Take our advice, and become a reverb master in no time
01 ALWAYS EQ
EQing the tracks and parts of a mix is second nature, but far too often people will assume that because a dry part is EQ’d, there is no need to EQ any reverb we’ve attached to it. Wrong! Adding EQ to reverb is vital, letting us remove low-end muddiness, bring out the top end sparkle and sheen, and create spectral space for the dry signal to poke through, thus aiding with overall clarity.
02 USE PRE-AND POST-FADE SENDS
The channel sends we use to feed signals to a reverb plugin inserted on another track can be either pre-fade or postfade. Typically we use the latter, because this maintains the send level’s relationship to the main channel level. Sometimes, however, it is preferable for the send level to remain constant no matter what, such as when using it to trigger a ducking compressor. Using pre-fade sends also makes it easier to manipulate the balance between send and channel levels when creating front-to-back depth effects.
03 FLIPPING STEREO
We may often want a particularly spacious reverb on a part, but this can then interfere with the part itself, making it less distinct and prominent. A simple solution is to use panning to separate the dry and wet signals, shifting one leftwards and the other rightwards. This isn’t a realistic or natural effect, but it can sound good, especially on guitars, keys and synth-comp parts.
04 VINTAGE ’VERB
Some plugins are designed to give a vintage sound. As for the rest – well, we can make them sound vintage ourselves. Configure the reverb as a send effect, and add some tube- or tape-style saturation and an EQ before the reverb plugin itself. Use these to create a gritty sound with rolled-off bass and treble. You could also add a bit-crush distortion to bring the signal driving the EQ down to 8- or 12-bit quality.
05 MID-SIDE REVERB #1
Applying and mixing reverb in the mid-side domain offers some fascinating possibilities. If working with a stereo source, applying a shorter reverb to the mid channel and a longer one to the side channel helps the central focus of the sound to remain clear and distinct, but the overall stereo width and spaciousness can be enhanced.
06 MID-SIDE REVERB #2
Another option for mid-side reverb, especially useful when working from a mono source, is to route the source track to two FX/Auxiliary tracks with reverb inserted on each. Then, using a plugin such as Voxengo MSED, mute the mid channel from one reverb and the side channel from the other. You can then create different widths and focusses in mid and side channels.
