Copy the command for your operating system into either your terminal (MacOS and Linux) or PowerShell (Windows).

MacOS:

Linux:

Windows:

Use Extensions › ReaPack › Synchronize packages or press Shift+U. This will sync ReaPack to get the latest ReaClassical functions.

In the ReaClassical top menu, click on ReaClassical Factory Reset to return most settings back to those presented at first install.

It is highly advisable to use the version of REAPER that ships with ReaClassical. Due to potential incompatibility issues, for ReaClassical 26 onwards, the third-party REAPER update utility has been removed from the install package.

As soon as you press OK, you will see the Mission Control window.

Use this dialog to:

Additionally you can use Mission Control to optionally:

If not done already, create a new reaClassical project via Ctrl+N. The number of tracks should equal the combined number of stereo and mono microphone channels. If in doubt, pick a horizontal workflow.

While it is always better to record in ReaClassical, occasionally you might need to use audio recorded by other engineers who used a different DAW.

Audition your material via mouse hover + A on parent or child tracks. Use mixer mute and solo buttons to further customize what you hear.

Use Mission Control C to set recording inputs and panning manually or automatically based on track name. For automatic assignment, add text like "Left", "R", "Pair", "2ch" etc. as a suffix and press Auto Rec Inputs.

Use B to open the Meterbridge. The default view shows numeric peak holds. When tracks are record-armed, the main window displays recording inputs. During auditioning of material, the top rows show mixer tracks and the bottom any special tracks including RCMASTER and Master tracks.

To switch to graphical meters, check the "Graphical Meters" option. Under the options tab, you can set color thresholds for yellow and red. To switch to channel numbers instead of hardware names, uncheck the option while tracks are rec-armed.

The recording indicator Alt+R is designed to be placed on a secondary monitor full screen so in situations where engineers are located in a separate control room, musicians are aware of when recording is active. Right-click to set custom colors for offline, standby, recording and pause.

Again, I refer you to the books on classical music production but in general I suggest aiming for around -12dB peaks on the meters. 24-bit recording allows for a lot of headroom so there’s no need to push close to 0dB. Adjust the individual mixer track faders to balance. When using a 32-bit float device with dual AD converters as an interface (such as the Zoom F-series), ensure that the recording file format is switched to 32-bit float via project preferences P. The recorded levels might seem too low or too high during recording, but they can be easily adjusted afterward in ReaClassical without introducing any extra noise or distortion.

When using the Record Panel for recording (essential!), there is increased safety when using classical take recording via the automatic switch to a restricted set of keyboard shortcuts. In addition to using the record panel, you can also access various non-disruptive functions like zooming.

To record additional material after the fact (say a separate narration track or an organ part in a church after the main recording session in a concert hall), edit the orchestral material as usual and use a mixdown as a guide track in a new project (or new project tab). To achieve this, use a vertical workflow (convert if necessary via Mission Control C), add a Reference track also via Mission Control and set the ReaClassical Project Preferences option REF = Overdub Guide to checked (F5). With this setting, audio on the guide track will be audible during take recording and auditioning of folders. Use Classical Take Recording via the Record Panel as normal. You can then S-D edit and mix the overdub material to fit with the orchestral mixdown or, if further mixing and mastering work is required on the original multi-track material, bring the organ part into that project as a new track in the folders (see below).

To figure out required disk space for a duration of audio or vice versa to figure out maximum duration of audio you can record based on available disk space, use Shift+H to open a calculator. You can set units, channel count, samplerate, bit depth and format (WAV or MP3 at various bitrates).

If you use a portable recorder such as a MixPre, you might have a multi-channel combined file. ReaClassical includes a special function for converting these into a stereo pair + mono track set. Import your multi-channel media using a single regular track (for a horizontal workflow) or multiple regular tracks (for a vertical workflow). Press F10 (no need to select the items). Answer yes to the prompt that appears if the first two channels should be treated as stereo interleaved (i.e. they represent your main pair). Depending on the choice made, the number of tracks in the resulting folder(s) will adjust accordingly. You are then given the opportunity to name your tracks in Mission Control. Obviously if you decide to move to a vertical workflow after exploding using a single track, you can always use Mission Control to convert. If you need to bring in new takes after running this function, simply open an empty project tab, import additional media then run the function there. Afterwards, copy or cut the exploded items into the original project tab to the desired locations.

