If you have ever listened to the same song 25 times in a row pressing your headphones really hard on your ears to try and figure out what kind of
reverb is being used, then this video is for you.
Fab discusses how to create natural spaces using reverb plugins. This is not about 80s obvious trails or Enya style deep underwater immersions, it's about creating a 'back wall' for your mix, height above the instruments and sauce to link the different elements together. You will gain the feel for what every one of the plugins does via extensive A/B comparisons and will get clear guidelines on how to think about the process to be able to emulate the techniques discussed on your own mixes. Just be careful with the back wall, it's freshly painted.
Please download the associated audio files to mix these tracks on your own system with your own reverbs. Just click on the orange square shaped button with a beautiful waveform design on it. (It also contains screenshots of the reverb settings)
Parts of this site and some files are only accessible to pureMix Pro Members or available to purchase. Please see below our membership plans or add this video to your shopping cart.
00:00:08 Good morning children! Today,
we're going to talk about reverbs.
00:00:12 I see two main uses for reverbs.
00:00:15 First one, the most obvious maybe,
the ones you can hear...
00:00:18 long reverbs, plated, gated reverbs,
reversed reverbs...
00:00:22 the kind of effects you have on my voice
right now, which is really annoying
and we're gonna turn off, because
it sounds like 1984
and it's not what we're going to
discuss today. Thank you.
00:00:31 And then, there's the other kind
the kind you can't tell it's there,
the more natural kind.
00:00:36 It's there, but you can't tell,
like right now.
00:00:38 But if I turn it off... Oh!
Now you can tell that obviously,
there was reverb before.
00:00:43 I have to turn it back on, like this,
for you to notice...
00:00:46 that there was a reverb,
but it's more of a space.
00:00:48 Off feels pretty dry.
Let me show you how we do this.
00:00:53 As a concrete example
of what I just discussed
I'm gonna play you a piece of music.
This is of the Sara Lieb record.
00:00:59 It's produced by Matt Pierson,
and mixed by "moi."
Here's what to listen for.
00:01:04 Try and focus on the space around
the instruments
the depth, front to back,
and the height of the mix.
00:01:10 At first, when the reverbs are on
you hear them as reverbs.
Can you spot them?
Use the time when I turn them off
to get a feel for them
When they're gone, do you miss them?
Does it sound good?
Is it still a record?
When I turn them back on,
can you spot them better?
Can you now hear what they were doing
before I turned them off?
That's a good first level listening.
Let's start there.
00:02:20 It's a pretty fun contrast between
with reverb, and without reverb.
00:02:24 There are 3 different reverbs,
but it doesn't sound wet.
00:02:26 It sounds in situation and natural,
which is what we're working on today.
00:02:30 When I turn the reverbs off
what you're hearing is
the natural sound of the room.
00:02:35 It's a pretty big room,
but it still sounds dry
because everything is pretty
closed-miked to get good separation
since everybody is in the room
with very few gobos.
00:02:44 For example, if I play the bass
there's a lot of piano and drums
in the bass microphone.
00:02:57 Now, it sounds good enough,
it's not going to ruin the record
but I couldn't put the microphone
this far away from the bass
because it would get so much bleed
it would ruin the sound of the record
so I had to put it this close.
00:03:07 The problem is that, well...
it sounds this close!
And I don't want to be this close
to a bass, ever.
00:03:14 The point of this first reverb
I'm gonna show you is to do this.
00:03:18 Not to do this...
00:03:20 To do this.
00:03:21 Try and move the instruments back
a little bit.
00:03:24 Very useful in this case,
and also on vocals
when they've been recorded
this close to the microphone.
00:03:31 I called this first track the Office
and it sounds just like that.
00:03:35 So it's a very short reverb,
or early reflections.
00:03:39 I'm using the Oxford, because it has
a very strong Early Reflections section.
00:03:43 Let's listen to the bass,
with and without
then I'll explain what it's about.
00:03:47 This is flat.
00:04:09 When I turn the Office off
on the bass, it goes "whooik!"
It gets really close,
because it's closed-miked.
00:04:15 The Office makes it feel
like it's in a bigger room
because I'm using early reflections,
which are the tone of our rooms.
00:04:21 You can tell the sound of a room
from the tone of its early reflections.
00:04:24 There are small delays
that are so quick
that you don't really hear them
as delays, but as the tone of the room.
00:04:30 That's what I'm using the Office for.
00:04:32 To achieve this sound, either you use
the Oxford and the Early Reflections section
or you can do it with any decent reverb
that has a very short setting.
00:04:40 As you may see here,
I'm actually EQ'ing it.
00:04:43 You could do that with an external EQ
if your reverb doesn't have a built-in EQ.
00:04:46 Why am I EQ'ing it?
Well, I'm high-passing it
so that the bottom of the mix
doesn't get muddy
if I put bass or bass drum in it.
