Reaper for Podcasting: A Beginner's Guide for New Users

Reaper is a fantastic tool for podcast production. Unfortunately, if can be a bit overwhelming when you open it for the first time. There are a lot of resources and other KZbin video that help you learn Reaper, but they are all geared towards music production and cover a lot more than you'll ever need for podcasting.
I have stripped all the excess information and cover just what you need to know to make your podcast production more efficient. I want to help you get over that learning curve so you can feel more comfortable using Reaper in your podcast production workflow. I go over some basic settings, how to record, simple editing, and finally, how to render your episode into an MP3.
This is just he beginning of the journey so be sure to subscribe as we dive deeper and deeper into Reaper.
Be sure to join the community of fellow Reaper podcasters at / reaperforpodcasting
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Connect with me
Website: rothmedia.audio
Facebook: / rothmediaaudio
Twitter: / rothmedia_audio
Instagram: / rothmedia_audio

[@maricelp116]

I agree that most reaper tutorials are for music production. I'm glad I found your video.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Love hearing that!

[@ManChefDad]

DUDE. I needed this bad. I'm coming from Audacity too and you made transitioning a lot easier. Thanks!

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

I'm so glad!! Please keep me updated on your transition and let me know what other struggles you run into. It's been awhile since I switched and I forgot what it was like. haha But I really want to make it as easy as possible for people to get started with Reaper.

[@360healthconsultancyltd2]

How refreshing to find a 'how to' video that gets to the point and goes at a perfect pace! Thank you so much for taking the time to make this really helpful video!

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

I'm so glad to hear that!

[@tommyboyle23]

I'm so glad I've found your channel. 🙏🏼👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I'm old and baffled when I look at these things,thank you good fellow.✌🏼🙏🏼

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

So glad you're finding this helpful!!

[@tompaulherron8183]

This video was a HUGE help for me. I am a stone cold beginner, and this video was perfect for me. I learned so much. Many thanks.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

I love to hear that!

[@ed_marin]

This is just what I needed to start jumping from audacity to reaper. Thank you, will be watching all of your videos

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Great to hear!

[@OnlineRadioSchool]

Cheers big man. Just moving over from Audition and was like....errrrm! Lol

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

It can be daunting!

[@OnlineRadioSchool]

@@ReaperforPodcasting Tell me about it! 2 weeks in and I'm still...err..how the hell do I do that again? Why is this now different? Why is the master track now over there?. Why is my new best mate now some random american guy called Kenny Lol. Phew soooo hard! I will be going through all your vids too...and then throwing myself off a bridge later hehe. I wish I could jump in a time machine and jump to where I'm really good at it! haha. Cheers anyway!

[@thesmartblackgirlpodcast]

I am making the switch from Audacity as well and this was super helpful!

[@maearacay]

Wow! I agree. 👏🏽👏🏽 Thank you so much for this! You’ve taken a huge burden off a lot of us in learning the basics. God bless.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Thanks for the kind words!! My whole ethos for this channel was to make learning Reaper easier. :D

[@stevel6943]

This is the best tutorial I have ever seen. Thank you ❤

[@PressBtoCancel]

This is great, thanks for the tutorial, you're right Reaper is quite intimidating, but this clears up alot

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

I'm glad it was helpful! And be sure to let ask any questions that come up for you. It helps to determine what to cover.

[@Mixingitupwithmixter]

Thank you for the tips. Your tips are very helpful. Much Love from a podcasting class in Michigan

[@mechatyrants6218]

Thanks man! I've managed to understand some basic editing techniques on my own, but Reaper is my first DAW and most of the stuff you talked about here, I still didn't know.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Glad I could help!! Very soon I will be creating a more in-depth video on editing.

[@orelanic4178]

Very informative video it helped a lot thank you

[@mikebatho8382]

This is really great. Just what I'm looking for. I'm completely new to sound editing (and podcasting) , and I'm diving straight in with Reaper. I guess the first things to know are, just what you covered here, and how to swap clips around into a different order. I thought for my first time out, I might take a page of a book, divide it into sections by para & number them, read them into Reaper in the wrong order through my P4 and then take the recording and try to cut it back into the right order. Are you open to one or two questions when inevitably get myself into trouble after 2 mins? Happy to credit your channel once we actually have an episode ready. Great work, man.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Absolutely! Though, as you can tell, it might be awhile before I respond. I would suggest posting in the Reaper for Podcasting Facebook group. You more likely to get a fast response. Assuming, of course, that you haven't already figured it out.

