We could probably talk for hours about delay and reverb in home recording, but for now I’ll just give some basic advice – you’ll be able to put this into practice with all the major consumer digital audio workstations, including Garageband, Logic and Cubase.
When starting out with your home recording setup it’s tempting just to cover every track with reverb. I’d be a bit wary of this: try listening to some of your favourite records of the last 10 years or so and you might be surprised at how little obvious reverb there is on there. Experiment with short reverb times, making your tracks sound a bit more ‘live’ without sounding like they’re being performed in a stadium, a cave or Westminster Abbey. Try using more than one reverb at once, especially on vocals. If your software has the capability, always put your reverbs on what’s known as an auxiliary track (you won’t manage this with Garageband). This is a separate track with its own volume control, that you send whatever you want reverb on to. So you can control the volume of your original track, and the reverb. Try having the reverb quite quiet, giving a more subtle effect.
I’m a fan of subtlety when it comes to delay as well. I remember when I got my first delay pedal (a Boss DD3) and played my guitar through it, I was thoroughly amazed at the almost infinite delays and massive washes of sound it could produce. This, however, is more of a one-off effect. Try using a bit of slap-back delay (just one repeat) or short delay times. Here’s an example of what a bit of slap-back can do to a guitar part.
Before:
After:
As is the case with most effects, just experiment. But personally I find subtlety to be the key when it comes to reverbs and delays.
And finally…
In general, I would advise that you just mess around with all the effects, and try to ignore what you think is the “right” thing to do. If you reckon big reverbs are what will make your track sound good, give it a go with small ones. If you think certain things need to be panned to the centre, try the opposite. It’s just a matter of trying everything out and getting lots of practice in. Eventually you’ll stumble across some favourite little techniques that can help develop your signature sound.
SoundShift is a professional recording studio in Potters Bar, just north of London. We offer a range of audio-related services at very reasonable prices, with friendly and highly experienced staff.
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