00:04:53 Yes, I do put bass drums
in my Office.
00:04:57 I'm low-passing it to keep
the high end clean in the same manner.
00:05:00 I don't want it to shine, I don't want
it to show, I just want it to do this.
00:05:05 The middle-cut here is to make sure
the reverb sounds dull
and does not attract
attention to itself.
00:05:12 I don't want to hear this stuff,
I just want to feel it.
00:05:15 Any decent reverb would let you
do this: short, clean, and out of the way.
00:05:20 The second reverb in our trio
lets me create depth in the mix.
00:05:23 We've seen distance with the Office
Now we're here, we're gonna
create depth behind that instrument.
00:05:29 It lets you elongate the instrument
make it not so dry, and also
create space
between the instrument
and the back of the mix.
00:05:37 I usually use a Plate.
00:05:39 Some people use Chambers,
especially Lexicon fans
I like plates.
This is the UAD Plate.
00:05:45 Now, length and color are up to you,
it's a taste thing.
00:05:48 But this is what it does.
00:05:50 These are my overheads, with the Plate
on it, nothing but the Plate.
00:05:54 No Office.
00:05:56 First, with.
00:06:22 You can really hear the Plate
creating a sense of distance
between the snare and the back
of the mix.
00:06:26 When I cut it out, all you hear
is one lone little snare
in the middle of the sound field.
00:06:31 Don't worry if you don't have
the UAD Plate emulation
there are many plug-ins out there
that sound good
and do the same thing, more or less.
00:06:37 Here's what you need to make
absolutely sure of.
00:06:40 First, make sure it's not too bright
because it will attract attention
to itself
which is the opposite of
what we're looking for.
00:06:46 Second, make sure it's not too fat.
00:06:48 If it's too fat, it's gonna muddy up
your mix.
00:06:51 Third, make sure the length of the plate
is appropriate for your track.
00:06:54 For a fast track,
use a shorter plate
so it doesn't bleed all over
from hit to hit.
00:06:59 If you have a slow track,
make sure it's long enough
that you don't hear it cut off
between hits too much.
00:07:04 Not that complicated. It doesn't have
to be that precise, it's loose.
00:07:07 This is what you need...
00:07:08 sauce in between the hits,
so they don't feel so dry
and you get that back wall sense.
00:07:14 The third reverb in my trio
is the Hall.
00:07:18 I use a Hall to create height
because my brain, and probably
yours too, are preconditioned
like Pavlov's dog.
00:07:24 We've been in halls, and we remember
that when it sounded like that
there probably was a really high
ceiling above our heads.
00:07:30 We are simple human beings after all.
Let me show you.
00:07:34 I'm using the Oxford reverb
because I know it very well
and I have a preset I've been
using forever
and I'm way too lazy to create
another preset in a different reverb
since this one works for me
just fine.
00:07:45 You can do the exact same thing
with any reverb that has...
00:07:47 a very nice Hall, which is most of them
and enough control to high-pass
the bottom of it.
00:07:53 This is what I'm doing here,
I'm removing the bottom.
00:07:56 Why am I doing that?
I feel it gives more of a sense
of height
if I dont hear the lows,
and just the highs.
00:08:02 Here's the piano track,
with just a Hall...
00:08:04 No Plate, no Office.
00:08:07 On first, off then.
00:08:39 You noticed that it doesn't give a tail
as much as the Plate did.
00:08:42 It really gives height.
00:08:45 To summarize what we've seen so far
you have the Office that creates
distance between you and the instrument.
00:08:51 You have the Plate that creates distance
between the instrument and the back wall
and some sauce.
00:08:55 And then the Hall that creates height
above the instruments.
00:08:59 The combination of the three
is how you create a natural sounding
environment. Let me show you.
00:09:04 Am I going to use all three reverbs
on every track?
No! I'm gonna make smart choices
based on the actual recording.
00:09:10 For example, on the bass drum...
00:09:12 am I going to put
a distance between the bass drum
and the back wall?
Probably not, it's going
to be messy.
00:09:18 Do I want the bass drum to sound
a little further away?
Yes, I do, because it's a jazz record
and I'm not gonna sit right
in front of the bass drum.
00:09:24 So if I solo the bass drum...
00:09:28 and I listen to it dry...
00:09:37 It could use a little distance.
00:09:38 Here's the same thing with my Office.
00:09:45 Without.
00:09:49 With.
00:09:58 Same thing with the snare.
00:10:00 I like the way the snare is
plus it bleeds like crazy
in the overheads
that's the whole point
of overheads.
00:10:04 So I'm just gonna give it
a little distance.
00:10:07 This is without.
00:10:11 With.
00:10:16 Without.
00:10:20 With.
00:10:24 If I add the overheads...
00:10:25 on the overheads, what I'm doing
is I'm adding
the Plate to create that
for the whole set
and then the Hall to create some height.
