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Tutorial: Setting up Send Reverbs in Cubase Sx 2
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Boobytrip
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
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988
Posted : Jan 21, 2005 13:58
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1. Create a stereo fx-channel with a stereo reverb, preferably a Waves Rverb or another reverb with enough controls. Set the 'wet/dry' slider to 'wet'
2. Create an audio mixdown of 2 bars (measures) with pure 'pink noise', (which you can synthesise with Albino for instance).
3. Next, create an audio track and load in the bars of pink noise, put the locators of the key-editor around these bars and loop this section. Name the audio track 'pink_noise'. Then press play to let the loop playback the pink noise.
4. In the mixer, go to the channel that is called 'pink-noise' and turn the gain-knob (at the top of your mixer cannel, it's located on the right, under your bus and above the first insert-plugin) while you hold down shift. Turn it until your signal reaches -6 dB on the mixer .
5. Next, send the pink noise signal to the reverb plugin using an fx-send with a maximimum amount of send level.
6. Go to the mixer channel that contains the Rverb reverb-plugin (it's probably called 'FX1-Waves Rverb' or something similar). If you've followed the previous steps is should be receiving the pink noise.
7. Turn down the mixer fader of the channel with the Rverb, until it's signal reaches - 7 dB.
--- this is your basic set-up ---
8. Next, go to the 'pink-noise'channel on the mixer and put in a 'midi-gate' as an insert to this channel. It's in your plugin folder under 'dynamics'-> 'midi-gate'. Open the midi-gate plugin and turn the 'attack', 'hold' and 'release' knobs fully left (to zero)
9. Then you go to the sequencer-window and create a midi-track, and set it's output to the midi-gate. You can do this by clicking on te word 'Not Connected', next to the word 'Out: ' on the left. Call this midi-channel 'noise-gater' or something similar.
10. Select the midi-channel containing the midi-gate and double-click in the section between the locators (i.e. the looped section). This should create a midi-part on that channel. Set length-quantize to 1/64 (do this on top of the sequencer window) and draw a 64th note on the first beat of both bars (measures)
11. now you should hear short bursts of pink noise with Rverb reverb on them.
--- you've just made yourself a reverb 'fine-tuning' setup ---
Save this cubase project-file, because it's a basic setup you can with on every track you create.
Now, let's get this reverb to 'groove' with the track
12. add a breakbeat, and/or the rest of the track so you can hear the groove (the rhythm) of the track.
13. Next (with the 'bursts' of pink noise coming through the Rverb), tweak the controls on the reverb plugin like: time, size, diffusion, decay, early-reflections, eq etc.
14. By playing with the decay and time controls, you can let the reverb breathe in time with the music. it should play IN TIME with the rhythm of the track, but it does not necessarily have to KEEP TIME, like a metronome. Try to let the reverb enhance the 'groove' of the track, adding both exitement and space.
15. Optionally, you can play a little bit with the 'attack', 'hold' and 'release' parameters of the midi-gate, so you can get a better 'view' (or ear) on the effects the Reverb has on your sound.
16. Mute the pink-noise audio channel and use the Rverb on the mixer tracks you want.
--- why go through all this trouble ? ---
Of course this is all just a rationalistic technique, and it doesn't appear to be creative in any way. But if you use this technique a few times, you will find that you set up your effects (not just reverb) faster, so you can spend more time making music, and less time tweaking effects while making music
~ "First do the plumbing, then stert cooking" ~
With the bursts of pink noise you can hear how all frequencies are played back through the reverb and you will be able to hear how all parameters like for instance 'decay' and 'diffusion' work on your sounds.
You will be able to set up you Rverb 'spaces' not just to add some space, but also to groove with the music and have the right amounts of diffusion and early reflections.
This setup is essentially a microscope you can use to set up all your send-reverbs. Off course it's a good idea to store the presets you create in using this technique in your reverb, with the amount of bpms in the name of the preset. Like: '145bpm_long_hall' or '142bpm_resoverb' so you can load those into insert-reverbs as well.
