Ajhorsburgh.

com Creating Space

2012

Mixing Reverb: Creating Space from Nothing

by Andrew J. Horsburgh, BSc (Hons) www.ajhorsburgh.com

Ajhorsburgh.com Creating Space

2012

Introduction:
This tutorial is based around the use, type and amount of reverb that can be added to sources to make them sit in the mix as opposed to fronting a mix. An explanation of what reverb is and why its important is also covered so that further personal reading and testing will give a more complete understanding. Audio files associated with this document are currently located at this url: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/326119/website/Documents/verb_mp3.zip The following tutorial is written using Logic 8, using stock plug-ins. Although the plug-ins may change from one Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) to another the parameters will remain the same. The work flow detailed here is only one of many and is mainly based around reducing large track counts into manageable amounts using busses, and sending channels via auxiliaries to an effect bus. Reasons for bussing effects: resource management ease of sending a large amount of instrument channels to a single stereo reverb keeping complicated track routing to a minimum similar reverbs can sonically relate or glue instruments together Modern computers can run many plug-ins, and route signals in and out of a system to external reverbs with very little latency however, there is no reason to go overboard with what can be done when all that is required is a simple small room reverb onto a single backing vocal. So - just because I use busses, doesnt mean that sometimes inserting a reverb onto the channel wouldnt sound better.

Ajhorsburgh.com Creating Space

2012

So, what is reverb?

In our lives we will rarely hear a direct sound with no reflections. Every sound we hear is a combination of the direct signal and that signal which has bounced off walls, floors, ceilings and room objects until it finally gets to the ear. As the sound travels about it also begins to lose its energy (or volume). This combination of path difference and amplitude loss allows us to determine spatial placement (i.e: is it coming from the left or right?) and the sonic characteristics attributed to that space. Many people have heard, or used, the term RT60 without fully understanding what it is describing. It can be difficult to say when a reverb has fully died so a standard was developed to describe reverberation times. This is where RT60 comes in. Commonly, it is described as the Time taken to reduce the original signal by 60dB in level. A reduction in level can be attributed to several key elements of reverb: Spaces with hard walls (which is termed to have a low absorption coefficient) usually have long reverbs, as the sound is not absorbed or reduced but instead bounces about the room until it looses all its energy. Technically this can be described as having an absorption coefficient of 0. Spaces with no walls or ceilings (eg: a field, room with open windows on all sides) means that the direct sound can radiate from the source and travel outwards, not being reflected or absorbed. This can be considered to have a coefficient of 1.

The difference between total absorption and total reflection is what gives us a numerical value to describe any given space. This is not important for understanding how a reverb plug-in works but it is important to understand how sound moves around in any given space. Plug-ins, however, do have buttons which relate to these principles of acoustics and the terminology is what will follow in further sections. A common feature on a reverb plug-in is a feature which allows the user to determine the reverb time (RT60) of this imaginary room. Reverb time can be related back to the

Ajhorsburgh.com Creating Space

2012

amplitude loss over the path difference and to the absorption of the space. Simply put, a huge space with hard walls will give a long reverb time and conversely a small room with a lot of carpet will give a very short reverb time.

Ajhorsburgh.com Creating Space

2012

Not all rooms were created equal

Taking into account all the different aspects which can affect the sound of a room, it is very difficult to replicate a real room accurately with a standard synthetic reverb. It is also difficult to say that two rooms of the same perceived volume and coefficients on 5 faces will have the same RT60 as one which has 6 even coefficients. Good and bad points come from this in that it gives the audio engineer scope to produce a unique sound for an instrument but also makes it difficult to replicate an artists favourite real-world space without resorting to convolution reverbs. {personally, I create a new reverb for each drum kit - as no drummer ever produces the same sound} Types of Reverb Below is a categorised list of the types which feature as presets in most digital reverbs. Logic 8 has the following preset categories within Space Designer: Rooms Halls Plate Spring Indoor Outdoor Warped Spaces Gated In my collection, frequently I use Bricasti impulses which list: Ambience Chamber Hall Plate Room Spaces Impulse / Convolution The top three most common are Room, Hall and Spring, so these will be explained a little further before we delve into trying each of these onto a real drum kit to see what sounds we get. Also there is information relating to digital and convolution reverbs as these are the most common but usually incorporate features within the room, hall and spring modes. Room A room reverb can be taken to mean a realistic space that resembles a room. Technically classified as being diffuse this type of reverb have a lot of information in the first half of the reverb, with very little information in the reverbs tail. This gives the sound a lively but not large sound. Typical reverb for most instruments requiring some life. Hall Long decay times, giving larger room size. Long tails. Can use a gate to end up in 80s sound.

