>Stepbystep
Exploringalternative reverb techniquesIt’ssafetosaythatreverbisoneofthe
mostimportanteffectsinanyproduction.
It’swhatgivesyournakedsignalsa senseof
space,front-to-backdepthandatmosphere,
ultimatelycontributingtoa pieceofmusic’s
emotionalimpact.
Tobrieflysummarise,a reverbpluginuses
multipledelaystoemulatetheacoustic
reflectionsofanenvironment,lettingyouplace
yourdrysignalinthatvirtual‘space’.Algorithmicreverbpluginsusereal-timedigital
signal processing to do this, and so their results
can range from pseudo-realistic to completely
unnatural. A convolution-based reverb plugin,
on the other hand, can place your signals in
‘sampled’ environments – known as impulse
responses – captured from the real world.
When applying reverb to tracks in a mix, we
often stick to the same methods: either by
applying a reverb effect directly on a channel, orbyloadingoneuponanauxiliaryreturn and
sending one or more mix signals to this aux.
However, it’s easy to go beyond these basic
approaches and customise your virtual
ambience applications.
Therefore, in this month’s Studio Strategies
article, I’ll show you how to expand your reverb
endeavours by blending multiple reverbs,
automating parameters and tailoring basic
techniques to suit different scenarios.Todemonstratea handfulofpro
reverbtechniques,I’llbeprocessing
thisdryvocalacapella.Theaimistoadd
contrastinglayersofdepthindifferent
ways.I’llbeusingLogicProX anditsstock
SpaceDesignerreverbeffect,butmy
universaltechniquescanbetransferredto
anyDAWorreverbplugins.1
This first instance of Space Designer,
inserted directly on the vocal track,
will be used as a short ‘slapback delay’
instead of a reverb. Dial in a pre-delay
relevant to the tempo of your track –
1/32nd here – and a very short decay time.
This will give the signal a tight coat of
ambience that has no recurring feedback.2
Next, I use a second instance of Space
Designer to place both the dry signal
and delay in a larger ‘environment’. Set a
tail length to suit your genre. It’s a good
idea to choose a fairly realistic reverb type
for this – something like a medium hall or
chamber – in order to give the illusion of a
realistic space.3
Whenapplying‘static’reverbtovocals
orsynthsina mix,yourambiencecan
easilyswamptheintensesectionsofdry
signal,orbecomelostinthegapsbetween.
Sototailortheeffectbetweenphrases,I
automatethesecondSpaceDesigner’s
WetLevelparametertomanuallyfillthe
gapsbetweenvocalphrases.4
Moving on, let’s see how we can
balance multiple reverb effects to
create a complex virtual ‘environment’. I set
up four aux busses in Logic Pro: three of
these will contain a Space Designer reverb,
each with different pre-decay and decay
times. Meanwhile the fourth bus will be a
‘sidechain’ bus...5
My first Space Designer is a ‘close’
room reverb; the second instance is a
‘medium’ hall; and the third is a lengthier
‘far’ reverb. I set up pre-delay and decay
time settings so that each reverb has
contrasting settings – so, for example, as
the close reverb ends, the medium reverb
begins, and so on.6
Advanced ambience
Go beyondbasicreverb application as ACM tutor Shea Stedford
servesup anin-depth look at virtual environment design
#35
with ACM
strategies
Studio
72 / COMPUTER MUSIC / July 2019Getthetutorialfilesandvideo
onyourPC/Macat:
filesilo.co.uk/computermusicDOWNLOAD