[@lee.isaac.richard]

Love this even in ‘24, thanks!

[@mediaguy50]

Coming from Audition and need to quickly get functional - thanks for this get-to-the-point tut...Looks Like Reaper has some nice features - I am hoping it will work for me without having to take out a mortgage.

[@KatiaVassi]

Thank you so much! I'm gonna try Reaper for my new podcast.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

How did it go?

[@angelinaphebus1525]

Wow! This was so wonderful. I know absolutely nothing about audio recording/editing, but I want to offer online meditations. You really just saved me a ton of difficulties.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

I'm so glad I could help!

[@pszczelarz_z_wachocka]

Thanks for that video. Quick and simple startup with reaper is what i need :)

[@catarinaduartealmeida5224]

Thank you very much for your knowledge! I will keep watching every single video you posted!

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Thank you! That means so much to me. :)

[@LibertyRPF]

Thank you, this is very helpful for me as I evaluate Reaper as a potential tool.

[@patriciaporter5553]

Thanks lots for the total beginner this is sooooo helpful.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

So glad!

[@michelleandreawilliams1798]

Thanks! Great step by step for Reaper.

[@river535ginn3]

So helpful. Thanks

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

You're welcome!

[@Beshinemusician]

Awesome video and Tutorial.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Thanks so much!

[@craigwessels7099]

This was absolutely a fantastic introduction to Reaper. I downloaded the sample back around Christmas time, but have been afraid to dip my toe. I tried to practice with an old file at one time, and it sounded like someone was playing the bar scene from the original Star Wars.....backwards. You provided a great deal of insight that is going to help give me the confidence to officially break free from the limitations of Garageband. Garageband has been great for the last 19 months of the show, but it is time to do a bit more. Couple this with just adding a Podtrak 4 to my studio a few days ago, and I'm just starting to figure it out as well. I'll practice for a while with old files until I feel comfortable to bring in a new episode. Thanks so much for the straight forward "podcast centric" approach to Reaper. I'll be watching more.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

This story is only too common. It's such a pain to get started with Reaper but I'm glad you're getting back into and that this video is helping you.

[@zeki-boi]

Thank you for make this, it's exactly what I was looking for

[@bonnielee7489]

OH wow! I am so glad I've found you!

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Thank you so much!! I'm so glad you found it helpful.

[@A.marcapodcast]

you just save me a lot time... great video!! thanks

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Glad I could help!

[@wentianli3975]

really useful for beginner! thanks a lot for producing these vedios!!

[@victorliborio8100]

great content, thank u! subscribed

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Awesome, thank you!

[@innerstrengthcheck]

Thanks for this! I feel more confident about jumping into Reaper for both podcasting and music stuff now. :)

[@guardian218]

I appreciate the podcast specific tutorials. Thank you sir!

[@HenryMilleo]

I've actually tried using Reaper, but it just doesn't work with the Zoom H6 as an audio interface. I installed Zoom's drivers and ASIO, I tested ASIO4ALL and even the windows native ones, but it doesn't recognize the multitrack microphones. I was able to record in a moment, but only using the zoom's LR capsule, and yet I don't have sound output using the zoom either. In other words: I don't record or hear anything. Reaper looks like a good program, but I'll have to go back to Audacity or Garage Band. Anyway, I really enjoyed your videos. I hope it continues.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

I'm glad you liked the videos and it's a bummer that you can't get it to work. It would be Zoom's option under the audio system in the settings. Another option that I used to do is record in Audacity and edit in REAPER. lol I'm thinking about getting into making more videos. If I can find the motivation, haha, I'll look into recording with my Zoom and see if I can help you figure it out.

[@HenryMilleo]

@@ReaperforPodcasting Thanks for your reply, Daniel. Your videos are really good and you should keep producing content. I've been following each one of them to learn how to edit my podcast in Reaper. Unfortunately I still haven't been able to use Reaper for recording, but I'll keep using it for editing and keep trying to make it work with H6 zoom.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

@@HenryMilleo I appreciate that! I just spent almost an hour trying to get my H6 to work. haha. I was able to get it to work after downloading the Zoom drivers. It weird that it doesn't work for you. One thing I noticed is that choosing the mode on the Zoom device determines which drivers work in REAPER.

