How do you mix the 'verb?

[frist44]

I saw a hint of this on another post and became a little interested in it. My monitoring chain is a DAC-1 into dynaudio bm6's. Needless to say, when i got it all hooked, I was amazed at how much reverb I could actually hear on some of my favorite records that i couldn't hear anywhere else.

So this brings on the question:

how much do you use when you mix? I'm going to hook up a pair of crappy radio shack speakers soon just as a final check fore mixdown and balance issues. If i balance the reverb where it's just audible on the bm6's, I would never hear it in the car or home stereo or boombox, or whever else it's played, so do most people get the verb up on the crappy speakers and then down a bit, so it sits a little more audible?

what are your reverb techniques?

Brandon

[DirkB]

No set concept overhere. Just trying to balance it right and error on the dry side. If I use some more reverb on the lead vocal, I usually get the pre-delay a little up (around 50ms). When I need some more verb on the snare to make it cut through, I usually make the verb time shorter and pan the stereo reverb input a little to the center to make the verb more mono...

Just some hints.

Greetings,
Dirk

[NathanEldred]

I err on the dry side too, because once it hits the tape (1/4" @ 15ips) and a final mastering limiter the reverb definitely sounds more noticeable, by about 5-10%.

[jpaudio]

The trick for me (and it took me a while to figure this out) is to tweak such that the verb is enhancing without being obvious... the kinda enhancement you can't always hear but you miss when it's gone, if that makes any sense. Past couple of projects I did were super-dry and relied mainly on delays to creat space when needed, but i've found a few programs that, with a little project-specific tweaking, are a wonderful enhancement without screaming "80's"

FWIW, I feel pretty strongly that at least once, perferably in the beginning of your career, everyone needs to really screw up a project with verb and FX before they can learn to be tasteful with them. I butchered a mix when i first purchased my TC units, then I was pretty allergic to verb for about a year, now i've learned how and when to use it effectively.

[MASSIVE Master]

I hate to just say "yeah" but that about sums it up for me.

I try not to keep it dry like a martini, but I don't want to really notice it... Once you can actually "hear" it, it's probably too much. Of course, if it's being used for a specific or stinger effect, go with your gut. I just make it a point to mute the verb about as often as I consult the "mono" button.

It comes up all the time here (during mastering) when projects that are a little verb-heavy come in... If they keep it a bit dry, I can always add a bit during mastering to open it up a little.

[djui5]

It's amazing even on those crappy little boom boxes how much verb you can hear if you listen closely...if it wasen't there you'd defenialty notice it.

Make a mix and put some verb on the lead vox...just enough so you start to notice it...then bounce the mix. Now do another mix and bypass the verb...then listen to both on a crappy boom box so you can hear the difference.

This is what we call critical listening and teaching your ears to hear what is needed to be a good engineer/mixer.