We continue our free video tutorial series, brought to you with the support of LiquidSonics, in which we share a range of bite-sized reverbs mixing tips for you to try in your next mix. In this video, we explore a creative process that can enable the sounds of your reverbs to develop and blossom between melody lines.
There are times when we want a reverb to grow and come into focus between vocal melody lines. This can of course be achieved by manually drawing in volume automation on the reverb send, line by line but this can take a lot of time. A smarter way to get vocal reverbs to come forward into focus on their own is by using side-chain compression.
If you are unsure what side-chain compression is, what else it can be useful for and how it differs from ducking then watch the video in our article Did You Know That Ducking And Side Chain Compression Aren't The Same Things? Learn The Difference Now With Our Expert Tutorial
Setting up a side-chain compressor on a reverb can be achieved by inserting any compressor plug-in that supports the side-chain after the reverb in the effects return path. A bus, set to pre-fade, needs to be loaded on the end of the vocal you wish to apply this technique to with that bus being picked up in the compressor side-chain. The compressor’s controls can then be used to shape the reverb blossoming effect we demonstrate in the video in this article. If the compressor attack is set to a super-fast setting this technique is also very good at producing explosive-sounding snare drums.
It’s super simple to set up and helps to reduce the power of reverb if your vocals sound too washed out in a mix. This trick can also be applied to delay effects.