Creating a sense of depth - How?

[dcwave]

Using delay and eq to get a sence of front to back depth in a mix instead of or along with verb. How?
Tips? Tricks?

 

[masteringhouse]

Using delay and eq to get a sence of front to back depth in a mix instead of or along with verb. How?
Tips? Tricks?

Emulate the real world. Distant sounds tend to lose high end, so if you want something to sound more distant, try a shelving EQ and reduce freqs any where around 6K and up. Also try EQing your reverb/delay or aux send to the verb/delay for a more realistic effect.

Next consider delay times and the speed of sound.

distance = speed of sound*time or
delay time = distance/speed of sound

for example speed of sound is approx 1100ft/sec so to simulate something being a foot away from the source:

delay = 1/1100 = .001 secs (rounded)

Use this as an indicator of early reflections in a room. After early reflections the room builds up "reverb". So you will most likely want to delay the reverb so that it is delayed a bit from the early reflections as these will hit your ear first. The EQ and density of the verb will depend on the size of the room that you are trying to create along with things like the absorption coefficient of the room materials (a tile room will be brighter than a room with carpeted walls).

Use this stuff as a starting point and experiment.

 

[scottboyher]

Emulate the real world. Distant sounds tend to lose high end, so if you want something to sound more distant, try a shelving EQ and reduce freqs any where around 6K and up. Also try EQing your reverb/delay or aux send to the verb/delay for a more realistic effect.

Next consider delay times and the speed of sound.

distance = speed of sound*time or
delay time = distance/speed of sound

for example speed of sound is approx 1100ft/sec so to simulate something being a foot away from the source:

delay = 1/1100 = .001 secs (rounded)

Use this as an indicator of early reflections in a room. After early reflections the room builds up "reverb". So you will most likely want to delay the reverb so that it is delayed a bit from the early reflections as these will hit your ear first. The EQ and density of the verb will depend on the size of the room that you are trying to create along with things like the absorption coefficient of the room materials (a tile room will be brighter than a room with carpeted walls).

Use this stuff as a starting point and experiment.

Great points there!