Ajhorsburgh.com Creating Space

2012

Spring / Plate Spring - very common in guitar amplifiers. Dry signal passed through springs, amount knob adds larger amounts through the unit. Plate is similar to spring, apart from signal is fed through a steel plate. Digital Reverb Algorithm calculation of room dimensions and absorptions. Simulates the reflections based upon specified room characteristics. Convolution This is not just a type of reverb, but a technology. Commonly referred to as IIR (Infinite Impulse Response) FIR (Finite Impulse Response) it is a method of measuring the reaction of a dynamic system with respect to its input signal. Simply put - its what happens to the original signal, with the original signal extracted. There are many methods of creating an Impulse Response and applications for them but for this tutorial, all that is required is a knowledge that the file contains all the acoustic information of the space that is measured.

Ajhorsburgh.com Creating Space

2012

Composite Parts of a Reverb:

Below are the key components of reverb, and named appropriate to reverb plug-ins. These may not be 100% accurate for those studying acoustics, but theyre a rough and ready approach to get you started. These terms have been listed in order that they happen in respect to time and the original signal. Pre-delay Amount of time between original signal and when reverb is heard. Small amount of predelay gives transient of instrument space to be heard and also separates the reverb from dry signal. First reflection gives illusion of much larger space with larger amounts of predelay. Early Reflections Considered to be the immediate room sound. The spaciousness of the sound can be considered the tail of the reverb which relates to the RT60. Diffusion The amount of how evenly distributed the sound is altered throughout the space. For instance a highly diffuse room will reflect a lot of the original signal in a very even distribution across its surface. There is not a single reflection, but many. Delay + Reverb Set reverb pre-delay to zero. Use delay plug-in [time measured in ms] to alter the pre-delay manually. Decay Essentially, the RT60. How long it takes for the signal to drop below the RT60. A long decay will result in a prolonged tail and therefore a long sounding reverb.

Ajhorsburgh.com Creating Space

2012

The Fun Part:

Okay - for this tutorial, I will be using a set of audio samples taken from a session that Ive recently recorded. [The band are called Touch of Severity, and the track is called One More Shot.] All of the files have been exported with the reverb on an auxiliary bus. The channel is sending post-fader at 0dB. The bus fader is the only change that is made to the preset. Each of these examples will follow the same structure, irrespective of instrument. There will be four reverb types used. Room, Hall, Spring and a Convolution. Each of these four categories will have four amplitude differences, with the auxiliary channel reading 0dB / -6dB, -12dB, -18dB respectively. And lastly, I will use reverb across the tracks which commonly feature reverb on my mixes. This will be snare, toms, drum bus and vocals. The audio sample file names will describe the instrument, reverb type, and respective fader level of the reverb bus.. [eg: Snare_Room_0 , Toms_Hall_6 , Vox_Conv_18] All of these audio files have their full quality counterparts available if there is enough interest. All of the reverbs, apart from the Bricasti Impulses, are standard Logic 8 presets within Space Designer. They are: Room: Medium Sweet Hall: Small Hall Spring: Old Spring Bricasti: P085 (Drum Chamber)

Ajhorsburgh.com Creating Space

2012

DRUMS - Snare
Starting with the most identifiable instrument with reverb, the snare drum. The snare is a mixture of the top and bottom microphones (both Shure SM57s) with some compression on each channel, and an EQ on the group. Room 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB Hall 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB Spring 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB Convolution 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB

Ajhorsburgh.com Creating Space

2012

DRUMS - Toms
In many records the toms can be either a prominently utilised part of the drum kit, or a background sonic filler. With the style of band used, for better or worse, the toms will feature heavily in the overall mix of the drums for this track. The toms have been manually edited and feature EQ and compression on each track and a further compressor on the group. Room 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB Hall 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB Spring 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB Convolution 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB

Ajhorsburgh.com Creating Space

2012

DRUMS - Group
This is the drum group having a post-fader send of 0dB sent to the reverb bus. There is also a compressor taking some of the dynamics out of the snare and kick. Room 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB Hall 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB Spring 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB Convolution 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB

Ajhorsburgh.com Creating Space

2012

Lead Vocals
The most prominent instrument in most mixes, especially in the main stream will be the vocals. There will always be a discussion about what reverb & settings to use - so rather than an opinion, listen to the files and create an opinion. The vocals used for this are actually backing vocals, and not the lead track. This is because of the time chosen within the track that features snares, toms and enough drum group as well as having some vocals. The vocals however have two compressors and an EQ. The EQ has a high pass filter and a notch to reduce the midrange honk slighty. The compressors are acting as two stages of slight compression rather than a single of smashing the transients. Room 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB Hall 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB Spring 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB Convolution 0 , -6dB , -12dB , -18dB

Ajhorsburgh.com Creating Space

2012

Conclusion
So, that's it! You've heard all of the audio examples, hopefully which will allow you to spend time listening out for the slap back, first reflections and then enjoying the long tails. The reverbs have been chosen, not for their appropriate nature to a particular instrument but more for their sonic characteristics. They are not quite clichd enough to be the default sound of their classification but they do work under certain circumstances.