I imported the .wavs into Reaper (nothing hard, just drag and drop) and mixed this track totally in the box, using only the Reaper plugs, i.e. the ones that are installed with the package. I normally mix on my Paris System, but I wanted to spend some quality time with Reaper so I decided to give it a try with this song.
The Reaper plugs are pretty extensive, and with a little time I was able to get what I wanted in most cases. The multi-band comp was pretty nice, in fact I liked most of the comps overall. The ReaTune plug (i.e. Melodyne/Antares) was actually pretty good in manual mode, not so good in auto-mode. I used it to touch up a vocal note here and there with pretty good results. The verbs were so-so, but had a lot of adjustable parameters, so I might not have found the sweet spot. I also found some guitar-amp sims that I didn't even know were included with Reaper, but they were generally unimpressive.. still, they ARE included even though I didn't use them. The ReaEQ plug was really great, and because this was live (i.e. no moving mics around/multiple takes to get your sound) some pretty heavy-handed EQ was required. I was impressed at the tonal control I had. I also used the Reaper Automation on this mix, and it was extremely easy to use, and assignable to any and all functions; effects, auxes, mute, fader, etc.. quite good I thought. All in all, the plugs were certainly not the best I've used, but considering they are all included with the distribution, they're outstanding at the price.
The micing for the recording was pretty haphazard, the usual SM58's for the vocals. I played my Carter through a vol pedal straight into my Session 400, mic'd with an SM-57 on the grill. The kit was mic'd very minimally with a single dynamic overhead (an EV maybe?), centered above the kit, an SM58 on the kick (ughh) and an SM57 just off the top head of the snare. Accordion was played into an SM58, and the two guitar players had mic'd amps (SM57s). Bass guitar was direct, and unfortunately had some borderline clipping going on in a few spots. Using the multi-band comp and some creative EQ I was able to camouflage it considerably, but you keen eared listeners will hear it.
Considering it's live and subject to the usual 'live and unrehearsed' stuff (notice the long pregnant pause at the top of the ride at 0:55 where the guitar player and I were staring at each other wondering who was supposed to be playing
) I was quite pleased with the vibe that I was able to get. As for Reaper, I can't imagine a better value than this piece of software for the $50 bucks that it costs, not to mention you can use it free as long as you're still 'evaluating'.. I've always liked it, but now I'm a real fan.
Drivin' Nails In My Coffin
