The Art of Effects

Been listening to music on headphones a lot lately. This seems to help me focus more... just sitting back, closing my eyes and truly getting into the music. Been learning a lot but the one thing I love is a mix with multiple levels of depth. I guess these mixers are using different reverbs and delays. I was just wondering how many of you have specific setups to your mixes. I normally setup three EFX into each mix...

1. a primary reverb with a long tail used mostly to create depth

2. a secondary reverb with a shorter tail or a delay set to about 110 ms

3. a longer delay set to 500ms or so...

Just wondering what your EFX setups look like. Do you have a standard setup? I know each song is different so...

If you have any records you admire for such a thing, please include it, thanks.

Everything, of course, needs to be setup for each particular song but...

I typically use:

A hall (or plate) verb set at around 2- 2.5 seconds.

A room (or plate) verb set at around 1 second.

An Ambience verb. It can be anything from a plate tightened way up in Convo verb to just the ERs from TruVerb. Even D-Verb's Ambient setting gets used a lot. Sometimes the Ambience setting gets replaced with the old L 20ms R 30ms L tuned -10 cents R + 10 cents or whatever recipe suits.

Delays set at 1/8, 1/4, maybe a dotted 1/8... maybe a whole measure depending.

My delay auxes get abused. Soemtimes mildly, sometimes... Sometimes a band pass at a resonant mid frequency (try automating the freq sweep). Sometimes distortion on the channel. Sometimes a hard limit.

Then I setup a feedback loop back into the delay aux itself. Then I typically automate the the send back into itself so I can go anywhere from a squelching delay feedback that distorts more and more to subtle delay shimmers. Try penciling in timed pan automation on your delay returns. Nice.

Then I send the delays to any of the verbs depending on how I want it to sound.

I get into send mutes as well. So a certain send might be off for the verse and pop onm for the chorus, or vica versa, etc. ect. etc.

Oh... and try send your shortest verb into the hall for something different.

Then, I try to think in terms of song sections. And I change things up as the song moves through the various sections so it elvolves and builds and dies down and simmers then climaxes.

Yes, lately I`ve been thinking of songs more in sections, giving each section its own little nuances. Love to spread that chorus out across the stereo field and then tighten it back up on the verses.

Lots of good stuff there Lee. Appreciate it.

That's a fascinating idea. I haven't done that. But what I have been doing is a couple of other things...

I'll patch things into a Diamond Memory Lane analog delay (a hardware pedal), which has tap tempo, and create odd feedback and such that way, manually manipulating the delay. This is quite fun and it usually sounds quite good.

In another similar idea, I use the Expert Sleepers Meringue plugin to create all sorts of mayhem. What this plugin does is creates a delay which runs alternately forwards and backwards, rather than continually forwards. This simple difference produces some interesting and unusual effects.

That's fun to do.

I also like sending other things into the reverb sends, such as chorusing or phasing effects.

Yeah, and I also ride the send volumes quite a bit if I am not muting them.

I also wanted to add that I have a hardware reverb unit as well with S/PDIF, so I have one "global" reverb that doesn't really hit the CPU much at all. I absolutely love this. I can have a second or third reverb and never have a problem with the computer choking. I'll typically put a hall or cathedral reverb on the hardware reverb, and do shorter or more specific reverbs with the plugins (or effected ones sometimes, if I am flanging, phasing, chorusing, or doing something else fun to the reverb).

I also frequently use a low-pass filter for my delays and reverbs, slapping this on the auxiliary sends. Keeps the mud out of my mix.

This is what I think. I like to make songs un predictable.

And effects can really do the trick.

There is a song by Jon Secada, there is a very short delay in the chorus, the chorus spreads from left to righ very quickly (pan) and then the chorus continues.

The point is, you never see this coming. It's like it hit a brick and continues.

So lets say the songs starts and your first word has a long delay with reverb that moves from wet to dry. Then you continue with the vocal when the delay is in the background.

Michael Jackson has a song. I think it's called Heart Breaker.

It's a fast tempo but they used the effects to create some really cool surprises and section.

AI

I set the reverb more or less to each song, but I usually have a hall or cathedral setting on the hardware reverb, after which I'll mess with the decay and pre-delay (at the very least) to tailor it for each song.

I'll patch in another reverb - or two - if necessary.

I usually have at least one delay set up as well.

But it depends on the song.

Sometimes, I'll also set up auxiliary sends for flanges, phasers, chorusing effects, the aforementioned Expert Sleepers Meringue backwards-and-forwards delay, the analog delay pedal, other pedals for effects, distortion, or other fun effects. I've been using the Massey delay a lot as well.

I use a lot of effects in sections, as Lee and I mentioned earlier, or on specific parts, lyrics, guitar or keyboard parts, anything, to create surprise, keep things evolving, and suppot the artistic and emotional statement of the song.

I'm really just a beginner. I usually work with small groups & a very limited palette.

I really don't follow any set times, etc. preferring to base those on things like tempo, decay of notes, etc., but I do follow a few set ideas.

I think, except when a deliberately artificial soundscape is designed, that a realistic stage is best. Shorter reflection times for smaller rooms & combos, longer times for larger rooms, etc., all pretty ordinary I suppose.

I only attach individual ambiences to sounds that usually have them, i.e., an amplified guitar but I try to position sounds definitely & within the larger stage treat each sound a little differently, just as an instrument at the back of a real stage may not have the same ambience as one at the extreme left front.

