Panning reverb

S

sausy1981

New member
Hi guy's,

I've been really concentrating on how I use reverb in my mixes, My go to plugin is 2caudio aether, I absolutely love this reverb. It's a true stereo reverb so what I've been doing recently is panning my sends to where the instrument is panned in the mix, For example, I have 2 mono electric gtr tracks, one panned left, one panned right, for the left guitar I pan the send left where the instrument is and the same for the right, so the reverb is coming from exactly the same place as the instrument. It seems to open up my mixes a lot, I was just wondering is this a technique that is common and what way do people pan mono signals to a stereo reverb.
Andrew
 
It's not "typical" -- By panning your reverb on a per-source basis, you're losing the cohesion that most are trying to get from using reverb. Instead of "putting the whole mix in one room" you're sort of dividing the mix into a bunch of individual rooms.

I could almost see it (and used to do it on occasion) if you were panning opposite of the source -- Trying to get the reverb from a different spot (reverb from a guitar to the left on the right for example).

THAT ALL SAID: If you like it - and that's what the mix is telling you to do, then do it.
 
Massive Master said:
I could almost see it (and used to do it on occasion) if you were panning opposite of the source -- Trying to get the reverb from a different spot (reverb from a guitar to the left on the right for example).
Click to expand...

I've done this to a degree.....like taking a stereo reverb and then if my track is say, hard left, I''ll pan the reverb about 75% more to the right, but I've never done reverb hard to one side or very tightly focused in one spot (either the same or opposite side as the track).
To me it doesn't sound right to have the reverb all focused/panned in the same spot as the track....I mean, that takes away the whole reverb vibe IMO, and somehow makes it feel a bit like a "tunnel" effect......but hey, if you like it, use it.

One thing to realize....*stereo reverbs* are NOT ever equal on the left and right side if you use them as-is, with their full stereo image. There is always a level/effect difference, and that's where the flavor of the reverb comes from.
When you start to pan the stereo reverb too much to one side or all on one side....it's not stereo reverb any more, and you might as well just use a mono reverb instead.

If you find that hard panning a stereo reverb "opens up" the mix.....maybe you're just using too much reverb to begin with...?
 
Ok, that's interesting, I was reading up a lot on the net about panning reverb sends and I read a lot about panning the send to the same place as the source as it reinforces the instruments position in the stereo field. I may be suffering from a case of trying something new and percieving it as better because it's new, (if you know what I mean). I think I may now be wrong as I've been a member on these forums for a good few years and you 2 guys would be people I would listen to, and would respect all your opinions on all things audio. They do say the use of reverb is what seperates the men from the boys,So I've tried to get much better on using reverb, I suppose I'm still a boy. Back to the drawing board.... :confused:
 
sausy1981 said:
....and you 2 guys would be people I would listen to....
Click to expand...

Well....I could be wrong, though John is rarely wrong. :D
Really, just go with it if it sounds good....there's not going to a be an absolute answer, I only said what/how I use reverb.

The things I pay attention to with reverbs is the type (Hall, Room, etc)... and what kind of decay I want on a given song for the chosen type.
I may use 2-3 instances of the same reverb type in a mix, but on some tracks I may shorten the decay and on others I may lengthen it.
Also...I rarely run a lot of tracks with reverb, and often have many that are dry, or some with just a single delay (time chosen to taste). Mix that with maybe 1-2 key tracks that have some reverb, and you get some decent contrast going and you avoid that reverb wash that can diffuse the whole mix, but you still get the reverb vibe where it counts.
 
Sausy1981,
How does it sound to you ? Forget for a moment whether everyone or no one does it, do you like the sound it gives and are you prepared to stand behind it in what might be the face of unrelenting disagreement and/or scorn ?
 
You'll probably find this pretty interesting. I happened to come across this a few weeks ago so it was easy to find again. The original poster starts out wanting to list or keep track of which are 'true stereo' reverbs.
KVR: Forum Topic - Please list True Stereo Reverbs
Aether's Andrew Souter and Sean Costello of Vahalla quickly expound as to how much and many variations there are in the path and structures of different reverbs, where in their many layers the signals might get tapped', spread and mixed- or not. I hadn't dwelled much on what all might go on under the hood in theses cases? But any simple notions of 'discreet origin and their resulting 'placements in the tails' gets blown wide open here.
Enjoy :)
 
Thanks guys for your replies, Miroslav, I agree with you and try to do what you say, Use the same reverb with different decay times. I also rarely use reverb on my Lead vocal, I always use delay which is timed to the track.
Grim traveller, thanks for your reply, When trying something new I think we all fall in love with the new sound we're trying out and we're not being objective about what we're hearing, this is why I posted the question. I was thinking that if what I was doing was quite common then I must be on the right track, if not then it was a case of liking a new sound just cause I did something different, I hope that makes some sort of sense.
Mixsit, Cheers dude for your reply, again you are one of those people who I would listen to, I have read that thread and it was one the resources that led me to my experimentation.

I now see that this technique is not the norm and that panning reverb sends to the opposite side of the source seems to be the most used technique.
 
I can't figure out why anybody would say that this is unusual. We're not talking about panning the return so that all the verb comes from the same place as the instrument. We're panning the send so that the source of the verb is in the same place as the instrument. In a true stereo (not dual mono) reverb you'll hear some reflections on the right even if the source is all the way left. It is as close as the design allows to what would happen if you actually placed the instrument in a real room, and really the most natural way to do it.

There are good reasons to do it either way, and as in everything the only right way is the way that sounds right for the given material. I quite often just run the stereo mix bus to the true stereo verb. Sometimes I'll have a second, slightly longer and mixed lower with the channels swapped.

There are also times when you want to pan the return. For example, the spring reverb in a guitar amp will come from exactly the same spot as the dry signal, and it doesn't make sense for it to come from someplace else, unless you've got two amps...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top