Recording Tips
ROB LONG LONG CONTINUES HIS REVERB TALE.
Continuing on from last month’s article on the various types of reverbs, this month we’re looking at their application during mixdown. Like anything creative, there are no hard and fast rules on how anyone should do things – that said, being aware of the possibilities and conventions and having a plan of attack is a great aid in getting started!
The first thing to ask yourself is, "Why am I adding reverb?" As I discussed in the last issue, reverb is a naturally occurring phenomenon and whether we are aware of it or not, virtually every sound we hear is accompanied by some type of reflection. So, it follows that in the studio – where things are often recorded dry – we want to reintroduce a sense of space and atmosphere, but in a controlled way. This can be done to single sound sources, or across multiple tracks to ‘glue’ things together sonically, as if they were recorded in the same space.
But of course, that’s just the beginning. There’s both natural and unnatural approaches – using reverb as an effect is a super creative tool. It’s possible to take audio to a place that would never occur in the natural world – or at least not in a small home studio!
GET YOUR PRODUCER EARS ON
Like anything, it’s good to have a plan or some direction before you start. Possibly the best way to get ‘revved up' about reverb is by studying reference tracks similar to the one you’re working on. Listen for passages that highlight the reverbs clearly – often, these will be nestled in a breakdown section, an intro or a down verse – anything that exposes a vocal or instrument so that you can get a good picture of what’s happening.
Listen for different types of reverb – short, long, bright, dark, subtle, swamped, natural and unnatural are just a few of them. Does the reverb envelope the source, or does it follow after the attack? How many different reverbs are being used? Is some of it possibly tracked with reverb, or is it added during the mixdown process? Compare your work to what you’re hearing – A/B back and forth and see how close you can get.
Reverb creates distance. This can give the impression that the mics were further from the source than they actually were. This is not necessarily negative, however – just something to be observed and used to your liking. It’s generally understood that too much reverb in too many places will wash out the mix, and nothing will be distinct. So, think like an artist with a canvas: use reverb with discretion as a tool to push some things back, whilst keeping other elements sharp, dry and forward.
Low frequencies through reverb can get nasty! Never say never, but caking longer reverbs on a kick drum or bass guitar is usually a recipe for
disaster and a shortcut to boomtown. Short reverbs can fatten a kick, so a long reverb could be used for effect where there’s a need for a long note once in the bar, for example.
Different producers favour different approaches. In some genres and eras – for example, the ‘70s – we have super dry drums and smooth, wet vocals. Check out an Eagles track, or some choice cuts from Fleetwood Mac. In other eras, the reverse was the case: producers used roomy drums with dry, in-your-face vocals. If a track is not working, it might be worth a shot to flip your reverb setup.
By all means, use those ready-made presets – but then take it further. Explore every tweakable element until you have gained a really good feel for what’s possible. Apply other processors over the reverb itself – especially EQ. Highpassing the EQ can clean things up immensely.
RENOWNED REVERBS
Once you start to get a picture of what you’re looking for, have a look at your project and think about the best way to set things up. Let’s assume that 95 percent of readers will be using software for reverb, and are starting with dry or near-dry tracks. Straight up, you’ll want to think about efficiency, as reverbs are among the most processor-hungry plugins available.
For a typical project, two or three reverbs is a good star t – use one for vocals, one for drums, and one for selected instruments. Rather than inserting separate reverbs over each instrument or track (this will quickly bottom out your valuable processing capacity!), set up two or three different reverb busses or FX channels – the terminology and method of doing this will depend on you DAW. You can then use sends on each track to feed the relevant reverb buss.
Divide your mix up into three main subgroups – vocals, instruments (for example, guitars, keyboards or other acoustic instruments), and drums and percussion. You can send to the relevant reverb buss from each subgroup, so now what you have is three subgroup faders feeding three different reverbs.
This setup is more like a side-chain or parallel processing. It gives you much more flexibility than you would have running the signal straight through a plugin. You have your original dry fader, then next to it your processed FX fader. Set the wet/dry balance on the plugin to fully wet. The FX channel itself can be faded up and down during the mix, EQ’ed if necessary and even compressed. It becomes a sound source in its own right, but you can still retain the clarity of the original dry track.
Once you have your faders set up, it’s time to choose reverbs. I’ll often set up a template in Cubase that opens with three reverbs ready to go as a star ting point.
VOCALS
The main issue with reverb on vocals is that it’s easy to muddy things up and lose the clarit y of the lyrics or vocal nuances. The last thing you want is to wash out the most important element of the track! The song itself will help inform what’s most likely to work: slower songs will generally cope with longer reverbs, as there’s more time between beats, whilst faster-paced songs work well with shorter reverbs that don’t cross over the beat.
Smaller room reverbs will obviously be more intimate than epic hall sounds. Using pre-delay can help put some distance between the voice and the reverb so that the initial attack is not masked, but the tail of the notes is lengthened and sweetened. Plate reverbs are very popular for vocals, as they tend to merge with the sound, thicken it and add some extra character.
GUITARS
Guitar amps tend to need a bit of space to develop, but often times, they are recorded in small
spaces and usually close-miced. Sometimes, adding a little bit of room reverb across the guitar can give it some energy and character. Once again, it may be an "all in one room" band sound that you’re after, or you may want to surgically highlight some parts from others – one guitar in back of the room, another in your face. Many guitarists like to use their own reverbs, often in the form of spring units in the amps. This can work well, but it can also cause issues down the track when it can’t be removed.
DRUMS
Drum sounds vary so much with different styles, genres and eras, so it’s hard to generalise. In the early '60s, drums were fairly roomy, often tracked with only an overhead and a kick mic. As the years went on, more mics were added, and things generally tightened up through the '70s. By the ' 80s, it was all about the reverb – the gated drums were virtually just a trigger. Then it backflipped to garage sounds through the grunge era. These days, in 60 minutes of radio, you’ll hear every style known to man.
Generally, rock drums are meant to sound huge – a style associated with the feeling of instruments being recorded in a large room. Not many of us have the luxury of a large, lush drum room to track in, so adding some space via software is the usual path.
Compression over a room mic or parallel compression over the whole kit is often enough to lift the sound of the room. Sometimes, though, you’ll want to add some room reverb to have a little more control over the space in post-production. You have the option to send a signal from a stereo drum buss to the room reverb, but a better option may be to send from individual drum tracks to the reverb. This way, you can feed the reverb more judiciously – more for snares and toms, and less for kicks and overheads. Remember: the kick will trigger the reverb by a higher percentage than the smaller drums, as it would a compressor.
REVERB OVER THE MASTER BUSS
This is not for the faint of heart, but it's definitely worth experimenting with. Sometimes, reverb can work in this scenario like compression does – to form a bond over the entire mix. It’s most likely to work with more traditional rock styles. Mastering usually increases the reverb presence, as it often involves compression and a high frequency boost. Always mix with this in mind. Pop an EQ over your stereo outs and dial in some high-end boost, and have a listen to what it does to the reverb – just make sure you haven’t overcooked it.
All in all, the key is to listen to the master producers and know the ins and outs of the tools. This can take some trial and error, but in the end, you'll have some super valuable skills. So don’t delay, get revved today!
Rob Long is a multi-instrumentalist and producer working @FunkyLizardStudios in Newcastle