00:10:33 Without.
00:10:34 The whole set, but without
the reverb on the overheads.
00:10:45 Same thing with the Plate added.
00:10:51 It could use a little less...
00:10:55 This is nice!
And then, add the Hall.
00:11:07 So we went from here on the drum set...
00:11:16 To here.
00:11:26 Just a little touch of some reverbs
here and there.
00:11:31 The bass, we remember we used
a lot of Office on
because it was so upfront.
00:11:34 I used a little bit of Plate,
I don't know if I like it.
00:11:37 Let's check it out.
00:11:51 I hear it, it's intrusive.
Let's try less.
00:12:00 Even less.
00:12:10 Now, this is with no reverb
whatsoever on the bass
Way too close, right?
Add the Office...
00:12:24 That works!
A little bit of Plate, just a tiny bit,
just to say we did it.
00:12:35 Then, what's the lead there?
The piano!
First, completely dry.
00:12:46 Sounds a little vulgar. Let's put
some distance between him and me.
00:12:49 So, let's start here.
00:12:54 Too much, obviously.
00:13:06 If you don't know when to stop
when it's too much or not enough
here's how to think about it,
until you form your own taste.
00:13:13 Start with nothing...
Push it up...
00:13:15 When you start hearing it,
back it off a half dB.
00:13:18 That's a good safe start.
00:13:20 Back to the piano.
This sounds good!
It's lacking some magic,
so I'm gonna put some Hall on it.
00:13:35 Too much...
00:13:42 I like this, but you don't know
until you listen to it
in the sauce of the whole mix.
Check it out!
It could use more...
00:14:09 As always,
there's no perfect amount of reverb
or even, there's no right amount
of reverb.
00:14:14 It doesn't exist,
because it's all up to taste.
00:14:16 Are you making a vintage record?
Or, a modern record?
Are you making
a weird sounding record?
I don't know!
Your taste will vary.
00:14:23 But these are good techniques
to be able to have...
00:14:26 some natural sounding environments
and play with them.
00:14:29 What I'd like to do now
is play you the track
and mute each and every reverb,
one by one
so you see what they all do
in the context of a mix...
00:14:37 so you realize it's really difficult
to do something like this
with just one reverb.
00:14:41 The whole point is that
the combination of the three reverbs
lets you create a natural sounding
environment, without sounding wet.
00:14:47 Check it out!
I made a 4-bar loop,
so that I can have 2 bars with
and 2 bars without...
00:14:53 and do that again
a couple of times.
00:14:55 First thing I'm gonna do
is turn the Office on and off.
00:14:57 Pay attention to the presence
of the drums
and to the presence of the bass.
Check it out.
00:15:02 First, with.
00:15:33 Pretty cool, right?
Within the mix, even though
everything else stays the same
the drums and the bass go
"hoo, hoo, hoo".
00:15:39 Nice!
Let's do the same thing,
I turn the Office back on.
00:15:43 Let's do the same thing
with the Plate.
00:15:45 I don't think I need to tell you
what to listen for, it'll be obvious.
00:16:27 Right? When I turn it off, everything
feels pretty flat and cardboard-like
and dry and kind of like vulgar
a little bit.
00:16:33 Let's move on to the Hall.
00:17:14 The sky kind of falls on our heads,
every time I turn this one off, right?
It feels small, and heavy,
and a little bit claustrophobic.
00:17:20 All the height is gone.
00:17:23 Each and every one of these reverbs
are crucial
and bring one element
to the sauce of the three.
00:17:29 Now, I'm going to play the same loop
with all the reverbs,
and then without any reverb
at the beginning, so we get a sense
for the journey we've come through
using these three tricks.
Check it out!
This kind of reverb work
is fun to do
and it will set you apart
from other producers and mixers
because it's subtle
and requires practice.
00:18:16 Speaking of which, please download
the samples and try at home
it won't hurt a bit.
00:18:21 Also, if you're having a hard time
hearing the differences
go see the How to Listen video
and then come back and listen
to this one with your eyes closed.
00:18:31 Et voilà!
Once logged in, you will be able to read all the transcripts jump around in the video.
Fab Dupont is an award-winning NYC based record producer, mixing/mastering engineer and co-founder of pureMix.net.
Fab has been playing, writing, producing and mixing music both live and in studios all over the world. He's worked in cities like Paris, Boston, Brussels, Stockholm, London and New York just to name a few.
He has his own studio called FLUX Studios in the East Village of New York City.
Fab has received many accolades around the world, including wins at the Victoires de la Musique, South African Music awards, Pan African Music Awards, US independent music awards. He also has received Latin Grammy nominations and has worked on many Latin Grammy and Grammy-nominated albums.
Parts of this site and some files are only accessible to pureMix Pro Members or available to purchase. Please see below our membership plans or add this video to your shopping cart.
