Frequently Given Feedback #4 - Managing Reverb

Hey Everyone, in this video I wanted to cover all of the considerations and traps of using reverb in your mix. A lot of the demos I listen to are often lacking punch and clarity and the most likely culprits are an overuse of delay and moreso, reverb. It's something that can often take a while before your ears even start picking it up--this is usually due to a sub-optimal listening environment, but a trained-ear is definitely necessary in making subtle spatial decisions.

This video is not intended to be a "How-to-use Reverb" mini course but rather addresses the common problems I hear in your mixes--though there are some fundamental lessons here.

For the first 15 minutes I cover using reverb on drums, including using aux channels instead of inserts, processing aux channels, and reverb settings.

Then I discuss the various considerations before adding reverb such as: the sound's decay/release times, the existing spatial fx (e.g. delay or reverb on the preset), the other elements already in the mix.

This last point is a real game-changer if you're not already considering it. I go in depth in the video, but a quick overview/example: If your mix has 3 elements and all three have reverb and delay, it's likely gonna sound muddy and lack clarity. Maybe only one of these elements needs spatial fx and the other two can be completely dry because your ear is never going to hear them solo'ed--it will perceive the space of the one element as the general space for all of the elements in the song. If you carefully listen to some reference tracks, you may be surprised to hear how dry certain sounds actually are yet they fit nicely in the mix. And then on the other hand, if you've got a breakdown thats just bass and a lead sound, you could probably afford to have a pretty long and lush reverb on the lead because there's so much empty space for it.

Another important strategy--especially earlier in your production journey--is to audition a lot of different reverbs/presets before deciding on one. It's a bit misguided to just assume the first one you pick is right one for that sound. There's so many different flavors of reverbs and they can drastically affect how that element sits in the mix.

At 41 minutes in I demonstrate a way to creatively process reverb with an fx chain.

There are some more advanced techniques I don't cover but could be worth exploring on your own, such as: 

• Gating your reverb (so you can use much bigger/lusher reverbs but cut their tails quickly)
• Compressing your reverb (so you can have short decay times but have them feel much bigger and in your face)
• Sidechaining your reverb (maybe you have a long vocal reverb sidechained to the dry vocal so it ducks when the next phrase comes in)

And then I sum it all up at 47 minutes onward. Hope this video was helpful, feel free to ask any questions in the comments!

Tools mentioned for timing your predelays: musiccalculator.com and Calculus

Great studio headphones (same as the 650's but cheaper)