Assuming that the filenaming contains at least a take number as a suffix along with channel descriptions:

Use Ctrl+Alt+→ to see the whole project horizontally and/or Ctrl+Alt+↓ to see everything vertically. If you want to zoom both horizontally and vertically at the same time, use ` (backtick). You can also go to the start or end of the project by pressing the Home or End key respectively.

Use Enter on the main keyboard or numpad to quickly search for a take based on the underlying filename of the media item. This will work for any file-naming system that uses numbers before the file extension such as main_pair-T04.wav, cello-spot-take_23.flac or even ortf_pair(04).wav such as created by Presonus Studio One. Note that if the imported or recorded files have zero-padding that is not a problem. If you have used an item to create an S-D edit, searching for a take will ignore these items and move directly to the original sources.

In F5 preferences, you can set to search by item name instead. In the ReaClassical Notes app N, you can override and reset take numbers. These take priority in the search.

Press TAB to jump to a specific absolute or relative time using right-aligned logic, similar to video editing applications. This can be an absolute time within the project or an relative position inside a selected item or a set of consecutive crossfaded items. Prefix with + or - to make relative jumps. Once you get the hang of using this input logic, moving to any position is extremely quick!

You can easily shuffle back and forth between item edges by using the Q and W keys. You can move between markers by using the , and . keys (by design given on my keyboard they are the same keys that have < and >).

ReaClassical can hide or show children of track folders. This means that editing multi-track classical music can be as easy as editing a stereo track. Making an edit to the parent track automatically makes the same one to all the children too. To show hidden children select the parent track and press D (for display). To hide, select the parent track and press E (for ensconce). The other benefit is that a whole set of takes can be displayed vertically in the main editing window without too much effort.

To adjust the visual zoom of wave peaks, use Ctrl+↑ and Ctrl+↓. This is purely visual and allows for easier editing of quieter sections.

While I designed ReaClassical to be used efficiently with keyboard shortcuts, there is a custom S-D editing toolbar for those that prefer it. However I do highly recommend learning the key strokes as you will find your editing speeds improve dramatically. The floating toolbar can be opened via F6 but will automatically open once when you start source-destination editing. Right-click to set a different icon layout and/or zoom.

Hover over the icons to discover what is available.

At the top of the arrange window, you will see a dedicated ReaClassical menu (in between Options and Extensions). While not intended to be used as the primary way of running ReaClassical functions, it is an organized way of discovering the individual available functions and learning the keyboard shortcuts.

While some of these will be covered later in the manual, it is useful to give a summary of track types you can currently use in ReaClassical. First, we have the regular folder or folder of tracks shown in the arrange window. These are where you record or import takes. Second, we have the mixer tracks designated via M: prefix. These tracks shown only in the mixer are where you adjust the usual track controls such as names, pan, volume, phase, add FX etc. Their names are synced across the project via when added or renamed via Mission Control. Third, we have aux busses designated via @ prefix. You can route mixer tracks to these to use as a reverb bus etc. Fourth, we have submix busses designated via # prefix. You can route mixer tracks to these as a way to collect together microphones from the same orchestral section etc. Fifth, we have a dedicated room tone track where you can place recorded or generated room tone (more on this in the mastering section). Sixth, we have the RCMASTER bus which leads directly to the master REAPER bus. Here you can gain stage into the master bus, add FX etc. Seventh, we have reference tracks which lie outside of the RCMASTER structure thereby allowing the user to quickly make comparisons with other imported material via the audition shortcuts. Next, have the possibility of a live bounce track. This also lies outside of the RCMASTER structure and is a way to capture a live stereo mix from the RCMASTER track. Finally, the master bus itself where again you can set final levels, add FX etc. As mentioned elsewhere, try not to delete the mixer tracks or RCMASTER. But, even if you do by accident, open Mission Control C to recreate them.

For a complete set of statistics on the ReaClassical project, either for your own information or to assist with billing a client, go to ReaClassical › Utilities › Show Statistics or use the shortcut F1. For example, you might have a billing system that charges clients based on number of source-destination edits, or mixing/mastering based on the final length of the album. Information includes: final album length, number of CD markers, project age, total project length, total length of source material, total number of items, number of track folders, number of tracks per folder, number of special tracks, number of regions, number of destination S-D edits, number of destination item splits, FX count and number of automation lanes.

