reverbs - mono or stereo and why?

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reverbs - mono or stereo and why?

Post by permanent hearing damage » Wed Oct 24, 2018 1:10 pm

watched a mix with the masters video where Greg Wells was complaining about overusing stereo reverbs. Admittedly, I had never given much thought to using a mono verb. I guess I always figured stereo would be preferable as I'm usually adding verb to drums or a vocal and want them to feel like they're in a space and to feel a bit bigger. Since, I have experimented with mono verbs here and there, but I'm still not seeing the appeal.

do you use mono verbs? on what kind of sources/what kind of effects are you after to choose mono?

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Re: reverbs - mono or stereo and why?

Post by Magnetic Services » Wed Oct 24, 2018 2:08 pm

I suppose if I had lots of different verbs on different instruments or was panning the verb away from the instrument, I'd want to keep things focused with mono. But for a general-purpose global reverb, always stereo. Honestly hadn't thought much about it until now, though!

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Re: reverbs - mono or stereo and why?

Post by Nick Sevilla » Wed Oct 24, 2018 5:10 pm

I use them from time to time. Making two mono reverbs for example, and panning them differently that the usual 100%.

Sometimes, I use a reverb only to accentuate one instrument, and pan it along with that instrument. It gives it more of a ethereal / spacey vibe. Sometimes I do use a Stereo reverb for this, but narrow it's panning a lot, so that you only get a hint of a larger instrument, rather than an actual space. It becomes a part of the instrument itself, like a guitar amp reverb type thing.

And then there is the classic "dry" signal to one side, effect only on the other side, to make a more wacky sound.
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Re: reverbs - mono or stereo and why?

Post by vvv » Wed Oct 24, 2018 7:12 pm

Only when they are on my pedal board, going through the amp, and my typical two mic tracks are so panned.
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Re: reverbs - mono or stereo and why?

Post by drumsound » Thu Oct 25, 2018 10:40 am

I'll do mono reverb if I'm adding it to something like a solo and I'm trying to keep it focused, but have a short tail or something. Once in a blue moon I'll use mono reverb on a vocal, or a horn part.

I'm a pretty reverb minimalist.

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Re: reverbs - mono or stereo and why?

Post by joninc » Thu Oct 25, 2018 10:29 pm

I have a spring reverb that I love which I often print in mono in vocals, drums, guitars, whatever ... one channel sounds better than the other :)
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Re: reverbs - mono or stereo and why?

Post by losthighway » Fri Oct 26, 2018 5:31 am

joninc wrote:
Thu Oct 25, 2018 10:29 pm
I have a spring reverb that I love which I often print in mono in vocals, drums, guitars, whatever ... one channel sounds better than the other :)
Same.

I've done it both ways a lot. I find that a mono verb on lead vocals leaves more space in a dense mix. I typically think of it as a bargain between a more immersive sound, or more space in the mix.

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Re: reverbs - mono or stereo and why?

Post by markjazzbassist » Fri Oct 26, 2018 9:37 am

i have a stereo/dual mono reverb but i'm a 4 tracker so i mostly print mono reverbs. to be honest the whole stereo reverb thing is kinda new to me, maybe i will try that now.

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Re: reverbs - mono or stereo and why?

Post by Recycled_Brains » Fri Oct 26, 2018 9:58 am

I like a mono verb on a snare. Real short decay, distorted a bit. Give it a little more "cawwww" in the mix. haha. That doesn't replace the stereo verb on the drums though.

Vocals too if it's not the kind of music where the vocal should be really dominating the mix.
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Re: reverbs - mono or stereo and why?

Post by drumsound » Sat Oct 27, 2018 11:14 am

I did a mix yesterday with a did a lots of feedback, narrow frequency delay into reverb in mono. It sounded really cool.

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Re: reverbs - mono or stereo and why?

Post by A.David.MacKinnon » Tue Nov 06, 2018 5:24 am

When I'm working in the box I'll fequently use two of the same mono reverbs panned left and right. Anything that needs stereo reverb gets sent to both equally anything that needs a panned, mono reverd gets sent to one side (for situations where you want the dry source on one side and the reverb on the other).
I started doing this because lots of the stereo reverbs I use sum the input to mono. This lets you use the same reverb but control where individual elements sit left to right.

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