What is a reverb?
If you’ve used a DAW, you’ve probably heard of reverb. While it may seem simple, it has a huge impact on electronic music.
I believe that reverb and delay are the most commonly used effects in music production. However, you can’t simply add them – you need to know how to use them properly.
Let me provide a brief introduction and definition of reverb (which is not the same thing as echo). Reverb is the reflection of sound.
When a sound is emitted from a point, it bounces off walls and any other objects in its path and is sent back. Usually, solid objects reflect sound.
When recording in a studio, precautions are taken to avoid reverb. Most studios have materials that absorb reverb.
When recording vocals, it’s best to avoid reverb. The reverb and delay effects should be added after the voice has been recorded.
This is because if you record a voice with a reverb, you can’t remove it later.
Why do we use the reverb effect?
There is a reason behind any effect used, most of which is to transform the sound in some way.
Sometimes it’s simply easier to make the sound more interesting by using effects.
Reverb is used so much because it gives warmth to the mix.
Without reverb, a melodic line can feel empty, and that emptiness will never be able to transmit emotion.
Adding a little reverb changes everything. The reverb sweetens the sound, like a secret ingredient in sweets.
The delay effect fills the space between musical notes.
If you have a creation in which the notes are far apart and you don’t add any reverb, it will sound cold.
In this case, it’s recommended to use a little reverb.
This gives a nice feeling and a more satisfying result.
There are various techniques for using reverb. Some producers tend to put more reverb on sounds with transients.
When you add reverb to a compressed sound (one that doesn’t have transients), you overload it.
Sounds with transients have some space between them, and that space is filled by the reverb.
The role of reverb is to fill the space between notes, giving a special atmosphere.
A dry sound will never impress the listener.
Usually, on the mixer channel, this effect is sent separately.
In FL Studio, sends are used so that reverb is not on the same channel as the dry sound.
Another possibility is to record the sound with the reverb effect, export it as a wave, and then import it back.
This way, you have complete control over it with panning, volume, etc. The reverb should not be on the same channel as the dry sound.
Despite its seemingly simple sound, reverb has many uses.
There are many techniques and ways of using reverb, some of which I’ve listed here.
I’ll describe some more in a future article. Reverb effects have a lot of parameters, depending on the VST you use.
You can control the filters, decay, and use more or less reverb, and each VST has a balance between wet and dry.
I recommend using more complex VSTs for the sounds you are simulating.
Although they may have a relatively large number of parameters, they give you more possibilities and access to more techniques.
In the next article, I’ll describe in more detail how to use these techniques.
Until then, please leave a comment below and let me know what else you’d like to know about reverb.
Thank you for reading!