How To Use iRig with Reaper

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Written By Sarah Barlow

Chief Music Officer

Learn how to record guitar in Reaper by following these step-by-step directions in this tutorial. This DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) is popular among guitarists owing to its user-friendly structure and inexpensive cost.

It’s easy to record instruments with Reaper once you’ve set up your audio interface or USB microphone. Proceed by following the instructions below to start recording your guitar on your computer using Reaper.

Plug in Your Audio Interface and Microphone

To record your guitar or other instruments with Reaper, utilize an audio interface or a microphone. We’ll be using the iRig HD 2 for today’s session, one of the most popular audio interfaces for electric and acoustic guitar. Connect it to your computer’s USB port.

Instead of utilizing an audio interface to record voices, just plug the iRig Mic Studio into your computer. A USB microphone like this allows for a quick and easy setup process. Once you’ve connected your audio interface or USB microphone to your computer, you’re ready to go on to the next step.

Add an audio interface to Reaper

If you don’t already have Reaper, open it or download and install it. Using Reaper requires specifying inputs and outputs before recording. Choose Options > Preferences or press Ctrl P to add your audio interface to Reaper.

Click on the ASIO Driver dropdown menu to discover what choices are available. If your audio interface has a matching option, select it. A device-specific option should appear if you have an iRig audio interface, as an example. As soon as you choose this option, Reaper will detect your interface. If you wish to use specific inputs or outputs of ASIO, click the ASIO Configuration button and select them from the list.

As soon as you’ve configured Reaper to work with your audio interface, you may go to the next one.

Setting up a Track

Simply double-click anywhere on the left side to start creating a track with Reaper. You may add additional audio at any moment by double-clicking in the empty area below the other tracks. You must ‘arm’ a track for recording after it has been set up in Reaper. To arm a track for recording, press the red button on the track.

The button will light red, and an audiometer will display on both the track and the mixer at the bottom of your screen, as seen below. If your audio interface has several inputs, use the dropdown arrow button to select a different input for the track. You’ll see all of your audio interface’s settings, as well as the ability to take MIDI input for keyboards or other instruments.

Audio Levels Checking

Make sure the audio levels are appropriately set before you begin recording. Improperly adjusted audio levels can ruin a recording. The audiometer on the track helps determine your guitar’s current audio level. 

Drag the bottom of the track down to spread it out, making it easier to view the monitor. This makes checking your audio level and ensuring that there are no issues. You can go to the following step and begin recording after you have a decent input level.

Start Recording

You may begin recording now that you have a track set up in Reaper and your audio interface set to a decent level. Then, it’s as simple as hitting Ctrl R or clicking the recording button on the bottom panel to record guitars in Reaper.