hamstank
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Hi guys! Here's the next set of notes on Reverb and Acoustic Space!
Other notes:
EQ
Dynamics Processors
Setting Up a Send Return Loop in Pro Tools
· The most common way to add reverb in a mix is to insert the reverb plug-in on an aux input track, and route our signals to it via the busses we set up in the sends area of the track.
· For drums, common practice is to add room reverb on snare and overheads to give the impression of overall space for the drums
· Organization: global sends (like reverb and FAT track) which are sent to the same Aux should be placed in the same send slot for organization
· Leave the reverb wet/dry balance at %100 percent wet and control the balance by choosing how much signal you are sending
Understanding Reverb Parameters
· Reverb terms
o Impulse: sound that causes reverb to occur
o Early Reflections: the first few bounces sound waves that strike various surfaces and bounce back
o Pre-Delay Time: the time between the impulse and those reflections. Useful for creating sense of distance between the impulse source and the surfaces. Also helps maintain definition and intelligibility in a reverbed sound by delaying the onset of the reverb.
§ Adding a bit of pre-delay (10-30 ms), you can add clarity to the sound being reverbed. The sound is able to form its initial attack before being engulfed in reverb.
§ With a pre-delay of 40 ms or more, the reverb might start to be heard as an individual sonic even rather than a tail on the original sound.
· For example: adding a high pre-delay time (i.e. 87 ms) might cause a snare with a reverb to rebound from the pre-delay in time with the music
o Echo Clusters: the early reflections that rebound again and again causing all of these sound waves to smear together and die away as the rebound becomes progressively weaker, forming the decaying reverb tail. When the power of the reverb tail reaches 60 dB lower than impulse, the reverb even is over.
o Diffusion: determines the way echo clusters build up before the reverb tail decays.
§ High diffusion creates a high initial buildup of echoes, creating a dense reverb.
§ Low diffusion creates a low buildup of echoes, creating a cleaner, more natural reverb
o Reverb Time: The time between the original impulse and this -60dB point is the reverb time, which is why it’s often called the RT60 value.
o Gain: input gain into D-Verb
o Size: impression of general size of acoustic space
o Pre-Delay: time between original impulse and arrival of first reflections
o Diffusion: determines the way echo clusters build up before the reverb tail decays.
o Decay: determines the overall time from the first impulse until the end of the reverb tail’s decay
o HF Cut: causes high frequencies to decay faster than lower ones.
o LP Filter: allows the users to sculpt high frequency character of reverb
Reverb Techniques
o High Pre-Delay
o Adding a bit of pre-delay (10-30 ms), you can add clarity to the sound being reverbed. The sound is able to form its initial attack before being engulfed in reverb.
o With a pre-delay of 40 ms or more, the reverb might start to be heard as an individual sonic even rather than a tail on the original sound.
§ For example: adding a high pre-delay time (i.e. 87 ms) might cause a snare with a reverb to rebound from the pre-delay in time with the music
o Compressing and EQ’ing
o Can insert EQ after to make reverb thinner or denser.
o Can insert compressor (i.e. 4:1 ratio) and lower the threshold until you are getting a consistent 3 dB gain reduction to add presence and clarity to reverb.
o Compressing and EQ’ing before the reverb slot can create a noticeable reverb that’s controlled enough so that the reverb does not create a muddy wash.
o Gated Reverb
o Reverb decay is sharply cut off after a certain amount of time. This is similar to the non-linear reverb but you have more control.
o For example: add expander to reverb track and set the key signal to be the dry snare. With a subtle delay time (under 150 ms), this gated reverb helps add size to the snare drum.
o If tracks (like drums) are hitting the reverb too constantly, you can set up an aux input that outputs to the reverb. Setup a downward expander (very quick attack, moderate release, high thresh, and very gentle ratio) so that the loud impacts have more reverb to them. Good for de-cluttering the reverb.
AIR Reverb
o Spread: length of early reflections
o Reverb: set the stereo width of the signal before the reverb calculation (input) and the stereo width of the reverb effect (output). Delay is an additional delay component for the onset of the reverb tail, in addition to the overall pre-delay.
o Room:
§ Ambiance controls the initial onset of the reverb – lower values create more immediate attack (smaller space) while higher values cause the reverb to ramp up over time.
§ Density simulates the reflection characteristics of the reverb space – higher values create a smoother, more diffuse reverb and higher values create a harder reverb with more flutter echoes.
Other notes:
EQ
Dynamics Processors
Setting Up a Send Return Loop in Pro Tools
· The most common way to add reverb in a mix is to insert the reverb plug-in on an aux input track, and route our signals to it via the busses we set up in the sends area of the track.
· For drums, common practice is to add room reverb on snare and overheads to give the impression of overall space for the drums
· Organization: global sends (like reverb and FAT track) which are sent to the same Aux should be placed in the same send slot for organization
· Leave the reverb wet/dry balance at %100 percent wet and control the balance by choosing how much signal you are sending
Understanding Reverb Parameters
· Reverb terms
o Impulse: sound that causes reverb to occur
o Early Reflections: the first few bounces sound waves that strike various surfaces and bounce back
o Pre-Delay Time: the time between the impulse and those reflections. Useful for creating sense of distance between the impulse source and the surfaces. Also helps maintain definition and intelligibility in a reverbed sound by delaying the onset of the reverb.
