There isn’t much that can’t be achieved using a current reverb plugin, but there are still ways to get some unique effects in your mix. We try out three…
With so many mixers using the same software tools to get results, sometimes it can be good to go off-road to get sounds that no-one else is using. By using the tools that you already have, even the most basic of reverb plugins can turn in sounds that are unique and more engaging to listen to. Some of the tricks below can be achieved from within a single reverb plugin, but sometimes building the effect from the ground up with existing tools costs nothing and can be more inspiring to do.
1 - Pitched Reverb
In keeping with other reverb processing, changing things like the pitch or spectral content of a reverb affects the way the dry signal is perceived by the listener. While rolling off some top on a reverb can make the tail sound further away, pitch manipulation can add further tonal interest to sounds. Dropping the pitch can add extra weight to sounds, while raising it can add a presence that is different to other ways of bringing sounds forward in the mix. The effect perhaps works best on percussive elements, not least because their enharmonic nature is tolerant of shifts that would ‘break’ pitched instruments and voices. The effect can sometimes work on pitched sources where octave shifts are used to maintain the correct musical relationship between source and reverb.
2 - Ducked Reverb
This classic effect dips the level of the reverb during things like vocal passages or top lines, before raising it back up when that element is no longer present. This gives the familiar effect of subtle reverb followed by large blooms of ambience in the gaps. The idea is to set the un-ducked reverb at the upper level, and to set the ducking sit on the reverb when necessary to let the dry element through by the desired amount. How this is achieved is down to what’s available, with the ideal solution being a gate that offers ducking. Failing that, an inverse gate (essentially the same thing) can be employed, or for a very similar effect, compression. In each case the ducker’s sidechain input is keyed from the dry source that’s getting the treatment.
3 - Panned Reverb
For the retroheads out there, nothing beats the uber-basic sound of a mono reverb, preferably centre, or hard over on either side. At some point, when artists were finally allowed to roll up their sleeves and touch the console, the panned reverb was born. This unashamedly noticeable effect hears the mono reverb return swerve around the stereo field as panned by the engineer on mixdown. The effect is just as easy to do in your DAW via automation (either written from a control surface or drawn in). Perhaps more rewarding is using an autopanner, not least because of its immediacy and control. Using an autopanner with stereo reverb potentially halves the amount of work by handling both channels.
Hear Them For Yourself
Watch in the video as we use more reverb than would ordinarily be used to demonstrate these three tricks:
How Will You Use Them?
Whether it’s for adding extra tonal interest or surreal, shifted flavours to your mix, or just injecting a little retro charm, these three reverb tricks could just provide that missing sonic ‘hook’ that will make your mix stand out from the rest.