Reverb Settings

We are used to hearing our music played indoors in buildings with acoustic properties. The natural reverberation affects all the sounds in a building. Every sound has the same reverb.
Pop production tends to use a variety of reverbs within the same mix; each instrument can have a different amount of reverb or even (with multiple reverb units) have a different type of reverb.
Reverb works best when it is used sparingly. It is easy to get carried away and cover everything in huge reverb treatments, but this covers over the song's dynamics and prevents it from 'breathing'. Listen to some well produced music, and you'll find that the use of reverb is restrained. When long reverbs are used, the music will have been arranged to provide room for them.
Reverberation can be applied to any sound, but in modern pop production it is most often used on percussion and vocals.

Remember, the main rule of using reverb is…don't overuse it!

Drums

A close miked drum kit will need some reverb to sound 'natural'
The bass drum is usually left dry, or treated with a short reverb, to stop it sounding indistinct and 'cloudy'
Snare drums are traditionally treated using a plate reverb, and hall settings also work well; try 0.5 sec for a short reverb, and over 2 secs for an obvious effect
Toms have a natural sustain, so don't need much reverb. Plate and small room settings are good for pop, with metal benefiting from longer settings. Hall settings are good for a 'big' tom sound
Hi-hats work well with a short to medium bright reverb setting. Try adding a high level of early reflections (the ambience patches are just early reflections with no reverb) to add interest and detail. Dance music uses little or no hi-hat reverb to retain the timing and impact of the dry sound
A good blanket drum reverb would be a short plate or early reflections setting; turning the bass frequencies down on the reverb unit would prevent the bass drum from being overpowering

Vocals

Vocals always sound better with reverb; we all tend to sound better when singing in the bath!
Long reverbs reduce intelligibility, and normally it is important that the words are clear
Bright reverbs can sound exciting, but emphasise sibilance
Too little reverb can make the vocal seem 'stuck on' the backing track, rather than sitting comfortably in the mix
Long reverb can sound good, but tends to fill the spaces in the music; the spaces are just as important as the music
Adding reverb creates an illusion of distance, and normally we want the singer to be at the front of the mix (unless we are mixing backing vocals…)
For an intimate vocal, try a short setting (less that 1 sec) with a fairly bright reverb. Also, try a high level of early reflections
A bigger sound can be produced by introducing more pre-delay to separate the original sound and the reverb
If the reverb patch makes the vocals sibilant, increase the high frequency damping (you may need to bring it down as low as 3kHz)

Guitar

Guitars can be used with any reverb setting; the setting will only be heard clearly if there is plenty of space in the music
Many guitar players prefer the sound of the spring reverb in their amplifiers
Pre-delay can add a sense of space
Short, bright plate reverb can work well on a steel-strung acoustic, but don't overdo it

Keyboards

To thicken synth sounds, try a bright reverb with predominant early reflections
A short, high level reverb makes the synth sound like multiple instruments in an acoustic space

Digital Reverb Parameters

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