ReaGate Noise Reduction | Media

Using Reaper's ReaGate Plug-in: Audio Examples

In May 2011's edition of Sound On Sound, we looked at using Reaper's bundled gating plug-in — ReaGate. Here, Mike has supplied audio examples to demonstrate the techniques used in the workshop.

sos-reaper-tech-may11.zip | 3 MB

The first set of audio examples show how the side-chain filtering and Pre-open facilities of Reaper's ReaGate can be used to deal with a challenging spill-reduction task.

Snare01_Ungated

Here's a live snare-drum close-mic recording. As you can hear, there's masses of hi-hat and kick-drum spill, which I want to reduce.

Snare02_Gate

For this file, I've applied ReaGate, using 0ms Attack and 44ms Release settings so that I can hear the triggering action clearly. (I've also dialled in 3ms of Hold time to reduce gate chattering, in the light of the fast attack/release times.) I've set the Threshold to -27dB, which is as high as I can get it without losing any of the snare hits, but despite this both the kick and hi-hat parts are causing the gating to misfire.

Snare03_Gate_SCFilters

To improve the triggering, I use ReaGate's built-in side-chain filtering options to reduce the levels of kick-drum and hi-hat spill in the detector signal. Setting the Highpass slider to 674Hz and the Lowpass slider to 4869Hz does the trick, as you can hear in this example: the gate now opens only when it should.

Snare04_Gate_FilterListen

In order to set up ReaGate's side-chain filters for the Snare03_Gate_SCFilters example file, I engaged the plug-in's Preview Filter Output button so that I could audition the filtered detector signal directly and refine them by ear. Here's what the side-chain signal sounded like by the time I'd finished refining the Highpass and Lowpass settings. Although it sounds nasty and boxy, it does give the snare a balance advantage for detection purposes. Compare this with the Snare01_Ungated file to remind yourself of the original unfiltered spill levels.

Snare05_Gate_PreOpen

Although the gate in the Snare03_Gate_SCFilters audio example is now triggering only on the snare hits, its Threshold has had to be set so high that the gate is slicing off a little of the initial snare transient, even with a minimum 0ms Attack setting. ReaGate's Pre-open facility provides a way to improve this aspect of the processed sound. In this example I've applied 6ms of Pre-open, which helps the drum onset sound crisper.

Snare06_Gate_Smooth

So far I've deliberately kept ReaGate's Release setting short and its Dry slider all the way down so that I could easily hear the finer points of the gating action. However, in practice a longer release time will give a more musical-sounding snare decay, and the gating range needn't be nearly so extreme: some spill between the mics in a drum kit is usually beneficial to the sound, so all you really want to do is reduce the spill on this snare close-mic to a more suitable level. In this audio example I've attended to both these issues, setting the Release to 115ms and reducing the gating range to 8dB (Wet slider at -4.4dB, Dry slider at -8dB). Compare this to Snare01_Ungated to hear how far we've come from the original recording.

Kick01_Raw

This audio example contains a section of the kick-drum close-mic track of a live drum recording. As you'd expect of a real performer, there is some inconsistency in the bass-drum levels through the track.

Kick02_ParaGate

One way to add low-end attack to a kick-drum sound is to set up a fast gate as a send effect to isolate a little 'blip' from each hit, EQ that blip primarily into the low-frequency region, and then mix it back in with the unprocessed kick sound. This audio example demonstrates the kind of sound such a gated send channel would have when fed from the kick-drum track in the Kick02_Raw audio file. The processing comprises an instance of ReaGate (Attack: 0ms; Hold: 22ms; Release 6ms) followed by a 940Hz low-pass filter in ReaEQ. Note that the weight and tone of the blip changes from hit to hit in response to the inherent level changes in the live performance.

Kick03_ParaGateMix

This audio file shows how the gated send in the Kick02_ParaGate example enhances the raw kick-drum sound of the Kick01_Raw file when they are mixed together. Again, note the inconsistency of the low-end attack.

Kick04_ParaGateHysteresis

This file demonstrates how the 'blip' in the Kick02_ParaGate example can be made to sound more consistent when ReaGate's Hysteresis is increased to its maximum value of +24dB, effectively transforming the gate into a triggered envelope generator.

Kick05_ParaGateHysteresisMix

Here you can listen to the effects of the Kick04_ParaGateHysteresis file's improved gated send processing when it is mixed with the unprocessed kick-drum recording of the Kick01_Raw file. Compare this with Kick03_ParaGateMix to hear the difference in consistency at the low end.

Overheads01_NoGate

Here's an example of a drum overheads track, recorded from Toontrack's Superior 2 virtual instrument, where the cymbals are overpowering the snare-drum sound.

Overheads02_Gate

Inserting an instance of ReaGate on the overheads channel and then triggering it from one of the snare close-mics is able to significantly increase the snare level in the overheads balance.

Ducking01_NoDuckingFullMix

This section of a full mix contains a lot of overdriven guitar parts, which make it difficult to retain vocal clarity.

Ducking02_NoDuckingGtrsSolo

Here are the two main guitar parts within the Ducking01_NoDuckingFullMix file. Note that they are currently pretty consistent in level throughout this section of the production.

Ducking03_DuckingGtrsSolo

Inserting ReaGate on the guitar tracks, switching the gate's operation to ducking using the plug-in's Invert Gate tickbox, and then feeding the detection side-chain from the lead-vocal part results in the following ducked guitar sound. Notice that the ducking is pretty obvious when heard in isolation like this.

Ducking04_DuckingFullMix

Here's a version of the full mix previously heard in the Ducking01_NoDuckingFullMix example file, but with the guitars ducked along the lines audible in the Ducking03_DuckingGtrSolo demonstration. Note how the ducking is much less obviously audible within the full-mix context than when the guitars were soloed, but nonetheless significantly increases the sense of lead-vocal clarity.