hey...i havebeen putting the standard pro tools reverb on snare drums and bass drums. it does not sound anything like i want. on recordings i listen to that have been done anologly, it sounds so much fuller and warmer. any good outbox reverb units...or pro tools plugins that anyone feels strongly about?
thanks
reverb
2No real advice on what TO buy.
We have the Lexicon protools plugin at work, and the TC Megaverb.
Both are pretty horrible. I hate digital reverb as in reverb plug ins. They sound like shit. They don't sound like rooms, just decaying white noise after any kind of sound.
I do like Klark Tekniks for outboard reverb, really old school digital reverbs but they're GOOD!
The Warm nice sound you are hearing could well just be the sound of a real room! Or that of an actual echo chamber.
Give us more of an idea what you're listening too, and we'll try and help
We have the Lexicon protools plugin at work, and the TC Megaverb.
Both are pretty horrible. I hate digital reverb as in reverb plug ins. They sound like shit. They don't sound like rooms, just decaying white noise after any kind of sound.
I do like Klark Tekniks for outboard reverb, really old school digital reverbs but they're GOOD!
The Warm nice sound you are hearing could well just be the sound of a real room! Or that of an actual echo chamber.
Give us more of an idea what you're listening too, and we'll try and help
reverb
3hey thanks. a great example of the reverb i am hearing is in a song by the band "bongzilla" if any1 has heard of them. the song is called lighten up...drums hae awesome reverb..you can hear it awesome in the begining. if any one cares enouph or is bored enouph i would gladdly send the song to them. -emerica1414@aol.com thanks either way
reverb
7First, we'll try the easy way, because setting up your very own chamber for reverb is difficult... Most reverb plugins do not sound as good as dedicated hardware. BUT "Kind of loud" make a very good sounding plugin reverb. The only problem is that it has silly parameters with pictures of walls and stuff. Try that, it's a good one- I was impressed when I heard it; sounded better than the Lexicon MPX 500 in a direct comparison.
Have you tried adjusting the parameters on the plugin you have? I can't remember the bundled reverb in PT... but even cheap reverbs can sound good if you just roll off the HF on the tail. Also adjust the predelay by ear, or work out the time based on the tempo and time signature of the track. Try the different algorithms- room, plate, chamber etc. You can also try setting the decay time to some musical value, as with the predelay. Those are the most important parameters. Let me know how you get on.
Have you tried adjusting the parameters on the plugin you have? I can't remember the bundled reverb in PT... but even cheap reverbs can sound good if you just roll off the HF on the tail. Also adjust the predelay by ear, or work out the time based on the tempo and time signature of the track. Try the different algorithms- room, plate, chamber etc. You can also try setting the decay time to some musical value, as with the predelay. Those are the most important parameters. Let me know how you get on.
reverb
8In addition , if youre having trouble getting the sound out of your printed room tracks, you can add a little "fakeness" to them which seems to sound less like the "band in a vacuum" thing than a fake verb on the direct tracks. When in the digital realm, I actually like to use the room tracks for my verb plugs... And the kind of loud plug is pretty good, and is better than an mxp500....I concur. An 87, or 414 on omni though...
reverb
9Digital reverbs all sound like shit to me.
go buy a 55 gal. drum and bolt a 18" speaker to the bottom.
crank that bitch up and throw a mic inside.
... poor-mans plate!!!
buy a garden hose ans put a funnel in one end and a mic in the other,
then put a speaker in the funnel all reverse megaphone style and crank that bitch up.
mmmm... hose-y
or just try cutting the hell out of the highs on your reverb send in protools.
leave nothing above 2k!
people are just gonna listen to it through shitty little white ear-bud headphones anyway.
Boom.
go buy a 55 gal. drum and bolt a 18" speaker to the bottom.
crank that bitch up and throw a mic inside.
... poor-mans plate!!!
buy a garden hose ans put a funnel in one end and a mic in the other,
then put a speaker in the funnel all reverse megaphone style and crank that bitch up.
mmmm... hose-y
or just try cutting the hell out of the highs on your reverb send in protools.
leave nothing above 2k!
people are just gonna listen to it through shitty little white ear-bud headphones anyway.
Boom.
reverb
10Here's an alternative -
If you've got Pro-Tools, you do have the advantage of (nearly) unlimited tracks. Get a good pair of omni directional microphones (or, absent that, start with two Radio Shack PZMs) and have them set up in the room of the instrument (or amp) that you are recording acoustically. Experiment with room placement and spacing between them, but try to keep them about the same distance away from the sound source.
Close mic the source, keep it center panned, and keep your two ambient mics panned hard right and left. You can do this for nearly every instrument that you record, or even a mix of instruments playing at the same time. I find this much more satisfying as a starting point than fake reverbs. Even a relatively poor sounding room yields better results than the digital boxes. There are other advantages, although I know someone's going to jump in about phase between the ambient sources and the direct source.
But wait. Aren't there phase problems one could expect with the reverb/plug-in anyway?
Phase. Always fucks me up just when I think I know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, try the ambient stereo mic approach. As for parameters, you can treat the room and space the mics closer/farther to the source and closer/farther to each other. Post recording, you can use the stereo channel of the ambient mics in varying ratio to the direct source.
= Justin
If you've got Pro-Tools, you do have the advantage of (nearly) unlimited tracks. Get a good pair of omni directional microphones (or, absent that, start with two Radio Shack PZMs) and have them set up in the room of the instrument (or amp) that you are recording acoustically. Experiment with room placement and spacing between them, but try to keep them about the same distance away from the sound source.
Close mic the source, keep it center panned, and keep your two ambient mics panned hard right and left. You can do this for nearly every instrument that you record, or even a mix of instruments playing at the same time. I find this much more satisfying as a starting point than fake reverbs. Even a relatively poor sounding room yields better results than the digital boxes. There are other advantages, although I know someone's going to jump in about phase between the ambient sources and the direct source.
But wait. Aren't there phase problems one could expect with the reverb/plug-in anyway?
Phase. Always fucks me up just when I think I know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, try the ambient stereo mic approach. As for parameters, you can treat the room and space the mics closer/farther to the source and closer/farther to each other. Post recording, you can use the stereo channel of the ambient mics in varying ratio to the direct source.
= Justin