I am new to this, but I downloaded the files and made my own reverb sends as per the video and my mind is blown (without buying anything new).
I used to send things to a single reverb send and expect it to just sort everything out. Now I know why my mixes have no depth or height. I am very happy as I never knew how to achieve this with my mixes. Thank you.
Hennoh.and.thecat
2021 Oct 26
This one really opened my eyes! I always thought I know reverbs, boy was I wrong. It sounds silly but I could apply it immediately to my mix within 5 minutes. Now I understand how to create natural sounding spaces, Thanks a lot!
James Cartwright
2021 Mar 30
Great!
mistapes
2021 Jan 20
This is excellent!! I've found videos where people mention this, but this is the first video I've found where someone actually explains it. Thanks again dude!
LuvSum Music
2020 Oct 18
Thanks for another clear, concise and totally useful tutorial.
iván_mauricio.c
2020 Aug 26
I don't understand why with the office, the snare drum doesn't feeling far away, but with vocals, bass, etc, yes.
JorgeZM
2020 Apr 29
Thanks!!
MoeMuzik
2020 Feb 24
Awesome Video Thank you!! Exactly what i needed to know.
trickknee
2019 Dec 19
Found this to be very helpful.
ruben98
2019 May 13
learned a lot
me likey
lafogle
2019 Mar 25
I don't know why it has taken so many years to hear this eloquently simplified with space, depth front to back, & height. This guy really has a knack for preserving the artist's relationship to sound. I didn't roll my eyes once. And I feel like my students could watch this without napping.
chiren
2019 Jan 25
This is by far the best reverb tutorial I have ever seen. And I have seen a lot, because I was never satisfied with my reverb results. Now I am. Thank you very much!!
noiion
2018 May 06
The video is not loading, no matter what browser I'm using. My internet connection is otherwise working fine. What to do?
Duke Murdock
2018 Mar 19
18 minutes rearranged everything I thought I knew about reverb and focused my approach with purpose and intention. Brilliant! Who knew such a short time could be so valuable?
owenlt
2017 Jul 05
Just watched this for maybe the third time. (Because it's super useful; not because I can't understand it!) A question: what's the mixing philosophy behind sending the direct drum mics only to the office, rather than to the plate or hall? Is it because, in this case, the overheads (plus plate) are providing most of the drum sound, and the direct mics are really just supporting that? Because, obviously, most of the time you WOULD send the snare to an actual reverb, no?
LUIS QUIROZ ZARAGOZA
2017 Mar 25
MUCHAS GRACIAS POR TU APORTE. ¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡ GENIAL !!!!!!!!!!
soundspace2001
2016 Dec 15
I like your chilled approach to this difficult subject - very helpful! Thank you so much for letting us be part of your Mixing Secrets!!! (I just wonder, what the Early Reflections Settings would look like in your Oxford Hall ;-))
LudoL
2016 Nov 05
Brillant explanation !!!!
Fabulous Fab
2016 Aug 09
@DavidMann: Whatever gives you the impression of a small pleasant space works. It does not matter how it's generated. really as long as it feels good. I use to do it with a small office IR in Altiverb. Then I switched to the Oxford for DSP reasons. Made no difference to me.
Fabulous Fab
2016 Aug 09
@Brett b: Yes absolutely. Turn of the mid and far reflections. Ocean Way is very powerful for space creation.
Brett b
2016 Aug 08
This was really helpful?
Do you think the ocean way plug in would be good for the office reverb?
DavidMann
2016 Jul 13
Great video, Thanks so much, Question : I was normally doing the early reflection in Wave true verb ( completely synthetic reverb ), now I notice that I have control on early reflection in my Convolution reverb as well ( Wave IR1) is there an advantage to going convolution or for early reflection or I better go synthetic ?
tvpnyc
2016 Jun 26
Truly a fantastic tutorial mate. Much appreciated...
(...and the track itself sounds killer!)
bapu
2016 Apr 20
That helped me solidify some things I thought I new and presented some new things for me to think about and incorporate in my mixes.
Magnus
2015 Dec 19
Thanks Fab!
You´re best at explaining in a simple way how things work..Love it!!
redFiELD
2015 Dec 02
Fab, two questions:
1) Do you always work with (only) these three kind of reverbs? Or do you in some cases use more rooms?
2) I often thought, a longer pre-delay will put the source more up to front. I read that in several books...
Thanks for helping me out :)
Jakob
Ashes
2015 Oct 14
Depth is really the line between amateurs and pro productions so thank you so much for this video!
I've got a question because I'm not working with ProTools but Cubase, so when you're sending a sound to an aux track, does it follow the same panning as the original track?
I mean, for a vocal, it's in the center so no problem but, if you want to give some depth to a rhythm guitar track, which is panned hard left, is the send signal hard panned left too into the reverb?