I don't mean to take things in too different a direction but I gave a question of my own. I listen on headphones myself, esp., when just for pleasure b/c of neighbors at home. They also eliminate extraneous sound at low volume.

To what degree, if any, might this alter mixes dependent on the reflections in the listening environ...or am I creating a false dichotomy ?

Yeah! So the concept I've adopted over time is to setup a lot of stuff that might be fitting to the tune. Then go about dolling it out in measured doses.

Set it all up... use it sparingly. Or NOT!

The rhythm guitars on the verse might be playing a stop start part that sounds great with 1 second room (or the ambient mic panned off) then they open up into more of a wash part and I'll mute the verb send on those guitars. They tighten up.

The snare might get lots of squashed room mics in the verse then get muted and go to a nice open plate and convo hall on the chorus for a more polished sound. Then back to the room squash in the next verse. The 3 rd verse might go mono drums with mildly distorted room squash in stereo. Then open for the big last chorus with the big plate and the room mics...

Meanwhile the outro lead is generating distorted band limited feedbacked delay that's always just under the surface.

Then there's the lead vocal section to section...

Headphones can sometimes make things sound like they are happening between your ears, and can also make you hypersensitive to the changes you are making, be it panning or whatever else. It's usually good to listen occasionally on speakers as well as headphones.

I also wanted to add that before the effects ever begin, I'm trying to create a sense of space naturally by stereo micing things, distance micing, etc., with the knowledge that I may add effects to something. I like how something that is distance-miced will sound with delays or reverbs, quite often, or how it can be panned to create a sense of space while using little or no reverb or delay on that track.

That's a good point. I use a lot of inputs while recording sometimes. A close cab mic with one room far off and a DI. Or a Blumlien 4 feet off with the close mic and a DI. Etc.

Then my mix will vary as stated before but using the ambient mics as FX to an extent. And not shying away from using verbs in place or supplementing to ambient mics. What ever fits at any given moment to make the movement of the song more interesting.

BTW, I'm not a real overt fx mixer either. I tend to do these things so the song inexplicably rises or falls or gets close or more hectic. For instance, a 1/4 note delay into a hall on a legato lead vocal sounds heavenly and majestic. But it's not very apparent there are any effects on the lead vocal. He just sounds like he's soaring somehow. Covert and controlling.

It's my god complex at work.

Definitely true, but we home studio types sometimes have no choice but to work in phones, and that's where 112dB's Redline Monitor can help:

http://www.112db.com/redline/monitor/

...I'd still check my mixes on "real" speakers, of course, but this plugin is surprisingly good at mimicking the real world (or maybe not so surprising, considering the quality of all 112dB's stuff).

Also, re: delay plugs -- I personally avoid automatically reaching for the sync button in favor of tuning the delay timing by ear. A few milliseconds makes a difference in feel, pushing or pulling against the beat -- I think subliminally, it's more interesting than strict tempo-locked delays. YMMV

Wow, that seems really cool. Never heard of it before!!!!

Jeroen Breebaart is coming out with a similar plug but with some unique twists. I am most interested in the variety of speaker configurations it models:

- Acoustic Energy AE2

- Auratone 5C

- Avi Pro9

- KRK V8

- PMC LB-1

- Roland DS50A

- Tannoy Reveal

- Yamaha NS10M

- Laptop speakers

- Car radio

- Portable music player

- Flatpanel TV

It's supposed to be available sometime this month. I suspect it will be priced quite a bit lower than the Redline Monitor based on JB's normal pricing structure.

http://www.jeroenbreebaart.com/audio_vst_isone_pro.htm

Looks great, but... Windows only...

I was reminded of this working on a rootsy Americana thing recently. Out of sync delays are great as well and for a whole lot of different reasons.

Both my delays I use, the analog delay pedal or the Massey plugin, have tap tempo, so I usually use that. Also, I don't do a lot of stuff that's on the grid, so there's typically some fluctuation anyway.

Well you can't have everything.

I still use only outboard processors, and I have two of the same model plus three others, all older Lexicon and Alesis units for reverb and delay, as well as the older Rockman Stereo Chorus, and Stereo Echo for creating space. I even use tape echo now and then. just for the hell of it.

I'll set the two identical digital reverb units to the same or similar settings, and feed different program busses or single channels through them.

I often prefer this to a single reverb on the whole mix, as it's cleaner but still congruent. If you listen to just the wet signal from your main reverb it can sound pretty muddy and chaotic with too much going through it. I always give the snare it's own dedicated device; same with vocals, and from there will mix and match units for the rest of the instruments.

There's a lot one can do, and it really depends on the material. I like layering vocals and I use a lot of vocal harmony in my music. I'll leave some of the vocals dry. I'll also double the guitar solo (usually play it twice rather than use delay) and leave one layer dry or add a third harmony to the lead, but mix only the wet signal from that.

I have a lot of fun with this stuff. I can put my headphones on and just play with sound for hours... usually after Midnight, with either blue lights or candles. It's nice to be able to set my own schedule, but if I ever get a real job where I have to be somewhere in the morning... I'm %#*?ed.

Agreed. I'm a big proponent of this. I always dial it in by ear first, then I will sometimes sync it just to hear the difference. 80% of the time I like the manually dialed delay times better.