Do you use reverb on stage?

B

Blueprint

Member
Hi all
Those of you who are gigging musicians, do you add a reverb block for your stage setup or do you use delay?
Or maybe both?šŸ™‚
Thanks!
 
It is a pretty general question... reverb yes, delay often yes. Both as least as possible but delays will be louder when used as a rhythmic effect.
 
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This is a great question and I'm interested to hear the prospectivies. I do use both, but over the years I have dialed back the reverb live. I do like it for my in ears to add a little depth, but rooms can have such a varying effect anyway I've found for live gigs, less is more.
 
I always have reverb on and have an external footswitch that toggles between a little reverb and a lot. I low and hi pass it pretty drastically though. I often use it as an effect. I occasionally use delay, but only a short 100ms slap. I never use long delays.

-Aaron
 
It depends on the venue and numerous other factors. I have found, for me, direct signals and sometimes even close mics, need a little "room" to make the sound more organic. This is especially true with in-ears where a dry, direct signal can be jarring.

However, the decay time as well as the mix may have to be dialed way back for larger venues where there may already be too much ambience. Delay mix also needs dialing back in larger spaces or with more complex music.
 
For me, reverb is always on (cleans and dirt). Some sort of plate verb, 1.5 to 2ms, mix at 10%ish then let the room/venue do the rest of the work. I do a low cut at 400ish and a high cut between 4k-6k. However, I'm just playing rock/metal covers. I rarely use reverb as an effect... more of a feel thing and to wet the tone a bit. Dry tone always sounds too sterile to me.
 
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Not really gigging anymore, but when I did I found reverb really only worked live if you were using it as an obvious effect. Like, going for a real ambient spacey part or playing surf guitar, then crank up the verb. More subtle effects get lost in the natural ambience of the space and if it happens to be a highly reflective environment all any reverb does is wash out your sound even more.
 
I use a ducking reverb for my lead preset to give it some space and for clean tones. I like how the ducking drops the reverb level out to preserve attack/articulation and prevent smearing but comes back up when I hold notes or stop.

I similarly use a ducking reverb for distorted/gain-ier rhythm tones when I have a solo intro and/or do hard stops with the entire band so there isn't a hard cutoff. I switch in/out the reverb manually in this case. Again, the reverb only becomes apparent when playing stops or drops below the level threshold.

I had a long time soundman recently compliment how I used reverb in this manner. He liked how it only appeared on the tails, didn't obscure the guitar in the mix all the time, and gave some sonic space/trails after hard stops so solo/intro tones didn't sound like they hit a brick wall if the guitar was bare in the mix.

I also low/high pass the reverb. Removing low end energy, in particular, provides an additional overall clarity which I like.
 
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Stratoblaster said:
I use a ducking reverb for my lead preset to give it some space and for clean tones. I like how the ducking drops the reverb level out to preserve attack/articulation and prevent smearing but comes back up when I hold notes or stop.

I similarly use a ducking reverb for distorted/gain-ier rhythm tones when I have a solo intro and/or do hard stops with the entire band so there isn't a hard cutoff. I switch in/out the reverb manually in this case. Again, the reverb only becomes apparent when playing stops or drops below the level threshold.

I had a long time soundman recently compliment how I used reverb in this manner. He liked how it only appeared on the tails, didn't obscure the guitar in the mix all the time, and gave some sonic space/trails after hard stops so solo/intro tones didn't sound like they hit a brick wall if the guitar was bare in the mix.

I also low/high pass the reverb. Removing low end energy, in particular, provides an additional overall clarity which I like.
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I think this is a really elegant solution for people who don't want to go completely dry or use in-ears, while also keeping clarity in a mix. Do you mind sharing some of your ducking and high/low cut settings? Thanks!
 
I like to put a little reverb on most of my tones. How much? That depends on the tone and the space. Even in large, lively venues, a little touch of short room reverb can lend some presence and intimacy to your tone.

Delay? That depends on too many factors to give a blanket answer.
 
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Bit of reverb to wetten up, or some 5% analog delay. For leads I up the analog to 20% mix and for a huge chimey new wave post punk sound switch over to the memory man style with a dash of slow modulation for nice swirliness. On the AC15 model with a micro boost for extra bite.
 
I suggest using what the songs call for and get candid feedback from whoever is mixing/audience. My "gigging" is at a decent-sized worship venue. I dial in the stereo wet effects rehearsing at home playing in IEMs and also studio monitors cranked. I have transitioned to "all-in" with an FM9 over the past year and our sound engineers say it all sits well in the mix in the venue. I annoyingly ask frequently if the tone is too wet, etc. to make sure!
 
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martijne said:
Interesting.. why the pitch follower?
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Hi Martijne,
To have very little delay when I play (lower tuned) chords and more when Iā€™m playing lead, higher up the neck. I have the same controller also attached to the mid control on the amp, so the higher the notes, the ā€fatterā€ the sound.
I play my gigs with just one scene of one preset, but there is so much automatic shenanigans going on, controllers are my best friendsā€¦.
 
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