Question Regarding Reverb/Doubling/Delays

[drpez]

I have read that if you use reverb, doubling, or delays properly, you can achieve a "bigger" sound, but so far I am struggling to do so.

My reverbs are too apparent in the mix. I would just like to enhance the sound I already have, but what I end up with is a very obvious reverb. When I adjust the wet/dry ratio I end up exactly where I began. I especially have this problem on the snare. I have been using a chamber reverb with a lowpass filter on the EQ and a release time of .35-.50 seconds and a hall reverb with a highpass filter on the EQ and a release time of 2.5 to 3 seconds. I am happy with the EQ and compression that I've achieved on the actual snare, but when I try to apply reverb, I seem to detract from the sound as opposed to enhance it.

The delays and doubling are things that I've been trying to use to enhance the rhythm guitar. However, whenever I apply a minimal delay (5-20ms) I get an awful chorus effect. I've tried synching the delay times to the tempo of the song as well but it still sounds like crap when I do that. Any suggestions? As far as doubling goes, that has been minimally effective, but I was curious, should I EQ and compress the doubled guitar differently? Should I pan this guitar away from the original or should I lay them on top of each other?

With all of that being said, I wondering if any of you merciful souls could assist an amateur like myself. If it helps, the music I'm mixing is mostly up tempo music, ranging from hard rock to progressive metal. Also, I'm running ProTools LE 002 and using the Platinum Waves Bundle.

Thank you soooooooooooo much in advance.

[Fishybob]

I use cubase but I assume the process to be the same...

These sort of effects need to be applied via SENDS as apposed to INSERTS. That way you maintain the original source sound and add the effect to it instead of applying the effect directly to source.

I'm sure someone can go through the ins and outs within protools

I hope this helps

[drpez]

Originally Posted by Fishybob

I use cubase but I assume the process to be the same...

These sort of effects need to be applied via SENDS as apposed to INSERTS. That way you maintain the original source sound and add the effect to it instead of applying the effect directly to source.

I'm sure someone can go through the ins and outs within protools

I hope this helps

Unfortunately, I have been using Sends as opposed to Inserts, I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that in the original post. Thank you for the help though.

[reshp1]

For the doubling part, make sure you play the part over again. I.E. do another take, don't just copy the track. Yes you "should" pan the tracks apart, how much depends on the mix. Also, for me, if I want the double to sound different I try to track with a different guitar/amp combo, instead of resorting to EQ and compression (you just can't change the sound enough with those without sounding fake). You can try panning the delayed signal away from the original track too. IMHO, doubling thickens up tracks more than anything else, so I'm a little surprised you aren't getting a noticable affect