This tip goes for entire productions in general, as well as for processing multiple vocals in the same project. Minimize the number of different reverb spaces Listen to the reverb signal swell back during gaps in the vocal performance: In the first audio clip, I’ve solo’d the vocal and its reverb so you can hear exactly what’s happening to the reverb signal.

In the following example, I’ve performed some light sidechain compression to the vocal reverb keyed off of the dry vocal signal. Personally, I prefer to use sidechain compression in these situations for its convenience. Manual gain automation, sidechained gain movement, or rendering the reverb to audio and completely cutting it while the vocal is playing will have a similar effect to sidechain compression without the characteristic sound of compression.

The reverb signal swells back in when the vocal stops playing, and fills the spaces which keeps the effect of reverb intact.Ĭompression, in general, has a very particular sound, so you may want to perform this “ducking” using pure level changes. This causes the reverb to duck when the vocal plays, allowing the vocal to cut through the mix with clarity. The reverb itself sounds great, but masks the dry vocal and reduces clarity. I’m using the “Med Plate” preset, which is a great option for a vocal reverb. In the following example, I’ve placed a reverb plug-in, Exponential Audio’s R4, on my vocal channel as an insert effect. With the option to process the dry vocal and reverb independently, the two can more easily coexist without causing you to sacrifice vocal clarity. Using a return channel for reverb allows you to treat the reverb signal as its own distinct element in the mix. With only one channel for both the dry vocal and reverb, we cannot easily affect each so that they play well together. The vocal in your track should clearly cut through its associated reverb, which is much more difficult to achieve when using reverb as an insert effect. Therefore, reverb should be treated as its own element, and you should have the ability to process and affect it as such.Ĭhances are that you already use return channels when adding reverb, but doing so is especially important when working with vocals. However, with reverb, you’re essentially adding another signal into your mix, like if you added another instrument. When I began producing music, I often approached reverb as if it were just an effect applied to a sound, as you would with processors like compressors or distortion units.

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