[@HenryMilleo]

@@ReaperforPodcasting It's very frustrating not being able to get the H6 to work on my desktop. But I'll keep trying and I'll use my macbook with Reaper for now. I appreciate your help and if I can get it working on windows I'll get back to you.

[@brooklynebony]

very informative. straight to the point

[@u29all]

Very nice and super helpful. Thank you! 🙏🏼

[@TheEmerOLeary]

This is an excellent tutorial, thank you. At 7.26 you say 'We're going to go back to the start of the track so we click on Home'. Where is Home? I can't find it within Reaper. Thank you. I've been dragging the green line back to get to the start and it's a total pain! UPDATE - Just Googled it and you can click on W to take you back to the start. Great. Thank you!

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Glad you figured it out! For anyone else that might have this issues, when I said "Home" I meant the Home key on the keyboard. Not all have that specific key so another option is to create you're own. Under Actions, find "Transport: Go to start of project" and assign it to a key that makes sense for you.

[@TheEmerOLeary]

@@ReaperforPodcasting Fantastic; thanks!

[@seanwu1968]

This is what I need. Subscribed.

[@BrandonTheBard]

Dude THANK you.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

You're welcome!!

[@OneSybert]

Great tutorial. Exactly the tips I was looking for!

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Glad to hear it!

[@tommyboyle23]

Thanks Dan. I'm having issues with reaper changing file extensions when I drag and drop a sound effect say, when I go back to the folder to drag and drop the sound bite again it's file extension has changed and says reapeaks after the .MP3 file extension,then I can't use it.? Any ideas ? Sorry I'm old 😂

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Oh yeah. Totally get this, haha. The reapeaks file is a completely different file. The mp3 still exists as it was. It might have been copied or moved to wherever your project is depending on your settings. Or it may still be wherever it was to begin with. The .reapeaks file is a brand new file created by REAPER and contains the data REAPER uses to create the waveform.

[@onlyhere4vidz]

Thanks so much mate! this video is fantastic

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Appreciate that!

[@andrewparker2786]

Thanks for doing these videos! I'm new to podcasting and doing it all myself, very helpful.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

I'm so glad! Podcasting can be complicated so I'm glad I can help with the editing process.

[@tomasblotta4070]

Great tutorial man, keep it up! Thank you

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Appreciate it!

[@kathybates108]

I downloaded your ebook and watched this video but I don't see how to get to the screenshots on page 4 of the ebook. I'll watch some more tutorials and see if I can find the answer but thought you might want to address this. Thank you for your efforts to help.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Might have the wrong account. I don't have an ebook.

[@givenondrums]

Siyabonga (Thank you) 🙏

[@MRJUSTINSTUBE]

when you first begin editing, you said hit "home", but i cant find it...

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

It depends on the keyboard. If there is not a 10key, it'll be some where on the far right. If there is a 10 key, the it would be to the left of it. Typcially.

[@MrJoeCaffeine]

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

[@mediaguy50]

I ran your first three tuts on Podcasting and they where excellent - THANK You. ...I am coming from Audition and .I would like to have the cursor stay in the middle of the edit window and have continuous scrolling move the file past the head. This gives me lots of room to zoom in and to find the edit point. I also Like to highlight the edit by placing the cursor directly on the file image. I also like to zoom in using the wheel and a key ...but I must have missed that lesson. So far I am still trying to duplicate the settings that are similar to Audition as I have yet to find a better environment for cutting an interview...do you have any suggestions/

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Sorry for the late reply. Let me try to help. Continuous scrolling can be found under Options. Towards the bottom make sure "Continuous scrolling" is checked. Hopefully, that's what you're looking for. Highlighting by clicking on the file image. That's all handled by the mouse modifier settings. I don't know if you can do it with left click, but try this with the right-click and see if it's what you're looking for. Settings > Editing Behavior > Mouse Modifiers. Context: Arrange view - right drag. Change Default action to "Marquee select items and time. Scrolling. This can be done in actions. Open the actions menu and click "Fine shortcut..." then scroll with the wheel and it will highlight the zoom action. Then you can change that to include a key modifier. Please follow up with any questions that come up or is anything is confusing or doens't work.

[@jefflep1]

Thank you very, very much for this!

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

I'm glad you found it useful!!

[@jefflep1]

Reaper for Podcasting I am excited to explore more about what you do as I launch my podcast soon. Reaper is amazing but like you said daunting. Complete trial and error lol. Thanks again! I look toward to more content!

