Recording - February 2014 - 54

based on the specifics of the recording,
the arrangement, and the mix.
For example, if I want a lead vocal to sit
in the front of the stage/mix, I'll apply a bit
of the ER verb to put the vocal track in the
space-exactly how much will depend on
how much reverberant depth other elements of the mix have, and how dry the
vocal track itself was recorded. When I get
it sitting about right, if I feel that the vocal
track is too dry or plain against the full
mix, I might add a little of the later Reverb
unit for some sheen. Too much of this could
compromise clarity, but the right amount
will leave the vocal in front of the mix, with
a little more richness. If I can't quite get the
depth I want for the lead vocal without
pushing it too far back in the mix, I might
try a little of the third ambience (stage)
verb, balancing that against the main ER
verb until the vocal has both the desired
presence in the mix, and the desired depth
and sheen. Sometimes adding a simple
delay/echo can help, as well.
Needless to say, this is not a linear AB-C process; it's a constant back and
forth, adjusting and tweaking individual
reverb settings, and re-adjusting as the
mix progresses and other elements
change. In addition to settings like
Density and Diffusion, I'd pay particular
attention to Reverb Time and Tone.
Nothing can compromise the intelligibility
of a vocal track like a reverb that's too
dark, with a tail that's too long. An overly dark reverb can muddy up the critical
lower midrange, making lyrics more
indistinct. A reverb with too long a decay
(RT60) can likewise compromise clarity,
as a long tail from previous vocal lines
can extend into the next phrase, covering
and blurring the all-important attacks of
the words following.
A time for reverb
Generally, if I have dedicated vocal
reverb(s), I'd set the Reverb Time (of the
longest reverb, if there are several) based
on two main considerations: How long a
tail would I prefer for this particular vocal
performance, and how long a tail can I get
away with in this particular mix? Personally,
for pop/rock, I typically like a relatively
short Reverb Time, a little less than a second, more like club ambience than a hall or
theater. However, if I was mixing, say, a
new age track, the style may call for a
much longer, more billowy decay, on the
order of 2-3 seconds or more.
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RECORDING February 2014

Either way, the question comes up: does
the Decay Time I prefer when I consider the
vocal by itself, work when that vocal is sitting in the mix? A really short decay might
offer just the right amount of depth and
sheen soloed, but in the mix other parts
may cover it up, leaving the vocal overly
dry, requiring a bit more tail to achieve the
desired effect. Likewise, a nice long tail
that fills the space between vocal phrases
with rich room sound when the vocal is
heard alone, might muddy up other instruments or parts when everything is on.
This is similar to the dilemma that mixers
often face with EQ-what sounds best
soloed does not work in the full mix, and
vice versa. Typically, the approach is often
to get a good setting soloed, and then make
the necessary adjustments with the track in
context, and again as the mix changes.
Sometimes, if there are both sparse or
solo vocal passages and sections where
the vocal has dense musical accompaniment, compromise settings might not provide the best results in either situation. In
this case, automation could be used to
switch between different reverb plug-ins or
change the settings dynamically, optimizing for the requirements of each different

section in the arrangement. I find that I
don't often have to go that far if the overall room sound in use has a short decay,
but in songs where a longer Reverb Time
is used, it's come up.
A tone for reverb
Another key consideration is the tonal
quality of the reverb. To preserve vocal
intelligibility, as well as overall clarity of
the mix, it's important to avoid too much
buildup in the lower midrange and bass
frequencies. This can be accomplished in
a variety of ways. Most reverbs have
some form of tone controls included, but
these mostly act on the highs (a LPF), or
on the reverb tail only. Some reverbs
have separate Decay Time settings for
high and low frequencies. In real rooms,
the highs usually die away more quickly

than the lows, but in a busy mix sometimes the opposite behavior can be
advantageous, though unnatural.
An EQ following the reverb can be
employed to shape the tonal balance, with
either broad or targeted cuts applied to the
lower mids and bass frequencies. If a vocal,
or an overall mix, seems to get a bit thick
and muddy when the reverb is in, and
Decay Time is short enough not to be the culprit, then low-end buildup might be the problem. In a vocal reverb, a broad, gentle cut
around 200 Hz and below might alleviate
muddiness. If the reverb seems to be ringing
on certain notes, a more targeted (narrower) cut (a notch) at a specific frequency
could be needed-a spectrum analyzer, if
available, can help to pinpoint the problem
area, allowing for greater clarity without
thinning out the reverb quality too much.
It's usual for mixers to add little or no
reverb to deep instruments with long notes,
like bass, to avoid muddiness issues. If
reverb was required on a bass track, say,
as an effect, a dedicated plug-in could be
employed, with the reverb's low end filtered, or the Send from the bass track
could be passed through an aux with an
EQ to keep the low end under control.

Reverb in the mix
Obviously, I've begun shifting from talking
about vocal reverb specifically to more general reverb considerations, so let me wrap
up this discussion with a few additional comments on overall reverb use. I've mentioned
that, in a typical (pop) mix, I tend to start with
a couple of reverbs dedicated to drums, and
another couple dedicated to vocals. I also
usually start with a third pair of overall
reverbs, for instruments and other mix elements. As with the drum and vocal verbs,
one has a smaller-room, ER-heavy setting,
and the other has a larger-room, later-reflection setting. In terms of Density and Diffusion,
these have somewhat more neutral settings,
somewhere between the tighter, shorter
sound of the drum verbs, and the looser,
more open, echo-y sound of the vocal verbs.

Recording - February 2014

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