normalize track levels

I have the raw mulit-track master files my band recorded at an outside studio and have been playing with remixing them in reaper. Biggest issue I have is the level in the vocal tracks for example; some passages are louder than others. Ihow can I either normalize the amplitudes of the waveform to make the level more constant across the length of the track, or at least be able to selectively increase/decrease the amplitude as needed? I was able to figure this out in audacity, but can't seem to find the equivalent function in reaper. fwiw, I tried making audacity my external editor, and can easily launch the wav file into audacity, but can't seem to figure out how to get those changes to show up in reaper. Please advise ... Tom

Several choices in Reaper. Right click on the item, pick Item Properties and use the normalize slider. You can split (S Key) the track where you want to isolate changes, then when you hover over the middle (or the top depending on how you have set your preferences) there is a volume handle line. You will know you found it when your cursor changes to and up/down double headed arrow. Adjust to taste. Add a volume envelope. On the track header there is a button "Trm". Select Volume or Volume Pre FX (I prefer Pre FX as you can see the changes to the waveform). Now add nodes along the line and increase or decrease as needed. You can also set it to record your fader movements. That is a much longer descritpion so I suggest that if you are interested you look that one up in the manual. You can add an FX limiter like JS:SStillwell/eventhorizon2 and that way you can increase the volume (Threshold control) and catch the peaks (Ceiling control). Hopefully this helps, its a start anyway.

pro's and con's of normalized items 

i have had a mixing engineer say "never normalize tracks" -- what are the negative issues with normalizing items? can one go back and "un-normalize" later? thanks! -clarke