Reaper... help with vocals, mixing and mastering!

billytk03z

billytk03z

New member
I make my beats in Fl studio and track them over to Reaper for vocal recording. When I track the vocals back to Fl Studio for mixing they sound like crap. I have decided that it would be best if I just record the vocals and mix/master the track in Reaper.

A couple questions...

should I master the instrumental track in FL Studio before I track it over to Reaper for vocal recording and then mix and remaster vocals with track again? or should I just track a raw instrumental track to reaper for vocal recording and then mix/master?

Can I use Vst's that I have installed in FL Studio with Reaper? Ie... Maximus, Gross Beat, etc...

Are there any good tutorials for Reaper that are good for vocal recording mixing and mastering?
 
make your beat in fl... bounce it to reaper add your vocals in reaper and mix the beat and your vocals in reaper...
 
billytk03z said:
should I master the instrumental track in FL Studio before I track it over to Reaper for vocal recording and then mix and remaster vocals with track again? or should I just track a raw instrumental track to reaper for vocal recording and then mix/master?
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Sounds like you cain't mix period let alone master. So if I were you at this point, I'd just export the entire beat, record your vocals in Reaper, THEN track that out & do your mixing in FL. That's basically what I do except with Audacity instead of Reaper. But.. That's my suggestion from the experience with engineering & the software that I have now. The best suggestion I think would just be to do whatever you're comfortable doin. That's all it's about. Findin that workflow or setup.
 
I think the whole notion of "adding" vocals to a song is flawed from the outset - treat it just like any other instrument in the context of mixing. Sure, there's lots of the "rapping over a beat" thing going on nowadays, but it's hardly the ideal way to approach the whole thing. Vocals need their own space just like any other sound needs and that's just making it a lot harder for yourself if you consider it separate from the rest of it.

As for Reaper - mixing in it isn't any different than mixing in anywhere else, so you don't have to look for Reaper-specific tutorials.
 
krushing said:
I think the whole notion of "adding" vocals to a song is flawed from the outset - treat it just like any other instrument in the context of mixing. Sure, there's lots of the "rapping over a beat" thing going on nowadays, but it's hardly the ideal way to approach the whole thing. Vocals need their own space just like any other sound needs and that's just making it a lot harder for yourself if you consider it separate from the rest of it.

As for Reaper - mixing in it isn't any different than mixing in anywhere else, so you don't have to look for Reaper-specific tutorials.
Click to expand...

excellent advice, and i just want to add, never master your beat before the final mix. if the beat is already mastered, it will be extremely difficult to make space for it in the mix.
 
You vocals shouldn't change quality when transferring it from Reaper to FL Studio if you export the tracks at the same sample rate and bit depth.

As for mixing and mastering, read up on the correct production process. You should be creating your beat and recording your instruments (including vocals) first, then move onto mixing the track, then finally, send it away for mastering. Don't master the beat before adding vocals, it just makes things difficult because it's the wrong way. When you master a track, the last process is usually limiting, which means when you try and mix vocals in afterwards you can't get them to sound part of the beat and they just end up floating on top.

I've received tracks to mix in the past where the beat has already been mastered and I've refused to mix it.
 
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