# Reverb on rhythm guitars.



## Kurkkuviipale (Aug 7, 2011)

So I'm interested in this subject as I've never really tried it.

I would imagine it to make the stereo image more huge or something, but can you reverb lovers tell me what are the benefits of it, and what kind of reverbs do you find useful on them?


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## Iheartmidgetbooty (Aug 7, 2011)

When I write progressive rock, I tend to put just a tiny bit of reverb on the rhythm. Not a lot of room and a very quick fade with as little feedback as possible. It gives the guitars room, but it takes out articulation like a mother fucker. At that cost, it also smooths out any graininess from the tone. I don't use any reverb on metal rhythm, though, as it tends to make the mix very loud and hard to understand with the ears. Its an interesting technique and I'd like to learn more... So speak up SS.org!


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## C2Aye (Aug 7, 2011)

For cleans or slightly gritty guitars, a nice bit of reverb can go a long way and adds a great deal of atmosphere. I always tend to have reverb and delay for my clean sounds.

For rhythm guitars playing chords and the like, a short snappy reverb, more like a room sound, does the job. Nothing excessive but it adds life to the guitars. But I'd agree with Iheartmidgetbooty, quick fade and little feedback as it can get a bit much on the chords.

A big no no to reverb on tight metal guitar tracks, but I guess you already knew that


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## Kurkkuviipale (Aug 7, 2011)

C2Aye said:


> A big no no to reverb on tight metal guitar tracks, but I guess you already knew that



Hold on, I'm pretty sure Devin Townsend uses a lot of reverb on his guitars so that's not completely true.

Or am I tripping balls?


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## fwd0120 (Aug 7, 2011)

....which brings us to the question.... Can reverb djent??............

/troll


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## C2Aye (Aug 7, 2011)

Kurkkuviipale said:


> Hold on, I'm pretty sure Devin Townsend uses a lot of reverb on his guitars so that's not completely true.
> 
> Or am I tripping balls?



Well, I meant tight djenty bits I guess. Like you're not going to put reverb on the intro to Insomnia.

Townsend does like his reverb. And he does do it very well. He's probably the one to be listening to, not me 

Come to think of it, a lot of older metal tracks have extensive reverb on rhythm guitars. Must be an 80's thing.

I do love me some reverb on cleans. On of the best examples, if you're into that sort of thing, is Jeff Buckley's album Grace. Really subtle ambience that he gets from his reverb, I loves it. Or maybe I just love Jeff Buckey?


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## Kurkkuviipale (Aug 7, 2011)

For cleans reverb is a must. Especially for my taste. I'm more thinking of the distorted tones in which reverb is more rarely used.


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## Iheartmidgetbooty (Aug 7, 2011)

I think if you applied a thin sort of reverb to a distortion rhythm guitar , it might do the trick. If you all have ever listened to The Faceless, on planetary duality - you may notice after a few listens that there is a very very subtle use of synth. It tricks your ears into thinking it's yet another rhythm guitar being played underneath the current rhythm track. I could relate the similarity to reverb on top of your current distorted rhythm guitar. A very very subtle use of this 'thin' reverb could possibly give your guitars a little bit more complexity in tone. It would act as a sort of rhythm underneath your dominant guitar tone. I will experiment with this when I get home, it sounds like a promising theory.

Edit: Animals as Leaders is another example.


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## JohnIce (Aug 7, 2011)

As it was pointed out, reverb on distorted tones in the 80's and early 90's was nothing unusual. For example, I use reverb on my more old-school rockish rhythm tones:



I guess sending the rhythm guitars to the same reverb that you use for the drums might make the mix gel nicely, haven't tried that but now I will  However it has a lot to do with the quality and frequency range of the reverb, so as to not make it muddy.

In this song the guitars aren't reverbed (as far as I can hear) but the drums are drenched in it without being muddy and keeping a fantastic clarity and punch. I imagine the same principles could be used for guitar.


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## hereticemir (Aug 7, 2011)

When i use re-verb i assign it to a section of a song usually to a groove i want to stick out a little more.


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## Kurkkuviipale (Aug 7, 2011)

hereticemir said:


> When i use re-verb i assign it to a section of a song usually to a groove i want to stick out a little more.



Sounds like a good idea to try out.


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## Iheartmidgetbooty (Aug 7, 2011)

Kurkkuviipale said:


> Sounds like a good idea to try out.



That's a great idea for dynamic!


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## Mn3mic (Aug 7, 2011)

To get in on the discussion, do you use reverbs on the guitars as inserts or sends?
There are some people that claim, the best way to do that is to send a small amount of the hard panned guitar in the opposite direction via the send/pan function and mix it in slightly.
You can hear that on some records, especially when there is only one guitar playing but it is being panned 100% but has a small amount of tail on the opposite side.

I tried this on some bands I mixed and in general it gives you a bigger guitar sound but also messes up the clarity a bit...anyone tried something similar?


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## Deadnightshade (Aug 7, 2011)

In my book the key to using reverb on distorted rhythm guitars is not to be able to tell for sure if it's been used


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## KingAenarion (Aug 7, 2011)

It all depends on the style really...

For anything that needs to be tight and sound mechanical (like oh I dunno Metalcore or what's that onomatopoeia that gets regularly used here) I'd say only in there to create contrast in bits with large chords (even then a small delay might be better)

Anything less it's all about taste I guess. It's one of those things if used effectively outside of its normal uses (like the way distortion sometimes works with drums) it can really effective, but if used incorrectly it sounds like you're a 15 year who has just put a reverb plugin on EVERYTHING in garageband


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## -Nolly- (Aug 7, 2011)

I've been using reverb on distorted guitar most of the time recently, usually a tight live room IR on top of a very close-mic'd cab sound to give it some airiness.


