Completely Dry

[⚖musicalmemoriesuk]

If you remember from a previous post about turning the master eq and limiter off.

Im now of the opinion that reverb whilst good for creating soundscape, in actual fact in a lot of cases it can do more harm than good.

Is also good to turn off all effects, because it exposes any issues when layering sounds.

One advantage of keeping everything dry is if you play in different environments there is no issues with reverb etc conflicting with a rooms acoustics. 

Just my observations.

[♔Chello]

Im now of the opinion that reverb whilst good for creating soundscape, in actual fact in a lot of cases it can do more harm than good.

Reverb can very quickly create a too big soundstage, and without EQ, raw reverb - particularly on complex sources like vocals or drums - can create a muddy, "washy" mess that fills up the frequency spectrum and masks other instruments.

There are multiple examples of this on the Pa5X's internal styles, where Korg has used reverb on bass and drums, which makes the bass notes for bass and drums muddy.

Proper EQ is extremely important for reverb (and other effects), and this must always be added before reverb and others, because effects are controlled with EQ.

The worst mistake that can be made in mixing is using too much reverb and other acoustic effects - the entire soundstage is effectively ruined, and it is always better to use a little too little than a little too much.

I deliberately always use a little lower reverb than what sounds ideal, and this is largely because I always use headphones when mixing, and when this is tested (every time) with speakers afterwards, the room acoustics will affect the result.

[⚖musicalmemoriesuk]

Im finding even styles mixed dry sound so much better.

[♔Chello]

Im finding even styles mixed dry sound so much better.

I can agree with that, because the sound becomes cleaner, and the perspective more precise.

It takes some work (and knowledge) to add the right type of reverb, and assign the right amount to each instrument individually to maintain purity and perspective.

In my opinion - here the same rule applies as for Global EQ - do not use Global reverb, but assign it as an Insert effect that can be varied for each track.

In many cases, different types of reverb are required for some tracks, and then a global reverb is poorly suited.

Another significant reason why different types of reverb are often required for all tracks is that all instruments have different amounts of reverb and Ambience recorded, and therefore require different types and amounts of reverb.