Sound Copilot: Quick Start Guide
Welcome to Sound Copilot! This intelligent assistant is designed to help you solve mixing problems, overcome creative blocks, and refine your audio production. Please note: Sound Copilot is an analytical and advisory tool; it does not generate audio, but rather provides expert insights based on your project.
1. Initial Setup
Install Sound Copilot in REAPER and activate your license or start the 30-day trial. The built-in AI agent is ready immediately—no API keys or external accounts required.
Want a different agent personality or specialty? See the custom agents guide to install your own Llama GGUF model.
Agent tip: The default agent works well for most sessions. Different GGUF models can give different styles of feedback—try another if the default does not match how you like to work.
Response times: Local AI means no cloud round-trip—but how long a reply takes depends on your machine. macOS can use Metal for faster inference; on Windows, a mix of GPU and CPU is used—ideally all GPU when possible. RAM, processor, GPU, and the agent you pick all play a role. As ballparks with the bundled agent: about 30 seconds on a Mac M1 Pro, and about 20 seconds on Windows with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 and 32 GB of RAM.
2. Audio Sampling Settings
You can control how much audio the copilot analyzes at a time.
- Go to Settings > Sampling.
- The default analysis length is 5 seconds.
- You can increase this limit up to a maximum of 30 seconds for deeper analysis.
Note: The sampling always starts exactly from your current playhead position and moves forward. Make sure to place your playhead right before the section you want the copilot to listen to.
Privacy: Your raw audio never leaves REAPER. Sound Copilot analyzes locally, then the built-in Llama engine processes that summary with your project context—all on your machine.
3. Defining the Context Scope
In the top-left corner of the interface, you will find a dropdown menu that controls what information is sent to the copilot. You can choose between:
- Selected Tracks: The copilot will only analyze the context of the specific tracks you have highlighted.
- Entire Master: The copilot will analyze the context of the full master bus/entire mix.
4. Global Context & Overrides
To get the most precise and relevant answers, you should set a Global Context for your project (e.g., genre, target mood, or overall sonic goals).
On-the-fly Overrides:
If you need advice that deviates from your global settings for a specific section, you can easily override it directly in the chat.
Example: If your Global Context is set to “Heavy Metal”, but you are working on a soft acoustic intro, you can type: “Analyze this section keeping in mind this is a soft pop arrangement, ignoring the metal global context.”
5. Example Queries
Sound Copilot is your studio assistant. Ask it to troubleshoot frequencies, suggest arrangement ideas, or give mixing feedback. Here are a few examples of how to interact with it:
Troubleshooting & Mixing
“The vocals are clashing with the guitars in this section. Can you suggest some EQ cuts or panning tricks to create more space?”
“I feel like the low-end is too muddy from the playhead onwards. Which frequencies should I look at compressing or cutting on the bass track?”
“Are there any harsh resonant peaks in this snare drum sample?”
Creative Ideation & Arrangement
“The transition into the chorus feels weak here. What kind of automation or riser effects would work well for this style?”
“I'm stuck on the arrangement. Based on the selected tracks, what instruments could I add to make the mid-range sound fuller?”
“Give me some reverb and delay settings ideas to make this lead vocal sit better in a lush, 80s-style mix.”