November 22, 2011 Learn How To Mix In 3D: Steve Hillier Tips on Mastering Reverb
Master the use of reverb and your lifeless, two-dimensional mix will become a three dimensional panorama, says Steve Hillier.
Things that people do wrong with their music:
1. Write a composition starting with the drums. This is madness. Can you imagine Lennon and McCartney waiting for Ringo to set up his drum kit before writing their next Beatles smash? Obviously not.
2. Compress everything. At least twice. Anyone doing this in their mixes should stop now. Modern DAWs have an internal dynamic range that’s comparable to a pin dropping versus the sound of the big bang. Try using it, rather than squashing your music to the flatness of a pancake being sucked into a black hole . Compressors are like guns…only the sane should ever pick one up.
3. Use reverb badly, or not at all… Unlike compression, everyone likes reverb. How can I say this with such confidence? Because nearly everything you’ve ever heard has been covered with reverb. Everything. Reverberation is what you hear when the sound from an event, such as a gun shot, bounces off a reflective surface, such as a wall, and then into our ears. It’s a fundamental attribute of how we experience sound, and our brains have evolved to use the information contained in reverb to help us survive in our everyday lives. If we’re hearing lots of sounds with long reverb tails on them, that suggests we’re in a large room, such as a church. Lots of short ‘early reflections’, we’re probably in a small room. Everything we hear has some reverberation on it before it ends up in our ears (we’ll ignore scientists who work in anechoic chambers for today).
Too many novice programmers don’t know how to use reverb, so they shy away from it, leaving their mixes dryer than Stewart Lee. Or they go the other way and use completely the wrong reverb sound, and get wetter than a Michael McIntyre show. Maybe programmers are confusing acoustic size with acoustic impact? Imagine this text on your page is your tune:
This is your mix,
This is your mix with the correct use of reverb on it,
Here’s your mix with a little too much reverb on it,
And here it is with way too much!
The effective use of reverb will make a component of a mix sound bigger, fuller and more comfortable for your audience. Without it, the sound will be tiny and illogical; think about it, in real life when will you ever hear a big dry sound? The answer is never. Ever! On the other hand, too much reverb and the mix will be wet and flabby, too big for anyone to comprehend. How to use reverb: So what do we do then? First, you need a decent reverb unit or plugin, don’t use just any old reverb plugin. I have a theory that the reason that reverb went out of fashion was related to the fact everyone used way to much of it in the eighties. And many of them were using horrible cheap digital units*. There’s no excuse for that today. Invest some money and buy one each of both of these:
1. A traditional digital reverb
A convolution reverb unit works by generating reverb tails based on impulse responses, recordings of reverberations from a real-world environment. They sound amazing; the best are extremely realistic and open up a world of possibilities. But you’ll need a traditional digital reverb too, probably a plugin based on classic hardware form the past. Since the late 1970s and up until about five years ago pretty much all reverb on records was simulated in some way, often by a microprocessor delaying audio, feeding it back into itself, doing some clever filtering and sticking it out the other end. It sounds great, if a little synthetic. But who cares? This is the sound of records, and they still sound great now.
Here’s how I use reverb in my own work. Your mileage may vary but most mix engineers I know use this approach or a variation on it:
1. Set up three reverb plugins as send effects on a bus, not as insert effects. The first will be short (less than 0.5 sec) and come from a convolution reverb using a room impulse response. The second will be a traditional digital reverb sound, such as a plate reverb, set to around 1.5 seconds decay. The last will be a ‘third option’, normally reserved for vocals and normally another plate or hall sound.
2. I then balance my sounds without reverb. Please note that I only use the bare minimum of compression at this point too!
3. When I’m happy with my mix, I then start placing my sounds in an imaginary three dimensional space. The shorter reverb sound places the drums and other high energy or rhythmical sound sources at the front of my stage, the larger reverbs put those sounds slightly further back and into a supporting role. The more reverb, the bigger the sound but also how far away it is.
Thinking of your mix as a three dimensional illusion is crucial for a comfortable and exciting result. Without reverb, your mix will sound like it’s stuck inside the speakers. Reverb brings the sounds alive and gives them the opportunity to leap out of headphones!
Why do so many programmers get this bit wrong?