§ Adding a bit of pre-delay (10-30 ms), you can add clarity to the sound being reverbed. The sound is able to form its initial attack before being engulfed in reverb.
§ With a pre-delay of 40 ms or more, the reverb might start to be heard as an individual sonic even rather than a tail on the original sound.
· For example: adding a high pre-delay time (i.e. 87 ms) might cause a snare with a reverb to rebound from the pre-delay in time with the music
o Echo Clusters: the early reflections that rebound again and again causing all of these sound waves to smear together and die away as the rebound becomes progressively weaker, forming the decaying reverb tail. When the power of the reverb tail reaches 60 dB lower than impulse, the reverb even is over.
o Diffusion: determines the way echo clusters build up before the reverb tail decays.
§ High diffusion creates a high initial buildup of echoes, creating a dense reverb.
§ Low diffusion creates a low buildup of echoes, creating a cleaner, more natural reverb
o Reverb Time: The time between the original impulse and this -60dB point is the reverb time, which is why it’s often called the RT60 value.
o Gain: input gain into D-Verb
o Size: impression of general size of acoustic space
o Pre-Delay: time between original impulse and arrival of first reflections
o Diffusion: determines the way echo clusters build up before the reverb tail decays.
o Decay: determines the overall time from the first impulse until the end of the reverb tail’s decay
o HF Cut: causes high frequencies to decay faster than lower ones.
o LP Filter: allows the users to sculpt high frequency character of reverb
| Hall | Church | Plate | Room 1 | Room 2 | Ambient | Non-Lin | |
| Traits | Emulates characteristics of a concert hall | Emulates the dense, complex reverb of a church | Emulates sound of a metal plate reverb. Bright, diffuse verb | Emulates natural, flexible room reverb | Emulates brighter reverb, better suited to resemble smaller spaces | Adds general reverb character w/o adding the impression of a place | Creates unnatural decay by steeply cutting of the reverb decay |
| Uses | o Mid-range warmth | o Vocals and percussion o Adds shimmer | o Good choice when all of the mix sounds seem very up front and flat | o Percussive sounds in a dense arrangement o Reduces clutter on busy tracks o Gives size to kick and snare |
| Plug In | AIR Reverb | AIR Non-Linear Reverb | AIR Spring Reverb |
| Features | Similar uses as DVerb, but better and with more extensive paramaters. | Non-Linear reverb characteristics, giving a synthetic, gated reverb effect. Can be used for sound design if reverse button engaged. Generally useful on percussion, rhythm guitar, and so forth. Good for adding size | Reverb algorithm is that of a spring reverb, a “lo-fi” reverb you might find in the spring reverb in a guitar amp or older PA system. This can work really well on individual tracks like guitars, synths, and keyboards. |
Reverb Techniques
o High Pre-Delay
o Adding a bit of pre-delay (10-30 ms), you can add clarity to the sound being reverbed. The sound is able to form its initial attack before being engulfed in reverb.
o With a pre-delay of 40 ms or more, the reverb might start to be heard as an individual sonic even rather than a tail on the original sound.
§ For example: adding a high pre-delay time (i.e. 87 ms) might cause a snare with a reverb to rebound from the pre-delay in time with the music
o Compressing and EQ’ing
o Can insert EQ after to make reverb thinner or denser.
o Can insert compressor (i.e. 4:1 ratio) and lower the threshold until you are getting a consistent 3 dB gain reduction to add presence and clarity to reverb.
o Compressing and EQ’ing before the reverb slot can create a noticeable reverb that’s controlled enough so that the reverb does not create a muddy wash.
o Gated Reverb
o Reverb decay is sharply cut off after a certain amount of time. This is similar to the non-linear reverb but you have more control.
o For example: add expander to reverb track and set the key signal to be the dry snare. With a subtle delay time (under 150 ms), this gated reverb helps add size to the snare drum.
o If tracks (like drums) are hitting the reverb too constantly, you can set up an aux input that outputs to the reverb. Setup a downward expander (very quick attack, moderate release, high thresh, and very gentle ratio) so that the loud impacts have more reverb to them. Good for de-cluttering the reverb.
AIR Reverb
o Spread: length of early reflections
o Reverb: set the stereo width of the signal before the reverb calculation (input) and the stereo width of the reverb effect (output). Delay is an additional delay component for the onset of the reverb tail, in addition to the overall pre-delay.
o Room:
§ Ambiance controls the initial onset of the reverb – lower values create more immediate attack (smaller space) while higher values cause the reverb to ramp up over time.
§ Density simulates the reflection characteristics of the reverb space – higher values create a smoother, more diffuse reverb and higher values create a harder reverb with more flutter echoes.
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