Last of my two newbie type questions for a while.

[Barry B]

Reverb and Reel to Reel Questions.

I think I'm getting there but wanted to get some experience and see if these are genuine no no's.

For the reverb question. I'm aiming to buy a reverb unit of some sorts when I see a nice enough one for the right price. In the meantime. Everything is getting mixed on my desk and then two tracked into my computer. No mixing is happening in the computer whatsoever.

My question is this. Is there any problem of me adding a small amount of reverb to a song as a whole as opposed to individual tracks. I've done it a few times and it sounds okay but am still learning and working with what I have so don't want to get into bad habits.

Reel to Reel question now. Part of the stuff I've picked up over the years is a Sony TC-377. I've been using it as a ''through'' I run a couple of cables from my MPC through the TC-377 and back out to the desk.

My question is this actually doing anything or is this a bit of a placebo effect? Ie; am I imagining that the sound is smoother and warmer? Obviously you can't tell this for me but am wondering if this is something other people do. I know that this machine is just a home hi fi from my research so I'm not expecting Quincy Jones/Thiller alnum type clarity lol.

Again if any of this is ''stupid'' lol feel free to put me out of my misery.

 

[RAMI]

Is there any problem of me adding a small amount of reverb to a song as a whole as opposed to individual tracks.

While the standard answer is "If it sounds good to you, then it is good", I have to say that, from personal experience, any time I've heard anyone add reverb to a complete mix, it says weird to me.

I've already had people occasionally take one of my own songs and "master" them for me. Any time anyone has done that and added reverb to the whole mix, it has sounded like shit. Maybe I was supposed to be impressed because it sounded "bigger"....but I wasn't, it sounded like shit.

There are even a few classic rock tunes that have been re-released with reverb on the whole mix and they sound un-natural and crappy to me (FREE's "Alright Now" comes to mind).

Of course, this is just personal opinion based on personal experience. Others might have other opinions and experiences that were favorable.

It comes down to my first sentence: ""If it sounds good to you, then it is good".

 

[gcapel]

If there was a good reason you would do that, I would use very minimal settings.

Also you may try blending a wet with a dry buss. The dry being more up front of coarse. I have heard recordings that would use this technique but with a tremelo effect but only having the wet mix on one side.

 

[Barry B]

Well I've only done it when sending a song to an artists for them to have something to write to. The settings have been on the minimal side so its more of a feel as opposed to hearing the reverb.

I'll have a look for those Free tunes though to get an idea of good and bad usage. Cheers Rami