Reverb returns can benefit greatly from some form of ducking. We look at one way to get easy ducked ‘verb gracing your mix.
Reverb Ducking
With music mixes demanding a fine balance between consistency and dynamism, the technique of manipulating fader levels in real time is still one of the best ways to get organic, sympathetic level control where using a processor may fall short. Engineers discovered a long time ago that this principle can apply not just to instruments in the mix, but also to other mix elements including time-based effects such as a reverb return on the console or in the DAW. By riding reverb in a more overt way, its level can be used to evoke ethereal ‘blooms’ of the effect in between things like vocal lines or melodies.
Reverb Ducking With Faders
While manual fader riding used to be the easiest way ride reverb levels when mixing down to a stereo recorder, things are different for most engineers now, perhaps with the exception of those printing back to DAW tracks in a similar way. For those mixers working in the box, overridingly (although not exclusively), reverbs will come from an audio plugin strapped across a DAW buss or aux track. While the output of these reverbs can be manually ridden while while bouncing to a track in real time, most engineers will simply treat this channel like any other and automate the level of the send as and when appropriate.
Once a ‘baseline’ level of reverb has been settled on, a stylised, ducked reverb effect can be achieved by levels that are lower during ducked passages and higher in between source channel events such as vocal lines. Using devices such as a mousewheel to ride levels can be achieved by those used to this method, although perhaps the most tactile method will use a fader controller of some kind.
Reverb With Built-In Ducking
While the experienced engineer can get quick results with a practice pass or two, using a dedicated dynamics processor can achieve more uniform results that are quicker, especially when multiple effects must be addressed. This can work well, however, even using a dedicated processor takes time to route and set up. Perhaps the most elegant tool is a reverb with ducking built-in. This kills many problems in one fell swoop; there’s no need to set up duckers, procrastinate over levels, or juggle multiple effects returns to be ducked. Such reverb tools can almost be thought of as a reverb ducking box within the box… Watch in the video how we employ Baby Audio’s Crystalline algorithmic reverb for ducked goodness on a vocal…
As well as having built-in ducking, Baby Audio describe their reverb as a:
New, state-of-the-art reverb plugin with modern, pristine sounds
Giving you unprecedented control to shape your reflections
Lets you sync start and decay times with your project tempo
An evolution of classic 20th century studio reverbs updated for today
Fast And Easy Reverb Ducking
While getting fast ducking is entirely achievable with faders in the right hands, the job will of course take longer as soon as extra effects channels come into play. On the understanding that setting up ducking is -rarely- a quick process, and that drawing or writing automation by other means is also time consuming, using ducking that’s built right into your reverb starts to look like a very attractive proposition. Using a compact intuitive tool such as Crystalline further speeds things up by not bombarding the user with functionality that could otherwise distract the mixer.