What this all comes down to, time and time again, is the disconnect that bad programmers have between their brains and their ears and their music. They get into the habit of searching for answers to why their work isn’t working with the same cognitive tools that they use to explain why their internet router isn’t connecting to their laptop. This is not how music works. Our ears and our hearts should guide 99% of our musical work, the remaining 1% comes from experience and knowing how to use our equipment. So, from here on, start listening carefully to what’s going on around you. Listen to the difference between the sound of talking voices in a car and in the street. That’s reverb. Listen to the difference between the sound of tune in a club or in your iPhone headphones. That’s reverb. Listen to the sound of you brushing your teeth in a tiled bathroom. That’s reverb. And then, listen very carefully to the difference between your lifeless, static, two-dimensional mixes and three dimensional panoramas of the artists you most admire.
*Actually, the MIDIverb does have some great uses and you can probably pick one up for nothing at a jumble sale now if you look hard enough. Just don’t use it as your primary reverb tool.
Steve Hillier is a songwriter, DJ and record producer, who has worked with everyone from Keane to Gary Numan. Steve is also a journalist and music technology expert, writing for Future Music & BBC Worldwide. Steve teaches Music Business and Logic Music Production Online at Point Blank Music School.
Reader Comments (14)
"Our ears and our hearts should guide 99% of our musical work, the remaining 1% comes from experience and knowing how to use our equipment. So, from here on, start listening carefully to what’s going on around you."
That's the point! "Hearing" or "feeling" the reverb is a inner learning process, Then, you can modulate it with your tools...Thx for this post!
Oh how I hate the sound of poorly done compression! I don't pay much attention to reverb unless it's really bad but the way things get compressed nowadays... geez.
Great post - thanks Steve!
Great article.
I can't over suggest at least experimenting with actual reverb on a song. More or less the same as re-amping, play a track through some good speakers & put a microphone at a distance in the room. It's easier & more fun than you think & can add an "air" that you won't get from most digital things.
Also a thing that irks me is the huge variety of reverbs used on a mix, if you use different classes of reverb on each instrument they start to sound like they are playing in different rooms & usually you want things to sound like they were recorded as a live band!
I think a good rule of thumb is this: Don't use compression unless you absolutely mean to.
This is an interesting take on use of reverb however giving advice on how to compose seems misplaced here, also I happen to disagree. I would be thrilled if you could explain further why you think the writing process should not begin on drums. It isn't hard at all for me to imagine the beatles beginning a composition from a beat. Tomorrow Never Knows is a great example.
Great article, but why not start with the drums? Maybe not the back beat specifically, but the notes will need to land somewhere eventually. rhythm is, if anything, the most important.
Also why limit one's self creatively at all?
Many times I gloss over technical advice articles because for the most part I have heard it all before. This post is informative and refreshing. I am thankful for experienced people sharing valuable knowledge.
Hey,
Thanks for the feedback from everybody!
Just wanted to get back to you guys and say that Steve has been writing a regular piece like this for our blog for a few months now. You can go back and read his past articles here - www.pointblankonline.net/blog/category/industry-tips -
Also, put any questions you have for Steve to us on Twitter: @Point_Blank and we will ensure to get back to you.
Cheers,
James
Thanks for the practical tips and detailed advice. There are so many different options and effects available in mixing, it can be daunting. As a novice with enough skills to possibly be considered an amateur audio engineer, I am beginning to learn that less is more in the effects arena and reverb is no exception. There are infinite nuances and getting it just right can be a challenge. I will definitely try out your tips in the studio. Thanks for the info.
So nice, i like the way made a mix by ourself instead of we're puzzle in this field. Thanks your article supply the tip.
This article is complete and utter bunk. Top to bottom. We're discussing this article in depth now at the Womb forums in "The Reverb Discussion" thread. http://thewombforums.com/showthread.php?t=18243
Enjoy,
Mixerman
Good advice in general, and certainly reverb usage is an art form in itself.
I disagree with the "rule" against beginning the mix with drums. In certain (many) music works, the drums are the most important instrument. In my preference, vocals should be done last as they are the least "musical", and are better left off entirely, as in the best dubs.
The Cocteau Twins example is also a misfire as a case of "too much" reverb. Reverb in those productions, as with much great ambient music, is very much a musical feature, not a bug.
Another overlooked aspect here is that automation of reverb can be a very creative approach.
Thank you again.
Regards,
Versus
I must disagree with the advice against beginning writing with drums. Depending on the style and aim of the music, the drums may be the most important element. This is not just true in hip-hop and dance music, but may be the approach in any other styles of music as well. It's an artistic choice.