[Frank Stearns]

PStamler writes:

On Sunday, April 26, 2015 at 12:11:29 AM UTC-6, Don Pearce wrote:

No. It is just a general problem that when adding reverb we tend to
lose track of how much we have used during the stress of a session.
Listening back a few days later it is quite usual to hear that it is
in fact overdone, and it needs to be backed off a bit. My advice is
just a time-saver.

I've told my students for years that the Iron Law of Reverb is to turn it up until
it sounds right...then turn it down 6dB.

The thing is, your ears acclimate to a level of reverb and don't hear it any
more...so you need to add more in order to hear it. Then, as Don notes, you come
back a couple of days later and it sounds like it was recorded in a cave.

I always print a mix with the reverb turned down 6dB from what sounds right, and
another mix with it turned down 6 *more* dB. About half the time, the latter mix is
what I wind up liking in the long run.

It's startling to me that even with "reverb fatigue" one could make a mix error on
the order of magnitude of even 3 dB, let alone 6 or 12. (In the classical and
acoustic music work I do, a reverb change of even 1 dB can be quite significant.)

I don't doubt the experience and observations, but I'm curious with two general
questions:

1. What music genres are we talking about where this rule seems to apply more often
than not?

2. Can you give some background on the reverbs used: general type, basic parameters
(such as decay time, predelay, EQ, and so on)

Thanks,
Frank
Mobile Audio

--