Using Reverb to Help Tell Your Tale
Everything is better in context. It gives greater meaning to words or narrative. It enhances, enlarges, and improves. And in recorded music, reverb is that context. In it's simplest form it tells us about the space the music was recorded in, or creates an imagined space for the music. At a more advanced level it can be used to help tell a story, to add narrative to an element in the mix, or empower it to invoke imagery. Reverb can even be used dynamically, changing and morphing to match the song's intention. So now you're probably thinking "Wow, that's a lot for reverb to be doing! That's a pretty big call, how could I convey all that?" Well first I'll explain some common features of reverb not just from a technical perspective, but also how they affect us emotionally. Then I'll describe a few of my favourite "stories", "pictures" or "contexts" to create with reverb. Pre Delay Pre Delay is the delay between the direct sound and the reverberated signal. It mimics the distance between the source and the room boundaries. Therefore, a short Pre Delay indicates a source that is further away, nearer a wall boundary. A longer pre delay indicates the source is nearer, and the walls further away. Diffusion Diffusion is how smoothed out the reverb is. Less diffusion means more discrete echoes. So discrete echoes indicate hard, and large, boundaries. Such as walls, cliffs, caves. Diffused reverb indicates smoother and more complicated boundaries - halls, natural environments, and such. Absorption/EQ Absorption controls which frequencies are being attenuated first by the environment. In large spaces, the air itself begins absorbing the high frequencies first. Thus some HF absorption can help create a sense of spaciousness. It can also invoke feelings of a softer environment: Wood rather than concrete, padded rooms, etc. EQ can be used for a similar effect, although it isn't exactly the same as adjusting HF Absorption. Reverb Length/Decay Time The most obvious affect of this control is that it changes the size of the space the music or element is in. From small, tight punchy rooms, to huge halls, even to ethereal impossible spaces.
Stories One 'story' I find myself often telling with reverb is that of the lonely instrument. Often times you might have a mournful song, and things are a bit spacey, but not over the top. Then perhaps after a chorus, a lead element might come in as the musical embodiment of those lonely, unrequited feelings. So I seek to isolate that element in the mix - emotionally. I might give it it's own reverb send. With little or no pre-delay. Some HF roll off. A diffused sound, and long decay time. Thus sending that element very far away, in a space not occupied by any other instrument. Now the reverb has helped turn what was just a soulful lead part, into it's own metaphor within the track, and created a further emotional tie between music & lyrics. Another is that of the 'breathing' room. If a song is tight, punchy, staccato during the verses, with lots of pent up energy, and then opens up into a open, legato chorus, then it can be very powerful to match that transition with reverb. Some times this means creating two sets of reverb sends. One bright, short, the other dark, long. Pre-delay can usually stay roughly the same. You can then ride or automate each of the sends to change the space from verse to chorus. Now it feels as if the musicians are so powerful, they can move walls merely with their songs. So try it yourself. Don't just use reverb just because it sounds pretty - read the lyrics, think about the song, and figure out what you can do to help tell the tale.
