Any tips for adding reverb to drums?

Cmc29

Not a real drum kit but a drum machine. I was just wondering if i have a dry drum track whats the best reverb setting to tweak to get the drums sounding in the distance without losing definition or being drowned out by the reverb itself. The drums as they are sound very 2 dimensional. They don't fit in with the other instruments(2 guitars and a bass). Any tips at all would be great

Neurojazz

Try just adding a room reverb with no pre-delay and just start at 0% and mix a tiny amount in... sometimes that's just enough to lift the drums out of the speakers.

frobisher

if you're trying to learn about reverbs you should maybe download some of the free reverb plugins out there and start with the presets. Tweak and work with them until you get a feel fro what each parameter is doing. I used to only really send the snare and toms to a reverb unit but these days i quite like sending some from the whole drum kits stereo group. Sometimes a tiny bit of reverb on the kick drum is just what you were missing without even realising.

If you're new to it and want to make mixes you'll still be happy with later on I'd say get the reverb to where you like it then pull it down. Reverb is ultimate ear candy and as such can easily become too much. Also, nothing will let your mixes down more than a ill fitting or nasty reverb. That's my 2c anyways.

jtsuited

Cmc29 wrote: »

Not a real drum kit but a drum machine. I was just wondering if i have a dry drum track whats the best reverb setting to tweak to get the drums sounding in the distance without losing definition or being drowned out by the reverb itself. The drums as they are sound very 2 dimensional. They don't fit in with the other instruments(2 guitars and a bass). Any tips at all would be great

1 word - plate.

Snares love plates.

bedbugs

I use one of these...



And very lovely it is.