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Guybrush · 08-14-2018, 06:36 AM

Hey guys,

I've discussed convolution (room) reverb with a couple of guys in the band a bit (I generally mix our music). We generally use acoustic instruments like guitars and concertinas. I have my way of doing things which they thought seemed a little cumbersome - which it is, but I feel like I get good, authentic-sounding results.

It made me wonder, am I doing something others don't?

What I basically do reverb-wise is this:

Set up a (wet) reverb bus that I send tracks to pre-fader so that whatever I do with the volume fader on those tracks, it doesn't affect what goes into the reverb. If I use VST-instruments, I disable any built-in reverb they may have and instead send them to the same room reverb bus.

Now, if I solo a track and continually reduce the fader, the sound of the track will fade while the reverb stays the way it is, making it seem like that instrument or vocal is moving further back in the room.

My philosophy is basically this: The same room reverb for all tracks gives the impression that all instruments are in the same room (may be desirable). Also, if you could isolate the sound of the room, it wouldn't matter so much where in the room any one instrument was. Sound waves travel about 350 meters per second and quickly fill a room. Even if you're far away from an instrument, it still makes the same amount of noise in the room. Hence, even if you want to reduce the level of an instrument in your mix, that doesn't automatically mean you should reduce the sound of it in the room (the reverb bus). For a real world comparison, think of being alone in the subway and someone walks towards you, whistling. Coming from some way away, you would mostly hear the "reverb" of the whistling before the person got closer. In that sort of space, the reverb could be loud even if the source was relatively far away. If the room was dead, then it'd be a different story, but in this situation we're generally not talking / modelling very dead spaces.

Sounds coming from far away need to be EQed more too, perhaps being more narrow/niche.

This is basically my starting point, then I of course try to make the mixing decisions that sound good from there (whatever they are).

After looking around a bit, I find some people recommending other things, sometimes the opposite of what I do - for example that using different kinds of reverb give professional results (I find it can become less cohesive).

So what do you guys do?

08-14-2018, 06:36 AM	#1 (permalink)
Guybrush Juicious Maximus III Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Scabb Island Posts: 6,525	Reverb tips Hey guys, I've discussed convolution (room) reverb with a couple of guys in the band a bit (I generally mix our music). We generally use acoustic instruments like guitars and concertinas. I have my way of doing things which they thought seemed a little cumbersome - which it is, but I feel like I get good, authentic-sounding results. It made me wonder, am I doing something others don't? What I basically do reverb-wise is this: Set up a (wet) reverb bus that I send tracks to pre-fader so that whatever I do with the volume fader on those tracks, it doesn't affect what goes into the reverb. If I use VST-instruments, I disable any built-in reverb they may have and instead send them to the same room reverb bus. Now, if I solo a track and continually reduce the fader, the sound of the track will fade while the reverb stays the way it is, making it seem like that instrument or vocal is moving further back in the room. My philosophy is basically this: The same room reverb for all tracks gives the impression that all instruments are in the same room (may be desirable). Also, if you could isolate the sound of the room, it wouldn't matter so much where in the room any one instrument was. Sound waves travel about 350 meters per second and quickly fill a room. Even if you're far away from an instrument, it still makes the same amount of noise in the room. Hence, even if you want to reduce the level of an instrument in your mix, that doesn't automatically mean you should reduce the sound of it in the room (the reverb bus). For a real world comparison, think of being alone in the subway and someone walks towards you, whistling. Coming from some way away, you would mostly hear the "reverb" of the whistling before the person got closer. In that sort of space, the reverb could be loud even if the source was relatively far away. If the room was dead, then it'd be a different story, but in this situation we're generally not talking / modelling very dead spaces. Sounds coming from far away need to be EQed more too, perhaps being more narrow/niche. This is basically my starting point, then I of course try to make the mixing decisions that sound good from there (whatever they are). After looking around a bit, I find some people recommending other things, sometimes the opposite of what I do - for example that using different kinds of reverb give professional results (I find it can become less cohesive). So what do you guys do? __________________ Something Completely Different Last edited by Guybrush; 08-16-2018 at 05:28 AM.