Help with reverb...?

[jalan]

I'd like to add some reverb to my guitars, post tracking, and could use some help in terms of the best way to do it, good settings, etc.

I'm thinking that routing them through a reverb bus might be the best bet, but didn't know if there were some other options that might work well.

Also, I don't want much verb -- not really even noticable, just enough to bring them to life a bit. I recorded them direct -- and completely dry -- with my POD so there's no room ambience or anything.

Most everything I've tried so far either sounds weird (with this ringy feedback) or is too much, like I'm in Madison Square Garden.

Any advice or tips are appreciated. I've never added verb post recording, so this is new territory for me. Thanks in advance!

[Tallisman]

There are many options to choose from. It is probably wise to have several verb-weapons in your arsenal.

any reverb worthy of taking up space on your hard drive will have controls that enable you to shape the sound of the reverb. Tail length, width, etc...

I am a big fan of impulse reverbs, like ReaVerb, whihc is installed with Reaper. But to get the best out of it you need to also have a collection of impulses.

you may also want to experiment with delay. I find that often the reverb I am looking for is actually a delay!

cheers
.t

[Ollie]

Also, I don't want much verb -- not really even noticable, just enough to bring them to life a bit. I recorded them direct -- and completely dry -- with my POD so there's no room ambience or anything.

This contains almost the answer to your questions: You don't want much reverb, not even noticeable and you miss the room ambience on the dry POD signal - add a short room ambience then! :) It doesn't really sound like reverb and with lenght, pre-EQ and damping you can control the liveliness of the ambience, which actually melts together with the guitar signal.

I recommend reading about reverb a bit:

Reverb primer / overview:
http://www.geocities.com/gitaarwerk/fxexp/reverb/Reverb.htm

"Advanced Reverb" article on SOS:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Oct01/articles/advancedreverb1.asp?session=bf5e5890a44b01291ff495 07740da52f

"Advanced Reverb" part 2:
http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/Nov01/articles/advancedreverb2.asp?session=8f63d3f9a6f9125bc7ad6b c7d6d5ad92

[jalan]

Thanks for the replies.

Tallisman: Could you tell me where I might be able to find reverb impulses?

Steindork: Same question -- where might I find, or how do I dial in, a good room ambience verb?

Also, any thoughts on applying it directly to the track vs. running it through a reverb bus? Advantages? Disadvantages?

[labyrinth]

Check out the ones at Prosoniq (they're free).

http://www.prosoniq.com/downloads/#ir

[Tallisman]

Here is a great place to start:
http://noisevault.com/nv/

lots to learn there and many impulses to be had.
and here is a place to grab another super impulse reverb - one that is a little simpler to use then ReaVerb (albeit not as reaperific)
http://www.knufinke.de/sir/sir1.html

greetings
.t

[richlum]

One thing I learnt that helped with my use of reverb was to use 2 reverbs - a short and a long (I use impulses) on 2 separate AUXs and then dial in a bit to each to taste.

Also another useful tip I got was adjust the reverb to what you think is right - then pull it back a little bit.

[gregh]

Also another useful tip I got was adjust the reverb to what you think is right - then pull it back a little bit.

yeah - if you're thinking "is there a bit too much reverb on this" then there is :)

also i'm trying to put individual reverb on instruments that are meant to be in the same space - variations of the same impulse maybe, or very short impulses - and then wrap all of those into another reverb with a performance type of space.

i'd also echo (oh no!) tallisman's comments about delay. You can position instruments in a space by applying delay, or applying a little delay to the first reflections of the reverb (if it has that facility). What you are trying to do is mimic that the sound comes out of the speaker and hits a wall and then comes back - that trip takes time.