Either by plugin or fader, reverb ducking is the engineer’s friend allowing more with less. With existing solutions inside the reverb being a blunt instrument until now, we look at one tool that could help engineers to dip differently…
Reverb - Levels And Dynamic Control
When the first algorithmic reverbs landed in the 1970s, engineers fell in love with the studio tool that didn’t require building chambers, or the need for four people to move it! As the technology progressed, so too did these rack-dwelling wonders’ ability to conjure anything from realistic ambiences to the sound of ‘cannon shot’ snare drums from the 1980s onwards. As musical trends have changed, so too has the amount of reverb used, with this latter period featuring some of the most liberal use in the mix.
Those using audio plugin reverb still have this same fundamental decision to make as those using hardware - the need to ride or automate the level of reverb returns. More recently, a number of tools have introduced dynamic ducking to control reverb levels internally, essentially replacing smaller mixer fader rides
The Problem With Ducking
Many reverbs offer separate control over both early reflections and the reverb tail, with the former being useful in its own right. Early reflections can add a meaningful sense of place to sources, especially mono voices and instruments. A late reverb tail can then supply any further expanse as needed, with decay times often representative of the song’s tempo. While ducked reverb can buy clarity in a mix, ducking the entire reverb can be a blunt instrument, taking any spacial information provided by early reflections down with the tail.
Advanced Ducking
Many will be familiar with LiquidSonics Seventh Heaven Professional, which presents a solution with a unique personality. Combining a convolution-based reverb with the control of an algorithmic design, this audio plugin has won over users familiar with the legendary Bricasti M7 hardware unit that went before it.
As well as new surround capability, the v1.4 update brings a new addition: ducking modes. These afford a standard mode where the entire Wet component is ducked (comprising VLF, early reflections, and late reflections) as done in many reverbs, however the Late mode leaves the VLF and Early components unaffected. This preserves early spacial characteristics to provide a sense of place, while still cutting down the Late component to buy clarity.
In the video, we use this unique Late mode to sit a vocal with a sense place. We demonstrate Seventh Heaven Professional’s generous parametrisation of ducking on the reverb tail, whilst simultaneously preserving the vocal’s ambient reflections’ personality.
Involving Spaces
In a music mixing scenario, reverb ducking was sometimes a compromise between buying clarity and losing a source’s reflective character as heard in an imagined space. Those requiring the facilities on offer in Seventh Heaven Professional had to get creative in its absence, using two separate instances or hardware to achieve separate early and late components. Seventh Heaven Professional’s v1.4 update also brings the prospect of using multiple instances to an end for surround users as well. While reducing reverb levels with ducking is available in an increasing number of tools, few if any offer the level of control afforded by Seventh Heaven Professional. Less is indeed more.