Anyone else add reverb to vocals while tracking?

M

murphyd311

New member
I've only worked with a grand total of 3 vocalists, but so far it seems like I get better takes when I put some reverb on the tracks. (Using an insert on the DAW, so I can take it away or adjust it later). I end up pulling it back quite a bit,when mixing, but it seems like for the purpose of tracking some vocalists give a better performance. Maybe it's because it doesn't sound so dry? Or maybe because it sounds cool to them, so they get more motivated? I'm not really sure...
 
I do this.
Plenty of reverb and delay in the headphones makes most singer more confident, or comfortable.

Strangely enough, I don't like to hear myself at all, but most other people I record get the reverb treatment.
 
yup. :drunk:

verb and delay (like SteenaDude said) helps me "sing" better.

or not. :D

I never print the effect until mix time but I do bring it up to their (or my) taste while tracking.
 
Most vocalists will ask/want verb in the cans; more confidence and all that. But the downside is he is hearing his verb rather than himself and will be adjusting pitch to the verb which is delayed a half second or so.

I used to throw gobs of verb into the foldback channel when singing. But more and more, I'm singing dry and I *think* I get a better performance.

ymmv
 
Almost always. There will be some kind of effect of the vocalist's choice that can be heard in the cans but it's not recorded. Any vocal effects won't be printed untill mix time.
 
Like Grim, I don't feed reverb back to the singer . . . unless they insist.

It is true that some singers have more confidence with reverb.

However, sometimes it is used as a security blanket, sometimes in the hope that it will cover deficiencies.

Importantly, though, reverb can affect one's pitching.
 
Love my reverb.... :)

Singing dry is not the problem...it's just that I like to mix vocals with some reverb, so it only makes sense to record them with some reverb in the cue mix/cans.
If I was mixing all my vocals dry all the time...then it would make sense to track them without any reverb in the cans.
 
I try to have it available. If someone's having trouble I'll try different amounts, from none to a lot. Reverb and delay can improve monitoring in headphones because people are used to hearing themselves with some reflections from nearby surfaces.
 
murphyd311 said:
Anyone else add reverb to vocals while tracking?
Click to expand...

Yes, pretty much always.

I don't record other people, so I don't have to worry about someone changing their mind or something after the fact. I know more or less what sound I'm going for, and while I understand that it is not recommended, I don't really wish to save those kind of decisions for later.

I'm normally tracking vocals near the end of the process, so there aren't too many variables left that the mix is going to throw at me by that point. I set the vocals up the way I want them to sound in the final mix, track 'em that way, and pretty much leave them as is.
 
Always on vocals. I make soundscapes and spoken word recordings and I find it adds depth and distance to the 'scape. Different types and levels of reverb help to suggest rooms, outdoor scenes, distance and of course, my narrator (myself) always uses a Richard Burton/ War Of The Worlds type decay.

Compressors and limiters confuse me but reverb is something I know how to use and the results are instantly gratifying.
 
Yup, though the title of the thread is misleading. I add reverb to the monitoring but keep my tracks dry.

As everyone else has said, a bit of reverb in the cans can really make the vocalist(s) happy and therefore improve the performance.
 
I dont apply verb while tracking because so far I have never had to. I never had a complaint from a singer about the lack of reverb. I almost always add it to the track to some degree to improve the vocal recording. On rare occasions when it suits the song and the backing instruments I might leave it off but never during tracking. Again, I have never had to but now that you bring it up, I don't know how I would add reverb to the cans while tracking dry. The mic goes to the mixer and back to the phones directly and the output is recorded in the DAW. I don't know how I would give verb to the phones and get a dry track...
 
GuitarLegend said:
...I don't know how I would add reverb to the cans while tracking dry. The mic goes to the mixer and back to the phones directly and the output is recorded in the DAW. I don't know how I would give verb to the phones and get a dry track...
Click to expand...

You just set up a cue mix (depends on what your mixer can do) and feed the reverb only to the cue mix.

You can use the Aux Send/Receive section...you can use mixer groups, send the mic to two, use one for the dry DAW out and the other to feed the headphone mix w/reverb...etc...etc.

When using outboard preamps, I send the mic signal to the pre and the pre output directly to my recording device (tape deck or DAW)...then I take the output from the tape deck or the fold-back from the DAW interface, and feed that to my mixer where I have my cue mix and where I add the reverb.
All depends on the gear and setup you are using, but there are a few ways to do it.

I do the same thing when recording guitars. I like some reverb, but I never get it from the the amp, rather I only add it to the cue mix, but the recorded guitar signal is dry. Then during mixdown I will add exactly the amount/type of reverb I want.

Everyone has their prefs...but I just find 100% dry tracks to be rather flat/dead...and somewhat unnatural sounding.
Yesterday I was listening to some You Tube clips of a local band that they recorded in their rehearsal space, and while not a stellar rehearsal space, they recorded everything 100% dry, including the lead vocals/guitars...and it sounds so dull/blunt...the sound just dies abruptly on every word/note. Very unnatural sounding to me.
 
miroslav said:
but I just find 100% dry tracks to be rather flat/dead...and somewhat unnatural sounding.
Click to expand...

Not only unnatural, but sometimes unpleasant. An instrument's sound does not exist in isolation of the environment in which it is played. In most performing environments there is a natural reverb, and the instrument's (or voice's) sound is an amalgam what comes out plus what happens in the room. Tracking in a very dry studio removes (for the most part) the component of sound that is developed within the room . . . which is why we need to add something back.

Having said that, there are times when very dry recordings have their own appeal. One is the sense of intimacy and proximity that they can generate (specially voice). But instruments such as flute or violin sound pretty ordinary without a sense of space and air.
 
gecko zzed said:
...there are times when very dry recordings have their own appeal. One is the sense of intimacy and proximity that they can generate (specially voice). But instruments such as flute or violin sound pretty ordinary without a sense of space and air.
Click to expand...

I agree.
When mixing, I'll usually have some tracks 100% dry...while other will have varying degrees of reverb, and some may be just a pure, single delay kind of thing. The contrast between them creates a nice depth, and you can then push something more forward, by using less reverb (or none)...but the overall mix still has some life to it.
You have to get it right...otherwise it can also sound weird, like when having super dry drums and bass...but the guitars sound like they are in an arena. :D
 
I agree with the above. Varying amounts and types of verbs and delays on tracks (including some completely dry) can really create more depth to my ear than simply applying varying amounts of the same verb to all tracks.

Depends on what you're going for I guess...a band playing in a room sound, or something a little more dynamic, while maybe less "realistic".

For some reason, I often seem to pan drier stuff (except for bass) wider while pushing more reberated sounds (vocals, lead guitar, etc.) towards the center.

Other reasons I tend to imprint verb on vocals while tracking are my limited FX processing power with my set-up (can only use 2 FX at any given time), and my fear that if I leave all such decisions until the end, I might get caught up in endless tweaking and second guessing. At some point (earlier than most apparently), I like to commit to a sound and move on.
 
Looks like this thread veered off into another direction.

I'm pretty sure the OP was about adding reverb while tracking, but NOT printing it, for the sake of making the singer (supposedly) more comfortable. Now we're talking about mixing techniques. Nothing wrong with that, but I just wanted to point out that 2 different groups of people here are talking about 2 different things.
 
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