How To Increase Waveform Size In REAPER (Quick and Easy!)

To increase your waveform size in REAPER, all you need to do is hold down the ‘Shift’ key and press the ‘Up Arrow’ key until you have achieved your desired waveform size. Keep in mind that this does not affect the volume of your tracks, just their appearance. 

Waveform Size In REAPER

If you record an audio track at a low enough volume, you might have trouble seeing the track’s waveform and audio transients.

Fortunately, REAPER has a quick and easy function that you can use to increase the size of the waveforms in your track without affecting their volume. 

I often record audio at a low level to allow for headroom during mixing, so I find myself constantly using this little trick!

In this quick and easy tutorial, we will look at how to increase waveform size in REAPER.

What You Will Need To Follow This Tutorial

Here is a list of everything that you will need to follow along:

• REAPER DAW (Digital Audio Workstation)
• A REAPER project that contains at least one audio track.

How Do You Change The Size Of A Waveform In REAPER?

Increasing the size of the waveforms in your REAPER project without changing their volume is ridiculously easy! 

All you need to do is hold down the ‘Shift’ key on your computer keyboard and then press the ‘Up Arrow’ on your computer keyboard. 

As you press the up key, you will notice that the waveforms in your REAPER project are increasing in size. 

You can also press Shift>Down Arrow to return your waveforms to their original sizes. 

As you can see, increasing the size of your waveforms in REAPER is that simple! 

Keep in mind that this does not change the volume levels of your audio tracks; it only changes their visual appearance to make them easier to see.

Go ahead and try it out the next time your audio transients are a bit too small to see properly in REAPER.

Why Are My Waveforms Small In REAPER?

If you are working in REAPER or any DAW for that matter, and your waveforms are small, this is probably because you recorded the audio tracks at a lower level.

When you record something at a low enough dB (Decibel) level, the waveform for that recorded audio might appear small; sometimes even too small to see in your DAW.

If your waveforms are too small to work with in REAPER, expand them by holding down the ‘Shift’ key and pressing the ‘Up Arrow.’ as mentioned above.

As you do this, your audio waveforms will get bigger without changing their volume or sound.

How Do You Show Waveforms In REAPER?

If your audio waveforms are not showing in REAPER, this is probably because they are too small due to you recording them at a low level.

Here are some options to show your waveforms in REAPER:

• Zoom in to get a closer look at the waveforms
• Expand your tracks by dragging the bottom edge of them on the tracklist to the left of REAPER
• Increase the size of your waveforms by holding down the ‘Shift’ key and pressing the ‘Up Arrow’ on your computer keyboard 

As you can see, there are a couple of different ways to get a better look at your waveforms in REAPER. 

How Do You Zoom In On A Waveform In REAPER?

To zoom in on a waveform in REAPER, simply toggle back using the wheel on your mouse or drag two fingers backward on your trackpad if you are a laptop user without a mouse.

You can also zoom in and out in REAPER using the ‘+‘ and ‘–‘ symbols on the bottom right of the tracking window. 

In my opinion, sometimes, the best way to get a better view of your waveforms in REAPER is to expand your tracks by dragging the bottom edge downwards. 

Related Questions

Want to improve your skills? Check out this guide on gain staging in REAPER.