How To Do A Virtual Sound Check Using Reaper

The sound check is the most important practice in live and recorded sound. The soundcheck is considered the buffer between setting up and showtime. It’s critical for an engineer as it’s the only chance to hear each instrument in isolation through the system, as well as the only time when you can move around the space to hear exactly what you’re dealing with. It’s so essential for musicians to make sure they can hear what they need to hear to produce a professional sound.
A proper sound check will answer important questions for both the musicians and the engineers. While there are many questions that need to be addressed, these are just a few. How does the room sound? Can the sound system produce enough volume to fill the space? Can the band hear everything they need to hear, to play professionally? What are the bad frequencies that need to be EQ’ed out of the space? Is the sound being produced too loud?
This list of questions along with many others is a very small part of doing a quality sound check. The following video will show how to do a sound check for getting everything perfect right before the show begins, as well as how to record the live event so you can go back at a latter time to tweak your settings if the same people will be playing in the same space, like a Praise and Worship team would do. If you have any questions, please contact me at [e-mail].
Hello, my name is Dana and I have been recording the “Spoken Word” for 45 years. I have analyzed close to 10,000 Podcast files using the recommended standards set forth by the Audio Engineering Society, commonly referred to as the AES, to wit I am a Proud Member of.
I am an active Narrator with the ACX. I also teach Home Recording. I have taught thousands of people how to record professional audio concerning the “Spoken Word” commonly referred to as “Speech”. If you plan on joining any of these organizations or dive into recording, I invite you to check out my other videos as well as my website @ www.dandlstudiollc.com or @ www.danatucker.com.

[@playbassken]

Excellent tutorial and thank you for helping with this. The output routing is key here and your video made this so easy!

[@DanaTucker1]

Thanks for the kind words.

[@donm1547]

Thanks, Dana.

[@DanaTucker1]

You are so welcome!

[@onzkicg]

Thanks! Yes will visit that link. Another question, is there another way to surely hear what’s going to be in livestream (aside from listening directly from YT or FB while streaming). What I noticed is same as you mentioned, the sound in my console headphones is not same as what I’m hearing in live stream (watching it after the event) Thanks!

[@DanaTucker1]

Not that I know of. It is vital that you have someone listen to your live stream so they can give you feedback, on what you need to do. Once you do this two or three times, you should be able to save your scene and simply do very minor adjustments whenever you go live.

[@onzkicg]

Nice tutorial! Hi, can you elaborate more about your mention @4:50 “when going to stream this live- all effects will take center stage”

[@DanaTucker1]

When you use effects, they do just what they are designed to do. When you live stream, regardless of what platform you will be streaming to, your audio will be compressed, due to the way audio is delivered via a stream. It is called packets. There have been books written on this and I can not explain it any better. However, I can put you in touch with someone that can. Check out this video, then please reply back. Please tell Dave, Dana sent ya. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pn7RkpyreJpoiLs

[@terrytarpening9456]

I understand fully the concept of the virtual soundcheck. Even done it. We mix half live vocals/instruments with backing tracks from laptop. What I don’t understand is how to set the gain staging etc of A/D on vocals/instruments after I already did it on the USB side?! How do you match settings?!

[@DanaTucker1]

Once you do your recording into your DAW, all you need to do is play it back from the Card. You don't do anything within the DAW or the mixer.

[@ilovegsus]

Hi Dana...thank you for doing these videos...really helped me a lot with improving our sound at church! I have this problem though, when I playback recordings from Reaper it is much louder than the actual live performance...how do I set it so that live and the soundcheck match level wise? Thanks in advance!

[@DanaTucker1]

It should play back at the same level. You can always lower the track faders in Reaper to adjust the playback volume..