Thanks for your help !
jmfriedman
2015 Oct 11
Thanks for the great video! what's a good "office reverb" in altiverb?
rkoppelman1
2015 Jul 08
Incredibly clear and useful guidance. Just finished a demo CD and struggled through getting height and depth. I got there, but it wasn't pretty... So much easier with your instruction. Something of a similar vein for delays and EQ would be great!
CCHorton
2015 Jul 05
Thank you very much for this lesson Fab. I was always thinking of reverb as an effect added to make things sound better, and now, thanks to you, I think of it as a way to create space. It's a completely different mindset, thus a different approach, and the result is an amazing improvement my mixes. This week I fully implemented my new approach, and my client (a singer/songwriter) said she was really listing for the reverb, she couldn't hear it, but loved the "spaciousness" the mix had. She had a big smile when the track ended, and approved it on the spot, zero adjustments, tweaks, etc.
Some Guy
2015 Apr 19
An oldie but a goodie. Worth coming back and re-watching this one from time to time. This is probably one of the most valuable videos on the site.
laru1977
2015 Apr 12
Unfortunatelly my first post stayed hanging somewhere :)
I wrote, that you are the first guy who really explains, how to create depth with different reverbs.
Mostly I heard and red things by engineers like: "....I use up to 2-3 reverbs on my mixes...", but never HOW !
Thanks for resolving a mystery here in a few minutes, GREAT !!
best,
lars
laru1977
2015 Apr 12
Dear Fab, you wrote..."The smaller the predelay the closer the souce should feel...."
Now I really got confused. Always thought that different pre-delays ar important to create depth and that the longer the pre-delay, the more the source is moved in front and vice versa. But I also was not a friend of them and prefered to tweak areound with size and decay. So you recommend not to take the pre-delay thing to serious ?
Best,
Lars
Fabulous Fab
2015 Apr 08
@mike_strong: noted.
mike_strong
2015 Mar 13
Dear Fab, I have a video request!
I have the feeling that since you introduced your children to your trademark REVERB concept (the office/plate/hall), miraculous things have happenend: THE RECORDS HAVE BECOME MORE WET!
Your reverb concept is based on the notion, that the reverb is basically there without being heard. That is a great thing and I couldnt live without this video! But: it would be totally cool if you could explain us how to get one of these monster-wet mixes like for example the new BECK album. Thank you!
mike_strong
2015 Mar 13
Thank you so much Fab for this tutorial...this has been an awakening moment for me - reverb-wise!! Before that, I only turned reverbs "on". Preferably LARGE HALL ;)
But now, I at least THINK that I know what I'm doing. And wow: there are SMALLER spaces available!!! I had no idea!
AdRi__Forn
2015 Jan 07
Excellent advices! As always Fab.
alessioforlani@gmail.com
2014 Dec 25
Using three or four main effects in aux tracks, creates a problem: every time you solo a track in themix and the fx aux, you will ALSO have to listen to the fx returns of all the other tracks you already sent to those same aux. This is really annoying!is there any way to solve this issue?
Fabulous Fab
2014 Oct 09
@birenmpatel@gmail.com: Yes, yes, yes and yes also. (Last yes depending on whether I like the sound of the VSTs built in reverb or if it's an integral part of the actual sound as opposed to just 'sauce')
birenmpatel@gmail.com
2014 Oct 01
Second question, when producing music in the box using synth VSTs, do you turn off the reverbs on these VSTs and use the 3 reverbs as you showed to make everything sit better in the mix?
birenmpatel@gmail.com
2014 Oct 01
Fab, I'm not familiar with the software you are using, so when you are increasing or decreasing the levels on your reverbs in the video, are you increasing and decreasing send levels to these busses? Is that the best way to set it up - as 3 aux tracks one for each reverb and then send instruments to these?
bradleym
2014 Sep 02
Holy smokes! did you hear that?!?! Let's watch it again! Yeah man, cue it up!
ear candy
2014 Aug 20
Fab, This is the best tutorial on reverb I've seen. I have UAD plugins and stock Logic Studio plugins. The UAD Dreamverb is really hard for me to understand. I wish I could translate the parameters you show here to the UAD Dreamverb. I know UAD Dreamverb should be awesome but I’m never happy with any setting I use; I feel like I have to be a rocket scientist to understand it.
bolupona
2014 Jun 20
@Fab, thanks for the response in regards to Convolution. Just trying to make sure I understand the craft of mixing and give my clients an excellent product. Thanks a lot!
Fabulous Fab
2014 Jun 10
@bomusicprod: Frankly I don't care. If it sounds good it's good. The Oxford is algo, the EMT 140 from UAD is convolution, Space from Avid is convo, the Bricasti one is algo, I use them all. For me it's more features than anything else as long as the color of the reverb that not sound fizzy.
bolupona
2014 Jun 09
What is your take on convolutions reverbs? Do you ever use them? And how would it apply to the concept in which you described in the video above?
