Should consider the genre when adding reverbs to various elements of a mix. If you add to your mix without recognizing this, it will likely result in a poorer mix. This is why I will give you six tips on how to choose the right reverb.
1. Use specific genre references
The first time I had to create music for a commercial, I received some great advice from a colleague. He said, “Don’t be scared to make something very similar to the track you were given by the client.” Instead, he suggested that I find out what made it great and use those variables as a template. The tempo and timbre of the music, as well as instrument selection, are all important factors.
Study genre-specific references before you start tweaking parameters. Are they natural-sounding reverbs? Are they short or long? How many instruments will be processed? After answering these questions, you’ll be able to mix with reverb in genre-specific projects much more easily. This is something that has been done throughout the history of music production.
2. You want a live sound. Use only one verb
Although it is an oversimplification, we can categorize reverbs into two categories: those that emulate real-world environments and those that do not.
Exponential Audio NIMBUS is a great choice if you are mixing music that falls under the first category. You can lower the bus level and then gently raise it to get the warmth you want. You can create a more distinct sound and preserve the delicate balance of your mix by using this method. If this setup is too restrictive for you, develop separate buses for different instruments that use the same verb. Then, tweak the parameters to suit their needs better.
In jazz and folk music, musicians play their instruments (mostly acoustic) and live in the studio. Reverb in these genres is not a blown-out effect that dazzles and swirls. Instead, it is used to create a sense of cohesiveness, which reinforces the recording space and the feel of the music.
A room reverb will sound like the instruments are being played in the studio. Use a church or hall to get the sleek, expensive sound of recording in a large room.
Although I don’t currently have a complete mix, I will illustrate some of these points using an acoustic track. The first part is the dry signal. Exponential Audio NIMBUS’s NIMBUS adds a nice warmth and depth to the second part. It suits the intimate, bluesy tone of the guitar. Although it is more felt than heard, you would miss it if the dry version was used.
A larger church verb processes the third guitar. The setting is still relatively light, but it seems to take the guitar out of the smaller space that it should be heard in. We also lose some of its intricate details.
Acoustic Guitar reverb
3. Want creative character? Try using a non-linear verb
Reverb is one of the few musical elements that sounds even remotely natural in pop music and other genres which thrive in this digital age. Vocalists sound as if they are singing on the top of tall buildings, not in basements.
In these genres, reverb is not a tool to emphasize space but rather a way of manipulating and enhancing the sounds of a mix.
Can mix EDM by adding reverb to every other snare and splashing the drums on the fourth bar. This will keep loops that are otherwise repetitive and interesting. This is a great way to add a little ear candy to any drum sound. Try a flashy reverb on simple chord progressions. They are fun to dance to but can be a bit generic. If the mix has a sparse section that only contains melodic notes, you can increase the decay time of a lush reverb in order to fill the space.
It’s not necessary to create a natural environment in the studio. You need to get people to dance and sing along.
4. Pre-delay decays can help you to understand your decays
It’s worth taking some time to understand the parameters of your reverbs. Presets are a great way to achieve this. The more you learn, the better you will be at controlling the feel of your music.
It is especially important if you don’t know the music that you are mixing. If you know how to make indie rock or Bedroom Pop sound airy and pleasant, what happens when your client wants to take a different direction and create an EP with dark, Synth-heavy music? How can you help them achieve their goal now?
It’s fine to sift through presets and find a sound that you like, but it won’t tell you much about the intricacies of a reverb. Without a good understanding of your plug-ins, you may have to settle for less-than-ideal results or spend lots of time trying to get something worthwhile.
Effects for mixers can be compared to instruments for musicians. Spend an afternoon now and again trying out your favourite reverbs, saving settings or favouriting them in NIMBUS that you find useful later.
When you hover over a knob in Nimbus, R4 or Nimbus, the tooltips will show you what it is for. Listen to the signal changes as you make subtle or drastic adjustments to the parameters that interest you. It is a good way to familiarize yourself with your reverb.
5. Automate first, then start small
Modern pop music, with the exception of a few successful throwback bands, seems to gravitate towards shorter decay times and subtler effects than it did just a few decades ago.
It could be because there are now more options and less need to use reverbs to hide mistakes. It could be due to hip-hop’s popularity and the tight vocals that are typical of the genre. How we listen to music could also be a factor. The perception of space on a stereo system is much better than on headphones. Songs that are more in your face will jump out of laptop speakers compared to those with reverberant sounds, which smear.
Automation is a great way to make reverb more sophisticated. Why use a preset on a guitar track when you can automate a pre-delay in order to highlight specific notes? Why use static reverb on the vocals when you can get a lot more mileage from well-timed throws? Why keep verse-to-chorus transitions subtle when you can abruptly increase and cut sends to create drama? This is not to show off some technical prowess; I just want to let you know that automation can be your ticket to improving the musicality of any mix.
Listen to the before-and-after reverb of the chord sequence below. You’ll hear a swirling noise in the reverb of the wet version. This is due to the automated movement up and down the spectrum for the output frequencies from the verb ( R4). This adds a pop-like feel and a lot of energy to a simple loop.
Swirling Reverb
Exponential Audio’s R4 includes an automated reverb.
Modern pop music sounds calculated and extravagant, even if you don’t use all the tricks. Automation is the best way to achieve this.
6. Reverberation is best used at the right moments
Reverb is an important ingredient in almost all music. However, it can be overdone. How do genres that rely heavily on reverb, like shoegaze and dub, manage to sound cohesive? What do producers and engineers do to control chaos?
This article outlines many tricks, like compressing tails to avoid masking and using EQ to sculpt tone and weight. However, I did not dwell on the importance of using reverb only at the right moments.
Listen closely, and you’ll find that the drums, bass and other instruments are very dry. The snare, rhythm guitar and stabs are the only parts of the song that use a lot of reverb. And the settings change frequently to keep the music interesting. Reverb is a key component in creating the dreamy quality of the Cocteau twins‘s music. A lot of chorusing, delay, and an unintelligible singing style also influence the floating effect.
If your client wants something with dreamy or spacey characteristics, you can get this effect by adding just a few components to the mix. It’s not necessary to saturate the entire mix with reverb. It may also be that a lighter dose of reverb combined with other processors like delay, modulation and EQ is the right choice for your mix.
Conclusion
Originally, I intended to give specific reverb advice for different popular music genres. Although this is what you may have wanted, these tips are equally useful, as what’s trendy in hip-hop now might not be what you want tomorrow. And what I call hip-hop could even differ from your expectations.
It is always useful to know what you can do with reverb in unfamiliar territory. If you are feeling out of your comfort zone with reverb, you can always return to the basics for some focus. You will find yourself again.
