{"id":7294,"date":"2021-06-02T08:25:19","date_gmt":"2021-06-02T07:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonarworks.com\/soundid-reference\/blog\/?p=7294"},"modified":"2022-11-30T07:27:50","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T07:27:50","slug":"reaper-mixing-templates-a-session-changing-workflow-inside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonarworks.com\/blog\/learn\/reaper-mixing-templates-a-session-changing-workflow-inside","title":{"rendered":"REAPER mixing templates (+ a session-changing workflow inside)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article, the second in the REAPER series, focuses on getting the most from REAPER by using mixing templates to increase your efficiency. Part one<\/a> <\/strong>covered how to build a recording template that helps to keep sessions organized and moving efficiently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time invested into dialing in your template will pay dividends over the duration of your career. You won\u2019t be burdened with re-creating all the same tracks, busses, and effects chains over and over again. You will be ready to go and many of your routing and effects options will be accessible with the click of your mouse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professionals rely on templates; all the mixers you admire went down this route. It\u2019s time you follow in their footsteps. I want to reiterate one point I made in the previous article: you can (and should) have templates even if you\u2019re a songwriter or composer\u2014especially if you are a composer. Can you imagine having to set up your 150+ track session every time you want to write something? Nightmare! (Check out some template ideas for writing sessions in Eli Krantzberg\u2019s article<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparing your Reaper project<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Importing Audio Files into a Reaper Mix Session<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve set up a session with all the elements you may need, you can save the session as a REAPER template. When starting a new project, you can open one of your templates, save it as a new project and then import the audio files into this new project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

First things first:<\/em><\/strong> set the project tempo(s) to match your song.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s much easier to set the tempo before you import the audio files. Otherwise, you may have to change some settings so your files don\u2019t automatically get time-stretched during import.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a game-changing tip for speeding up the import process:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a script pack from X-Raym<\/a> that makes importing audio into your session infinitely easier than ever. This is a paid product (20.00\u20ac), but it\u2019s invaluable and will save you time (time = money) in the long run. X-Raym (\u201cExtreme\u201d Raymond Radet) is one of many important contributors to the REAPER community, and you should spend some time investigating the online resources that make REAPER such a valuable product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this import script, all you have to do is rename the audio files<\/strong> to reflect the track name in the project<\/strong> where you want the files to import to and then run the script. You can even import specific audio files into specific folders in your template (folders need to have empty tracks for this to work). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say the audio file \u201cMandarine bells” needs to go into the SFX (sound effects) folder. In this case, you\u2019d rename the audio file \u201c+SFX+ mandarine bells<\/em>.\u201d Then you\u2019d use the action called x-raym: Insert media files as item on existing similarly named tracks or and new tracks (parent track prefix support)<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the window that opens next, you\u2019d select all the audio files. <\/p>\n\n\n\n