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Old 08-17-2012, 10:30 AM   #1
sharky50
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Default adding REAPER`S reverb to Vocals or are there any good reverbs out there

Hi guys

a two way question for you all..

i tried to do a little singing and recorded it DRY in reaper then tried to add a little reverb but it doesnt sound that good lol..ok so i`m not the greatest singer in the world and obviously i`m not that familiar with reverbs for vocals, what i mean is i`m not to sure on the proper usage of reverbs so basically i used the REAPERverb and tried to mess around with it but i haven`t got a clue what i should be adding or taking off to make it sound a bit better its just a total mess. so do you guys have any hints/tips that you wouldn`t mind sharing to get me started,,i know its about personal taste but i really dont know where to start,,i`m not planning on swamping my voice with reverb in order to hide behind it but if i had some sort of starting platform then i could work from there,,i`ve also read somewhere that you can add a LITTLE chorus to a vocal is that true ?? not something that i would have imagined doing what would be the reason for this ? at the end of the day i`m just trying to sweeten the vocal a little basically take the roughness of it and maybe i can improve from there

Are REAPERS reverbs any good ??

second question is,, what other reverb plugin`s would you recommend for vocals ? hopefully FREE to get me started and then i can purchase a decent one..

Many thanks in advance


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Old 08-17-2012, 11:19 AM   #2
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I mainly use ReaVerb with impulses but I also use the Epic Verb quite a bit when I just want an simple reverb. Be sure and grab the presets too.

http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/downloads/
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Old 08-17-2012, 12:59 PM   #3
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I mainly use ReaVerb with impulses but I also use the Epic Verb quite a bit when I just want an simple reverb. Be sure and grab the presets too.

http://varietyofsound.wordpress.com/downloads/
Hi Tod

can you explain what you mean by using ReaVerb with "IMPULSES" sorry but i`m lost there lol..

I will go and check out Epic Verb but as i say i`m still pretty lost as to using reverbs properly...

it would be very helpful If someone out there could upload a DRY vocal and then the same one with Verb on it just so that i can hear the difference on how it should be used..


thanks guys


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Old 08-17-2012, 01:30 PM   #4
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i also forgot to ask,,is there some sort of industry standard setting for using vocal reverbs ?? what i mean by that is,,are there general rule of thumb specifics for example X amount of delay and X amount of miliseconds for this and that etc etc ??



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Old 08-17-2012, 01:43 PM   #5
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Default I believe....

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Originally Posted by sharky50 View Post
i also forgot to ask,,is there some sort of industry standard setting for using vocal reverbs ?? what i mean by that is,,are there general rule of thumb specifics for example X amount of delay and X amount of miliseconds for this and that etc etc ??



sharky50
...the general rule of thumb, is to turn on a reverb, or delay, and then experiment with varying amounts, until you find something you like and "feel" fits the project.
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Old 08-17-2012, 01:51 PM   #6
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Default Maybe this will get you started.

1. Record a vocal on a track in Reaper. Name it "Vocal".

2. Make a second track in Reaper and call it "Reverb". Click the FX button and load a free reverb VST on it. Check here: http://audio.tutsplus.com/articles/w...ins-that-rock/

3. Go back to track 1 (Vocal) and click on the "IO" button and go to the drop down box under "sends" and chose track 2 (Reverb). You are now sending the signal from track one to track two. You can adjust the amount of reverb sent, via the slider in "IO" or via the VST itself.

This is called an FX loop, and in general, things like reverbs and delays are used this way. (Remember though, all rules are just made to be broken.)

You can have several different tracks, all being sent to one reverb, in varying amounts.

You would set up a delay the same way on another track called "Delay".
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Old 08-17-2012, 02:30 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dea-man View Post
1. Record a vocal on a track in Reaper. Name it "Vocal".

2. Make a second track in Reaper and call it "Reverb". Click the FX button and load a free reverb VST on it. Check here: http://audio.tutsplus.com/articles/w...ins-that-rock/

3. Go back to track 1 (Vocal) and click on the "IO" button and go to the drop down box under "sends" and chose track 2 (Reverb). You are now sending the signal from track one to track two. You can adjust the amount of reverb sent, via the slider in "IO" or via the VST itself.

