Why do musicians use reverb

Hot Tip: never record with reverb—always add it later. Removing reverb is a tough process, but adding more is always an option. If you ever need to remove reverb from a recording, read our guide on using noise gates to get started. Ultimately, finding the sweet spot in the type of reverb that suits your track is key: Reverb will give your tracks the warmth, depth, and immersive character that will instantly add a professional-level quality and coherence to your mix.

Create a separate return track and patch your reverb inline on this track. Use the sends from the track that you want reverb on, to send the dry, un-effected signal to the track that has the reverb patched inline. You should now hear your reverb! If you need a quick refresher on sends and returns, read our sends and returns guide. If your particular reverb has preset types, test all of them that it has available—It could be one, none, or it could be several depending on your reverb—and get a feel for their unique characteristics.

Select the type that best suits the general needs of your mix or individual instrument. Ask yourself: where is the ideal space I want my sound in? The Size parameter selected above allows you to control the size of the space the listener will perceive your sound in.

Size also affects the stereo image, with larger rooms usually giving a wider stereo image. Thus, the size parameter allows you to scale from longer, more expansive sounding reverb down to shorter, more intimate, and narrow reflections. Setting your Size parameter in relation to your Decay see Step 6 is the key combo with reverb, so prepare to fiddle with these two steps a bit.

Decay is the most important part of your reverb because it sets the amount of time it takes your reverb to return to silence. Setting it too long leads to most of the problems associated with reverb and muddy mixes. As I mentioned before, Decay is traditionally scaled in relation to Size: larger rooms tend to have longer decays, so setting a large size with a long decay or a small size with a short decay is typical.

Most presets will likely do this automatically. But adjusting the two independently can create some really cool effects. Reverbs with shorter decays have more freedom to be very loud because they will end quickly and not stick around muddying your mix. Hot Tip: For busy arrangements, use reverbs with shorter decays on individual instruments in order to keep their unique qualities crisp and clear.

A lower pre-delay time will give little or no time between dry signal and your reverb—thus simulating a small room—but can make your reverb messier. Mid-sized pre-delays will give a slight delay to your reverb, simulating a larger space and keeping the dry signal and reverb clear of each other, removing muddiness.

Early reflections represented above as the yellow circle in the Spin section tend to sound more like echoes than normal reverb so treat them as such—if you want to create an echo or doubling effect, louder early reflections are excellent for this.

But be careful, echoes can interfere with the rhythm, tempo or groove of a musical piece. Stick to a lower volume to allow for easier blending. Diffusion allows you to add or remove texture from your reverb. In the example above, diffusion levels are represented in the diffusion network section of the reverb. I asked myself exactly that question: why is it we prefer reverb?

Intuitively, I wondered if it was the result of natural selection for adopting caves as shelter. Reverb and echo is a specific characteristic of a cave vs the outside, predator-packed crazy world. So could it be that reverb is naturally providing the reassuring vibes of caves to our deep, reptilian brain? Your email address will not be published.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Previous post. Next post. Notes [1] P. Like this: Like Loading The reverb quation answer are so nice. I have learnt music sound better with reverb. Leave a comment Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.

Sticking to two or three reverbs within a unified theme i. Delay, on the other hand, will usually make the processed element stand out with a newfound air of confidence, so be mindful of your intent in both scenarios.

Like most things in music production they are open to interpretation, and can be shaped and sculpted to fit your own style. Placing one before the other, or using them in parallel, you can generate effects ranging from lush, to atmospheric, to dissonant.

Go forth and make your own space in this world! This list of ten common delay mistakes mixing engineers make is meant to educate, not reprimand. We examine some common mistakes many music producers and audio engineers make with reverb, and how to avoid them.

What is reverb in music? Using audio examples, we explain reverb: the types of reverb and how musicians, producers, and engineers can use it. Get top stories of the week and special discount offers right in your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time. Delay: When to Use Each. A reverb that listens:. Learn More.