Hope it helped,
Daan |
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martyn
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
389
Posted : Jan 21, 2005 14:43
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JeSuS
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
23
Posts :
115
Posted : Jan 21, 2005 15:15
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it's so simple!!! why i do not read about midi gate early???
Cool !!! but don't need audio track. any VST's enough. And better - you can change tembre in real time  |
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NikC
BeatNik
Started Topics :
40
Posts :
601
Posted : Jan 22, 2005 02:31
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Thanks brother!
Its like acoustic checking for effects... why didn't i think of it before 
Peace |
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mubali
Mubali
Started Topics :
71
Posts :
2219
Posted : Jan 22, 2005 03:03
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Very nice guys, you are definitely making it easier for me to shift toward using cubase more.... Keep it up!
 An Eagle may soar, but Weasels don't get sucked into jet engines. |
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s0ft
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
42
Posts :
825
Posted : Jan 22, 2005 03:06
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yup, i needed this too. im doing my best to learn cubase, you guys are helping me out a lot. |
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Surrender
IsraTrance Team
Started Topics :
506
Posts :
5388
Posted : Jan 22, 2005 05:24
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Quote:
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On 2005-01-21 13:58, Boobytrip wrote
4. In the mixer, go to the channel that is called 'pink-noise' and turn the gain-knob (at the top of your mixer cannel, it's located on the right, under your bus and above the first insert-plugin) while you hold down shift. Turn it until your signal reaches -6 dB on the mixer .
5. Next, send the pink noise signal to the reverb plugin using an fx-send with a maximimum amount of send level.
7. Turn down the mixer fader of the channel with the Rverb, until it's signal reaches - 7 dB.
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first of all, thank you very much- this seems like a very good idea.
im not understanding the reason behind this: i can imititate these steps but do not know why it should be that... can anyone explain?
"On the other hand, you have different fingers."
http://myspace.com/gadimon |
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WAVELOGIX
Wavelogix
Started Topics :
136
Posts :
1214
Posted : Jan 22, 2005 11:45
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same here ... i still dont get points 4-7 !
please explain the theory behind them daan |
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Boobytrip
IsraTrance Junior Member
Started Topics :
39
Posts :
988
Posted : Jan 22, 2005 14:29
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Ahem, well... I added those points because i find them handy. Before i do my final mix, i like to put the faders to the -6 dB point, and use the gain-knobs to get the levels to about -6 dB. So when i mix, the position of the fader tells me something about the level of the audio that's under those faders.
When you send a signal to the reverb, and let the reverb return at about a decibel under the level of the channel itself you get a natural sounding balance of the reverb and the original sound.
So the steps aren't really necessary, but intended as a general guideline about how you can calibrate your setup before you start mixing so the technical side of production doesn't get in the way of your creativity. I found most of the info in "mixing with your mind" by the way, which is a book i can really recommend.
So they're definately not rules or anything, just tips to set up your sends. Keyword: calibration
And yeah: this tip is more about setting up reverbs for spaciousness and for reverbs you use to place sounds in an environment. Of course you can use reverbs in much more creative ways, but that's a whole other story |
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texmex
Started Topics :
5
Posts :
189
Posted : Sep 13, 2005 22:53
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Sorry to bring up old thread but this is simply an amazing trick! If that was in the book you mentioned, I'm so getting it
Quote:
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On 2005-01-21 13:58, Boobytrip wrote:
With the bursts of pink noise you can hear how all frequencies are played back through the reverb and you will be able to hear how all parameters like for instance 'decay' and 'diffusion' work on your sounds.
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One question. Why do you use pink noise not white noise? Is it because pink noise resembles realistic/natural instruments more than white noise?
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Oh, I found this:
http://www.firstpr.com.au/dsp/pink-noise/
Quote:
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In the natural world, there are many physical processes which produce noise with what is known as a "pink" distribution of power. "Pink" noise has an even distribution of power if the frequency is mapped in a logarithmic scale. A straightforward example would be that there is as much noise power in the octave 200 to 400 Hz as there is in the octave 2,000 to 4,000 Hz. Consequently, it seems, our ears tell us that this is a "natural" even noise.
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Maybe that's why...
Anyway, thanks for the great tutorial, Boobytrip! |
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