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## Kurkkuviipale (Aug 7, 2011)

Mn3mic said:


> To get in on the discussion, do you use reverbs on the guitars as inserts or sends?
> There are some people that claim, the best way to do that is to send a small amount of the hard panned guitar in the opposite direction via the send/pan function and mix it in slightly.
> You can hear that on some records, especially when there is only one guitar playing but it is being panned 100% but has a small amount of tail on the opposite side.
> 
> I tried this on some bands I mixed and in general it gives you a bigger guitar sound but also messes up the clarity a bit...anyone tried something similar?



This sounds like a good idea. And familiar. Thanks for posting.



Deadnightshade said:


> In my book the key to using reverb on distorted rhythm guitars is not to be able to tell for sure if it's been used



Yea, but it still has to be audible. It's a thin line. 



KingAenarion said:


> It all depends on the style really...
> 
> For anything that needs to be tight and sound mechanical (like oh I dunno Metalcore or what's that onomatopoeia that gets regularly used here) I'd say only in there to create contrast in bits with large chords (even then a small delay might be better)
> 
> Anything less it's all about taste I guess. It's one of those things if used effectively outside of its normal uses (like the way distortion sometimes works with drums) it can really effective, but if used incorrectly it sounds like you're a 15 year who has just put a reverb plugin on EVERYTHING in garageband



The last part is so true. You're either gonna end up sound like a garageband or like an 80's disco snare drum. 



-Nolly- said:


> I've been using reverb on distorted guitar most of the time recently, usually a tight live room IR on top of a very close-mic'd cab sound to give it some airiness.



What IR's do you use for the room? Something from Redwirez possibly?


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## -Nolly- (Aug 7, 2011)

Kurkkuviipale said:


> What IR's do you use for the room? Something from Redwirez possibly?



Nah, I mean a convolution reverb rather than a cab IR. Logic's Space Designer has a few great ones - "Realistic Room", "Small Recording Stage" and a few others I can't remember off the top of my head.


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## getaway_fromme (Aug 7, 2011)

I will argue, that if you are thinking of putting in enough to "not notice", then you don't need it. Maybe find a good subtle reverb for the Master instead? Just went through all of my mixes and turned OFF the gtr reverb because it's extraneous, wasted CPU power.

Then again, it depends on the mix. Devin Townsend layers like a MuthaFucka, that's the sound he's going for. For tight riffs, I'd think not.


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## -Nolly- (Aug 7, 2011)

getaway_fromme said:


> I will argue, that if you are thinking of putting in enough to "not notice", then you don't need it. Maybe find a good subtle reverb for the Master instead? Just went through all of my mixes and turned OFF the gtr reverb because it's extraneous, wasted CPU power.



I think the point is meant to be that you shouldn't notice an audible reverb tail, but you can hear the difference when it is bypassed.


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## getaway_fromme (Aug 7, 2011)

I realize that. If you can't tell when it's on, or when it's bypassed, then it's not worth it. Someone post two mixes, one with and one without, see if anyone can tell the difference. I think double tracking will give you the same effect. Just my 2 cents.


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## Iheartmidgetbooty (Aug 7, 2011)

I will, after my girlfriend gets me to clean the kitchen. lol


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## getaway_fromme (Aug 7, 2011)

Get in the kitchen, Bitch!  We need a verdict.


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## Kurkkuviipale (Aug 7, 2011)

getaway_fromme said:


> I realize that. If you can't tell when it's on, or when it's bypassed, then it's not worth it.



That's kinda obvious to say at least.

Anyway, this thread has been a HUGE help. Thanks for all of you and keep the info coming!


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## Cynic (Aug 7, 2011)

I have a little reverb on my rhythms guitars and it sounds more cohesive in the mix.


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## setsuna7 (Aug 7, 2011)

IIRC, I read in a GW mag years ago,Ihsahn mentioned that they recorded their old album(s) thru Peavey TransTube with lots of reverb to "make the guitars float" . I don't remember which issue or year...


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## Iheartmidgetbooty (Aug 7, 2011)

Here's the dry mix without reverb on guitars :
http://soundcloud.com/tannerwaddle/reverbmix

Here's the mix with a tiny bit of reverb tail on guitars :
Reverbmix2 by tannerwaddle on SoundCloud - Create, record and share your sounds for free


What I noticed is that it helps a lot with fading in your guitars rather than just "BLAM MOTHA FUCKA!", right into the song with levels blasting out your asshole.

It's useful, but I find that note articulation is somewhat crushed by the reverb. I will use it as an automation send (judiciously, mind you) and put in parts where I see fit. As said before. 

Sooo...

What's the verdict, boys?


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## Mn3mic (Aug 8, 2011)

Well, it's audible in the second track for sure, but maybe too much.
I would set the fade a little shorter, but you can hear that the guitars do pop out a bit more and have a "finer" sound if you know what I mean.

Also what I like to do is to add some delay to make them bigger, so sometimes I avoid adding reverb, I add a short delay around 30-45ms and mix it in to the guitar track a really small amount (2-3%).
Of course, you have to do this on each guitar separately.
This adds a great effect and makes your guitar come out really nice (as far as I know, Dino has been doing that on Digimortal), of course, if you overdo it, it makes your guitar sound really shitty


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## Prydogga (Aug 9, 2011)

Very start of this song you can hear some reverb/delay. Only very subtle, don't know if this is consistent through the entire track, but it does add a flair to the start:


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