First recording

[TOONEW]

Where do I begin?

I am absolutely new to Reaper.

The only information I have on using a daw, is what I learned from the ever crashing Audacity.

Of course, none of it applies to Reaper.

I have Reaper installed, and imported a bassless track from youtube, that I would like to add my bassline to.

After every guess that I tried has failed, I have to ask, where do I begin?

[domzy]

why guess? why not read the manual or watch the tutorial videos - they should get you started on the right journey

[TOONEW]

Yeah, that was the type of answer I hoped not to get.

I did check those things.

I'm wasting my time.

That's why I asked my question here.

[TOONEW]

I should be more specific.

I have Reaper up and running.

I imported a bassless track from Youtube, and would like to add my bassline to it.

I have the track imported, and it plays.

I can play my bass, and hear it.

I don't know where to turn next.

[b2001]

Left click the record button on the track you want to record the bass guitar on to record-arm it.

Right click that same button to set input, single channel of your audio interface, and output, mono audio.

Click the main record button and as the other track plays, you should be able to record the bass guitar.

[TOONEW]

Okay, I cleared the first hurdle, and was able to get a track recorded.

I needed to arm only the new track for recording.

When I armed both, it didn't record.

I didn't find that information in the manual, or in a tutorial video.

Now I have a question regarding the volume of the interface, which I suspect is outside of the scope of this forum.

[Wallaby]

What interface is it ?

Do you mean the volume of the incoming signal of the bass ?
Just make it as loud as possible without going into red

[Timothy Lawler]

Originally Posted by b2001

Left click the record button on the track you want to record the bass guitar on to record-arm it.

Right click that same button to set input, single channel of your audio interface, and output, mono audio.

Click the main record button and as the other track plays, you should be able to record the bass guitar.

As a teacher I just wanted to say I appreciate the quality of that answer.

[TOONEW]

Yes, the volume of the incoming signal of the bass,

I do have the volume on the interface turned as high as it will go before turning red, and distorting.

The volume from the interface is too low.

I turned down the volume of the imported track, so I could hear my bass a little better.

I did have a Focusrite 2i2, until it stopped working recently.

I had no problem getting a comfortable volume out of that interface.

I wound up with the Rubix 22, because I was using an Ubuntu operating system, and needed an interface compatible with Ubuntu.

Now I'm using Windows 10 for Reaper only.

And so far, this interface is not satisfactory.

[TOONEW]

Originally Posted by b2001

Left click the record button on the track you want to record the bass guitar on to record-arm it.

Right click that same button to set input, single channel of your audio interface, and output, mono audio.

Click the main record button and as the other track plays, you should be able to record the bass guitar.

I'm certain that is a quality answer.

I was able to get a track recorded.

I'm using Reaper 6.

If I understand correctly, you're saying right click the record arm button.

Which unarms the track. I get no menu.

If this is irrelevant to my interface/volume question, then please diregard.

[jerome_oneil]

Originally Posted by TOONEW

I should be more specific.

I have Reaper up and running.

I imported a bassless track from Youtube, and would like to add my bassline to it.

I have the track imported, and it plays.

I can play my bass, and hear it.

I don't know where to turn next.

If you can hear your bass through Reaper, arm that track for recording by pressing the little red bullseye button on the track panel. Play your bass. You should see the level meters bounce. If you do, start recording by pressing the little red bullseye button on the transport control bar.

This is all in the manual. Section 3.5 in the latest rev.

[TOONEW]

Thanks for the reply.

I was able to get a track recorded.

I did mention that earlier.

I can see that would be easy to miss.

Also, I found the menu that was suggested earlier.

It was in the meter section.

Now I am trying to determine what to do about the interface volume level.

I'm using a Rubix 22, and the volume is wimpy compared to the Focusrite 2i2, which I was using with Audacity. And it finally conked out.

I bought the Rubix 22 as suggested by a Sweetwater tech, as I was using Ubuntu, and the Rubix is one of the very few interfaces compatible with Ubuntu.

I now have a Windows machine for using Reaper.

If there is no remedy for the Rubix, then I will buy another Focusrite.

[martifingers]

Hi TOONEW. I just looked at an Amazon review for the Rubix 22 and found one that gave 5 stars and was a Reaper user so it should be fine for your purposes as I would have expected.

So re the recording volume. The manual strongly advises using the Hi-Z (INPUT 1L). Is that what you are using ? Is the bass itself turned up?
Set the input volume using the Sensitivity Control so that the green light comes on. You should be able to see the recording level on the track meter in Reaper. If this is very low (say consistently well below -18db) and there is no indication from the green light then you might need to use some form of amplification on the bass like a DI from an amp or a Bass Pod unit etc. In this case don't engage the Hi-Z button (or use Input 2R instead).

Apologies if you are already aware of all of that and I hope I am getting the details right!

[TOONEW]

Thanks for your effort.

You are correct about all of the above.

To answer your question, yes I did try all of those suggestions, and tried a few other pieces of gear.

I had a Focusrite 2i2 before getting the Rubix, the Focusrite broke down.

So I replaced it with the Rubix.

Too long of a story to go into.

Had I not used the Focusrite, I would have thought this is what you get, as far as an interface.

Since I switched to Windows, now a Focusrite would work.

And that will be what I do next.

I was hoping that there was something I was overlooking with the Rubix.

I'm going back to a Focusrite, and hopefully, this issue will be resolved.

[bjohn]

Originally Posted by TOONEW

I now have a Windows machine for using Reaper.

If there is no remedy for the Rubix, then I will buy another Focusrite.

If your Rubix worked under Linux that means it's a class-compliant device, which means it'll work out of the box on Mac and Linux, but you likely need an ASIO driver for it to work on Windows. Did you install the ASIO driver? If it didn't come with the Rubix you will need to download it from the Rubix website.

[domzy]

i'm not sure where sweetwater got the idea that the rubix is "one of the very few interfaces compatible with Ubuntu." ? That's not true, lots of interfaces are, unless they were talking about some very specific scenario, and even then i have my doubts.

To your problem - are you also using the rubix for windows sound? maybe there is a volume control in windows that is not maximised?
Other than that, i presume you've doubled checked your routing and levels in the rubix mixer app, some interfaces can have volume affected by a direct monitoring function etc.

[TOONEW]

Thanks for the replies guys.

To bjohn,

Yes, I have the ASIO drivers installed on Windows.

To domzy,

You asked if I am also using the Rubix for Windows sound?

I don't know how to answer that.

What I did do, is try out my old 1st generation Focusrite 2i2 gain on Ubuntu.

It had stopped working altogether, which is why I bought the Rubix.

Now it worked again, although much differently.

Since it was new, I always had to turn the gain knob all the way down, and still, the halo would light up red.

Now I could turn it up without the halo turning red, although it has a hum that it didn't have before.

Clearly, this particular unit has some issue that is not representative of the 2i2.

So the comparison is not valid.

The one thing I neglected to do with the Rubix, was to turn up the headphone knob, after I learned how to turn down the volume of the imported track.

Having done that, I am able to balance the two volumes, and get a satisfactory volume from the bass.

[Bazzbass]

Originally Posted by TOONEW

I bought the Rubix 22 as suggested by a Sweetwater tech, .

there's your problem hehe.

So the gain control on your Rubix is up high and you still can't hear the bass well?

What do the Reaper meters show?