Reverb Masterclass - Part 4

The modern-day studio is equipped with myriad reverb effects, but what are the secrets to creating a sense of depth and perspective in your mix? Mark Cousins explains.

Sound and texture

As you start to explore different reverbs you’ll begin to identify their principal qualities, as well as being able to adjust them to better suit your particular sonic objectives. Given the attention paid to EQ’ing a kick drum or a vocal, it’s just as important to consider how the precise timbre of your reverb contributes to the overall mix, either resorting to parameters within the plug-in or good, old-fashioned EQ to make the ambience sit as required.

Looking at the two extremes, a reverb can be seen as either bright or dark. Bright-sounding reverb will push its way to the front of the mix and make its presence felt. In dance music, a bright reverb will often be used on principal synth lines (often with particularly bright cut-off settings), making both the instrument and the reverb prominent in the mix. But place a bright acoustic guitar through that reverb and the effect will be distinctly less musical. Dark reverb, on the other hand, tends to have a natural, receding quality to it, sitting behind the instrument and not cluttering the high end of the mix in the same way.

Rising damp

The timbre of the reverb is largely defined by its so-called damping characteristics, with most reverbs offering some control over the high-frequency and low-frequency damping accordingly. In essence, damping is a progressive attenuation of frequencies, so that despite the reverb starting relatively bright (especially in its early reflections stage) it becomes progressively darker throughout the duration of the reverb tail. In addition to this, a plug-in might also provide some additional filtering and/or EQ to provide the required colour to the reverb tail.

Another parameter worth exploring is the relatively density or diffusion of the reverb tail. In essence, both of these controls relate to the relative density or diffusion of the reverb tail, so that the reverb is heard either as a series of discrete echoes or denser, more homogenous tail of reverb. As a general rule of thumb, smooth, dense reverb tends to suit percussive sounds, while grainer, less diffuse reverb will work better on less percussive instruments (vocals, for example). That said, the relatively dense sound of vintage plate reverb also sounds great on vocals, so it’s worth experimenting to see which works best.

Continued at - Reverb Masterclas - Part 5

Reverb Masterclass - Part 1
Reverb Masterclass - Part 2
Reverb Masterclass - Part 3

This feature first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 98
Filed under Features, Mastering

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Reverb Masterclass - Part 4

Sound and texture

Rising damp

Continued at - Reverb Masterclas - Part 5

See also...

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