Mixing with a lot of reverb

[Niklas Back Schmidt]

Hi there!At the moment I'm experimenting with A LOT of reverb, and love it!But...!I'm (therefor) having a lot of trouble with resonance and the high pitch. I've tried EQ'ing by simply lowering some of the mid-range to get rid of the resonance... doesn't work.Do some of you know a good trick or know a site/youtube video that explain what to do? The vocals are the biggest problem

 

[Nathan Alexander]

Hey Niklas I'm a big fan of drenching things in reverb myself. Because drenching things in reverb can get messy fast there is one rule I follow which makes it clean and manageable. The rule is only using 3 reverbs to start. One Hall verb with 2.5+secs of decay, one Med verb with 1-2.5secs of decay and one Small verb with .10-1secs of decay. Presets are your friends for selecting which 3 you use.

The rule of 3 is something you should do from the beginning so if it's too late for that, it's ok you just have a more involved mixing process ahead of you. Time to earn your chops! Yay, Earning stuff!!!! It's totally Appealing and Exciting for Everyone!! <golf clap>

Ok so the first thing I would do is I would solo the vocal by itself to see if I'm getting any kind of resonance on its own without any reverb. Make any EQ adjustments to the vocal source, then if you're still getting it when you turn the reverb back on, EQ the reverb accordingly. That should fix your problem.

If the resonance is still present or reappears while everything else is playing again, then it means you have another instrument in your track which is unexpectedly adding to your resonance at the same time. You'll want to find that other instrument.

So to find the offending instrument(s) I would place an EQ on your master output and make it into a bandpass until your only letting through a narrow region of frequencies which contain your resonance problem. This is like using a microscope to focus in only the region where you're problem exists. Then notice which instruments are playing in that range and go through them to figure out your problem.

I've had it happen many times where a note in my melodies or sometimes even a drum hit created resonance with a vocal. I would rely on volume automation to diminish just that specific note.

So the order of troubleshooting resonance is:
1. Check vocals (with no reverb, EQ as necessary)
2. Play vocals with reverb (EQ as necessary)
3. Microscope to find potentially offending instruments (EQ/volume as necessary)

On a final note the Rule of 3 isn't absolute it's just an extremely invaluable guideline. I find that I often will use 3 reverbs of the settings mentioned above along with 1-3 FX or Auxillary very niche specific reverbs occurring on very specific instruments only. But the sad reality is my instantly amazing mixes have only ever occurred when I limited myself to 3 reverbs, otherwise to get to the same exquisite level required more effort and often painstakingly involved mixing and tweaking.

Since we're all artists simplicity is where it's at. Creativity lives right next door to simplicity. Complexity lives on the other street next door to logic.

Since I just started here, I don't know if I can plug a video just yet, but I did make a video on how to use 3 reverbs in a mix. If you're interested in learning more about that I could pm it to you.

Hope that helps.

-Nathan

 

[lyracal]

Thank you for the specific advice -Nathan Alexander. I will put reverb on everything because it sounds good but my lack of purpose hurts the overall mix of the sounds.

 

[Nathan Alexander]

Thank you for the specific advice -Nathan Alexander. I will put reverb on everything because it sounds good but my lack of purpose hurts the overall mix of the sounds.

You aren't required to put it on Everything.

The trick with reverb and Contrast and mixing in general is actually less is more.

When I say less is more I mean that you've become very selective about which instrument gets lots of reverb, and which instruments are practically dry or just have a little reverb.

So when I say less is more I also mean you've got one big, frequency dense instrument with many thinner, aggressively EQ scooped, and high passed instruments.

The illusion of density and fullness is created through aggressive use of less when you could use more, and then finally using more on just that one instrument where you really want more.

In any one of my mixes I generally like to have one main instrument with lots of reverb and the rest significantly and comparatively dryer.

As I become less decisive about which instrument(s) are allowed to dominate that big,reverby space in my mix and which instruments are comparatively drier, then the perceived Front to Back depth of my mix shrinks and becomes more flat.

If you're not sure where to put reverb it could be because you haven't yet accelerated your ability to perceive space and reverb by deliberately setting one instrument as very wet in your mix and the rest comparatively dry (barely audible reverb).

That will create immediate contrast and you will immediately begin to notice what contributes the most to a Massive Front to Back depth in your mixes.

-Nathan

 

[lyracal]

Good point, I guess I don't really put it on everything. I like how you suggest to experiment with a few instruments at a time to find that right place.