Har-Bal Users Forum BBS

Quick couple of questions...

If you're going for a tight/clean reverb sound, like for dance music,
I usually do 60 seconds divided by the tempo, then multiply by two
if a longer time is desired...

My question is, when dealing with pre-delay, even small amounts like
20 ms, in order to maintain the right timing would you do 60 seconds
divided by the tempo then subtract the pre-lelay, so the reflection
is essentially the same?? or am I totally over-thinking this?

My other question, in mixing the instrumental part of a song, is it
best to use just one reverb usually, so that the instruments all "gel"
and sound like they're part of the same environment? Also, is it better
to roll off the high end EQ the same as with vocal reverb?

Thanks!!

Adam

Hi Adam ,

Regards the length of predelay .... if it is under ~ 40 ms , it won't be perceived as a separate delay ( Hass precedence effect ) .. so I wouldn't worry too much ...
As to the time of it ... the important thing is that it is a multiple of BPM ... often 1/4 , 1/8 , 1/16 beats etc .

Regards reverb use ... there's many diffent ways .... but it's a general principle to have one reverb to 'glue' stuff ... even if each instrument has a different reverb on it ....

Regards the colour of your reverb ... that's an artistic choice ... though a natural sound usually involves some top-end roll-off ( to simulate behaviour in a room ) ...
That said , you may want a bright reverb behind a bass ... which may involve a bass-cut ( common trick to remove 'muddiness' .... )
One aspect to consider is where you want your reverb to sit with reference to the illusion of height in your sound-stage .... bass loaded reverb will tend to hang on the floor ... and 'toppy' reverb , float higher ...

Cheers ,

Evan .