Getting Right with Reverb
Some additional thoughts on when and how much reverberation to employ on your recordings
Like most effects, using reverb is often a subjective decision, one that might reflect your personal taste or records that have influenced your production style. But even if some of your all-time favorite tunes are seemingly doused in echo, there’s a limit to how much effect you can or should use for your homegrown material, as some arrangements lend themselves to an “airy” approach, while others are often best left arid. Here are some ideas for working with reverb, including using pre-delay, adjusting individual echo sends to vary the amount of effect per instrument (and why you should never apply the same amount of reverb to everything), adjusting “ring time” to avoid oversaturation, and other thoughts.
When, where and how much. First, reverb works best when applied in varying amounts—or not at all—to each separate track while recording and mixing, rather than rolling a finished master in echo after the fact. Low-frequency instruments such as electric bass and bass drum are usually best left dry; the same goes for strummed acoustic guitars, which may lose definition when doused in reverb. On the other hand, reverb can work wonders on lead vocals, and background vocals also take on a nice shimmery veneer with a moderate amount of effect. It’s also helpful to know what kind of reverb is best suited for the production—small room, large room, concert hall, plate—as well as the reverb “time,” or how long the effect remains audible.
Using delay with reverb. Another key element is “pre-delay”—that is, inserting a brief (microsecond) delay at the top of the reverb chain that keeps the initial impulse dry, while slightly elongating the reverb “tail.” Years ago engineers placed a tape machine running at half-speed between the source and the studio’s echo chamber, echo plate or other reverb maker, and the sound became an essential part of those ‘50s and ‘60s recordings. Nowadays you can simply dial in how much pre-delay you’d like, though by and large you’ll want just enough to provide a barely audible space between the dry and wet signals.
Know your limits. When doling out reverb, remember there’s a fine line between having a nice expansive sound and an unrecognizable, wet mess. Particularly if your song has a lot of moving parts, take care to adjust the individual echo sends and overall effect balance—for the most part you’re looking to add a sense of space, without sacrificing clarity. You’ll also want to keep the length of the reverb in check—a few seconds is typically more than enough—in order to prevent oversaturation of the effect. Additionally, compressors tend to “expand” the printed reverbed sound, something to keep in mind if you’re planning on mastering the mix.
Echo choices. Unlike early digital processers that could be noticeably harsh-sounding, over the years echo emulators have gotten quite good at faithfully reproducing all sorts of reverb types, and include plug-ins that replicate the hand-built echo chambers of Capitol Records, Abbey Road Studios and other famed facilities.
While it’s admittedly easier to use whatever processing you’ve got on hand, sometimes a little do-it-yourself effect can add a nice homemade touch to your project. Though not nearly as potent as boxed reverbs, long hallways, stairwells, or a room with tall ceilings and hard surfaces can add just enough extra dimension for the likes of percussion instruments or handclaps; you could even try situating an instrument amplifier at one end of the room, placing a close mic near the speaker cone as you normally would, then suspend another mic further back to pick up the natural reverberations. While it may take some extra effort, remember that listeners tend to respond to anything that “sounds human,” particularly in this push-button digital world.
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