Am I doing this right? Reverb and Delay

[bentonevolution]

The way I do things is set up a convolution IR in Waves IR-1 and varying amounts of everything to it. I use delay as an effect generally. a During mastering I add a miniscule amount of that same IR to "glue" it together.

Things end up sounding good, but not great. Instead of each instrument being somewhere different in the room, it all sounds as though it's at the same place in the room, but farther back. I want to bring some sounds forward and some back.

What are some good uses of reverb and delay to put a band in a room with each instrument having it's own point in the front/back axis? What are the benefits and drawbacks of setting up the reverb/delay pre or post fader?

I'm beginning to understand how eq and compression help give an instrument an identity but reverb/delay is still a bit of a mystery. I do love convolution and would like to continue to use it.

What I'm looking for is a starting point. I know well that I will have to experiment myself, but a few suggestions would be great.

Thanks,
Aaron

[scott anthony]

gee, where to start...

there are a few threads on starting points for a mix. as a rule, i avoid putting the same effect on the entire mix for the reason you suggested.

i dont own alot of gear and have a very limited console. just a couple delays and a reverb.

i start with the vocal, i used to start with drums. i like the vocal real close to me, then bring up the drums so they dont kill it, sounding appropriately behind the singer. add reverb or room mics to the drums for space. add delay to the vocal, but most of th effect is returned thru the reverb. this usually helps put the vocal in the room...

repeat for other instruments. getting tired of typing on my phone... maybe more later...

[drumsound]

There are a couple things you can do. You could set up a few of the same reverb patch but with different pre-delay times. The longer the pre-delay the more dry sound heard before the reverb kicks in. Also you could vary you send amounts to the single reverb. You can also not send everything to the reverb.

The pre/post fader send can have a lot of uses. Besides headphone mixes that is. If you send to you effects pre fader the effect will react only to the dynamics of the track, but not any rides you might do while mixing. This can work especially if you want to make a sound move away from. A great example of this is "We are the Champions" by Queen. On the line "Of the world" at the end of the first chorus the vocal fader is pulled down but the send is still going to the reverb so by the end of the phrase we are only hearing the reverb, but no direct sound. A post fader send will follow the moves of the fader. Turn the fader up and there's more signal sent to the reverb, pull it down and there's less.

[bentonevolution]

Thanks! this has been extremely helpful! Any more thoughts from anyone?

[bentonevolution]

Ok i solved the problem...thanks!

I'm getting the desired results by putting everything pre-fader. I was already sending varied amounts of reverb per track to the reverb, but I was negating that through the position of the fader.

thanks again.