Recording fingerstyle - Talk to me about reverb

[jklotz]

When I record something, on mixdown, I just pull up my UA Lexicon 224 plugin and flip through presets until I like something. Halls, plates, rooms, etc. No rhyme or reason. What is your method? Did you just stumble on something you like and just use that all the time, or do you have a method of finding the perfect one for your track? Is there something you look for depending on the material? Just wondering how you guys do it.

[TBman]

I found CSR's Classik Studio reverbs which I think were recommended here. I have the four pack CSR Hall, CSR Room, CSR Inverse and CSR Plate. Each one has various presets. I haven't used the Inverse or Plate plug-ins yet. On my Archibald Macdonald recording I used the CSR Room with the "String Quartet" preset. I'm pretty sure I bought the reverb package from Sweetwater (download purchase).

I don't "know" what I'm doing with reverb, I just pick one that I like the sound of for the tune. Its a really a random, mood based process for me.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by jklotz

When I record something, on mixdown, I just pull up my UA Lexicon 224 plugin and flip through presets until I like something. Halls, plates, rooms, etc. No rhyme or reason. What is your method? Did you just stumble on something you like and just use that all the time, or do you have a method of finding the perfect one for your track? Is there something you look for depending on the material? Just wondering how you guys do it.

Matter of taste (what type, how wet) on a particular recording. Link an example of what you found on the internet
that you like. Post clip of what you yourself recorded both dry and with the tweaks you did post recording.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by jklotz

When I record something, on mixdown, I just pull up my UA Lexicon 224 plugin and flip through presets until I like something. Halls, plates, rooms, etc. No rhyme or reason. What is your method? Did you just stumble on something you like and just use that all the time, or do you have a method of finding the perfect one for your track? Is there something you look for depending on the material? Just wondering how you guys do it.

Reverb is very much personal preference. I always put reverb on an aux track and I set the reverb to full wet, then use the aux slider to adjust how much reverb I want on the track. Adjusting the reverb doesn't have to be complicated. Find the preset you like, adjust the pre-delay and tail to what sounds best, and done.

[Rudy4]

My M.O. is if you can obviously hear it then it's too much. (Unless you're channeling Dick Dale, of course! )

I like to judge how much there actually is by stopping the (soloed) track in the DAW and listening to the actual tail. That gives me a more accurate method of determining how much reverb is applied to the track.

[Chipotle]

I'll usually start with a room or hall, based on a "location" that suits the song. Mid-tempo instrumental? Maybe a hall or chamber. Bouncy boom-chuck folk song? Small-to-medium room. Gentle, soaring fingerstyle piece? Perhaps try a cathedral. Flip through that selection of presets until something sounds close, then tweak it. I'll also flip through plates, as a more "generic" reverb sound that I can tailor if a room or hall isn't working for me. Plates don't duplicate a space, are a bit darker but can work on some things.

Over time as you use various hw or plugins, most folks find a few they like and go back to. But I think "flip through all the presets until you find something that works" is also a valid workflow.

[min7b5]

Originally Posted by jim1960

Reverb is very much personal preference. I always put reverb on an aux track and I set the reverb to full wet, then use the aux slider to adjust how much reverb I want on the track...

Me too. Plus I might put an eq plugin in front of it on the same aux track to do the "Abby Road" thing of both high and low passing. I think that way you're not making the low-mids linger longer and build up, and cutting the higher stuff on the reverb aux track can save it from getting that 80's digital reverb thing -unless that's a good thing to you of course. Most reverb plugins have this built in, but I like to it have separate anyway. Also if you've got your verb on a separate track so can solo that track and take your time and get the the tail and eq just the way you like it. But my usual thing is kind of a big verb with a decay of about 1.7 ms and 30ms of pre-delay, but, only blending in a tiny amount so only I mostly really hear it if there's a sudden stop (and then I might automate that tail). I like to feel it more than hear it.

[jim1960]

Originally Posted by min7b5

Me too. Plus I might put an eq plugin in front of it on the same aux track to do the "Abby Road" thing of both high and low passing.

I should have included that as I do it on just about every reverb aux track.

[sdelsolray]

Another technique is to use two reverbs (I'm speaking to solo acoustic, stereo). Reverb 1 is barely present, and is collapsed towards mono but is fully wet on its AUX track, so it will avoid any direct pass trough of the stereo guitar dry. Plate verbs work very well here. Reverb 2 is fully wide with a relative volume diminution of the early reflections and a focus on the tail. A chamber, small church, etc. can be used here. As blended, there's a movement of the two reverbs from center to the sides. It gives the illusion of depth and space over time.