This is called an FX loop, and in general, things like reverbs and delays are used this way. (Remember though, all rules are just made to be broken.)

You can have several different tracks, all being sent to one reverb, in varying amounts.

You would set up a delay the same way on another track called "Delay".

ahhhhhh now i see what you mean,,nice one dea-man,, Thank you for that


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Old 08-28-2012, 05:59 PM   #8
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Default Good reverb...

Hey Sharky. You got good advice. As far as a good reverb I use Valhalla room and love it! It is a thick reverb with warmth. I think I paid around $50.00 U.S. Just wanted to throw that out there for you.
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Old 08-28-2012, 06:47 PM   #9
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Hey Sharky. You got good advice. As far as a good reverb I use Valhalla room and love it! It is a thick reverb with warmth. I think I paid around $50.00 U.S. Just wanted to throw that out there for you.
Thanks Doc..

any chance you could upload a little demo of a vocal without the Valhalla then with the Valhalla added just to get sniff of how it sounds,,

Thanks

infact forget that ^^^^^^^^ i just found some demos online hmmm sounds pretty interesting on vocals and acoustic guitars plus it doesn`t break the bank..


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Last edited by sharky50; 08-28-2012 at 07:03 PM.
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Old 08-28-2012, 07:13 PM   #10
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Default In fact....

..I would totally vouch for, and praise greatly, all of Valhalla's products. They are one of those "magic little company's" whose line of products truly glow.

You might want to try:

Valhalla FeqEcho
Valhalla Room
Valhalla Shimmer Mod
Valhalla UberMod

All of them are excellent.
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Old 08-28-2012, 07:40 PM   #11
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Default My fav

Personally I LOVE Altiverb, but beware....it is a memory hungry beast. I wouldn't even touch it in a medium sized project without at least 8gig ram win/ 12 mac. I'm sporting 32 on a 8 core and have still (on rare occurrences) have had a wait for the load.
EXAMPLE: running 2 instances of Kontakt, ADD or BFD, and Altaverb with a large algorithm loaded....
and maybe 10 or so raw audio with a couple takes each.
But it is sweet IMO
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Old 02-25-2019, 09:19 AM   #12
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Default External Reverb - Latency?

I've noticed when I add reverb to a drum track from an external plug in [TAL] to my drum track it seems to throw the sync timing of the track off slightly. I can hear it especially if I hit STOP I can hear the drums still playing for a millisecond. Is there a fix for that?
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Old 02-25-2019, 09:24 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sharky50 View Post
Are REAPERS reverbs any good ??
For ReaVerb check the Kenny Goia video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxD_RvRULok

I like Glaceverb, is a free plugin and has lots of nice presets to start you with and you can modify them as well.
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Old 02-25-2019, 04:40 PM   #14
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Quote:
i also forgot to ask,,is there some sort of industry standard setting for using vocal reverbs ?? what i mean by that is,,are there general rule of thumb specifics for example X amount of delay and X amount of miliseconds for this and that etc etc ??
One approach is to turn-up the reverb until you notice it, then back-off a bit. The idea is that you don't hear it as an "effect", but "something's missing" when you take it out completely.

It's generally good-practice to use similar reverb on all tracks (especially if it's a "noticeable" effect.) Because with different amounts on different tracks it can sound like the vocals (and various instruments) were recorded in a different time and place than everything else and that can sound unnatural.

It's also good practice to have a known-good reference recording in the same genre to keep your "ears calibrated". You don't have to "match" the sound but a reference helps you from getting carried away and over-doing reverb, EQ, compression, etc.

But... If you are the producer you get to do whatever you want!!!!



