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helpful information about recording and mixing techniques. Posts written by professional engineers and musicians.
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Vocal Mixing | Reverb EQ Secret
There are some great secrets that have been used by engineers over the years. Dialing in your reverb with the mix has always been a challenge for many young and aspiring producers. Here are some tips from the engineers at Abbey Road studios on how to get a tighter and balanced reverb level into your mixes.
Vocals love reverb to some degree. Sometimes just a touch of reverb helps the vocals find a pocket in the mix that is just the right spot. Other times, it's cool to drown the vocals in reverb for an emotional effect. Either way, it's always a good idea to treat your Reverb bus with a little EQ.
Abbey Road studios has a great way of making their reverb tracks sit just right into the mix. It has to do with how you EQ the reverb.
If you have a nice EQ, find the pocket where the vocals have a little bit of a nasal range and scoop it out. This is usually somewhere in the low mid range between 300 Hz and 500 Hz. Sweep around in the EQ spectrum until you find the frequency that doesn't seem to just sit right with your ear. If there are multiple frequencies that don't seem to work not to both of them out or as many as you need.
This will create a more open and natural reverb sound to your mix without having to boost the signal. Give it a shot and send us your feedback.