Shop Deals. Never Miss an Article! What does a delay plug-in do? This analysis is then converted into a reverb profile, which can be applied to a dry sound. Note: When compared to algorithmic reverbs, convolution reverbs deliver more realistic reverb sounds, but require substantially more CPU resources, leading to more latency. In digital contexts we have the ability to greatly customize our reverb sound.

Below are some of the more common controls on digital reverbs. Pre-delay is the amount of time between the direct sound and the start of the early reflections —reflections that only bounce off one or two surfaces before reaching the listener. Larger rooms naturally exhibit longer pre-delay because it takes longer for the sound to reach a surface and reflect off of it.

Listen to the following clip to hear a dry snare followed by the snare with room reverb with no pre-delay , then the snare with the same reverb and ms of pre-delay. Notice the gap between the third snare hit and its reverb. Decay Time is the amount of time it takes for the sound pressure level SPL in a room to fall by 60 dB. If large and small rooms are constructed with the same materials, the large room will have a longer decay time.

Although somewhat dependent on frequency, rooms with highly reflective surfaces like concrete or hardwood give longer decay times than rooms with absorptive surfaces like carpet or fabric. The audio clip below contains a dry snare, then the snare with a room reverb set to a millisecond decay time, then the same reverb with a two-second decay time.

Diffusion is the dispersion and density of reflections. Low values result in low reflection density, allowing us to hear individual reflections more clearly. High values result in increased reflection density and a more uniform wash of reverb. Damping is the absorption of high frequencies in the reverb.

Low damping values yield less high-frequency absorption, whereas high damping values produce more absorption of high frequencies. Lower the damping to allow high frequencies to decay for longer to create a brighter reverb sound, or raise the damping to choke the high frequencies and make a darker sound. Listen to the following audio to hear a reverb with low damping, followed by the same reverb with high damping.

Notice the difference in the high frequency content. This control becomes especially relevant when we get into best practices for using reverb. So, does that mean that two reverbs with the same settings will be the same? Decidedly not! Two different types of reverb with the same user-adjustable parameters will not sound the same. The following examples show the most common methods in action. No direct signal is included, so you can focus on the reverb. The first three clips are simulations of acoustic environments.

Incidentally, Neoverb 's unique reverb engine allows you to blend between these three types: Plate, Room, and Chamber. Their characteristics will conform to the expected behavior of reverb in our physical universe. The last two clips simulate mechanically produced reverb, and do not necessarily aim to sound realistic.

Hall reverb results from the unique physical characteristics of concert halls, which are typically large spaces acoustically designed for a long, smooth decay. Room reverb results from the unique physical characteristics of smaller rooms like studios or living rooms, typically with shorter decay times and closer reflections. Chamber reverb results from the unique physical characteristics of reverb chambers , which are reflective spaces such as corridors or stairwells designed to house a speaker and microphone configuration for triggering and recording the reverb.

Plate reverb results from a vibrating metal plate. In a real plate reverb, a large sheet of metal is suspended in an enclosure. Multiple transducers—a small driver and at least one small contact microphone or pickup—are attached to the plate. Dry signal is sent from a console or audio interface to the driver, which causes the plate to vibrate.

The contact microphone picks up these vibrations and outputs them for use in the mixing system. The larger the plate and the further apart the transducers, the longer the reverb time. Spring reverb results from small vibrating springs. Like plate reverbs, spring reverb units rely on vibrations to create reverb. Dry signal is routed to a transducer, which is attached to one end of multiple springs.

Signal passing through that transducer causes the springs to vibrate. Those vibrations are picked up by another transducer on the other end of the springs. The longer the springs, the longer the reverb time. Halls, rooms, and chambers will have a three-dimensional quality due to the three dimensions in which sound can reflect in those spaces. Plates and springs will exhibit a two-dimensional character as a result of the vibrational mechanics of the physical plate and springs.

Reverb can be found in nearly every modern production. To understand how and why reverb is used, take a quick dive into the history of reverb in music production , and to understand the musical considerations for adding reverb, head here.