Thanks.
Nenette
2014 Apr 24
Bravo J'ai adoré cette vidéo et Dieu sait que j'en ai achetées sur le web, des vidéos sur l'utilisation des reverbs (sans grand succès pour mes mixs de débutant :) ).
Bref, là, j'ai simplement écouté chaque instrument individuellement sur la fin de la vidéo et j'ai eu une petite révélation. En tant que musicien, on a toujours cette tendance (fâcheuse ou pas) à isoler chaque instrument dans un mix. Je n'avais jamais penser à isoler la reverb de chaque instru. Yes!! Super tuto. Un petit miracle pour moi.
Merci beaucoup. Tcho de Nantes.
Ps: super la traduction en français.Un must.
electricthing
2014 Apr 06
Thanks for making me understand. This is truly teaching. I'm a teacher myself. This tutorial fills an essential void in my mixing.
BrandonChance
2014 Mar 05
I've never heard anyone explain this as well as Fab did. He gained a lot of respect as a teacher with this video! God Bless You Fab!
sausy1981
2014 Feb 27
Hi I purchased the video but it's not working, it wont play.
mrbeatnick
2013 Nov 25
Really enjoyed - excellent techniques
icarusdoppelganger
2013 Oct 28
fab, this is great stuff. thanks for opening our ears to the light.
lucaandfriends
2013 Sep 28
This is why my mixes are so 2 dimensional... great informations, thanks!
MJA93
2013 Sep 16
the hall is definitely the easiest to feel without hearing
Fabulous Fab
2013 Sep 15
@xoli: I tend to use reverbs in stereo to open the sound unless I'm looking for an effect, like a mono plate on a tambourine for that 1963 vibe. Or the lengthening mono verb on snare trick you mention.
xoli
2013 Sep 15
Hi Fab, I have a question. Do you set up the reverbs always in stereo mode? Or you use them in mono in any cases?
Sometimes when I'm mixing I use halls and rooms in stereo, but I use plate reverb for snare in mono.
Thanks!
ethiesse
2013 Aug 13
Just want to say thanks, I can open exercise files everywhere on the site now.
Becky Jo Benson
2013 Aug 05
FAB!! What a great video! I am on the road right now, and when not driving, I am watching your wonderful videos! Wow! That is pretty
tricky to use the combination of those three reverbs, and very nice of you to tell us some of your secrets that make it sound so much better!
Speaking of sound: thank you for helping my awareness of what to listen for! Keep up the good work, FAB! I appreciate your patience with my learning curve. Thank you for being there for each of us, Becky Jo Benson
g
2013 Aug 02
No worries about the files download being corrupted. Our team of developers is currently fixing it. Thanks for your patience.
G.
bls5449
2013 Aug 02
Struggling to open the exercise files also...
ethiesse
2013 Jul 30
Anyone else on Win7 and having problems opening the exercise files?
Can't open this set or any other I've tried from the site.
Tom_Lonzo
2013 Jul 05
Hey fab,
Is there any way to recreate a similar plate reverb using logic's space designer plug-in? I made a similar sounding preset but it still doesn't convince me.
Regards,
Tom
Tom_Lonzo
2013 Jul 05
Hey fab,
Is there any way to recreate a similar plate reverb using logic's space designer plug-in? I made a similar sounding preset but it still doesn't convince me.
Regards,
Tom
dmstubbs
2013 Jul 05
Excellent video - pragmatic and instantly usable material - thanks.
gilligan
2013 May 19
What a great video, now i know what i have been doing wrong for so long, thanks Fab, your the best :)
darrendrums
2013 Mar 29
Hi Fab,
Question re pre delay. When you have these 3 reverbs set up are you using the "room" setting like a pre delay for the other two reverbs and does that mean that the other verb's pre delay should be set
to 0ms?
Thanks for the continued info, it' helped me incredibly.
Darren
Joseph Piccione
2013 Mar 28
Great information in this video Fab, thanks alot.
ldv558
2013 Mar 28
fabulous!fab,hope you can show us reverbs for vocals!thanks!
Funkenstein
2013 Feb 26
Fab, what can I say? except, fabulous. You're an inspiration and I can't wait to apply what I've learned here.
solomonothniel
2013 Jan 21
Hello Fab, Let me start off by saying, great video. I was always fascinated about how you used reverbs. Question ; how can I download this video? I need to put it on my iPad so I can watch it when i'm traveling.
Thank You
Bless
antonohvo
2012 Dec 12
This is great, I am actually learning things!!
Makes me want to blow up the schools and courses I´ve spent too much time, money and health on taking.
