different reverbs for different instruments?

[milchstrasse]

i've ever used ambience for all kind of instruments. but now i've heard that many people here are using more than one reverb plugin.

what do you think?

best reverb for:
.) drums
.) vocals
.) guitars
......

[aciddose]

not only should you be using different reverbs for different instruments, you should also be using different reverbs for the same instruments, in different situations, and even layering.

it would be extremely complicated to construct even a modular system capable of being all-use. the best thing you can do is try as many as possible, and learn thier distinctions. the closest thing to a general perpose reverb would be a convolution system.
even a convolution, a perfect one, could never do everything you will ever need to do, though.

[Sturmfuhrer]

It's always nice idea to place the drums in big church and the vocals in small recording room

[AudioWhore]

Layering reverbs sounds like CPU - Ouch!

[kritikon]

I'm not much of a fan of different reverbs for different instruments.
I do sometimes use ambience for some instruments and a full reverb for others, but I personally think that too many reverbs just sounds unnatural. If unnatural is what you're going for, then OK.

Also, different reverbs will have different Eq emphasis...which just makes your mixing more difficult. As for layering reverbs...a definite no-no for me. Reverb's a personal thing though, and you can do pretty much anything you want to get different effects. There are no rules...apart from the longer and the more reverbs you use, the mushier your mix is going to be, unless you get it absolutely spot on.

I remember some of the Indie 80s stuff that was awash with way too many reverbs, all overdone, yet occasionally it worked really well. Experiment to find out what fits your song - and don't be afraid to Eq your reverb returns (or Eq within your reverb algorithm, depending how flexible it is).

[Laguna Rising]

It's always nice idea to place the drums in big church and the vocals in small recording room

I personally think that too many reverbs just sounds unnatural. If unnatural is what you're going for, then OK.

I usually pay attention to give a moderate ambience to each instrument and not to exceed.
Sometimes reverb become part of the sound, sometimes it just helps positioning it (near or far) in the mix

Cheers

[Sturmfuhrer]

summary: it is not very smart to use different verbs for one song

[aMUSEd]

I love Voxengo Oldschool reverb for Piano's - esp the Concert Hall patch is very musical.

[greendoor]

All plugin reverbs are flawed in some way. They can be ok on some sounds, and nasty on others. That's why its not very smart to use only one verb for one song.

Lack of CPU resources is never a good reason to compromise your music. I use the offline Audio Processing in SX to render tracks with effects. I prefer that to freezing or bouncing - but whatever it takes, don't compromise your music over CPU.

[bobby yarrow]

The old wisdom was that more than 1 (or maybe 2) reverb(s) was always a mistake. I think if you're going for a very natural sound, that's still true. Make a space, put the music in it, done. Or, if you happen to love one particular wash for everything, make a nice long plate and run everything thru that (at various levels).

For indie rock, I find I oftwn use 3 reverbs. 2 are spatial -- something like 'the back of the space' and 'the front of the space' -- and are tuned so the bit of drums that goes thru them sound right. Usually, those are also fine for placing everything else. The vocal almost always seems to benefit from a plate, and often I'll send a bit of vocal to the other 2 reverbs as well. And then there might well be an effect reverb or 2. If I look down and see 5 reverbs and 3 delays, I don't panic.

[BobYordan]

Dont put the selection of reverb presets/types in the center of your mixing strategy. Try to analyze the mix and listen to what kind of dimensions/depths it needs, instead.

[nBeat]

I usually use just one , maybe two reverbs for a project.
I think a "uniform" room it's the way to go, at least for me.
So, I usually use the same reverb with diffrent sizes and lengths.

What's really important for me is that the musical performance is
coming from the same enviroment be that a closet, room a stadium
or even the beautiful gleanns of Scotland.

Btw,
Hail Scotland !
(I don't know why, but I just love that part of the world.
I guess it's the people and the great outdoors.)

[Cintronic]

Lack of CPU resources is never a good reason to compromise your music. I use the offline Audio Processing in SX to render tracks with effects. I prefer that to freezing or bouncing - but whatever it takes, don't compromise your music over CPU.

I only have 2 reverbs-ambience+the free ANWIDA one. I rearly have the CPU or the knowlage to deal with them. Maybe I should take greendoor's advice but I havn't got a clue how to get satifactory results.

[bobby yarrow]

Dont put the selection of reverb presets/types in the center of your mixing strategy. Try to analyze the mix and listen to what kind of dimensions/depths it needs, instead.

That's well said.

[TaoMannaDon]

TC Electronic has an interesting take on "source specific" as apposed to "generic" reverb.
VSS3 in Powercore
Apparently, their "source" technique permits reverb signals crafted specifically for individual instruments. Sounds interesting.