REVERB TUTORIAL

[Lipskimusic]

Dear All,

For quite some time I have been looking for a good in-depth tutorial on how to use reverb correctly. Maybe someone can recommend something, it does not have to be for free.

I am aware of the technical side of things and how my reverb plugins operate. I am more looking for answers to some general questions such as:-

- When mixing an acoustic song is it best practice to use just one reverb / one room (as in 'real life')?
- What is the 'reference' when using reverb? Obviously most listening environments have their 'own' reverb anyway... (think of headphones vs. a large living room)?

To me 'reverb' to a large degree seems to be a matter of taste and since I personally do not like too much reverb I am looking for some guidance / best practice.

Cheers,
Matt

[MattCurious]

I don't think there's a single "correct" way of doing reverb. I'd suggest you figure out what kind of room sound you want (which varies by genre, typically) and then look for tutorials on how to achieve that.

One thing I would flag from recent experience is that the quality of your reverb plugins matters a great deal. You need the technique (tutorials etc) but also the tools. I was recently advised that if I had to really invest in something, it should be reverb and faux-mastering plugins ("faux" because I'm not a mastering engineer).

[Len911]

- When mixing an acoustic song is it best practice to use just one reverb / one room (as in 'real life')?
- What is the 'reference' when using reverb? Obviously most listening environments have their 'own' reverb anyway... (think of headphones vs. a large living room)?

'Real life' reverb is not a room algorithm. Real life reverb sucks, it's sound waves bouncing around inside a container and off items in the container, around and around into each other until they lose energy. It's about where the mic is pointed and what pickup patterns
and distance from the source that discriminates which sound waves and which reflections are picked up for the recording. Using one reverb setting wouldn't be as realistic as using maybe 7 or 8, lol, but it's probably going to be closer to the reverb sound that you would find ideal for your recording. If the only mics used in a studio were omni's, that's closer to real life reverb.

Imo, the reference is probably the EMT 140 plate. http://designingsound.org/2012/12/emt-140-plate-reverb/
In whatever form, real or modeled, the most ubiquitous, and probably found on more recordings than any other by far.

The best practice imo is to explore the possibilities with your daw automation, and even the m/s capabilities of some plugins. Why settle for a static reverb setting the whole length of the piece? My favorite setting is a technique I heard on an Aaron Neville cd, to place all the reverb on the right side channel. You can hear it using a Brainworx plugin that allows auditioning of the channels.

Because reverb is sound bouncing around producing all sorts of artifacts to do with phasing, panning it in an m/s environment will probably get you closer to a more pleasing reverb effect.

What would a reverb tutorial be if not a product tutorial or a lesson on generic sound principles? You might try googling "reverb techniques". http://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/ ... pro-part-2

[Lipskimusic]

Thanks Len911! In the article you suggested there was a line I think is worthwhile highlighting in this context:-

"A rule of thumb that is often suggested when applying reverb these days is to find a level where you don't hear it as an 'effect' in its own right, but you feel you're missing something if you mute the return completely, and many of the top producers seem to approach their reverb use in this kind of way."

[mojobone]

The best thing I've read on reverb and its uses and misuses is in Mixing Secrets For The Small Studio by Mike Senior, a book you should go buy, right now. Just order the dang thing, before you even read the rest of this post; I don't mind waiting. If it's possible to learn to mix by reading a book, this is that book.








It's the first section in an entire chapter on sweetening, where he lays out the five functions of reverb, which are as follows:



*Blend: mix any number of sounds together, or simulate spill/bleed

* Size: make a sound bigger

* Tone: make a sound brighter, darker, etc

* Sustain: Make a sound ring out longer

* Spread: make a sound appear to be wider

Mike goes on to say that with just about any reverb you'll get some amount of all five functions, which can make reverbs very difficult to control in a mix situation; this is why you need to go buy the book.

[mojobone]

I think of reverb as the first "effect", because as Jimmy Page reminds us, distance makes depth; it's the most critical variable when miking literally anything. We're used to hearing reflections in typical rooms, so music that doesn't appear to inhabit a physical space can seem a bit less real, but of course there's no law that anything has to sound real; with a bit of polish, it can sound much better than 'real', whatever that means. In the seventies our drums were so dry you could barely hear them; I'm kidding, a little, but it's surprising how much of the sound of a drum is really the sound of the room, which is why savvy studios maintain a couple of kits and drummers often re-tune a kit after moving it even a few feet. So much of what we hear is reflected sound, not direct, that it's why we need speakers in addition to headphones. Jeff Lynne is famous for eschewing reverb because he believes it contributes nothing but mud and murk, but I hear tell that engineers working under him slip in just enough, that you notice when it's taken out, so a good room simulation is a valuable tool. I tend to like plate reverb, which doesn't sound natural at all, but boy, it sure sounds great on vocals, brass and percussion. I also like to use reverbs subtly, though, and for that task my new favorite thing is the Eventide 2016 Room Reverb plugin.

