrmatt1972 (Apr 3, 2008)

pattste said:


> Sounds great, Matthew. Can you tell us a bit more about the recording process, especially the acoustic guitar. You get a very balanced sound, not too bright, not boxy sounding at all.


1st of all, thanks to all those who have taken the time to listen, and extra thanks to those who have commented. 

pattste, I recorded my guitar using a Baggs M1 passive through an ART tube MP which is a nice but cheap preamp. It adds gain and warmth but very little noise, I got mine used for something like 35 dollars! I recorded several tracks, but I only ended up keeping 3 guitar tracks in total. What I kept was a rhythm part played with a pick, which is the loudest of the 3, and a fingerstyle part which I doubled using the program. The pick part has ReaComp, ReaEQ and ReaVerb on it -all with supplied presets. The comp is the "stock acoustic guitar" setting, the EQ is the "close mic acoustic" and the verb is "default" that I tweaked a little. The fingerstle part that is panned slightly left has Comp and EQ (same settings) the track volume is lower than the picked part. The fingerstyle part panned slightly right adds delay and flanger, I just played with the sliders until i liked what I heard - this track is softest of the three.

BTW my interface is another ART product that was 100 bucks and gives me 2 inputs. 

Since then, I've added some nice mics to my stable and I usually double track with the Baggs and the Condenser mic. The mic ads a much nicer top end and a little more depth to the sound, the M1 has that nice midrange you hear (plus it works great with effects). I've learned more about setting levels, using compression and using EQ, so I like my more recent sound better, but it's a lot more work for a slight improvement.


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