Hey Mike, thanks a lot. Once again, you learned me new things, especially the location of EQ and compression around the reverb. Very nice. One funny thing is that I heard many times you talking about tricks not sticked to any DAW, but always with Cakewalk. Very interesting to hear it with another DAW 😉
Good tips but isn't it better to adjust the level of the sends instead of the aux/buss track? Especially if your sending more than one track to the same aux/bus
Mike, this feels like a welcome return to form for you! (Apologies if I haven't been paying close enough attention.) I miss seeing the examples done in Cakewalk, but you've explained your reasons for doing so amply, and it's probably better for me to have to abstract the lesson without relying so heavily on the exact UI details. And frankly, StudioOne is close enough in the UI for it not to be a difficult translation in the first place.
Can we please stop calling these things “tricks”. They are not tricks, they are techniques. It makes sound engineering sound like we are just cheating our way to making music rather than using skills, talent, technique and experience to make music.
Great tutorial Mike - love the sound of the reverb panning on the guitar! Studio 1 looks very smart, especially the plug ins. Hope you haven't abandoned Cakewalk completely yet - though I can understand with the current uncertainty that you might not want to invest as much time with it.
Mike, such a helpful topic and clear explanation! We less experienced music creators need more of these very understandable lessons from an experienced engineer like yourself so that we can learn how use our plugins to maximum effect. Too many videos done by engineers speaking way above our heads, assuming that everyone is at least a semi-pro. I found this video extremely useful. Thank you! Please do some more with tips about applying compression and equalization properly. Thanks again. You're the best!!
Hello, Mike. I recently added the Tascam TA-1VP to my setup. Where would you suggest it be inserted in the chain?? Below are the hardware devices and the flow I currently use. my rig components: Shure MV7x mic SAMSON S-COM4 PRESONUS BLUETUBE V2 TASCAM TA-1VP PRESONUS AUDIOBOX USB96 Currently, the setup is as follows: MV7x mic into the Bluetube v2 then into the S-com4 then into audiobox then into computer
Good stuff Mike. Question... why are you using channel busses vs FX busses? Studio One has been my DAW of choice for many years and I most always use FX busses for FX... just wondering your thoughts... thanks
Well spotted. Actually, I normally use FX channels also, I just wanted to keep it a bit generic for people watching using other DAWs. Having said that, FX channels and busees in S1 have become super close in functionality.
@@CreativeSauce yes, I agree. The 2 are almost identical in function. I appreciate your response. And keep the S1 content coming. Feel free to reach out to me if I can ever be of assistance to you. 👏
⭐️⭐️ MIKE!! Shazaam!! This is a killer “small textbook” for all of us to SAVE and easily refer back to. Outstanding video. What’s with Australia?? It produces so dang many really smart tech artists for such a small overall population?!?! 🤘😎🤘
Thanks Mike, informative as ever. One query (maybe a bit of a noob question) is this: wouldn't the reverb bus sitting above the delay bus on the Main Vox sends mean that the reverb is being delayed, rather than the delay being reverbed? I'm just applying the top down signal flow principle, but maybe I misunderstood?
Thanks Pete. It actually makes no difference when using send, as each send only receives the original signal, not the original + fx. In other words, we 'send' to the bus, but the bus is not 'returned' back to the channel.
You're a fantastic teacher Mike, thanks for this video. Who does that beautiful singing voice belong to? (Also, you highly recommend a mixing refresher course but no link shows up where you're pointing to. Is it to your "5 Essential Beginner Mixing Tips"?
Hi Mike, fantastic video yet again. So, for the vocal reverb, would you say that you can completely avoid doubling the vocal (two distinct recordings) if you use these techniques?
Hi Andy. No, I still do doubling. Especially for choruses, or parts that need impact or width. Depending on the song of course. I'd also note that for me at least, it's not unusual to keep the doubles dry.
I really appreciate the information that you shared in this podcast, as I always do, as you have helped this old senior citizen get back in the game in so many ways. However, I have a question that is pretty off-topic and would appreciate your feedback very much. I notice that you are basing more of your tutorials on Studio One rather than Cakewalk, which I fully understand and appreciate, as almost all of my external hardware is PreSonus with a bit of TASCAM. My question is this: have you heard anything to suggest that the BandLab folks are considering any kind of affordable migration path for the many of us who use Cakewalk, particularly those of us who invested in the "lifetime" license for Sonar Platinum before the 12-tone folks sold us out to Gibson? Perhaps this topic might be worthy of a follow up podcast, as you are much more in touch than this 70-year-old codger. I apologize for the interruption but would appreciate any feedback you may offer. Doug Barringer, Rustburg, VA, USA... And I truly hope and pray that you are doing well.