IMO - The amount of reverb that sounds GREAT coming from all-directions in a concert hall sounds unnatural coming out of a pair of speakers in my living room. That's one of the problems with recording live performances from the regular seating position... Too much reverb & room sound in the recording. (But I do have my Dolby PRO Logic II receiver set-up to add rear-channel reverb when playing regular stereo recordings on my home theater system.)
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Old 02-25-2019, 04:48 PM   #15
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Don't be afraid to eq your reverb. Get as close as possible to the sound you want with some reverb impulse or setting and then eq it. Roll off all the highs and/or lows or cut out that weird midrange frequency or whatever it is.
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Old 02-26-2019, 04:10 AM   #16
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Sandford Reverb is worth a look too. It is free.
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Old 02-26-2019, 02:56 PM   #17
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Originally Posted by sharky50 View Post
so do you guys have any hints/tips that you wouldn`t mind sharing to get me started
One tip that's considered general usage for vocal reverb, is to use some 'Predelay', i.e. a short delay before the reverb actually kicks in. Most Reverb plugins have a control knob to introduce this delay without the need for a seperate delay line. I believe a sensible amount is between 60 and 100 milliseconds. The purpose is twofold: (1) seperating the reverb from the dry voice with a short time makes the voice more intelligable, and (2) it gives the impression of the voice being closer than other sounds (like instruments) with no predelay.

Another general tip: google for "Reverb Abbey Road trick": it's a way of EQ-ing the send that goes into the reverb. Not necessarily one and only technique to use all the time, but still very useful indeed in many situations.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sharky50 View Post
a LITTLE chorus to a vocal is that true ?? not something that i would have imagined doing what would be the reason for this ? at the end of the day i`m just trying to sweeten the vocal a little basically take the roughness of it and maybe i can improve from there
Adding some chorus (or even flanging) on a vocal is OK, but use it very sparingly if it's just meant to 'sweeten' it, like you said. Keeping it sparse can easly be achieved if yoy use a plugin that has a Wet/Dry mix knob.

Using more chorus has more or less the effect of the vocal being dubbed.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sharky50 View Post
Are REAPERS reverbs any good ??

second question is,, what other reverb plugin`s would you recommend for vocals ? hopefully FREE to get me started and then i can purchase a decent one..
I use Epicverb a lot, although a bit older already still very decent, especially as it's a free one. Same goes for Orilriver, but I haven't used it that much yet. Sounds a bit different but equally good if you tweak it to your liking. Epicverb is only 32-bit, but no problem there for Reaper.

ReaVerb is very good, especially as a starting point, if you like convolution (some people find it sounding too 'static'), but you'll need 'impulse responses', or 'IR's' to drive it. An IR is a digital 'example' if you like of the reverb of an existing space. The plugin will use this example to create the actual reverb for the signal you send to it. Luckily a lot of good quality free IR's can be found; very popular are the famous 'Bricasti M7' IR's, google that too. NOTE: when using ReaVerb always select the 'Apply -18 dB gain' (dropdown selection from the box saying "Normal"), or your reverb will be WAY too loud. Also, when using the reverb while singing or playing an instrument, tick the 'ZL' box at the bottom right (stands for 'zero latency'). For mixing this is not needed, and unticking it will free up some CPU time.
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Old 02-26-2019, 03:50 PM   #18
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Mostly all I use now is OrilRiver, Little Plate (given free once upon a time), ReaVerb for impulses and Abbey Road Chambers for small rooms.

EpicVerb, Ambience, Sanford Reverb and Kjaerhus Classic Reverb are also great freebies. Reverberate is totally usable as well.

Really any reverb can be workable with some EQ, so don't agonize over choices; go with your instincts and move on if you're not getting results. I almost always roll off high's and lows to push them back and keep things from getting muddy. I like to dial in the sound of the reverb solo to find the appropriate atmosphere for the track and then adjust the pre-delay against the mix to find the sweet spot where there is the most clarity and dimension.

Take your time and experiment with multiple reverbs (you can even feed them into each other for some wild effects). I honestly found that using reverbs was a very hard skill to get the hang of. Crank it while you tune the sound and then fold it back to where it just becomes noticeable it for the most natural effect.
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