How to create the right reverbs on your tracks

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vagabond

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I have an issue with reverbs. It’s so difficult making the reverbs to sound nice, even when I use a very decent quality reverb. Is it any formulas out for creating the right reverbs for your tracks and sounds in melodious trance productions? Or do you just have to practice out and listen for your self, like gaining experience? Thanks! I appreciate every answer!
 
Hi vagabond!


I just created a similar thread about good sounding reverb plugins!

I am really picky when it comes to reverbs so I wanted to know if there are better and more natural ones that the ones I already own.

Anyway, I am pretty happy with the results I get, I am just wondering what other people use...

Now to your question.

With a reverb you want to emulate a room. First of all you need a good sounding reverb plugin like Prosoniq Rayverb for larger rooms and PSP Easy Verb for smaller rooms. The quality of the plugin is very important! You always want a natural sound. A big cathedral for example has more than only one room. So its important that you take maybe 3 reverb plugins. 3 plugins for this room effect are ok, everything elese would be a waste even do the cathedral sometimes has up to 20 rooms. In most cases one or two plugins do the job just fine, it always depends what kind of room you want to create!

You don`t have to always insert 3 new plugins for each audio channel. Just create 3 effect channels in your sequencer program and insert a reverb plugin for each one of them. Example: One with a short reverb (ambience), one with a medium reverb (the actual room) and a long decayed reverb for the tail. For each audio channel you open the send-effects channel. There you can decide how much reverb from each one you want. Just experiment with the settings!

Of course you can`t take the same reverb for drums and vocals. All drum elements like snare, hats etc. can share 1-3 plugins (sent-effects), 1-3 for the vocals, 1-3 in your case for lead sounds etc.

Like this you can create very natural rooms of all sizes. With a little practice you will be able to make your mix much deeper and more interesting.


I tried to explain it in English even do I speak German. Don`t bother to ask if something isn`t clear, alright?
 
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Producer2005: I always try to share my knowledge even do I want to learn a lot more too!!!


Of course there are lots of other possibilities and ways to create a natural sounding room. Thats just my way. The good thing about 3 plugins at once is that you have perfect control about how much reverb you want to give to your sound...
 
Thats some good advice Ego..


I like to take a different approach.

before i start mixing i like to think about where the song might be performed live and sound the best. I'll ask myself: "would it sound good in a big cathedral, or on the edge of a mountain, or in a dingy basement?" Once i have decided on where the song would sound the best being performed live, I'll create a reverb that i think would match the sound of the room i have in my head, and as ego said, sometimes you need more than just one reverb to achieve this.

Next i decide what instruments are closer to the audience, and which ones are farther away. and i'll send more of what is farther away to the reverb.


My BIG rule is that i always get everything mixed without reverb the best that i can, and then add reverb to help separate the instruments in the space im using. i find that i get much better sounding results, and never end up going overboard on the reverb this way (my #1 pet peave is too much rev)
 
It’s nice of you to help out. But it didn’t help much. Really. I was more thinking of adjusting the sliders on it. Are there formulas for that to follow?
 
waves truverb and rrvrb are right, eat memory though
 
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There is no specific formula, just use your ears. I would strongly recommend to listen to commercial songs, in your case Paul Van Dyk and Tiesto. I can`t give you more advice...
 
One more thing: Are you using the send-effects? If yes, the reverb plugin has to be 100% wet. I don`t know what else to tell you...
 
hey ego, it has to be 100% wet when using reverb as a send effect? I usually dont, is that a problem??? Also i think i use reverb in damn near all the instruments i use, is that also a problem. I see reverb as giving instruments a full sound, instead of it sounding thin, so i give all my instruments some reverb, but the amount depends on what im aiming for. I use reason by the way then throw it in P-tools. And my mix sounds good before i throw it in p-tools lol, but thats for another forum
 
damu22: If you`re using the send-effects and not the insert-effects, I would suggest that the reverb itself is 100% wet. If you don`t it`s not necessarily a problem, but you always have the percentage of the dry signal mixed into your reverb and normally you don`t want that.

And concerning the different instruments: Like I already mentioned in one of my posts, you need to give certain instruments/channels a new reverb-plugin. All drum elements like snare, hats etc. can share 1-3 plugins, 1-3 for the vocals, 1-3 for lead sounds etc.