[Lipskimusic]

I think of reverb as the first "effect", because as Jimmy Page reminds us, distance makes depth; it's the most critical variable when miking literally anything. We're used to hearing reflections in typical rooms, so music that doesn't appear to inhabit a physical space can seem a bit less real, but of course there's no law that anything has to sound real; with a bit of polish, it can sound much better than 'real', whatever that means. In the seventies our drums were so dry you could barely hear them; I'm kidding, a little, but it's surprising how much of the sound of a drum is really the sound of the room, which is why savvy studios maintain a couple of kits and drummers often re-tune a kit after moving it even a few feet. So much of what we hear is reflected sound, not direct, that it's why we need speakers in addition to headphones. Jeff Lynne is famous for eschewing reverb because he believes it contributes nothing but mud and murk, but I hear tell that engineers working under him slip in just enough, that you notice when it's taken out.

Hi Mojobone,

This is very useful advice as, until a while ago, I used to add reverb as the last step before finalising the mix and obviously all my carefully chosen levels were suddenly all over the place I guess you can see why I am looking for advice in that respect

Cheers,
Matt

[mojobone]

I think of reverb as the first "effect", because as Jimmy Page reminds us, distance makes depth; it's the most critical variable when miking literally anything. We're used to hearing reflections in typical rooms, so music that doesn't appear to inhabit a physical space can seem a bit less real, but of course there's no law that anything has to sound real; with a bit of polish, it can sound much better than 'real', whatever that means. In the seventies our drums were so dry you could barely hear them; I'm kidding, a little, but it's surprising how much of the sound of a drum is really the sound of the room, which is why savvy studios maintain a couple of kits and drummers often re-tune a kit after moving it even a few feet. So much of what we hear is reflected sound, not direct, that it's why we need speakers in addition to headphones. Jeff Lynne is famous for eschewing reverb because he believes it contributes nothing but mud and murk, but I hear tell that engineers working under him slip in just enough, that you notice when it's taken out.

Hi Mojobone,

This is very useful advice as, until a while ago, I used to add reverb as the last step before finalising the mix and obviously all my carefully chosen levels were suddenly all over the place I guess you can see why I am looking for advice in that respect

Cheers,
Matt

Hey Matt,

The book that Mojobone recommends is awesome, and gives even a mixing-n00b such as myself a coherent workflow and ear for mixing. Check it out, if you haven't done so already! The reverb-section in it put a lot of stuff in perspective for me regarding balance. I'm rereading the entire book for the third time now, just to get it all in my head.

Paul

Yup; Mike Senior has organized the book as a methodical series of steps to a better, more coherent mix, laid out in a sensible order that helps prevent backtracking so as little time as possible is wasted. A lot of effort was taken to ensure the advice applies across all genres, and I consider it indispensable to aspiring engineers and producers, along with Bob Katz' Mastering Audio and The Yamaha Sound Reinforcement Handbook.

[waveheavy]

I highly recommend producer Fab Dupont's reverb method at his Puremix.net website. It's well worth it.

When wanting to reproduce reverb properly, that usually means 'how we interpret the reverberations'.

1. Distance, early reflections - Now days it's common to record instruments close mic'd, resulting in a dry recording but reduces mic bleed from other instruments in the same room. Fab uses one reverb just for that, to simulate moving the mic back a couple feet from the instrument. Idea is you don't want this verb noticed in the mix, but if removed it would be 'felt'.

2. Depth - Fab uses a second verb to create space between the instrument the back of the mix.

Both the above verbs have a steep EQ roll off of the highs, the EQ just prior to the reverb plugin.

3. Height - hall verb used here to simulate the height of the venue, to bring out lead instruments, etc., i.e, things up front. Instead of roll off of highs, this one adds about 1dB shelf on the highs.

Don't need all 3 reverbs all the time. Depends on the sound you're going for.

Abbey Road style reverb trick was to roll off highs down to 6-10kHz and up to 600Hz on an EQ placed just prior to going into the reverb. Idea is that too much overlap of the reverb between instruments produces 'mud' in the mix.

Dear All,

For quite some time I have been looking for a good in-depth tutorial on how to use reverb correctly. Maybe someone can recommend something, it does not have to be for free.

....

Cheers,
Matt

[Lipskimusic]

Excellent! Many thanks. I will try that.
Cheers,
Matt

I highly recommend producer Fab Dupont's reverb method at his Puremix.net website. It's well worth it.

When wanting to reproduce reverb properly, that usually means 'how we interpret the reverberations'.

1. Distance, early reflections - Now days it's common to record instruments close mic'd, resulting in a dry recording but reduces mic bleed from other instruments in the same room. Fab uses one reverb just for that, to simulate moving the mic back a couple feet from the instrument. Idea is you don't want this verb noticed in the mix, but if removed it would be 'felt'.

2. Depth - Fab uses a second verb to create space between the instrument the back of the mix.

Both the above verbs have a steep EQ roll off of the highs, the EQ just prior to the reverb plugin.

3. Height - hall verb used here to simulate the height of the venue, to bring out lead instruments, etc., i.e, things up front. Instead of roll off of highs, this one adds about 1dB shelf on the highs.

Don't need all 3 reverbs all the time. Depends on the sound you're going for.

Abbey Road style reverb trick was to roll off highs down to 6-10kHz and up to 600Hz on an EQ placed just prior to going into the reverb. Idea is that too much overlap of the reverb between instruments produces 'mud' in the mix.

Dear All,

For quite some time I have been looking for a good in-depth tutorial on how to use reverb correctly. Maybe someone can recommend something, it does not have to be for free.

....

Cheers,
Matt