Need help with Reverb and Delay settings

boltrecords

boltrecords

Fractal Fanatic
Hello all

I've never been good at dialing in a decent reverb and delay. It's always either too wet or too dry. Can anyone recommend a good setting or possibly send me one. I just need a standard reverb setting that will work in a live setting for rhythm and lead guitars. Same with the delay. I usually try and make the delay heavier for lead guitar and maybe add some ducking for the rhythm delay.

I was playing around with the periphery presets and noticed that both the delay and reverb are extremely heavy in the mix. Is normal for live use? What I typically dial in is nowhere near this wet.

Any tips would be great.

Thanks


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Have you tried playing around with the mix level of the effect?
What someone sends to you will be tailored to their setup, it's really trial and error.
 
boltrecords said:
Hello all

I've never been good at dialing in a decent reverb and delay. It's always either too wet or too dry. Can anyone recommend a good setting or possibly send me one. I just need a standard reverb setting that will work in a live setting for rhythm and lead guitars. Same with the delay. I usually try and make the delay heavier for lead guitar and maybe add some ducking for the rhythm delay.

I was playing around with the periphery presets and noticed that both the delay and reverb are extremely heavy in the mix. Is normal for live use? What I typically dial in is nowhere near this wet.

Any tips would be great.

Thanks


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

First make sure you're running them in parallel. I don't think it makes any difference in sound quality on the Axe since it's all digital (it does in an analog rig), but it makes it easier to dial in. Put them in the parallel path and put the mix on 100%, then adjust the level to get the desired amount of the effect in. It will probably be lower than you think it needs to be. A lot of people use too much of both of these effects. A little bit goes a long way (kind of like gain), depending on the type of music you're playing.

Also make sure you're selecting the right effect type for your use. For example, if you're just trying to add a little dimension to the tone, don't use a hall reverb which will drench the tone. I'd say start there. Otherwise, let us know where you already have your settings (or post presets) and we can offer more specific suggestions.
 
Last edited:
There is no right or wrong reverb, just adjust to taste.

Turning down the reverb time (some patches seem to have it set pretty high, around 2 seconds, down to about 1 seconds helps IMO) and then just adjust the mix to taste. Want a nice thick reverb ? Turn up the mix a bit, sounding too much ? Turn it down

Its really that simple and I think your overthinking things, just use your ears

Also, don't expect one reverb to sound best for any and all tones. I like a nice thick reverb on cleans, but nearly no reverb on crunch stuff, again that isn't right or wrong, just taste. Luckily with the Axe, you can change your settings for each and every preset which is pretty cool.

Just let your ears guide you
 
Ever since the mix law was changed for delay and reverb, if you run the mix 50% or less, you don't have to use them in parallel if you don't want and the mix control can be used to add / subtract rev and delay.

I am using series routing. I used to have them in parallel. (Hell I might go back to that on a whim :))

So I run DLY -> REV at the end of the preset chain with a mono tape delay into a big stereo reverb.

I like all my tones to have clarity but a big wash of ambience too. I use ducking on the delay and reverb for clarity.

DLY
Mono Tape
Feedback: 33%
Head 1 Time: 473ms (stole this from a Daniel Lanois rig rundown)
Mix: 10%
Ducker Atten: 10db
Ducker Threshold: -40db
Ducker Release: 10ms
everything else default

REV
Asylum Hall
Quality: High
Mix: 24%
Ducker Atten: 6db
Ducker Threshold: -40db
Ducker Release Time: 10ms
everything else default
 
Assuming series routing and level @ +/- 0dB, I prefer my reverbs below 25% mix (sometimes WAAAY below 25%) and delays at ~50% mix with ~30% feedback (master feedback tied to exp1, but typically default at 100%). I also use ducking on both, usually.

One key thing you can't overlook is that each of the "types" of delays & reverbs has its own character that very much influences how it should be used. I tend to like the London Plate & Studio reverb types. All of these allow a little higher mix value than something very deep (like the large hall or space types) before getting too washy IMO.

I highly recommend setting all time parameters (for everything, not just reverb & delay) to various note values based on the tempo you're using, but if you want settings that *work* for nearly everything, consider using Fibonacci Sequence values.
 
barhrecords said:
Ever since the mix law was changed for delay and reverb, if you run the mix 50% or less, you don't have to use them in parallel if you don't want and the mix control can be used to add / subtract rev and delay.

I am using series routing. I used to have them in parallel. (Hell I might go back to that on a whim :))
So I run DLY -> REV at the end of the preset chain with a mono tape delay into a big stereo reverb.
Click to expand...

Similar for me.. I usually use the mono tape for delay and then most often the Studio C reverb (I think that's it- not near the Axe FX currently) but I tend to use a fairly dry mix unless I'm going for a certain type of tone that requires a higher mix. I typically don't use delay and reverb together- one or the other. I like using a slight slap echo delay live, unless there's a lot going on in the mix. Then I tend to run completely dry for the most part to keep things from getting muddy. Depends on the type of music.. I go w/ the "less is more" approach for the most part..