Don`t bother to ask me, if you still don`t know what I am talking about!
 
And it`s up to you if you want to give all your instruments reverb or not. What kind of music do you produce?
 
damu22 said:
hey ego, it has to be 100% wet when using reverb as a send effect? I usually dont, is that a problem???
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if you don't have your effects 100% wet on your sends 2 things will happen.

1. as you send more signal to the aux to get more reverb, you will also be raising the level of the dry track. When you are trying to simply add reverb, you will be increasing the volume of the track, too... that will mess up your levels that you had set in your mix. Adding more reverb will turn the volume up in your track... that is not a good thing.

2. your track will have phasing issues. There is always some latency with plugins. If you have some of the dry signal coming through the aux (if your reverb is not 100% wet) it will, depending on how much latency there is, phase or delay. This is because you will be playing 2 of the same signals slightly offset from eachother (due to the latency.)


So, unless you want to screw up your mix levels and have your tracks phase, then you need to have the reverb set at 100% wet.
 
2. your track will have phasing issues. There is always some latency with plugins. If you have some of the dry signal coming through the aux (if your reverb is not 100% wet) it will, depending on how much latency there is, phase or delay. This is because you will be playing 2 of the same signals slightly offset from eachother (due to the latency.)
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Huups, I forgot this issue! So yes, it is a MUST to set the reverb to 100% wet!
 
I do anything i hear in my head lol. Mostly hip-hop, R 'n' B, alternative, pop. Yea i understand what your're saying it makes sense, i try to use different reverbs for each instruments sometimes but i have to watch out for my cpu power so i dont do that so much. What kind of music do you do???
 
WOW, i learn something new everyday. I didnt know that. Yea you're right it does raise the level of the dry signal, i use Propellarheads reason and when i mix it using reverbs, it raises the level, i thought it was part of the process. So what about wave plug-ins??? When i mmix in pro-tools, i think the rverb doesnt have the dry/wet percentage. It has the dimension, distance and a whole bunch of ****. How will i set it on that???? So what about other effects like chorus, phaser, delay, set those also to 100%??? or actually set them at like the highest since some dont have a dry/wet percentage.
 
damu22 said:
WOW, i learn something new everyday. I didnt know that. Yea you're right it does raise the level of the dry signal, i use Propellarheads reason and when i mix it using reverbs, it raises the level, i thought it was part of the process. So what about wave plug-ins??? When i mmix in pro-tools, i think the rverb doesnt have the dry/wet percentage. It has the dimension, distance and a whole bunch of ****. How will i set it on that???? So what about other effects like chorus, phaser, delay, set those also to 100%??? or actually set them at like the highest since some dont have a dry/wet percentage.
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they should ALL be set at 100% WET.

"Rverb" does have a wet/dry control (there is a fader labeled "wet/dry").

Every effect will have something to control the ratio of effected to uneffected signal (it may be called "mix" or "direct/reverb" or "wet/dry" or whatever, but it WILL ABSOLUTELY BE THERE.)

EVERY EFFECT SHOULD BE SET SO THE PERCENTAGE OF EFFECTED SIGNAL IS 100% AND THE PERCENTAGE OF UNEFFECTED SIGNAL IS 0%.
 
damu22 said:
hey ego, it has to be 100% wet when using reverb as a send effect? I usually dont, is that a problem??? Also i think i use reverb in damn near all the instruments i use, is that also a problem. I see reverb as giving instruments a full sound, instead of it sounding thin, so i give all my instruments some reverb, but the amount depends on what im aiming for. I use reason by the way then throw it in P-tools. And my mix sounds good before i throw it in p-tools lol, but thats for another forum
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Yes, 100% wet, you record and mix in Reason? Maybe you should rewire into PT and mix in there. Are you bussing the tracks to an aux stereo track in PT? I like the Waves realverb and UA Dreamverb too.
 
I suck when it comes to mixing, so im horrible when i use PT. so i just mix everything in reason, then ill make wav files then dump them in PT, if i want to do some editing or anything i can only do in PT. Or if i want to record a bass guitar in it. You mix well in PT?????
 
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