6 reverb tricks that always work

Reverb is one of the most important tools a mixer/producer can use when it comes to making great music.

Yet, it’s very often abused and misused. In the wrong hands, reverb can create more damage than good. I’ve already written about that here and I highly recommend you check it out.

With that said, it’s a very powerful and creative tool when used wisely.
 

Here are 6 reverb tricks you can use that ALWAYS work…

1. Create a sense of certainty: We all crave familiarity. Reverb can be used to simulate real world spaces and environments in which we’re comfortable. Halls, rooms, chambers etc. are all familiar to us, so positioning our instruments appropriately will help the listener. So, think of the space you want to replicate and start there.
2. Add variety: As human beings, we also want to hear something fresh and new. Our sense of certainty of what we expect to hear can be thrown into disarray when reverb is used in a creative way and it doesn’t exactly replicate a natural space. That creates a fresh, interesting sound. Start with a few unexpected elements and increase once you feel comfortable and it suits the song.
3. Reverb for emphasis: There will always be some elements in a mix that are more important than others. There’s a limited amount of space and headroom, so the stars of the show need to be defined. Reverb can be used to push the less important elements further back in the mix and allow them the space they need, while keeping more important elements up front. Or you can reverse the roles and push something like your lead vocal back in the mix but keep more sporadic percussive sounds up front.
4. Create connection: When I was talking about contrast last week, I mentioned that there’s often a contrast between what’s happening in he verse and the chorus. You could use reverb to have a very intimate verse with a dry vocal and then a bigger, layered vocal chorus with wet vocals. The intimate verse creates that connection the listener needs and the chorus gives the big pay-off that the listener is waiting for to give them that sense of certainty. Or… you can reverse the roles to add variety.
5. Improve meaning: As reverb is a tool that can literally help you create a sense of space and design a world for the listener, it can also provide great improvements to the meaning of a song or the lyrics in a song. There’s the classic story of when Tony Visconti used three vocal microphones on David Bowie’s vocals for ‘Heroes’ and positioned them at various distances. The second and third microphone were gated and would only open once a certain level of signal hit them – meaning that when Bowie shouted, the microphones opened. Not only do those room mics create a more natural reverb sound but they also add to the meaning of the song and the passion of the lyrics.
6. Play with the timing:  It’s really valuable for us to remember that reverb is a time-based effect. Yes, that means it can affect the timing of the overall piece of music. Too much reverb on your drums can mean your vocals and guitars go out of time or your bass has fallen out of time and then you’re chasing your tail. If you find that reverb is throwing your music out of time, then work on the decay time you’ve set. If you have it dialled in correctly, you won’t experience those issues. It’s also worth remembering that this effect can be used creatively. Perhaps you want to temporarily alter the timing of your music and you can use reverb to do that for you.

Now, as always, it’s important to have examples of what I’m talking about. So, this week’s playlist includes some of these examples and I’ve broken them down for you below.

Take a listen to the 10 tracks in the list and see if you can pick out the 6 tricks above in each of them.

The whole process will take you about 30-45 minutes and I guarantee you that you’ll have a much better understanding of reverb once you give it a go.

And if you get stuck, you can always have a read through my breakdown below for some pointers.
 
Here’s the YouTube version:

 

 

(Please note that the tracks listed above are part of a live Spotify playlist and are updated weekly. They might not match the information below!)

 

1. 24kGoldn – CITY OF ANGELS’
   – The panned guitar intro is very clear and catches the ear straight away.
   – Repetition is key when it comes to creating hooks. The vocal melody is full of repetition.
   – The drum pattern is kept sparse and often drops out to add emphasis to the music and vocals.
   – The second chorus features some vocal harmonies and extra guitar parts to help thicken it out.
   – Overall, the production is quite sparse and relies heavily on the opening guitar riff.

2. Allocai – ‘Cloud9’
   – This is a very “reverb-heavy” production. You can hear that straight away in the verse vocals.
   – Notice the pre-chorus vocals have a lot of distortion on them to add tension? Remember that from last week?
   – Reverb is used to create front to back depth. By adding reverb to various elements in the mix, the producer/mixer is able to create a greater sense of depth and add more emphasis to elements based on how important they are. Notice how “pushed back” the guitar stabs sound and how present the claps are?
   – The effects and the reverb-heavy nature of this track match the nature of the lyrics and the theme of the song, such as “Trapped inside my brain can’t escape from my own mind”.

3. SBTRKT, Little Dragon – ‘Wildfire’
   – Drum-only intros are hard to pull off. ‘Wildfire’ does this really well as that beat is tight!
   – That verse synth is interesting. All the filters help to avoid it feeling static and create a sense of motion in the piece.
   – Listen to the backing vocals in the chorus. They’re very heavily processed. Can you pick out the effects that have been used?
   – Verse 2 starts without a drum beat and it’s then slowly re-introduced from 1:22 onwards with a rapidly pitched down tom sample.
   – The sense of space is preserved well in this mix. For the most part, there are only a few elements used to create the production, with other parts and pieces of sound design entering at various locations.

