Best reverb settings for a natural sound: Wetness, Predelay, Roomsize, etc.

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minervx

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I want a reverb sound that gives the vocals a proper amount of microphone-like projection so that the song can sound professional and have some sort of mic presence. However, I don't want it to sound too altered.
 
What does "microphone-like projection" even mean?

Agreed on the convolution tip - if you want a really natural sounding "real" space, that's probably the best bet. Then again, pretty much all the "classic" reverbs are algorithmic, and our ears are fairly accustomed to those sounds "as natural" - even though they're not. Convolution is great if you want to emulate certain acoustic spaces, but it doesn't mean it works in all contexts or is inherently better than regular reverbs.

I personally usually end up using ValhallaRoom or ValhallaVintageVerb for vocal duties.
 
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I think that means having the sound of a certain quality microphone and a bit of room presence. Not so much reverb tail, but just ambience. That's why I thought convolution.
I use it in Trash where it's geared towards modelling amps and cabinets. So I figured you could also 'model' mics with it just as well.

I like convolution, but in practice don't really use it that much. I usually end up going with my algorithmic reverb, which was a freebie (epicverb) which probably isn't the best out there but it suits my purposes.
 
minervx said:
I want a reverb sound that gives the vocals a proper amount of microphone-like projection so that the song can sound professional and have some sort of mic presence. However, I don't want it to sound too altered.
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Hello there,

I also think would be great if you could offer a bit about your microphone-projection thought? I think perhaps I also understand this to mean the convolution (freq, dynamic, distortion, spatial) qualities of microphone use in a professional-quality recording environment(?).

Thinking about your interest in natural sound I believe two lines of thought seem relevant from my point o view, and perhaps I can offer these as well:

For natural vocal-reverb I tend to think:
1. what is natural for this song
2. what is natural for this audio source (the quality expectations derived from professional quality level, and perhaps genre/industry standard

For the natural quality relevant to "audio source" I tend to consider genre and current industry standards for any given performance or circle of artists (ex. currently rap audio professionals and fans appear to prefer dry, concise vocal products). For what is natural to the song I tend to dig into the visceral effects a performance has on me personally and hold tightly onto this emotional response once i'm convinced it is the genuine (perhaps even universal) reaction intended to be created from the performance. So it is from this emotional impression and deducted intention that I decide what reverb is natural for the given vocal performance.

To perhaps illustrate the audio-processing options ive explored related to this latter point of view, I very much consider verb/ambience options the same way as most engineers/ mixers: to organize and utilize specific verbs based a varying senses of "depth". Please forgive the simplicity but: Example=. close verb, medium verb, far verb. So back to what is "natural", I again think: "what matches the context and/or what matches the intended emotional impact". If you are perhaps interested in common professional studio vocal booth/room ambience as the specified sense of "natural", I would absolutely suggest playing with decay time, and on the short end of things. I personally think incredibly short (0.20 or sometimes automating a bit more based on reverb source) decay times, with 0ms predelay, 100% wet, and appropriately set room size for song, will sound as if the vocalist is right in front of you or you are in the room/booth with them. Currently (since the mid/late 90s) this sound (with thoughtful balancing relative to dry source track) is commonly the "pro studio sound" audiences receive in popular genres/industries. extra note: this ambience needs frequency balance, perhaps even dynamic balance into the verb to appear "professional" as well.

These possible standards/expectations aside---experiment!! Do bonkers stuff, know no shame and learn from it with more certainty than any convention can PERHAPS offer.

Example: recently been toying with hardpanned L&R reverbs for a given performance, choosing COMPLETELY different reverbs on Left side vs Right side, and only matching decay times for stable sense of spatial balance ( here, bring faders up to excess, then bring faders down beside dry source to transparent resting place for future automation in final stages). This subtle spatial dissonance between left and right appears to create an attractive sense of movement within a live and/or (forgive the buzz word) ORGANIC spaces without over powering the source itself

I also like the other suggestions for convolution---if you can find other items/plugs that will apply recorded ambiences from real life locations/devices with short decay times you can obtain features similar to those actual places/devices. My personal experience with most sampled items: most have profound frequency, dynamic, distortion, spatial qualities (sometimes "artifacts" if sampled in less than ideal circumstances), which to be may be exactly what you desire. But again, these qualities are often ruthless and not entirely malleable and capable of change beyond the snap short used in sampling----So, you get exactly what is there. take it or leave it.

I hope all is well, and perhaps these thoughts are stimulating in some shape or form !

-MadHat
 
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