Just discovered your cannel -- Oh Man! As a musician (vc, gt, bs) I've spent quite some time in a studio, the people there were competent and friendly, but would I'd had an engineer like you! Subbed, of course.
great insides, using FL, but I also use Reverb and Delay on seperate channels from the original signal and yes, FL processes from to bottom, means the signal always runs through from top to the bottom slot, so before using the Reverb, I add an EQ and cut off the frequencies I don't need. But what I recommend is: NEVER use a De-Esser after the EQ before the reverb, because this will mess up your phase completely, no matter if you use it on drums, vocals or instruments.
Wonderful tips, Mike. You can also spice up the reverb with other effects and make it more interesting by combining the send with chorus, flanger, phaser, saturation or modulation effect plugins. The limits of creativity are wide. Creative Sauce at it´s best!
Hi Mike, another great, informative video. Did you use Vocal Reverb and Delay sends Prefader just for the demonstration or is this something you always do?
Hi Mike and thanks for your great video! I have a question about the last technique (LR Channel Swapping): when you apply this technique, do you tend to use the same reverb like the vocal's one, thus placing all of them in a single space or you use totally different type or reverb settings?
Thank you for the great video. Question: instead of controlling the amount of reverb with the fader on the reverb bus, why not control the amount of reverb you are adding on the track you are sending with the horizontal slider in the Sends section?
Great tips. I love to use a gate which will tame a vocal going into the reverb send, only applying reverb to the punch. Followed by a side chain Compressor from the dry vocal to add clarity.
I've watched many videos on reverb and delays, but this by far is the best I've seen. So much info and importantly clarity in what we are doing and why we are doing..Thank you for this amzg video
Studio One+ member here. My reverb send is much like this one. I'm sending pre-fader to a bus. I get delay and reverb from one plug-in, Relab Development LX480 V4 dual engine. I've edited a preset to get twin delay (much like a pingpong) and Random Hall HD running into a stereo routing mode. There's some EQ within the Relab, but I've also done an Abbey Road EQ trick with a Melda basic EQ plug-in after reverb. I am also compressor ducking.
Wow, I never leave this channel without some new incredible intelligence in my toolkit. As always, thanks Mike. BTW, the sound of those guitars was fantastic!
Fantastic! Thank you Sir. I've seen others try to explain the reverb / compressor technique before but never so clearly. I actually achieved what you showed. Yahoo. Cheers mate.
Also by using the gain adjustments instead of the fader, you can make much more precise incremental adjustments and hitting the channel at the gain stage vs the fader, which at the END of the chain...
Huge thanks for these superb tips Mike. I have to confess that I was too comfortable with dropping things like this into the tracks rather than a buss, and yes, resulting muddy sound. I'm going to try these out on some of my old mixes. I think I'm in for a pleasant surprise. Cheers.
You always explain things in ways that makes so much sense, Mike! Thank you! Another nice reverb trick that I like (which may have come from you... but I don't recall) is to send the signal coming back from the reverb bus to the opposite stereo side when it comes back (flipping left and right). This gives a really pleasant "3-D depth" to the sound.
While I normally use a bus for reverb, I had never considered using EQ, Delay and compression on the reverb. Will definitely give this a try. Thanks Mike.
Useful tips (as always), thanks. One aspect of bussed-FX that is rarely discussed is how to set the send levels and the buss fader levels. Also, when to send pre-fader or post-fader. My default is to set the FX bus at -6 db and vary the send level with post-fader. But I also see setups with a higher send level and lower Fx fader level. I suppose the send level might affect performance of the Fx itself, as when a reverb is optimized for a specific input signal level. But I really don’t know the answers. Maybe Mike can do a vid to explain the pros and cons.
In this kind of situation, always send post-fader (otherwise any fader moves will result in the wet/dry balance being disturbed). Also (and here I would vigorously oppose Mike’s method), leave the return fader at 0dB and set the wet/dry blend with the sends. That way, you can still send a channel hard into the reverb and not be struggling to achieve enough “wetness” should you require it.