Thank you Fab (and team), you have saved a partion of my life
(╯3╰)
JemW
2012 Aug 01
Hi Fab,
Loved this video, really gave me a much better understanding of how to mix with reverb. I use Presonus Studio One 2 Professional, would it be too much to ask you to use Presonus exchange to give us dull eared mortals an office, plate and Hall preset for use in the Presonus verbs, (Room and open air), it would really help in grasping the concept of the office reverb you use as it is such a subtle effect, many thanks to you for great videos.
Fabulous Fab
2012 Jul 31
If you do need a rule of thumb: Since you can think of it as an early reflection decoy-ish, the longer the predelay, the bigger the emulated space should feel (Until you delay it so much than the delay is so long that you can hear space between the source and the beginning of the tail, which is fun too). The smaller the predelay the closer the souce should feel. YOur mileage will vary from plug t plug.
Et voila.
Fab
Fabulous Fab
2012 Jul 31
... What I realized is that once you are no longer afraid of not hearing the difference, you start to hear that in most cases the difference is not important and you move on. Don't forget that the predelay on reverbs was invented as a crude way to 'emulate' early reflections on early dig reverbs. Key word: crude. Like all new technologies it was adopted and corrupted by engineers who used it to do cool stuff with like make the revebs completely unrelated to the source and so on and so forth.
Fabulous Fab
2012 Jul 31
Hi guys,
These kinds of question are probably better answered in the forum but while I'm here:
As far predelay goes, I just move until it feels right. Meaning it's never been a crucial part of the process for me. It probably stems from the fact that I did not originally understand its function and could find a useful way to use it that was not wasting my time for minute subtleties that ultimately made no difference in the mix. As I grew I realized that lengthening the predelay is a good way to 'detach' the reverb from the vocal. It feels very 80s sounding to me.
withoutaknife
2012 Jul 30
For the 250 Hall-type texture, how much pre-delay do you use? I find that if I use the longest 60ms that it still clouds things up unless I use very little input level. So I either need to use really low level or use an external pre-delay to push it back further. Any recommendations on the pre-delay?
dominiklaim
2012 Jun 22
Great stuff. Thanks heaps for that. Something on Mastering would be awesome.
withoutaknife
2012 May 30
Thanks! Any tips on a good preset to start with on the RS1 for the Office bus? It seems to have a range of sounds from bright to dull...was wondering if you could recommend a good starting point. Thanks again!
thenewexhibit
2012 May 30
Hey Fab,
Any suggestions or tips with pre delay? I've heard of people setting pre delay to the tempo of a song. Have you ever used this practice? If so why or why not, or in what situations.
Also, what is it I would be achieving by using earlier or later reflections? I know it's probably a dumb question, but it still seems a bit intimidating to me. I love the concept of the video, and it has brought some things to light, but I suppose I was hoping you would go into a little more detail with the actual basic parameters a bit more and the "why's".
Thanks in advance.
withoutaknife
2012 May 30
Thanks! Any tips on a good preset to start with on the RS1 for the Office bus? It seems to have a range of sounds from bright to dull...was wondering if you could recommend a good starting point. Thanks again!
Fabulous Fab
2012 May 29
@darrendrums: I definitely use a send. That kind of routing complicated enough to not restrict myself with dual use faders.
Fabulous Fab
2012 May 29
@withoutaknife: I would use the RS1 for the Office and the 250 for the Hall-like texture. I have not gotten around to learning Realverb yet. So many plugins so little time.
Fabulous Fab
2012 May 29
@angel72bg: Intro to Mastering in the works. It'll be a minute but it'll be lovely. Fab
angel72bg
2012 May 29
Thank You Fab for that;
"viewing time limit for videos has been extended to 100 years".
Your tutorials are the best in the business.
And your sense of humour is great.
A love that.
Keep going.
Now I am a better engineer.
----
Is it possible to make a tutorial for mastering.(the black art)
I saw so many video,but they just touch the surface.
Thank You in advance.
Best Regadrds
withoutaknife
2012 May 28
Good stuff.
Quick question for Fab. If you had to do the early reflection and hall setup with UAD plugs - which would you use?
darrendrums
2012 May 17
Fab,
That's of great use thank you. Btw would you bus the OH's out or create a send from the OH's thus creating a wet dry vibe for them ?
Best
Darren
Fabulous Fab
2012 May 17
darrendrums: It really depends on the drummer, but what I would do if it's really problem is send the oh signal to a separate aux, put a compressor on that aux and then feed that aux to the same reverb as the rest of the kit. You'll have unity but the hard hits wont freak the reverb ut. Also having a separate send means the rest of the drums will feed the reverb naturally.
darrendrums
2012 May 16
Fab,
Thanks man, that really helps. Question for you, how do you deal with jazz cymbals that are played very dynamically from pp to fff and freak the plate reverb out that all the instruments are going to ? I've tried setting up a separate reverb for the OH's but it doesn't seem to match the tonal of the other reverbs i have . Any thoughts ?
