Reverb ducking - Fad or Feature

[kritikon]

Seems like lots of mentions and expectations for ducking in reverbs recently. I can't honestly think of any situation where I want to use ducking on reverb, where reverb is all about putting instruments in a space. It doesn't compute to me that a space needs to be ducked. Delays yeah, I get it, easily swamping a mix etc. I suspect it's just the trendy fad of the week, but I might be missing some genuine scenario. Is it in big washy ambient stuff? Do people make drums in fast tempo tracks have massive space reverb that has to be ducked? (I don't myself ever have fast drums in that type of big space, but I guess it could be a thing).

Genuinely interested in what scenarios you people might be ducking reverb...

[vitocorleone123]

Feature, done well (eg Liquidsonics).

Anytime you want to prevent/reduce the reverb from pushing the transients further back. Or just to fill in space after a release ends.

Longer sounds is generally a “no” for using it, except maybe as a special exaggerated effect etc.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Lead vocals with long decays benefit from ducking. It can work to avoid the reverb from getting muddy, but as soon as the singer comes to an end of a line, you hear the tail come up in volume. It's a nice effect. You hear it a lot on Thom Yorke's voice. For all I know, they might be automating sends though - but same effect.

[MadDogE134]

yeah keeps from smearing vocals is it's best usage but can help on other things. as for feature most reverbs that have ducking is not the best implementation imo. i much prefer using a comp before a verb so as to have far more control over how fast/slow it takes effect. 'most' reverbs that have ducking only allows how much is ducked and not the attack/release actions of the effect.

so no it is not a fad and has been used for ages in theory. but yes it is kind of a new feature for reverb plugins which again imo should be on all reverbs but those reverbs should give real control over it

cheers

[bmanic]

Reverb ducking with a compressor is a technique that has been used forever. It's nothing new.

It's very useful and I do agree it would be nice to have more control over it than a single slider which is often the case. Another thing that would be very useful to have built in is a de-esser for the reverb. That too is very common to used before a reverb.

[bmanic]

yeah keeps from smearing vocals is it's best usage but can help on other things. as for feature most reverbs that have ducking is not the best implementation imo. i much prefer using a comp before a verb so as to have far more control over how fast/slow it takes effect. 'most' reverbs that have ducking only allows how much is ducked and not the attack/release actions of the effect.

so no it is not a fad and has been used for ages in theory. but yes it is kind of a new feature for reverb plugins which again imo should be on all reverbs but those reverbs should give real control over it

cheers

You probably mean you use a compressor AFTER the reverb, then sidechained from the dry source. That's how you do the ducking.

[bes_j]

Depends on what you expect a particular reverb use to bring. Makes much sense if it's meant to enhance an instrument's sound rather than imitate some space to immerse in.

[Uncle E]

You probably mean you use a compressor AFTER the reverb, then sidechained from the dry source. That's how you do the ducking.

A transient modulator before the reverb on the send can be a cool effect. Allows you to send only the transient or only the sustained section to the reverb. As Kritikon said, though, this is even better on delays.

[bmanic]

Indeed! Dynamics processing before a reverb in general (which includes saturation) is always worth exploring.

[bmanic]

Depends on what you expect a particular reverb use to bring. Makes much sense if it's meant to enhance an instrument's sound rather than imitate some space to immerse in.

Well in the context of the topic, literally, we are talking about reverb ducking.

Having said that, there are tons of other things you can do to a reverb, either pre or post reverb and they are indeed worth discussing!

[simmo75]

I use it to to control the kick drums in a drum buss or loop, I hate too much reverb fluff in the kick and ducking is an instant fix.

[osiris]

Essential for vocals but I keep reading about reverbs smearing the volume so I've been using a tiny delay. I also like delays with ducking.

[zerocrossing]

I never use it, but I do use dynamic EQs on reverb to carve out bits if I feel it’s getting too muddy.

[Stokely]

I don't think I ever did this way back when during my first go-round as an engineer, but then this was pre-DAW and we were limited on inserts and outboard gear No idea if this was around back then or not, I don't recall learning about it.

I've tried it a few times recently, usually outside the reverb using a compressor side chain between the vocal and verb return. Or for a different approach, automate the reverb send (or return) at different place. The idea being to clean up the vocal while it's busier while letting the tails ring out a bit. I tended to do it so that it wasn't too noticeable as an "effect", my goal was vocal clarity.

My go-to delay is Valhalla and I use the ducking feature there all the time, and not just for vocals.

[keyman_sam]

This is my favorite feature in toraverb. It’s got a built in ducker so I don’t have to do the whole side chain thing. Wish more delays and reverbs had it, never understood why they don’t.