How are you guys doing reverb?

[Armistice]

I'm literally just using ReaVerb, one of those impulses that I think @Greg_L provided us all with yonks ago, on a track which becomes a bus, and sending anything that needs reverb to said bus, and varying the amount. I also high and low pass via ReaEQ before ReaVerb on the bus track - the "Abbey Road" method.

Pretty unsophisticated, I'm sure, and I'm always trying to find the line between too much and not enough.

Must be better ways to do it.

Any tips?

[Greg_L]

That's a pretty standard way to do it IMO.

Since I don't use much reverb overall I tend to use them individually on subgroups. I don't usually want the guitars having the same reverb as the drums so they get different reverbs. Vocals get their own type of reverb. Bass gets no reverb.

[Tadpui]

I mainly just buy stuff off of Reverb, but I sell stuff every once in a while too. Ba dum bum tsssh

Srsly tho. Your approach pretty much describes how I do it. Except I tend to have a few different reverbs by the end of a project. Every once in a while I like how the "everything in the same room" sound works out. But usually I've got a plate on vocals, maybe a chamber or hall on guitars, a room on lead guitar...stuff like that. I definitely hi/lo pass most of my reverbs. I just like how that sounds most of the time.

I'd love to learn how some of the exaggerated super dense reverb vocal parts from the likes of Radiohead are done. Any time I've tried to use more than a teeny tiny dash of reverb, it just sounds like total garbage. A spring reverb on an electric guitar can be overdone and still come out OK, but anything else just turns into an amateur hour wash of noise for me. I should play with some ducking and maybe compressing reverbs and see how that turns out.

I think that one of the worst weekends I've ever spent was the one where I decided that I was going to search for a good reverb plugin. After about the first 3 samples that I listened to, I was so bored that I wanted to go dig a hole and sleep in it. I just said screw it, bought a Lexicon plugin and used exclusively that for the next 6 or 7 years. I've finally started using a couple different reverbs lately, but I still stick pretty close to the Lexicon even though they're the laziest company I've ever seen when it comes to releasing/updating/certifying software. I think that my MPX Native plugin still isn't certified for Windows 10, 7 years after win10's release and 2 years before its sunset. It works though...

[JD01]

Same as Armi and Greg. I have one impulse in Reaverb 100% wet, 0% dry. Then I send various bits of drums and guitars to it.
I use a separate one for vocals.

[Armistice]

All good. What I was struggling with was vocal reverb - I love big dark halls but it's a fine balance to get just a bit, too much, or nothing at all. Basically I was being lazy and sending everything to the one bus.

And then I remembered that I used to use multiple reverbs and had some perfectly acceptable other non-Reaper reverb VSTs I could use, so I dug one out, selected a plate, and put the vocals to Funny How and Pretend through that, and wow... heaps more clarity!

Very useful.

[Greg_L]

Same as Armi and Greg. I have one impulse in Reaverb 100% wet, 0% dry. Then I send various bits of drums and guitars to it.

I don't do that.

[JD01]

Same as Armi and Greg. I have one impulse in Reaverb 100% wet, 0% dry. Then I send various bits of drums and guitars to it.

I don't do that.

haha, I thought that's what you were describing above, albeit sending guitars to a different place to the drums. In fact, I think you told me how to do it 'cos I had different reverbs on every track and was in a right fucking mess. Was years ago.

[Greg_L]

haha, I thought that's what you were describing above, albeit sending guitars to a different place to the drums. In fact, I think you told me how to do it 'cos I had different reverbs on every track and was in a right fucking mess. Was years ago.

I have done it probably every way imaginable. But my main way is to give each subgroup it's own reverb. Drums get their own reverb. Guitars get their own reverb. Vocals get their own reverb. I very rarely send everything in different amounts to the same reverb. A reverb that sounds good for the drums probably isn't the same reverb I'd want to use for vocals. In fact, I know it isn't. And really for 99% of the stuff I do, drums and vocals are the only things that get reverb anyway. My guitars are usually totally dry unless I'm going for some ridiculous surf drip or something. Bass is always totally dry.

[JD01]

haha, I thought that's what you were describing above, albeit sending guitars to a different place to the drums. In fact, I think you told me how to do it 'cos I had different reverbs on every track and was in a right fucking mess. Was years ago.

