Basic Guitar Reverb Techniques

[gtrwizrd567]

So let’s say I have the drums, vocals, and bass centered, then for the guitars I have:

1. Two tracks playing chords panned hard left and right
2. Two tracks playing the same thing panned 50% left and 50% right
3. One track panned 20%
4. One track panned 20%

*the last two tracks are playing separate things

In addition to setting it all up, I have two questions as well:

1. What tracks should I start with first, the chord tracks, the 50% or the 20% tracks?
2. How could I separate the reverb from the guitars panned 20% with the reverb from the vocals?

I understand this is a pretty general question but any advice is greatly appreciated!!

 

[Gtoboy]

with that many guitar tracks I'd be surprised if you have enough space for reverb Seriously though it depends on what youre going for, in other words where in the sound field you want each instrument to be, front to back, near to far etc. and how big you want them to be. you may just want to set up a couple aux sends and have one each long and short reverbs for the entire mix and blend using the channel send faders. If you can decide where you want each instrument to be before you start adding time effects like verb and delay you are halfway there.

 

[JohnnyAmato]

In my opinion, four rhythm tracks playing the same rhythm parts is too much. You'll have a much better stereo spread just using two, one hard left and one hard right. You'll also disguise any particular tones you might like on any specific tracks, with having that many of them they will all combine to kind of make one tone that goes all across the stereo field and kill your separation. Your leaving hardly any room for the vocal to sit, and any lead guitar will also have a hard time poking out.

What are the 20% tracks doing? Leads, melodies? Those also poke through better mono, and right down the center, or a little off-center if vocals are happening at the same time. Stereo leads also seem to poke out a little better if you bring each side in a little bit, so each side isn't directly on top of the rhythm tracks.

All of this will give you better options with reverbs. Having reverb on too many of them, it will add up and make your mix muddy.

If I had to use that many identical rhythm guitar tracks, I would be subtle with reverbs, and maybe only use it on one or two of them. The dry tracks will definitely "borrow" some reverb from the other tracks that have it, especially with that many guitars all playing the same thing across the stereo field.

Post some examples in the MP3 Clinic, I'd be happy to check it out.

 

[mjbphotos]

The 2 tracks that are 'playing the same thing 50% left and 50% right - if the parts are near-dentical, it will just sound like one guitar centered. Same thing if the two hard-panned guitars are not different enough.

 

[jkuehlin]

1. What tracks should I start with first, the chord tracks, the 50% or the 20% tracks?

Doesn't matter. Flip a coin and pick one.

2. How could I separate the reverb from the guitars panned 20% with the reverb from the vocals?

Use different reverbs and put them in different places. Add pre delays to the reverb. Modulation on reverb tails. Maybe use transient enhancements on the tails. Or perhaps distort the tails with a lo-fit plugin. You can also gate the tails. There's a lot of different ways to make a tail sound different than another.