reverb reverb reverb

seannash

so as i get deeper into this whole production lark i obviously find myself using reverb more.i cant believe how i never used it in the past but the difference it makes is huge.
i recently was asking someone advice on how to get a better sound out of my tracks and the question of reverb came up.i told him i use it on certain elements yes but he kinda of caught me by surprise at how much and on what elements he used it on.

now im still new to this so i might be missing somethings you guys think is common knowlege but id like to ask what elements you use reverb on.
i know it varies but i thought there would be some guidelines out there.

bass for example.i always thought that there shouldnt be any,if only a tiny amount of reverb on a bass.maybe if you have a bass with an element of highs in it it would be correct to add reverb to the high part but i always thought the low should be basically untouched.my friend says that he always has reverb on his bass.snares i figured the same thing.
he said in all his percussive elements he applies reverb to them individually.i only did a tiny amount to a bus that all my percussion gets sent to.

but yeah i know there might be certain circumstances which calls for reverb but is there some elements that generally dont need reverb.

iquinn

as with all things there are a lot of variables. What works in one mix, may not in another.
imho...if you're trying it out on a particular element in a mix and it sounds good, use it, if not, don't.

what i do like is when it's not overused, having it effect something were it comes in and out, and not constantly on, so it's more dramatic.


SOS did a nice article on it during the summer, worth looking at-

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jul08/articles/reverb1.htm
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/aug08/articles/reverbpart2_0808.htm

frobisher

Jaysus lads. It'd make it easier to read if you try the odd capital letter!

Reverb is great but is very easy to over do when you're getting to grips with it. I rarely use reverb on bass. Someimtes yes, but rarely. Snare nearly always but not so that you'd really know it too much. To me that's one of the tricks with use of reverb in everyday situations. I also think that delay can fulfill the same function as a reverb without sounding OTT or cheesy. A delay on vocals can sometimes do a far better job than a reverb. Delays might not be as exciting but when used right I think they're tremendous tools at bringing life, depth and positioning to elements within a mix without changing the flavour of the instruments the way a reverb can.

iquinn

seannash

frobisher wrote: »

Jaysus lads. It'd make it easier to read if you try the odd capital letter!

Reverb is great but is very easy to over do when you're getting to grips with it. I rarely use reverb on bass. Someimtes yes, but rarely. Snare nearly always but not so that you'd really know it too much. To me that's one of the tricks with use of reverb in everyday situations. I also think that delay can fulfill the same function as a reverb without sounding OTT or cheesy. A delay on vocals can sometimes do a far better job than a reverb. Delays might not be as exciting but when used right I think they're tremendous tools at bringing life, depth and positioning to elements within a mix without changing the flavour of the instruments the way a reverb can.

dont get me wrong im not drowning everything in it now but its nice to know what people do.Like reverb on a snare ive never done so ill give it a try.
so would you use the same reverb on all the percussive elements or would it be different types for different elements?
thank iquinn ill take a look now

jtsuited

reverb is the one area where the 'soundonsound merchants' (as mr. brewer quite rightfully calls them) and the 'professionals' stand out as being very different creatures.

soundonsound merchant says - don't put it on kick drums, bass, etc.

great producer says - i put it whatever way I want on anything I want to create the space that I need.

EQing your reverbs is also essential to making a good sounding mix. Sometimes.

trackmixstudio

A few things I have learned.

Set the decay of the snare reverb to finish just before the next hit. This will let you keep the drums wet without tripping over themselves. In the 80s it was popular to use gated reverb so the reverb would stay at a high level then finish dead just as the next hit lands.

ALWAYS high pass filter reverbs so your mix doesn't end up covered in low mid mush.

A short room reverb makes things sound bigger and longer reverbs make things sit back in the mix.

A short plate with a pre delay in time with the track (8th note is good) normally sounds better on vocals than a longer plate with no pre delay.

I nearly always pull 5-8K on a vocal reverb to avoid the "George Michael" SSSSSS effect.

A delay in time with the track low passed at about 3K can give depth to sounds better than a reverb a lot of the time. Logic's tape delay is great for this.

I am also a firm believer that if you can hear the reverb clearly it is too much. I tend to pull the reverb back until it cannot be heard then back up 2db.

It is good sometimes to set up a medium room reverb and send a bit of everything to it to gel the mix. Again this reverb should not be heard but you should be able to notice it missing when you mute it.

Neurojazz

My take on reverb comes from years of doing it wrong

I got into a bad habit of using reverb in electronic music to give sounds a 'tail' and use them to become part of the sound... might seem ok - just adds noise that could be filled with something more useful.

Recently I was show 2 great tips. One was to use reverb to 'lift' the sound off the speakers (this tip was from a mastering engineer) - and the light reverb was used over the whole mix - works a treat for really dry and flat mixes.

Another tip was to make the reverbed item sound like it's in a room/hall etc.. and not to have many things like that in the mix and you get a lot of character from that one sound.

I love my vocals dry, a little delay maybe as Sir Frob points out - sometimes tweaking the air band for female vocals to give it loadsa life... love it *really* dry

My cents worth anyway

frobisher

Neurojazz wrote: »

Recently I was show 2 great tips. One was to use reverb to 'lift' the sound off the speakers (this tip was from a mastering engineer) - and the light reverb was used over the whole mix - works a treat for really dry and flat mixes.

Good to know I'm not alone on th love for this technique. :cool:

RealEstateKing

It was very out of fashion a few years back: Everything was really dry and it was considered bad taste to use any at all.

It seems to be making a bit of a comeback now: Arcade Fire's last album is wetter than a haddock's bathing costume (though they did record it in a church, so it might actually sound like that).

I find its good reverb more than anything else that gets you from demoey sounding things to pro sounding stuff.

I always have three reverbs set up on my stuff: A nice medium length plate, a short room, and a gitty old spring (Space-Echo Emulation). I'd rarely use much longer reverb on things like drums, but might stick a little room on them to make them fatter. The Space Echo gets used for anytihng that needs a crusty old sound.

TelePaul

frobisher wrote: »

Good to know I'm not alone on th love for this technique. :cool:

Could you suggest some settings?

seannash

thanks lads,all really useful tips there.
gonna try them out today:D

trackmixstudio

Almost forgot if you have a convolution verb acousiticas.net has a set of lexicon IRs and EMT IRs that are absolutely killer!
The lexicon L300 set has all of the presets from the unit and then different settings from short to long.
The EMT ones are cool on drums.
The decay on both of the sets is vibrant and interesting unlike some reverbs where the tale end sounds like white noise.
Less than €100 for both. I use them with space designer in logic.
Demos on their site. Very good value.

dav nagle

trackmixstudio wrote: »

Almost forgot if you have a convolution verb acousiticas.net has a set of lexicon IRs and EMT IRs that are absolutely killer!
The lexicon L300 set has all of the presets from the unit and then different settings from short to long.
The EMT ones are cool on drums.
The decay on both of the sets is vibrant and interesting unlike some reverbs where the tale end sounds like white noise.
Less than €100 for both. I use them with space designer in logic.
Demos on their site. Very good value.

I take it these will work with Waves Ir Convolution reverb Michael?