The Reverb effect is one of the most important tools in music production as well as audio engineering. But the use of this effect can easily be overlooked or misunderstood by many, so for this tutorial I’ll share with you tips on how to use it effectively in your mixes.
A well balanced mix with only eq, panning and dynamic processing can sound really good. But adding reverb just adds some flair and takes that good mix into a great mix. In audio terminology the “flair” is called dimension, which is the width and depth.
In this blog post I want to show you how to use reverb in a different way instead of choosing a preset. Great techniques that will help you design your own reverb, add some flair and create your own reverb signature.
But I’ll just show you the techniques, I wont cover the theory and what each parameter does. You can find all that info on my previous blog posts and there’s a lot of other places to find the theory. I won’t also go into specific sounds or instruments (snare, guitar, strings etc.).
The theory part is important so make sure you know it but I can’t blog about it because I’ll be repeating what hundreds of other blogs have already mentioned a lot of times.
With that said let’s get reverberated.
Reverb
Reverb is added to a sound to add width and depth, even if you have a really dry or dull sound. It can also add excitement and make a sound bigger or wider. If you want a bigger sound then use a short reverb time and a long verb to get a lush sound.
Reverbs are mainly used in a return channel and processed parallel with the dry signal. When you use it on the insert of the signal then you wont have much control as compared to using it in a return or send channel. I’ll show you how below.
Use reverb to push a sound further back in a mix. For instance, if the drum-kit is overpowering the vocals you can use reverb to push the drums back in the stereo field and the vocals will be upfront.
So whenever you add reverb remember that you’re pushing the sound at the back of the mix. There’s a lot of genres today, so listen to some of your favorite songs to figure out which sounds should be at the front and back in a mix and how much reverb is added.
To get the right reverb time for both the tale and pre-delay then you can use 2 simple formulas. To find the reverb time simply take 60 000 and divide it by the tempo of the song.
Example: 60 000 ÷ 120BPM = 500 milliseconds (0.5 seconds)
The pre-delay formula is a bit different but it’s almost the same thing.
Example: 7 500 ÷ 120BPM ÷ 2 = 31.25 milliseconds (0.03125 seconds)
You can choose to use these formulas to calculate your reverb time to make things a lot easier or simply use your ears. But using the formula will guarantee that the reverb is in sync with the tempo of the song.
Now, let’s look at some techniques you can use to design a reverb that will fit well in your mix.
Equalizing The Reverb
It’s time to add that flair I talked about earlier on. The first thing we’re going to add is the equalizer. The secret is to add the eq before the reverb in the return insert chain. That way you’ll be equalizing what’s going in the reverb rather than what’s coming out.
But test both and choose what you like, remember you’re designing your own signature. What we’ll be doing here is simply removing frequencies that might get in the way of other sounds to avoid masking.
Some basic settings would be to remove the low-end frequencies. Also make a cut with a wider Q in the low-mids to avoid the reverb from adding any mud and a wide Q boost from 10kHz to 12kHz to make the reverb bright and add some air.
A reverb always sits well in a mix when it’s equalized. Play around with the eq till you find settings that work well with your song.
Distorted Reverb
Adding distortion or overdrive to a reverb can add some crunch and warmth. This can also thicken up the reverb and give it that old tape or analog sound.
Make sure the distortion is really subtle, you just want enough to make the reverb warmer. Normally anything from 18% or less will be enough. A Bit-Crusher can also work well for this type of effect.
Three Reverb Setup
This setup allows you to place all your sounds in different environments to give your mix more depth and excitement by using the simple 3 reverb setup.
It’s easy to use if you don’t really understand reverbs. You simply create 3 return channels, one for a short room reverb, one for a medium plate or ambiance and the last one will be a long hall reverb.
Each time you want to add reverb on a sound then you simply audition all three then choose the one that’s working best.
Widening The Verb
You can also add stereo image effects to make the reverb wider or to make it play in mono which will make it tighter. You can use a stereo image effect to widen up the whole reverb or use mid side processing instead.
For instance, maybe you just want to make the high frequency of the reverb wide then you simply boost the sides in the high frequency range using an eq with M/S processing. This will boost the clarity of the reverb effect. Or maybe you just want to remove only the low frequencies of the reverb in the mid (the center) channel then use M/S processing.
Even stereo image tools can make a reverb fit well in the mix a lot better than choosing a preset. Play around with it till you can make it sound good for your song.
Automation
Sometimes you might find that the reverb is working well in the soft parts of the song and too much in louder parts. That’s when automation comes in handy, simply automate the return till it works well on the whole song.
Even if there are certain notes or loud peaks that keep jumping up in the mix then use automation. You can also use a compressor instead of doing manual gain riding to smooth out the reverb signal in louder parts.
One other trick that I don’t use is the reverse reverb technique, which is mainly used on vocals. But can also sound good on guitar solos and percussion sounds.
Another neat trick that I don’t see a lot of people talk about is the side chain reverb technique. Basically what happens here is that when the original signal is playing there’ll be no reverb and the tale of the reverb only kicks in when the signal fades out (this depends on your settings). But it creates a really dope pumping sound effect.
I just hope this tutorial has given you some ideas about using reverb creatively. Feel free to ask any questions by leaving a comment below.
Happy Reverberating 🙂
