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Taming The Reverb Options
Monster

Studio Overviews

Posted by CapnZilog - Aug 31, 2004
@ 02:16:37 AM

Reduce the complexity of dialing
in good ambience

>I'm having probs getting a
lush reverb that doesn't sound like I'm playing in
>a
tiled bathroom. But I know it's possible (listen to Tony
Macalpine's
>"Porcelean Doll" -- lots of reverb, but it
still sounds great). So my question
>to you all is: how
do I make sense of all the different settings on
reverb
>units? What settings should I focus on to get a
nice reverb for solos?

Alright, you've come to the
right place. Maybe. I'll be the first person to admit that the
wealth of reverb options on some gear (Digitech) is completely
intimidating, which why I use Lexicon stuff lol! Only partly
kidding there.

When trying to dial in a reverb,
try starting in this order:

1) Select the Reverb Type
(Hall, Room, whatever)
2) Select the Decay Time (aka RT60
or Room Size)
3) Select the Room Size
4) Select the
Pre-Delay
5) Tailor the Reverb's EQ if necessary
6)
Adjust the wet/dry mix (if not using aux sends)

OK,
let's narrow this down even more:

#1 is almost always
going to be a Hall or Room of some type. Consider the
application and the name of the preset; Drum Room, Tiled
Bathroom or Jazz Club?

#2 Shorten the reverb by
setting the Decay Time. If it's a snare 'verb, consider
setting it to some multiple of a quarter note; the idea being
that by the time the next snare hit comes around, the first
snare hit's reverb tail will have died out. Otherwise you'll
just get mush as reverb piles on top of reverb, eh.

#3
Adjust the Room Size until you get a realistic environment.
Loop a section of your song and tweak the knob until it sounds
natural.

#4 Give the reverbed note (snare hits, again)
room to breathe before the reverb kicks in. Think of the
pre-delay as a separate delay effect before the reverb and
delay the 'verb by a musical tempo such as an 8th note.

... if you've done all of the above, your 'verb should
really 'swing' at this point - the notes are clear, and the
sound is uncluttered.

#5: Adjust the tone controls on
the reverb if necessary so it isn't too boomy or too bright.
Don't want to hear your kick in the reverb? Hi-pass. Don't
want to hear so much cymbals in the reverb? Low-pass. Resist
the urge to make you reverb sound too bright.

#6:
Adjust mix to taste! And then lower it. Reverb is hard to
hear, and speaking for myself I almost always initially use
too much of it because my ears get desensitized after awhile.

#7: Consider -not- using a reverb when a simple delay
will do. Delays are cleaner, and when used in stereo can make
mixes sound huge. My GW track "The Last Waltz" did an
effective job with that and it had more to do with delay than
reverb.

#8: Consider using more than one reverb. In a
real studio environment, the vocalist usually gets a different
one from the drums, for example.

It's a lot easier to
just record dry and then use a reverb plug-in like the Lexicon
Pantheon at mix time. That way you can save your 'verb
decisions until the last minute instead of tracking wet or
wasting tracks recording -only- reverb because you've only got
one box.

Hope this helps, It's easy to get confused
when you have this many options!

-djh

2 comment(s) | viewed 150
time(s) | |

Your Comments

Commented by CapnZilog - Jun 12, 2006 @
08:43:26 PM

You know, to all of this I want to
pass on something interesting. Plate Reverb almost deserves
its own category, because it's a mostly synthetic effect with
no real equivalent in nature. Unlike the other reverbs, it
lacks early reflections so it doesn't sound like an acoustic
space - often popular with snare and vox, and anywhere you
want to add a bit of "wetness" without adding a sense of
"room".

Commented by String Devil - Feb 06, 2006 @
06:43:02 AM

Really useful for all those, like
me who really struggle with getting reverbs to blend in da
mix. Thanks Capn!

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