Best
Darren
Fabulous Fab
2012 May 15
@darrendrums: probably 12db/octave. That's is what the Oxford has built in. For the plate I don;t know. It does not really matter, you are just trying to clear up some mess without emasculating the whole thing. The gentler the better really.
darrendrums
2012 May 15
Hi Fab,
Out of interest what are the HP and LP filter slopes that you employ on the plate and office reverbs ?
Best
Darren
Cowlash
2012 May 10
Great video! I learned a lot from it! Looking forward to seeing the early reflection reverb settings too
fab
2012 May 05
Hi guys. The downloadable files were in no way intended to line up with each other. They are exact matches of what you hear in the video, which were not exactly in the same spot. However, after an international public outcry, and an intervention by the CIA, we decided to go back and extract lined up stems to smoothe the inquisitive crowd. The new stems will be up up Monday May 7th 2012 at the latest. Thanks Fab
darrendrums
2012 May 04
Awesome tutorial and fantastic real world explanations. Out of interest, the accompanying wav's are a great addition but the don't seem to line up in logic when i put all regions at the same start point. Any ideas ?
fab
2012 May 01
@ pkshdk: I will go back and find the settings for all three verbs and post the presets as part of the download package for this video. It'll be a couple of days. Fab
pkshdk
2012 Apr 28
Can I by any chance have the "Early Reflection" settings of your Hall reverb there? Pretty please? :)
carlfred
2012 Apr 24
Fab,
thanks so much. I think reverb is one of the most important factors in a mix but so hard to know when and how to use reverb. AMAZING TUTORIAL.
U ROCK !!!
deang1983
2012 Apr 21
Thanks Fab! Your tutorials are the tits!
fab
2012 Apr 21
deang1983: Yes, You can think of it that way. It just came from a medium room style preset called Office on the Oxford reverb. It's easy to remember so it stuck.
deang1983
2012 Apr 21
This was a great tutorial! The right use of reverbs is one of the things i've been trying to learn for awhile and this taught me a lot. I'm guessing OFFICE reverb is the same as ROOM? Might seem obvious but i'm just making sure.
fab
2012 Apr 19
@nfrossi: Absolutely no problem, we want pureMix.net to be the best place for everyone to learn, suggestions are always welcome. I used the exact same kind of techniques on the Forro In The Dark record called 'Light A Candle'. It's a really nice New York based all Brazillian band I produced a couple of years ago. It sounds wonderful. Check it out.
nfrossi
2012 Apr 18
@fab: Sorry if I sounded to negative, it was not my point. I think that it's a great, great video but as a customer I just want to give my feedback for the improvement points. Your job is really great and I do appreciate your videos a lot. I am looking forward for the next one, using reverbs in vocals tracks. Again, thank you very much to share this kind of information with us. Regards from Brazil. Nicolas
Stone
2012 Apr 16
Thanks for another fantastic tutorial Fab! Finally reverb explained in a way that makes sense. This tutorial has literally given me the eyes to 'see' and hear the layers of reverb in a mix. You are taking the mystery out of the mixing process and are passing on the kind of tools, understanding and insights essential to taking mixes to another level. Thank you for being so generous with your knowledge. I'm looking forward to learning more. Keep up the great work!
afak1999@gmail.com
2012 Apr 16
Great Video! This was one of the weak points in mixing and I finally feel Ive wrapped my brain and ears around it. I would like to see a video showing how to create space with Delay's also.
fab
2012 Apr 15
@nfrossi:
I understand your concern, but honestly the kind of music is irrelevant to the techniques used to create transparent sounding spaces, it's the same principle for all music. It's much easier to hear the differences and the subtle variations on this track than on Speed Metal with distorted guitars on stun or HipHop with 90% bass drum and 10% sample with built in reverbs already. Also, this tutorial was not aimed at demonstrating vocal reverb techniques (We are working on that) but 'creating space with reverb' which is crucial to any decent sounding mix.
Hope this helps. Fab
nfrossi
2012 Apr 15
It was a very good video but I think that the style of music that you used on the tutorial was just good to demonstrate the effect of those reverbs, but it is not the usual kind of style that we mix all the time. Besides, there was no demonstration of the effect of those reverbs on a vocal track - we can thought about it with those tips, but It would be much better to pick a song with a vocal. Best regards.
Ankur
2012 Apr 13
Fab you are a blessing to us young engineers. thx for this awesome lesson.
LargerLife
2012 Apr 12
Great explanation on creating subtle spaces, a cool technique with using the 3 dimension of a real space around us. This is an in depth tutorial which I have been logging for to figure it out since I started, but I never find anywhere.
Great presets for starting using them too.
Rutherford
2012 Apr 12
Excellent video.
zebastian21
2012 Apr 11
Great tutorial, I have watched it 3 times to grasp the concept of it.
I would be great to see more like this, especially the combination of reverbs an delays to create depth and placement of sounds in the mix