Creating a front, middle, and back of the mix, with reverb

#1

I am curious what the go-to reverb types are for the front of the mix, the middle of the mix, and the back of the mix?

I know this is up for debate depending on the type of music you are mixing, but I am curious what people would generally use for the front, the middle, and the back of a mix. For example, I know plates are great for the front of the mix, a room is likely a good choice for the middle, and a hall is probably great for the back of a mix…

Would love to hear everyones thoughts!

Cheers,

#2

I’m still learning to use reverb types too and I think it is a great question. Maybe a chamber will fit better than a room for the middle because it sounds more musical ?

#3

It is also as you say down to the genre and even individual taste. I like big cathedral type lush reverbs, but then really tightly controlled with sidechaining and EQ. I am doing trance, so everything to me is an anthem!!

#4

I am doing Trance too and some reverbs on leads and pads can be like 5 to maybe 12 seconds long. And even if my main melodies are played by leads, I want to send them in a big/huge reverb like a hall. So yes it depends with the style also I think.

#5

On those leads, I use 2 sidechains. One to get the reverb out of the way of the kick and one to get them out of the way of the transient of the lead itself. I create an exact duplicate of the main reverb FX channel to keep the lead in the same ‘room’, then sidechain the newly duplicated FX channel to the lead I am sending to it. This allows the initial attack of the notes to not be washed away with reverb. Then it’s just about how much sidechaining so that you get the lush reverb, but without it becoming a mush…

#6

Awesome Thanks guys!

#7

Front

  • plates are great as they have no depth - 2D
  • rooms with no late reflections are great for the front, reverb without the depth
  • small rooms are also good for front or that space in-between front and middle.

Middle

  • chambers are great for front of middle
  • large rooms and medium halls are great for the middle

Back

  • large halls and cathedrals - I like to use convolution reverbs for the back, the natural response creates more perceived depth compared to its algorithmic counterparts.

Other things I keep in mind when programming reverbs; in general, the further away the sound, the softer the attack, the more defused and the more high frequencies are rolled off. Sounds that are emanating from a distance are also mono, so if your large hall is not sitting in the back of your mix, try narrowing the stereo width on the reverb or using a mono reverb.