Add project, track, item notes and item ranking using ReaClassical’s Notes window N. The window can also be used to name or rename items.

Use the Colorize function K to set a custom color (or remove it) for all items in group. The custom color is respected by Prepare Takes and Record Panel.

ReaClassical defaults to placing media and exports into appropriately subfolders making project file navigation easier. Also, ReaClassical defaults to separate folders for automatic backups and auto-saves.

REAPER allows for powerful and complex backup routines. ReaClassical defaults to 10 time-stamped backups and 10 auto-saves every 15 minutes when not recording. Feel free to modify for your own way of working including switching to backups and auto saves for a number of unique days.

If in doubt, keep everything! Otherwise, the File › Clean currrent project directory is an excellent way to reduce the size of your projects. Note that when assigning a session name via the Record Panel Window, currently the above REAPER menu item doesn’t search recursively. In a way, this reduces the chances of accidentally deleting precious takes. You can always manually delete but, from experience, it is much better to simply keep everything.

There are various ways to archive classical music projects. First, you can access the Project Bay by Ctrl+B shortcut. You can then ensure that all media used in the project is contained within the project folder itself. If not, you can select as many as necessary, right click and move/copy into the project folder. After this, you can simply compress the folder as a zip and store on an external drive. A further step to guaranteeing ability to open in the future is to freeze tracks so that plugin effects are baked in (with ability to unfreeze later if possible). Alternatively you can save a copy of the project via File › Save project as…​, converting to a format like FLAC and trimming the media as you wish. Finally, one to look out for in the future is Project Archiver. However, I don’t believe it is quite ready for prime-time yet and recommend using one of the other methods for now.

Ensure that the folder where you want to place the marker pair is selected. The best way to do this is to click on the item where you want the marker. Note that in F5 preferences you can set placement at mouse hover meaning that the desired folder is chosen based on hover position.

Since v7.40, REAPER includes an excellent professional two-lane crossfade editor similar in nature to the specialist classical DAWs such as Sequoia and Pyramix. With the improved crossfade editor, users can see the continued "ghost" waveforms of the items beyond the crossfade they enter and likewise the previous waveforms of the items that exit the crossfade. The ability to visually align transients and then position the crossfade just before it is absolutely critical (and fun when you have the tools to do it!). Select the right-hand item of a fade (or hover over the item if Add S-D Markers at Mouse Hover is set to checked in ReaClassical Project Preferences F5), press F and you are moved into crossfade editor mode. Note also that you are automatically centered on the crossfade and can use the mouse wheel to zoom in and out. Press F again and you exit that mode.

So, now you are in the crossfade editor mode, my own preferred method of getting the perfect crossfade is to move the transient I want on the left (upper) item to just after the crossfade by dragging on the ghost waveform. Then I drag the "ghost" waveform of my right (lower) item so that the two transients align. That’s it! Drag on the active part of the waveform to also move the location of the crossfade. You can just move or resize the crossfade by hovering directly over the lower portion of the crossfade and dragging either the edge or the shaded rectangle. Be aware that markers are not rippled in ripple-per-track mode (but with the introduction of the Create CD Markers, I highly recommend not bothering to create any markers at this point).

In reality, this process can be just a few seconds to achieve the perfect edit. To ensure that previous xfades are unaffected, make sure that Lock left-hand start is checked:

To audition material, hover the mouse inside the crossfade window and:

Use Shift+A, Shift+S or Shift+D to do the equivalent but with a custom playrate as set in F5 preferences.

You can shuttle between crossfades using the Q and W shortcuts. Please see the REAPER manual for more details of what is possible including phase alignment and various view options.

When making a source-destination edit, you may not have a list or annotated score from the musicians or producer showing preferred edits. If the decision is left to the audio engineer, this process is now very straightforward in ReaClassical 26 via the Source Audition Manager. You can open via Mission Control or Z shortcut.

When the window opens, you will also note that razor selection is enabled. To set up all the source audition pairs, drag on the desired parent items and press Z again to create an audition pair and add to the window.

Use the controls to audition, rank and add notes. Once you have settled on a best take, press the convert button to delete all marker pairs and replace with a single set of actual source IN and OUT markers. Assuming one or more destination markers are already set, you can press 5, F3 or F4 to make the desired edit. During auditioning, you can delete individual pairs via the X on the specific table row, as well as abandon the whole process by clicking Delete All Audition Pairs….Just closing the window automatically disables razor selection mode but maintains any existing source audition pairs.