I have done it probably every way imaginable. But my main way is to give each subgroup it's own reverb. Drums get their own reverb. Guitars get their own reverb. Vocals get their own reverb. I very rarely send everything in different amounts to the same reverb. A reverb that sounds good for the drums probably isn't the same reverb I'd want to use for vocals. In fact, I know it isn't. And really for 99% of the stuff I do, drums and vocals are the only things that get reverb anyway. My guitars are usually totally dry unless I'm going for some ridiculous surf drip or something. Bass is always totally dry.

Yeah, that's why I started using a different impulse for my vocals, the one I was using on my drums and guitars just didn't sound right.
I sent the guitars to the same one as my drums, but I hardly use any reverb anyway.

[CrowsofFritz]

I use TC Electronics Reverb with a controller that I barely use. I just like the presets on the plug-in. Mainly the first preset.

[vomitHatSteve]

Huh. Lately I've been using a single reaverb that gets vocals and drums routed to it (in varying levels).

It's distinctly possible that drums and vocals need different 'verbs, but I like the idea of putting them in the same space. (Plus, I found I was fiddling a lot more with reverbs when I was doing vocals separately)

[rayc]

A single instance of Ambient and only the lead instrument, a tiny bit of guitar bus sometimes & vocals get a little bit sent there. Dealing with a stereo drum file means no reverb for me. It's probably not the greatest arrangement but a) it works and b) it's what Bubba insisted I use.

[Armistice]

I've redone all the tracks to date with a plate for the vocals, which seems to sound better to me, and now less of a large hall on everything else.

I get the "everything sounding like it's in the same room" thing, but no-one who actually listened to my music for pleasure has ever said "You know, this would be better if you used a different reverb... So I figure they won't mind the change. Both of them.

I seem to be drying things out a bit, generally, now. Perhaps I should join the local chapter of RA and enrol upon a 12 step program.

[rayc]

Perhaps I should join the local chapter of RA and enrol upon a 12 step program.

I was a foundation member...service medals with two towels and shower head flow reduction valve.

[Armistice]

So I've been spending a bit of time strolling through various "best rock album..." lists on teh internetz in the last week to find new stuff to listen to. I've listened to lots of YouTubes of various acts who are prominent right now, and I'd have to say - sooooo many of them are just soaked in reverb in particular, but I also get a sense of "overproduced" almost. Too glossy and sheeny. Snare drums that are apparently hit by a real drummer, because the band has a drummer, that sound very little like an actual snare drum and more like a hyper processed drum machine.

Almost like the producers are saying "Hey, don't forget what I can do..." as they face up to the increasing skills / tech available to home recorders. I'm finding a lot of it a bit much.

When I compare the sounds I'm hearing to what I'm doing there's just this massive difference. It's not all good and it's not all bad.

As a result, I'm revisiting reverb on all my current tunes. I've essentially retired ReaVerb apart from just the merest touch of a large room impulse on anything that has reverb on it at all, but putting the drums on an instance of Ambience reverb that's titled "Snare Room 3" - and much less of it; and the vocals on a plate from the same plug, and less of it as well.

I think my days of over-verbing things may be over.

[Greg_L]

When I compare the sounds I'm hearing to what I'm doing there's just this massive difference.

I'd say that's good.

You're at a point where you don't have to use reference material anymore...unless you want to. But you don't have to. I think that's good. I know I couldn't care less how my shit compares to band XXXXX. I certainly wouldn't compare it to new stuff. I just make my shit sound the way I want it to sound. I'm the only one that hears it anyway.

[TripleM]

I still use SIR and probably the same or similar impulse files as everyone else. I'm sure ReaVerb is good. I just got used to SIR and so I stay with it. When it konks out (I don't think it's being updated) I'll move to ReaVerb.

I usually set up 3 reverb channels for: Lead Vocal, Backing vocal, and Guitars. If I use a reverb for something else (e.g., snare), I'll send it to one of those 3. All 3 generally have the same "type" of impulse file (e.g., 3 different sized rooms or 3 different sized halls etc.). And all 3 channels are 100% wet/0% dry.

I'll usually put ReaDelay in the chain before the reverb. I like the sound of it as a predelay better than using SIR's predelay. It gives better "front to back" separation for me.

The things I want to be closer (e.g., lead vocal) I'll give a longer predelay and a shorter decay. The things that are further back (e.g., things that are not the lead vocal) will get a shorter predelay and a longer decay.

Sometimes I'll put a chorus plugin on the backing vocal reverb channel.

I like to keep things towards the front generally a little dryer and things that are further away a little wetter.

Kind of involved for a guy who doesn't really like reverb.