Andy Wallace vocal reverb sound

Gershwin · 29th September 2011

Hello gearslutz,

I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the types and chains of time based effects Andy Wallace uses on vocals. I have really been loving the thickness and warmth he gets out of what (people tend to say) is a very simple setup.

I have read that he just uses a small room, plate, and delay. However, simply auxing to these and blending does not seem to provide that same crisp yet warm and fat sound he gets.

Although there's good examples of it in all his mixes, grace by Jeff Buckley is full if it, and the verses from lithium especially have a wonderful dry yet wet quality. There are also vocal multi tracks available on YouTube of "drain you" if my memory serves.

Let me know if you have any thoughts on the matter/opinions.

Ill start by saying the closest I've come is a small room on aux, and a delay on a separate aux feeding a dark plate reverb.

Screws · 29th September 2011

Just chiming in to say I would love to hear about this as well. Eager to see what anyone may know.

Beyersound · 29th September 2011

A lot of it is the quality of the vocal feeding it. The tracking, compression, and final EQ of it. Also the time and care taken to properly edit/program your reverbs, delays, etc. Take an un-EQed vocal and send it into a plate or hall reverb, then punch in your properly tweaked EQ and you will see how much this really affects the sound of it. If you take a critical listen to "Grace", you will notice that there is not one bit of flabbiness to that vocal, it is very clean, tight and "natural" sounding. It is also not overcompressed (sounds like lots of fader riding is used as well), that record is very dynamic, the vocals are no exception. I hear people on here saying how much they don't like this or that perfectly good reverb unit, most of them just expect to push up the return and have things be perfect. You really do have to "get under the hood" to get what you want. As far as simple setup, it is more common than you would think. Clearmountain for example, has used mostly Yamaha reverbs and delays. He keeps it fairly simple as well. There is a reason not everyone is great at mixing, not everyone can do this, it really takes some care, knowledge, skill, and commitment to excellence, as well an open mind to learn with.

skythemusic · 29th September 2011

Not reverb related but mixing on an SSL and doing lots of bussing and bus compression is certainly part of his sound.

29th September 2011	#1
Gershwin Gear interested Joined: Sep 2011 Posts: 5 Thread Starter	Andy Wallace vocal reverb sound Hello gearslutz, I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the types and chains of time based effects Andy Wallace uses on vocals. I have really been loving the thickness and warmth he gets out of what (people tend to say) is a very simple setup. I have read that he just uses a small room, plate, and delay. However, simply auxing to these and blending does not seem to provide that same crisp yet warm and fat sound he gets. Although there's good examples of it in all his mixes, grace by Jeff Buckley is full if it, and the verses from lithium especially have a wonderful dry yet wet quality. There are also vocal multi tracks available on YouTube of "drain you" if my memory serves. Let me know if you have any thoughts on the matter/opinions. Ill start by saying the closest I've come is a small room on aux, and a delay on a separate aux feeding a dark plate reverb.

29th September 2011	#2
Screws Lives for gear Joined: Nov 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 733	Just chiming in to say I would love to hear about this as well. Eager to see what anyone may know. __________________ Steve Cruz Cruzified Music Florida

29th September 2011	#3
Beyersound Lives for gear Joined: Dec 2007 Location: Vegas, Norcal Posts: 3,608	A lot of it is the quality of the vocal feeding it. The tracking, compression, and final EQ of it. Also the time and care taken to properly edit/program your reverbs, delays, etc. Take an un-EQed vocal and send it into a plate or hall reverb, then punch in your properly tweaked EQ and you will see how much this really affects the sound of it. If you take a critical listen to "Grace", you will notice that there is not one bit of flabbiness to that vocal, it is very clean, tight and "natural" sounding. It is also not overcompressed (sounds like lots of fader riding is used as well), that record is very dynamic, the vocals are no exception. I hear people on here saying how much they don't like this or that perfectly good reverb unit, most of them just expect to push up the return and have things be perfect. You really do have to "get under the hood" to get what you want. As far as simple setup, it is more common than you would think. Clearmountain for example, has used mostly Yamaha reverbs and delays. He keeps it fairly simple as well. There is a reason not everyone is great at mixing, not everyone can do this, it really takes some care, knowledge, skill, and commitment to excellence, as well an open mind to learn with. __________________ Congratulations 2010 World Champion SF Giants!!! "There is no crying in baseball, there are no rules in recording!!!" www.myspace.com/beyeraudio Michael Beyer

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

29th September 2011	#4
skythemusic Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2008 Posts: 1,110	Not reverb related but mixing on an SSL and doing lots of bussing and bus compression is certainly part of his sound.