I'm too stupid to reverb

[R.U.Nuts]

Maybe this thread belongs to the Production techniques forum?

Sorry, until now I didn't even know that such a sub forum exists. I mostly hang out at the eurocrack bar. Am I too dumb to forum, too?

[mishap]

Maybe this thread belongs to the Production techniques forum?

Sorry, until now I didn't even know that such a sub forum exists. I mostly hang out at the eurocrack bar. Am I too dumb to forum, too?

Probably not. Which forum to post in is often a crapshoot and, IMHO, you did just fine.

[Kattefjaes]

It's really hard to give useful advice about this kind of thing on this forum because people here make all kinds of weird (often awesome) music where typical guidelines don't apply. This comment is based on my experience with relatively conventional music that isn't typically using reverb as a "pay attention to me" effect a-la-80's-ballads but as a tool to create depth in a mix...

I was trying to articulate something like this but couldn't quite put my finger on it. There's a lot more you can do with reverb than place a sound in space. Mind you, I way always the kid who re-purposed those conical lego trees for other weird roles in any construct, too.

[sleestack808]

I’ll paste something from a Daniel Lanois interview that I found interesting.
It’s about chords not clashing. You could do this with a looper pedal. Or daw

“In recent times, I've taken an interest in not having long sustains carry through chords: if I've got a stretch of ascending notes, I'll queue up the machine right on the note of the resolve so one note will not bump into the other. I'll play a note and print that, then I'll print the next note separately, and then the next note separately…

It keeps passages more kinetic note-to-note as opposed to being a total wash.

Exactly, you get this overall effect where there's no smearing or bleeding. It's like the opposite of the Taj Mahal.”

[wolfelli]

I’ll paste something from a Daniel Lanois interview that I found interesting.
It’s about chords not clashing. You could do this with a looper pedal. Or daw

“In recent times, I've taken an interest in not having long sustains carry through chords: if I've got a stretch of ascending notes, I'll queue up the machine right on the note of the resolve so one note will not bump into the other. I'll play a note and print that, then I'll print the next note separately, and then the next note separately…

It keeps passages more kinetic note-to-note as opposed to being a total wash.

Exactly, you get this overall effect where there's no smearing or bleeding. It's like the opposite of the Taj Mahal.”

This reminds me of an idea: using CV to control reverb like a sustain pedal on a piano. So every section where the harmony changes or you want a “pedal up” you make the size and/or decay time small. Then when you want reverb use CV to make those values large again. Clocked probably would work best or trigger it off note gates.
Thoughts on this approach?

[Kattefjaes]

I did something much more oafish, I used sidechain to duck reverb tails for interesting rhythmic effects:



(If you skip to 2m15 or so, there's a bit of it, and it comes back at about 2m57)

[sleestack808]

Sound like a great idea

I’ll paste something from a Daniel Lanois interview that I found interesting.
It’s about chords not clashing. You could do this with a looper pedal. Or daw

“In recent times, I've taken an interest in not having long sustains carry through chords: if I've got a stretch of ascending notes, I'll queue up the machine right on the note of the resolve so one note will not bump into the other. I'll play a note and print that, then I'll print the next note separately, and then the next note separately…

It keeps passages more kinetic note-to-note as opposed to being a total wash.

Exactly, you get this overall effect where there's no smearing or bleeding. It's like the opposite of the Taj Mahal.”

This reminds me of an idea: using CV to control reverb like a sustain pedal on a piano. So every section where the harmony changes or you want a “pedal up” you make the size and/or decay time small. Then when you want reverb use CV to make those values large again. Clocked probably would work best or trigger it off note gates.
Thoughts on this approach?

[sir stony]

Probably depends heavily on the effects unit used. Not all reverb units take well to real-time change of parameters.

[mrbloor]

I was a bit obsessed with reverbs, pretty much had a ton & moved them on. I've settled on a spring with the modular, I love spring reverb & I love feedback so it's very much a creative effect but agree just for a reverb effect I tend to have it barely on & choose a few percussive voices to put through it.

A few years back my setup was totally different & my favourite reverb technique can be heard in the percussion on this track.



I keep meaning to revisit the technique, basically I played the percussion track through a set of bone transducers attached to an old zither & recorded the sound inside the zither. I've experimented with other instruments, cupboards, shower cubicles & very resonant rooms using a variety of transducers attached to objects & also speakers just playing in the space.

Of course this is nothing new but I do like the sound of a physical space, however large or small.