That certainly does help, Andrew - thank you for taking the time to explain it. No problem though to put a second instance of Breeze in series to take care of the tail. I like it when plug-ins aren't too complicated - so with you on that..Andrew Souter wrote:Yes, I need to explain this, and of course it will be explained in detail in the manual, but a quick short version:
The mix/balance label is actually a switch between two different mix modes:
1) When the label shows "MIX", the numerical mix value simply shows a mix between the completely dry signal and Breeze's normal wet output. This is the standard setting, and this can be used on sends or inserts.
2) When the label shows "Balance" this is a "special feature mode", where we apply spatialization to the DRY signal. This spatialization is typically subtle, and happens instantly. You can think of it as early reflections in some way, but for reasonable sizes it will happen so quickly that you will not be able perceive any "Reflections" per say. It is therefore better to think of it as "instant early energy" or "Ambience", or simply instant spatial impression if you want to be technical. The numerical value then becomes the balance control between this instant invisible ambience, and the normal wet signal which can then be considered more as late energy.
This works best with the Chamber modes, but it can also work well with Hall modes if Size is kept at moderate values, as well as Plate at small values. It can be used with Colored modes for special FX, but it is not transparent in this case. I can be abused for various special FX also as I am sure some people will figure out.
You should consider it a special features, and should not use it in every case. Check the presets I made in the Simply Better expansion. I think maybe 25% to 40% or so use it.
It is best used when using Breeze on an insert instead of a send. Since breeze is so efficient now this is a highly recommend way to use Breeze: directly on tracks, and save the sends for Aether or B2.
Perceptually the effect of using this will be that it will instantly recess the source sound back into the mix a little bit, so that lead instruments and vocals don't feel like they are floating in front of the mix or are detached from the imaginary sound stage. You can then use less tail to achieve a similar same sense of space, thus keeping the mix cleaner.
It can be used with low numerical values on lead vocals for example to give them an instant sense of space and width while keeping them sounding almost completely dry, without resorting to obvious chorus effects or other tricks.
It's great to spatialize mono sources also. You can think of it as a way to position sources on the virtual stage, or to randomize the position of stereo mics in the space. Try loading multiple instances of the same preset and apply them to different tracks. The result will have an incredible sense of realism where each source will have its own space even without panning, but with a unified tail gluing them into the same space. Try the randomize button to get different variations.
It's semi experimental still as we just added it earlier this week, but it can add some definite magic in the right circumstances.
The obvious request is: why not allow control over three way mix of dry, this early ambience, and tail like in Aether. The answer is simply bc we do not want to overcomplicate things in Breeze. This is enough for Breeze. A lot of novel things can be done with it as-is.
Hope it helps. Im out now for the night.
I'm really enjoying getting to know Breeze 2. There certainly is quite a bit of magic in this reverb - excellent work!