Hey guys, I’m curious about how you apply reverb on synth parts. Do you guys use the reverb built in to the synth or deactivate it to use an external reverb processor? I’ve heard that when applying reverb to electronic music you don’t have to be concerned about using the same reverb on all your sounds since synthesized sounds don’t exist inside a real space. But when listening to a breakdown of a trance track that is done well it transports the listener to a certain environment, as though all the sounds are encapsulated in uniform space. When you guys do this, do you deactivate the synth reverbs in favor of a reverb plugin and apply the same reverb via sends, one long, one medium, and one ambient (or something of the sort). Or do you just mix and match reverbs? If so, how do you achieve that spatial uniformity?
I usually switch off the built-in reverbs/delays unless there’s a specific effects I’m using them for. I tend to use so much compression and distortion on stuff that if the reverb is at the start of the chain your sound turns into music-wooooooossshshhhh-music-woooooooosshshsh.br
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I would set up a few busses with different reverbs, I think about 3 or 4 usually, but if something goes to a reverb I will usually send a tiny little bit to all of them because I feel like it ties things together a bit more. In general most dance music is massively unnatural in it’s reverbs, most drums sound like they’re in quite a small room, while the synths and effects sound like they’re in a massive larger-than-life hall. You mentioned the breakdowns encapsulating you in a space - most breakdowns in trance you would drop all the small-room sounds, so you are effectively dumped in a larger-than-life hall. It’s that transition from tight driving section to washed out epic space that will draw you in.
I stick exclusively to Lexplate for reverb never using any in-synth reverbs. Whether this is the right or wrong answer comes to personal choice. Reverb is one of my favorite parts to making a track because it can really change the whole vibe of the song. I’ll use a different reverb for almost every sound(exceptions bass/kick etc…) With this in mind I also use FabFilters Timeless 2 as my delay of choice. These two combined really give me some amazing results and I would say delay is, if anything, more important then reverb. It’s also very important to automate. I hear a bunch of songs with massive reverb just sitting in the middle, which may sound nice, but it won’t sound professional. Have all your delays and reverbs constantly shifting slowly and it will add another 5% towards your production. Just try anything man there’s no right or wrong answer just whatever sounds best in your opinion.