BTW, I tend to play funk, rock, classic rock, etc. (nothing very heavy nor very pop oriented, so keep that in mind w/ my suggestions).
 
Thanks everyone. that gave me a great starting point. In the past i would always run in parallel. But i never really knew a good delay time to use when just having a minor delay for rhythm purposes. 473ms seems to be a good spot. As far as reverb, too much can get really muddy sounding live. the ducking that Barhrecords recommended seems to help clear that up a bit.
 
boltrecords said:
Thanks everyone. that gave me a great starting point. In the past i would always run in parallel. But i never really knew a good delay time to use when just having a minor delay for rhythm purposes. 473ms seems to be a good spot. As far as reverb, too much can get really muddy sounding live. the ducking that Barhrecords recommended seems to help clear that up a bit.
Click to expand...

I've found that live you can strip away at least 50% of effects and no one can notice, and in addition to that, effects mixes need to be raised a bit if you want the effect to be apparent.

I've seen guys craft this really intricate patches that have all this little modulations and pannings, and yes, it sounds fantastic through stereo monitors or headphones at home, but in a live mix, through what is typically a mono system, and with a poorly treated venue etc, that stuff is all totally lost.

For delay for example, I'd usually just do a mono analog with 450ms and about 30% feedback and call it a day, at least in live patches. Now if we are talking about a studio patch, then I'll go and try to run two delay times, stereo panning, parallel chains etc.

Horses for courses as the Brits say
 
lqdsnddist said:
I've found that live you can strip away at least 50% of effects and no one can notice, and in addition to that, effects mixes need to be raised a bit if you want the effect to be apparent.

I've seen guys craft this really intricate patches that have all this little modulations and pannings, and yes, it sounds fantastic through stereo monitors or headphones at home, but in a live mix, through what is typically a mono system, and with a poorly treated venue etc, that stuff is all totally lost.

For delay for example, I'd usually just do a mono analog with 450ms and about 30% feedback and call it a day, at least in live patches. Now if we are talking about a studio patch, then I'll go and try to run two delay times, stereo panning, parallel chains etc.

Horses for courses as the Brits say
Click to expand...

100% agree. I create my presets to sound just the way I want them, then raise the level of the delay (especially) and reverb from there, to the point where they just about sound too strong in my monitors/FRFR. That way I know they will sound appropriate in a mix. If they sound great on their own, they will get lost. But better to set them up so they sound perfect to you, then raise the time-based effects louder (especially the decay level on delays).
 
Its kind of analogous to the concept of theater makeup; it looks garish and over the top when you see the performers close up back stage, however its not meant to look good at that distance, its mean to be noticeable from the back row
 
I always have it parallel and mixed at 100%

Then my method is that the more gain means less dB.

So clean I can go as low as
-6dB on a Large Room:

Medium drive or slightly breakup,
-9dB on a Rec Studio C (my favorite reverb)

Higher gain amps I like
-12dB on a Large Plate

These tend to be my reverb settings all the time. Sometimes I'll bring the clean reverb down to -9dB or even -12dB sometimes, but sticking to 3dB increments works well.
 
I usually play smaller spaces so I try to keep the reverb set to match the space. Here's the settings for my default reverb block for live "non effect" situations. I'll be honest, it's quite possibly the factory default setting for rec studio C type. If a song requires an ambient/wash type tone, obviously this wouldn't do it. I will bump the mix up or down depending on the room.

Effect Type REC STUDIO C
Time 1.10 sec
High Cut 3549 Hz
HF Time 0.35
Wall Diffusion 100.00%
Size 27
Early Level -8.0 dB
Late Level 3.0 dB
PreDelay 0.0 ms
Low Cut 20.0 Hz
Mod Depth 20.00%
Mod Rate 0.200 Hz
Mix 12.00%
Level 0.0 dB
Balance 0
Bypass Mode THRU
Global Mix OFF
Input Gain 100.00%
Echo Density 8
Late Diffusion 0.00%
Late Diff Time 50.00%
Bypassed 100.00%
Number Springs 3
Spring Tone 0
Mic Spacing 25.00%
Freq 1 160.0 Hz
Freq 2 800.0 Hz
Q 1 0.35
Q 2 0.707
Gain 1 2.00 dB
Gain 2 0.00 dB
Spring Drive 0
LF Time 1.2
LF Crossover 579.9 Hz
Stereo Width 75.00%
Atten 0.0 dB
Threshold 0.0 dB
Release Time 1.0 ms
Early Diffusion 48.00%
Early Diff Time 60.00%
Early Decay 50.00%
Late Input Mix 62.00%
Quality HIGH
Hold OFF
 
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