Hey, it’s Chris Averill!
In my time on earth, I have heard thousands of demos from people getting into music production. Since I have been at this for quite some time, lots of people send me stuff! Also, I have started doing this online course so, I am in there as often as I can be listening to sessions (which is incredible to see)! So it is safe to say, I have heard a lot of early work from beginner recording engineers and producers! There are some common mistakes I notice in 95% of tracks that a lot of beginners make. I thought I would talk about some common mistakes I see in music production for beginners.
Today, let’s tackle the first common mistake I see when beginners are producing their first tracks!
#1
By far, the most common mistake that I hear a lot of beginner producers make is that they put too much reverb on everything!
Understandably so, I have been there, too (we have all heard that reverb makes everything sound better). When you first begin making music and playing with effects, reverb is a common one that comes with almost every program. It is such an easy way to transform any dull sound into something that feels big, lush, and special. So, the natural inclination is to use way too much of it. Such as putting it on too many things, using extreme settings, and having it too loud!
Let me explain:
If I use reverb on a track, I will sometimes have it as low as 5% wet. I might go up to 30% or 40% if it is an ambient piece but, I typically never go above 50%. I feel like 50%-99% is useless when you are a beginner because there is way more reverb than the dry signal at that point.
100% is useful! I will talk about that in a second!
Here is a great rule to follow:
If you are newer to producing, you probably want to have that dry wet ratio lower than where you think you need it.
That would be the first massive change.
Another tip to improve your reverb skills is to have a slightly shorter tail than your first instinct might tell you. Unless you are going for a washed-out ambient sound, you do not want to overdo it!
Sends (aux tracks in Pro Tools)
Most of the time, you should put your reverb on a send track.
Think of a send like a copy. On the send track, you can adjust things individually. For instance, you can put more effects on them and automate them independently of the original sound.
One good thing about having a reverb on a send is that you can duck it against the vocal. Meaning, you can have the signal automatically turn down the reverb when the vocalist is singing. Which can help keep a mix clean because you still want that feeling of the big reverb but, you don’t want to hear it all washed out when the vocalist is singing the words.
Let me talk through how I might use this process!
On the send, you want your reverb to be a hundred percent wet so that there is no dry signal – just the reverb.
You can keep the verb from clashing with the track by using a side-chain plugin. If you are not familiar with sidechaining, this is where we let the signal of something else (the vocal in this case) control the plugin.
For example:
I am going to use a plugin called spacer to tame specific frequencies in the reverb. When I’m sending the vocals to track spacer, it is going to turn down the frequencies of the reverb. All while the vocalist is singing based on the exact frequencies that are in their voice! Crazy right?!
The goal is to keep the mix clean! Using this technique, I can use a big reverb without pushing the vocalist too far behind the instrumentation.
Another thing I sometimes do is have a regular side-chain compressor triggered by the kick. That way, the reverb is also ducking while this kick is playing. This technique is helpful in many genres because the kick pattern is a very foundational element in most cases. Doing this can help ensure that it is not overshadowed by big reverbs.
Lastly,
Another common mistake I see a lot of beginners make is to use one reverb for everything!
Either they have one reverb and send everything to it or find one reverb preset and put it on almost all of their instruments! It is so important to dial in individual reverb settings for different elements of your song. You might send various amounts of them to the same reverb or, you might have entirely different reverbs for instruments.
For example:
• I typically have a verb on the vocal.
• A different verb on the snare,
• A room verb,
• A verb for the toms,
• A verb for the gang vocals,
and so on!
It is also important to note that sometimes delay is fantastic to use instead of or in conjunction with reverb to create a different sense of space! It can take a bit of time and finesse. But it is so worth it to use different kinds of reverbs on various parts of your songs! It allows you to create a vibe and the perfect sense of space! The goal is to make your track sound exciting and interesting.