The final delay plug-in that we really want to examine is the reverb, and this is a really important thing. it's a component of most modern mixes because it give us, it gives us the sense of a space. As we saw earlier when we were recording we very often try to isolate an instrument. We create an environment where we've removed all the noise, we've reduced the reflections in the room, and we've recorded instrument clean and without noise. The problem with that is it becomes sterile. And it sounds like it wasn't recorded in a space because we've removed all that sense of space. But, when you go to the final mix, that can sound unnatural, and now we have to add back in the space. It's kind of funny isn't it? We remove the space and then we bring it back in. But, the benefit of this is we can add that same sense of space to all the instruments, and we can really create two different types of mixes if you want to think in broad terms. We can create this sense that all the instruments that you're hearing we'll record together in a similar space, in a single location. And in that case I would try to use one re-verb on my entire mix using that parallel effects signal flow that we discussed earlier in the course. Or we can create a more exotic type of mix. A type of mix that's kind of more like an audio collage, where we're not trying to create a real space that everyone's in, but instead we're just creating a beautiful sonic environment. And in that case, we can use reverb in really creative ways and kind of put things in their own individual locations, just to isolate them in the mix. And that's another really good use of reverb. It's another way to guide the listener's focus. It's common to have a, a reverb that unique to the vocal, one that's only on that. So that way it is isolated and pulled out, and pulled from, everything else in the mix. Now if we are creating a realistic mix, one of the most important parameters we're going to come up with is this dry wet control. Now if we put a reverb in a return track and that parallel effect signal flow, we're going to have that reverb be 100% wet, meaning only the reverb signal is coming out of that and coming in through that aux track. And the dry signal is controlled by the individual channel strips, but if you're putting a reverb directly on a track, you want to make careful control of that dry/wet because that dry/wet ends up being kind of a front-to-back control. The wetter a signal is, the further away it seems in the mix, and the dryer, the closer to the listener. So, like, volume. Like, the high end. It becomes an important element to guide the listener to that one thing you want them to focus on. Now, we're going to look at two separate kind of categories of reverb plug ins. The first one is an algorithmic reverb, and that creates a reverb, from a, from some kind of formula. Kind of like a synthesizer creates sound with a formula, and a convolution reverb which is actually a recording of a real space applied to the sound that you're currently using in the DAW. Kind of like the sampled instrument. So that idea of synth verse sampler is kind of like algorithmic verse convolution reverb. Let's look at some examples of how reverb plugins function. The final delay plugin we're going to look at is going to be a reverb, and a reverb is a complex plug in built form many, many, many of these delay blocks. Instead of adjusting individual delay blocks like we did in the previous delay plugins we are going to be adjusting parameters designed to represent how delays function in a real space. We have two main kinds of reverb plug in. They'll be an algorithm reverb which I have on the left here, or a convolution reverb which I have on the right. Algorithm reverbs are kind of like synthesizers in that we're creating the impression of a space with an algorithm of some sort, a mathematical representation. A convolution reverb is like a sampler, in that we've recorded the sound of a real space and we're applying that in the DAW. Both are really powerful for different reasons. The convolution re-verb is going to sound more like a real space, cause it actually is a recording of a space, but like a sampler you're limited in the type of manipulations you can do it. The algorithmic reverb offers many more opportunities to manipulate the sound of the space, but it also won't sound quite as real because it's not a recording of a real space. We'll start by looking at an algorithmic reverb, and when creating an algorithmic reverb usually they divide the room up into two separate components, the early reflections and the diffuse reverb. The early reflections are a set of short delays, and if we set this so that we're only hearing the early reverb, it almost sounds like a bunch of those slapback modules that we had set up earlier all working at once. I have a mix set up with all my tracks being routed to the reverb and I'm soloing the reverb so all we're hearing is the reverb of the mix. Let's hear this. [MUSIC] So this is just the early reflections. If I bypass the plug-in, we hear a mix. If I hear the reverb, we're hearing just the early reflections. If I switch over to the diffuse portion of the reverb. [MUSIC] So a typical algorithmic re-verb will consider those two portions of the sound separate, and will give you different controls for the early reflections, and the diffused portion of the re-verb. Let's look at the parameters you'll see on the early reflections typically. You'll often have a pre-delay, which delays the entire start of the reverb a little bit. We'll leave that at 10 milliseconds for now. Then, we often have some ways to manipulate the algorithm of the space. So we're going to change the location of all those early reflections. Now these parameters will often be called room size or room shape, it will also have, it will often have stereo controls. This will depend on how the developer wanted to make the piece of software. But, you have a lot of these similar kind of controls in the Early Reflections section. Let's try to manipulate some and hear the sound change. [MUSIC] When I turn up the room size, it does sound like a series of those slap back delays all at different levels maybe and different delay times. Alright, let's move to the dfifuse reverb portion of the algorithmic reverb. The most important thing you're going to find here is going to be reverb time. This is going to be controlling kind. Kind of the size of the space you're in. And usually, you want to keep it below two seconds. A large, kind of, orchestral hall, might have a two or three second reverb, but most of the music we're going to do is going to be in smaller rooms than that if you're trying to create the sound of a real space. Now, for a special effect, a much longer reverb could work, but I think you'll find that a reverb time under two seconds is going to be useful in most cases. [MUSIC] We can often control the high end and the reverb which is like changing the materials in the space. Do I have soft curtains in the room or are they hard walls which would tend to reflect the high end? So again, all the different parameters in a reverb are really related to this artificial space that we're trying to manipulate. And honestly, using an algorithmic reverb really relies on you knowing the sound of real spaces so that you can emulate them. Usually, you'll get, kind of, a balance between the earlier reflections and the diffuse reverb. Let's hear it now [MUSIC]. [MUSIC] It's not a bad sounding reverb. Let's hear it on the whole mix. [MUSIC] I think it's a little too loud. I'll bring it down a bit. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] So I think that algorithmic reverb worked pretty well for this mix but I do want to try out a convolution reverb as well. Let's see what we can do with that. With a covolution reverb, most of what you do is choose an impulse response. Impuse response is the recording of a real space that we are applying with this mathematical procedure called convolution. And in most Convolution plugins, you'll find a wide variety of audio files that are representing a large number of real spaces. So, largely what you do is choose a space and see if you like it, and then choose another and see if you like it. I've chosen a space that represents a jazz club, and let's hear how it sounds on the mix. Again, I'm going to just solo. Just the reverb. [MUSIC] Let's try a different space. How about a canyon. [MUSIC] See, this is the kind of thing you'll find a lot in convolution reverbs. One of the benefits of it is they've taken impulse responses in very exotic spaces. So you can get very, really strange sound design in really crazy spaces. I think convolution reverbs can be incredibly creative as well as incredibly realistic. Let's try a large hall. [MUSIC] Maybe in the context of the mix it'll sound good. Let's hear. [MUSIC] Even though it's a big room it does blend in there quite well. So, a huge part of using reverb is really trying to imagine what kind of space would you like to hear this music played in. And then, choosing a reverb that works with that. I find a lot of trial and error is really the way to go. Just try things out, see how it fits. One piece of advice is that the reverb ends up being on many elements in your mix. So, if you adjust the sound of the reverb, it can adjust the sound of the entire mix. And you may find that using a different reverb can make the mix sound bright or dull or empty or full. It can be really powerful but whatever you do, be subtle. It doesn't take a lot and very often what you end up doing is bringing the reverb up til you barely hear it and then bring it down again. Some of the best settings for reverb are where you don't notice it's there but when you take it away it's obvious. And that's a great way to set the level of your reverb.