4. Beatrice Dillon – ‘Workaround Two’
   – I love how round the kick sounds in this. It’s a blend of a kick drum and sub that makes the low end feel very full.
   – The mix of heavily affected brass and synth sounds very much appeals to my ear.
   – Notice how far back the vocals sound due to the processing? The drums are much more up front in comparison.
   – The guitar is used in a weird and fascinating way as well.
   – I find this whole piece very interesting to listen to and analyse. The mix of organic and programmed sounds really works well.

5. Casiio, Sling Dilly – ‘Ol’ Chip’
   – The start of this track almost sounds like elevator music.
   – The intro has been treated with a filter that makes it sound like it’s coming out of a gramophone. At 0:11, it then opens up as the beat enters.
   – Again, the beat is very simple here. It’s a 4/4 beat with a shuffle groove to it.
   – The double bass is a nice addition to the mix and really helps the groove shine through.
   – Without over-analysing this, it’s a piece of music that caught my ear and I thought I’d share it with you.

6. Khalid, Disclosure – ‘Know Your Worth’
   – This is a very up front modern pop vocal sound. Notice that reverb is used a lot less in comparison to some of the earlier tracks you’ve heard.
   – As I spoke about in last week’s list, there is a contrast between the verse and chorus vocals. The chorus vocals are much more wet, layered and reverb heavy. That pushes them back in the mix. The verse vocal is more intimate.
   – I find the sound of the snare/clap quite appealing in this. It sounds like a sampled tennis ball.
   – That makes sense because the overall production of the song is very “bouncy” (getting technical now!).
   – This is Khalid’s second collaboration with Disclosure.
   – The song’s lyrics are very simple in theme. Know your worth in a relationship and make sure you don’t lose your sense of self.

7. Bonalt, Ernest Noah – ‘Let Me’
   – The guitar intro is nicely played and again panned wide.
   – That guitar intro treatment instantly reminds me of ‘Wake Me Up’ by Avicii or ‘Die Young’ by Kesha. They both use filters on guitars. ‘Wake Me Up’ is closer to ‘Let Me’ as the filter is open at the start and then closes down on the guitars, slowly opening up again over time.
   – The production style in general is quite similar to ‘Wake Me Up’.
   – It makes sense that Bonalt’s style would be similar to Avicii or Galantis, as he is also a Swedish EDM producer.

8. Mike Posner – ‘Wide Open’
   – I love Mike Posner’s 2019 album, A Real Good Kid. It’s meant to be listened to in one sitting from start to finish but this is an extract from the album.
   – The reverb on the vocals helps to provide a deep, atmospheric sound to the track.
   – The panning, filtering and overall level of the reverb is also played with to create an interesting effect.
   – You’ll hear that the acoustic guitar remains in the forefront for the most part of the first minute of the track with everything else sitting in behind it.
   – The shaker and rimshot are also prominent when introduced in the second verse… even more up front than the lead vocal.
   – I like how the piece is split into acoustic folk and electronic sections with heavier beats.

9. The 1975 – ‘Somebody Else’
   – The panned vocal effects at the start are very nice and heavily affected with reverb.
   – The claps have a lot of reverb on them and they’re pushed far back in the mix.
   – The intro vocals are also pushed quite far back in the mix. It’s not until we hear the lyrics, “I don’t want your body” that the lead vocals come a bit closer to us.
   – This song is a perfect example of how you can use reverb as a “front to back pan pot”. If you analyse each element, you can hear how reverb positions it in the mix.
   – The vocal pitch and panning effects from 3:26 onwards are done really well.
   – I’d also like to mention how much I like the bass in this song. The synth bass is prominent and is the driving force of the track.

10. Kendrick Lamar – ‘The Art of Peer Pressure’
    – Rap and hip hop records don’t traditionally use a lot of reverb on the vocals but you can hear the reverb tails on Kendrick’s vocals straight away when they come in.
    – That all changes at 1:26 in the second section of the track. The vocals are now up front and the beat is filtered and wet with reverb.
    – The panning of the beat at this point is interesting – the kick is out on the left and other panning decisions are unorthodox.
    – Listen to the synth strings at 2:18. It’s not just fader level that has them pushed that far in the mix. It’s reverb.
    – The dark beat is sampled from ‘Helt Alene’ by Suspekt – a Danish hip hop group.

     
     
    Take some of these notes away, make your own and implement what you’ve learned when you’re making your own music. I have no doubt that they will help you.
     
     

    Remember that if you like what you hear, then please hit that ‘Follow’ button on Spotify and follow the playlist!

     
    

    Now, I’d love to know…

    
    Have you ever used these reverb tricks? Have they worked for you?
     
    Leave a comment below!

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