An update: I forgot to mention that when using this two reverb technique, each reverb should be separated in their own AUX track (i.e., parallel reverbs) and not placed one after the other is a single AUX track (i.e., serial reverbs).

[Doug Young]

I second all these techniques. I have settings I generally use these days, but sometimes you just try something different. Bring up a reverb, try a few presets. Bring up the verb enough to hear it and maybe tweak a little, or pick a different preset, then bring it down to where it's barely noticeable, then reduce it some more :-) I often use 2, one "room sound", one longer, perhaps with the early reflections turned off. I often play with pre-delay, but I don't have any logic to it, just what sounds good.

Put them in aux busses, so I can both send to them, and can pre or post-EQ.

I also sometimes put a declicker and/or de-squeaker on the reverb bus before the reverb.You can be more aggressive with them than if you used them on the raw track, to be sure you don't get a squeak or click zinging around the room in the reverb.

I usually use reverbs I think sound fairly transparent and realistic - hard to beat the Bricasti for that. The Lexicon Native plugins are very nice and transparent. But other times something else works. The UAD 224 plate always sounds good to me. Capitol Chambers sounds good on some things. I grabbed the Eventide Blackhole reverb recently, and it's anything but transparent, rather wild sounding zinging and modulating, but on some tracks, I've liked that mixed in at a very low level to add a bit of motion.

[KevWind]

I don't do finger style so there is that to consider, I flat pick and strum and almost always have vocals as well

But in general as some above,
#1 I usually put reverb on an Aux track and send to it
#2 I like Doug, use my Bricasti a lot (almost exclusively) I have several user adjusted presets I like especially the Sunset Chamber with 60 ms predelay
#3 like others I usually tend to increase the verb until I hear it come in then back it off a bit.

# 4 if I want more of a "noticeable effect" instead of 2 reverbs, I will send to the Bricasti and also put a delay directly on the track. My favorite delay right now is a Tape Echo plugin that is bundled in Pro Tools

Oh and as mentioned by others I also use the High and Low Pass EQ "Abby Road Reverb trick"

[SprintBob]

Originally Posted by jklotz

When I record something, on mixdown, I just pull up my UA Lexicon 224 plugin and flip through presets until I like something. Halls, plates, rooms, etc. No rhyme or reason. What is your method? Did you just stumble on something you like and just use that all the time, or do you have a method of finding the perfect one for your track? Is there something you look for depending on the material? Just wondering how you guys do it.

My experience is similar to James. I have the Neoverb and Seventh Heaven reverb plug-ins that both offer me lots of options and I pretty much stumble around with those options until I find one that works for me. The additional feedback from others so far in this thread is timely.

[RodB]

Some time ago I came across some nice recordings here on the AGF (forgotten who) done with Valhalla Room reverb. I tried it, liked it and stay with it.

I like the reverb to be subtle. At first I spent a lot of time experimenting with the many presets available and narrowed things down to just a couple. I then base my own around these, altering the wet/dry mix and length mainly, with a few tweaks here and there. I want reverb to compliment my sound in a consistent way I suppose.

I think I have only done one recording since where I departed radically from this to add a particular effect.

I guess I am also consciously avoiding being in a situation where I keep trying different settings on every piece I record.

[min7b5]

Originally Posted by KevWind

.. I like Doug, use my Bricasti a lot (almost exclusively) I have several user adjusted presets I like especially the Sunset Chamber ..

Hi Kev. By "Bricasti" I think you mean the Seventh Heaven plugin -I think I learned about that one from you on this forum? Anyway, I've been really diggin' the Sunset Chamber too. Fantastic. Actually just about all the presets on that thing are great. I've been tempted to upgrade to the pro version a few times, though my guess is I'd probably still just use that Sunset Chamber patch all the time.

[KevWind]

Originally Posted by min7b5

Hi Kev. By "Bricasti" I think you mean the Seventh Heaven plugin -I think I learned about that one from you on this forum? Anyway, I've been really diggin' the Sunset Chamber too. Fantastic. Actually just about all the presets on that thing are great. I've been tempted to upgrade to the pro version a few times, though my guess is I'd probably still just use that Sunset Chamber patch all the time.

Actually I mean the Bricasti M7 hardware units themselves (which Doug and I each own). But yes the Seventh Heaven appears a great software emulation as it's algorithms are drawn directly from the M7 presets and Yes I have recommended it as a pretty good alternative to the actual M7 Hardware unit (which have gotten pretty expensive since I got mine a number of years back).