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27/09/24 - Current Reaper Workflow

  • Writer: Oliver Nixon
    Oliver Nixon
  • Oct 24, 2024
  • 2 min read

With today's blog post I'd like to dive into my Reaper workflow by looking at how I set up a new project with a template, my screensets/layouts, some go to plug-ins and scripts.


For about 6-months I have been working with the Reaper layout pictured below, I was heavily inspired by sound designer Noah Sitrin's Reaper workflow that they highlighted in a YouTube video and Stephen Schappler's blog on their workflow, I took their main ideas and made them my own.


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I work off a single 30-inch curved monitor, I used to have two smaller but I much prefer the one, larger screen. I always start a new project from my sound design template, the main timeline has a video track and a main mix master track with a few tracks pre grouped so I can get started right away. Starting at the bottom of the screen, I have my Media Explorer that is linked to a few different drives, a few network drives through work VPN and my personal library. This part of the screen also has the routing matrix and the region render matrix, they're screens I only use when batch exporting so aren't used often.

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On the right I have the mix window collapsed to just the master, this way I can quickly monozie the master, I don't often put any plug-ins on my master and prefer to use the super handy FX:Monitor function.


The FX:Monitor has two plug-ins by default, Bird Bird's Global Sampler and Izotope Insight which can both be seen above. These are probably my most used plug-ins as Insight is great for checking my levels and Global Sampler is simply a must in creative sound design, I love messing with plug-in chains and saving the output with a simple drag and drop rather than a laborious export.


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I often use the GTA style 'Radial Menu' for quickly adding plug-ins to items or tracks, I have it set to hold 'Q' as it feels natural from a gamers perspective. It has literarally every default shortcut within it and it is fully customisable, I mainly use it for plug-in adding however. I have it set as LMB is a stereo plug-in add and RMB is the mono version.


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NVK's amazing, and free, script 'variator' always makes an appearance when I'm doing variations of sounds, which is basically always. I have it as a button on my tool bar and it is also assigned to Shift+F12.


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I think that pretty much sums up my work flow without deep diving into the plug-ins I use which is being saved for another blog. These are the things I have added to Reaper from inspiration from other, usually much more experienced, sound designers. I use SWS extensions, reapack, batch exporting, normalising, batch naming etc, all the usual time saving hacks that are standard in this industry.


Hope you enjoyed looking at my workflow, anything I have used is linked below!


Peace,


Oliver.


PS the work shown in screenshots is work released long ago for Runescape with no secrets or NDA materials shown.


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©2025 by Oliver Nixon.

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