[@BobIrving2]

Super helpful, thanks. Question -- what if you're going to use Reaper for both music production and podcasting? Can you save 2 Reaper templates? I'm a noob.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Are you talking about the layout for the workspace? Absolutely! It's called a screenset. Get your workspace laid out how you want it for music and the hit Shift+F7. (I believe that is correct by default. if you don't get a prompt to save screenset, you can search for the action. It's called Screenset: Save window set #01.) After that, get it set up for podcasting and hit Shift+F8. Now you can easily switch between the 2 by hitting F7 for music and F8 for podcasting. Again, assuming those are the default keys for screensets. REAPER Mania has a great video on how to do it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qKC7d2qHeZKCgM0 If you still have questions or can't get it to work, let me know and I'll make a video on it.

[@BobIrving2]

@@ReaperforPodcasting Thanks very much for the detailed reply. I'll check out that other video. So in your screensets, you can have different audio inputs?

[@danielhendrix7620]

Fantastic! Thank you very much for this. One question we have is about inserting a track ... say you delete a section and or re-recorded it later on Zoom and had to import the media. (We got that done) but you want to replace the first section with the new imported track. How do you do this?

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

I'm not sure I fully understand. Based on my interpretation, you would just remove the audio you wanted to delete and move the new audio into its place. If I'm not understanding the situation, perhaps you want to hop on a video chat and we can workshop it. I offer free Q&A sessions in the Facebook group.

[@danielhendrix7620]

@@ReaperforPodcasting I actually figured it out. It was far more intuitive than I thought it would be. However, I will still take you up on those Facebook sessions.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

@@danielhendrix7620 Awesome! Send me a message at reaperforpodcasting.com/contact/ and we'll get it set up.

[@Feeseyesonu]

Yes thank you for creating this video on reaper. I presume reaper is just for audio recording? Is there a windows software package available for recording Podcast videos for youtube that works with reaper. I'm a newbee to creating podcasts and have no idea where to start. Any advice would be great. Thank you, Fiona

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

As far as I know, there is no direct way to record video in Reaper. If you're using a webcam, Windows comes with an app called Camera that can record video. You would then just import the video file in Reaper and edit there. I would suggest checking out @TheREAPERBlog. He has a doing video in Reaper.

[@Feeseyesonu]

@@ReaperforPodcasting thank you so much for getting back to me.

[@monicabrown5447]

Thanks your the best.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Dawww

[@MunkirNakirGaming]

Can you tell me one thing? For podcast any luf s levels should we match or we directly export the audio and upload without any mastering?

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Depends on the platform. KZbin likes -14LUFS. I think Spotify as well. Apple wants -16LUFS. I aim for -16 and let the other platforms deal with it as they will. But I would never put out an episode without some sort of mastering.

[@sincman]

Thanks for this! I'm looking for how to get rid of the echo of my own voice I'm hearing in my headphones?

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Like hearing yourself on a slight delay while recording?

[@sincman]

@@ReaperforPodcasting Yes that's correct. Throws me off a bit.

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

@@sincman Windows?

[@sincman]

@@ReaperforPodcasting yessir!

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

@@sincman There is a monitor option in Reaper. Depending on your theme, it could be in a different location. In the default theme, it appears next to the track name when the track is armed and it looks like a speaker. It could also be a Windows setting. if you open your sound settings, go to "Device properties", then click "Additional device properties". Go to the "Listen" tab and make sure the "Listen to this device" is not checked.

[@dmytrotyshchenko]

👍

[@heathersailes4280]

My brother and I want to start a podcast primarily focusing on issues surrounding people with disabilities. Is it possible to collaborate with others when using Reaper?

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

Collaborate how? As in both of you being able to work on the same project at different times? Or work on it at the same time similar to how Google Docs works? Or something else?

[@heathersailes4280]

@@ReaperforPodcasting Would my brother and I have to be in the same room while we work on a project, or could we both be part of the podcast at the same time in different locations as long as he and I have Reaper on our computers?

[@ReaperforPodcasting]

@@heathersailes4280 To work on it at the same time, you would need to be in the same room. Otherwise, you could keep your project files in Dropbox and work on them separately. You wouldn't be able to work at the same time but your changes would stay in sync.

[@jeffstreck]

07:30 When he said "we're not going to do any post-processing..." like bro that's why I sat here for almost 8 minutes already and NOW you tell me you're not doing it? Nah. Not cool.

[@KienNguyenTrung-cg9pu]

You know what? I'm Having Audacity Already!.....