Coming Soon…​

The metadata window allows you to enter all track and album metadata in a single place including automatic ISRC values based on the first track entry, and automatic album-wide performer, songwriter, composer and arranger values based on one or more entries in the track table. These can be overridden via the checkboxes.

ReaClassical includes various rendering presets to make rendering extremely quick and easy. In the Render dialog R, click on the presets button then All Settings. The preset names are self-explanatory. The first four entries are for exporting a whole album as a single audio file. The remaining use the automatically created regions after using the Create CD Markers function Y to create automatically named folders of audio files, one per CD track. After selecting a preset, you should feel free to change any render settings and perhaps save as a new preset for future use. By default, the presets use the built-in REAPER standard triangular dither.

Now that r8brain free has been introduced as the best quality resampler available in REAPER (I highly recommend double-checking that it is selected when resampling at render time) I feel I can do everything, including DDP creation, without leaving my favorite DAW. However, generating a CUE file via the Create CD Markers function is still useful for all sorts of things and I often create FLAC + CUE for album playback in my media player or WAV + CUE to easily burn a CD at home.

Use either the built-in REAPER dither options or RCDither as the last plugin on the master chain. If using RCDither or any other 3rd-party dither be sure to keep the master fader at unity and disable all REAPER dither checkboxes.

REAPER has a fantastic rendering feature which allows the user to set a desired loudness and peak / true peak setting. For quick exports that need to meet certain targets (i.e. streaming) this makes things extremely efficient and is very transparent when not set to extreme values.

Another REAPER feature that is outstanding is the dry-run render function which allows for very quick offline loudness and peak checks and much faster than using REAPER’s included realtime loudness meter. It is therefore extremely easy to set up compressors, limiters etc in the project and make small adjustments based on the dry-run values and maintain complete control over the process.

Not necessarily obvious to new REAPER users are the special =START and =END markers (make your markers in the usual way and label them accordingly) that constrain the length of the project. Rather than rely on extended silence at the end of items or time selections, the =END marker is a great way to ensure you have the exact amount of lead-out you want at the end of the disc. Positioning both special markers is great way to generate files for multi-disc releases without having to rely on multiple projects.

You will hopefully notice I have included various shortcuts for manually creating regions (single or multiple) from items and time selection (great for quickly generating demo snippets). Also worth noting is that you can still do some (or all!) of your source-destination editing with your track markers in place as the S/D markers have IDs far higher than any classical CD would have and are automatically deleted after a successful edit. As long as you have your ripple-per-track mode engaged, all your existing marker placements and carefully crafted edits will remain intact. But, again, don’t manually create CD markers at this point as I include a very powerful tool to make light work of that side of mastering.

For a modern Windows 10/11 setup, required tweaks are minimal. Ensure that you are using 'High Performance' or ideally 'Ultimate Performance'. which, if not available, can be activated by opening a command prompt and pasting:

You can then select it from the usual power plan dialog. For best device performance, remember to use the ASIO drivers that were included with your audio interface. Consider disabling your network card during mission-critical recording. For further tips see Microsoft’s Unofficial Windows 10 and 11 Audio Workstation build and tweak guide. Of particular interest is Part 3 which discusses what not to do (including not setting your processor scheduling to 'background services').

Performance should be excellent out of the box. Remember to disable energy saving (System Preferences › Energy Saver) so that sessions are not interrupted. Consider disabling your network card during mission-critical recording. If you are experiencing any audio issues while in your DAW, for tips see Focusrite’s optimization page.

Linux users should visit my Arch Pro Audio Guide. Performance out of the box on Linux is getting better with every kernel release and is on par or better than Windows. As a starting point, ensure that your username is set up for realtime privileges (step 3) and that you set several kernel parameters to ensure you are running the performance governor, threadirqs and dynamic preempt (step 4). To make things even easier, consider using a dedicated audio/video distro like AVLinux or Ubuntu Studio where everything is already set up for you.

The good news is that REAPER and ReaClassical run on nine different architectures. You should always be able to open up a project on another machine even if it is running a different OS. Plus, ReaClassical includes various mastering-grade plugins in JSFX format that run on all architectures.