Can someone help me with reverb?

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Member Since: Mar 26, 2003

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what type of reverb I could use that will make things a little bigger without making things sound like they're 3 miles away?? Any info is greatly appriciated. Thanks everyone! God bless!

Mo

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Contributor
Since: Dec 30, 2002


Apr 03, 2003 06:31 pm

Here are some "types" of reverb and what I use them for:

o Room
Room reverbs will just add a small amount of ambience to a signal and make things sound a bit warmer when used in moderation - a good starting point for subtle verb effects.

o Chamber
Chamber reverb is great, infact it's my fave reverb effect :D It can give a really immense sound but still make things clear and definable within the mix (but again, only if you don't go overboard on the send).

o Plate
Plate reverb algorythms are modeled on the old-skool plate reverb boxes, if I remember correctly (which I probably don't at 1:33am) they consisted of two metal plates that vibrated to the signal of the audio, this vibration would transfer from one plate to the other thus creating the reverb effect (but I'm probably wrong on that, so don't quote me :D) - plate reverb is great for warming up sounds - it works especially well on snare drums and kick drums.

o Spring
Spring reverb is another old skool effect that was created using big metal coils that vibrated with the signal (a bit like plate reverbs) - these can still be found in some of the more expensive guitar amps. Spring reverb can sound Very cheap but does sound pretty damn good on electric guitar... :)

o Cathedral / Cavernous
This one is immense. I rarley use this reverb model unless I am going for a specific effect, it can sound good on acoustic guitar and vocals if it is used sparingly - but too much and things sound very amteturish.

I guess the golden rule with reverb is Not to apply too much! - when I'm setting reverb levels I will turn the AUX send knob until I can hear the effect I am after, I will then usually roll it back a little bit and drop the send. Reverb shouldn't be completly apparent, because when it is, it stops being a tool and starts becoming another effect (like a phaser / flanger / etc.)

Another tip is to only use 1 or 2 reverb settings in a track. For example, if you use a plate reverb on the snare, don't go an use a cathedral reverb on the guitar and a chamber on the voice, otherwise things sound really odd - however, that may be the effect you are after in a particular track.

Oh, one more thing while I'm waffling - If the track appears to be "swimming" in reverb, but you like the sound of the 'verb, then you can always turn down the decay time of the reverb. This makes the tail shorter and thus makes the result less muddy.

Hope these tips helped in some way.

jues.

Member
Since: Mar 26, 2003


Apr 04, 2003 10:40 am

Thanks Jues! I will definately do more experimenting.

Mo

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