Reverb - Do you have a specific theory/way of thinking on using Reverb?

i understand that the sound gets in a room when you put Reverb on an instrument/synth....

but how does that affect all other instruments? Do you think how this reverb on this instrument will affect the sound of other instruments for example? Do i have to put same reverb on other instruments too? which ones?

just want to see how you think when you use Reverb

Thanks!

 

1. No
2. Yes
3. Instruments with no reverb will seem more 'forward'.
4. No
5. No. But if you want each instrument to sound like they are in the same space, then yes. Stick the reverb on an aux/bus and send from each instrument to it.

 

My take on reverb:

Always on a bus (I never use it inside a virtual instrument). It gives you the opportunity to use a much better reverb unit in the first place and to process it to taste. ValhallaRoom or VintageVerb are my go to reverbs, sometimes Lexicon and NI RC 48. Mostly I start with EQ before the reverb, filtering the highs and lows, sometimes the mids if it sounds a bit harsh. This adds clarity to the whole mix. After the reverb there are some modulation options like phaser, flanger, chorus. But distortion or saturation are also tools that might help shape the sound. Compression could be helpful but also sidechain compression, not only to the kick but some times also to the original sound. I think there are more creative ideas but this comes to mind at the moment. Adding a gate is another one.

Although I would give each sound its own reverb/character and processing (as a figure of speach), it's most common to set up for example 3 reverbs > short (room), middle (plate), big (hall). Makes sense of course otherwise you'll end up with a lot of units that might clash and make your mix muddy (processed or not). It also creates musical unity. There's a word for it but can't remember it at this moment. Drums and bass are mostly short, vocals plate, synths like pads or leads hall. But there aren't real rules. Just experiment.

Also, the amount of reverb is important. In case of bringing your sounds to the foreground/background. At the end, adding reverb makes your track a lot more interesting compared to a dry one. But it's a good thing to know what you're doing otherwise the result will be a mess.

 

It depends on the song and the moment. Usually on something that should sound like a band or group was performing I'll try and process things with the same, or at least similar, reverb to glue them together and make it sound like they were in the same space. If it's more electronic or absract I'll do the opposite- process everything with a different reverb and make them all stand out and sit in the sound stage in a different way. At the end of the day if it sounds right don't sweat it. Also, you'd be amazed at how often something like a slap-back echo does the job better than a reverb, on instruments and vocals as well.

 

If you scream and hear the tail or echo then reverb is right.

 

Reverb is about experimentation;

• send multiple channels to the same reverb by using it as send fx.
• try very short reverb, I like plates and springs.
• a flanger (or chorus/phaser) makes the reverb sound more unique.
• low and high shelf EQ, before and/or after.
• experiment with saturation types.
• delay before, to make the reverb start later. (not pre-delay)
• send a delay to the reverb send.
• a gate, maybe sidechain gating.
• volume shaping, sidechain compression.
• less is more. 2.50 seconds is a lot.
• try diffusion delay instead of reverb
• bounce a long tail, loop and bandpass to create atmosphere. (great for leads)

 

Last edited: May 30, 2020

I have a long(er) reverb, a short reverb and one that i only use for the early reflections without any reverb tail to set up a common space for different tracks that don't really need any reverb. with the short and long reverb you then can create additional depth to your mix. That is about it when it comes to reverb that i normally use to create a space. If you are recording vocals a plate reverb might be a good choice for them.

I do use different reverbs and delays on single tracks for sound design purposes too, but i guess that is a different category of reverb usage.

In general i would suggest, less is more and i do pick a delay rather than a reverb in a lot of cases.

 

Last edited: May 29, 2020

some things not mentioned yet:

Try feeding your reverb (or delay) with a "radio voice" version (bandpass+dist or vst like Speakerphone) instead of normal version of source track.

make use of pre-delay to clean up the attack of the source.

use Trackspacer on reverb, fed with source track in order to create more separation / clean sound.