Finalising the Mix

Question 1

What is Pre-delay on a reverb?

Answer 1

The amount of time that elapses between the original signal and the arrival of the early reflections

Question 2

Which control/setting of a reverb would be set differently between a percussive sound and a pad-like sound and how?

Answer 2

Pre-delay: would ideally be shorter for percussive sounds and longer for pad sounds

Question 3

What is the Early Reflections control of a reverb plugin emulating?

Answer 3

The original signal’s initial reflections as they bounce off the walls, ceiling and floor of a natural room

Question 4

What is the Diffusion Network control on a reverb plugin affecting?

Answer 4

The Diffusion network creates the reverberant tail that follows the early reflections

Question 5

How does Reverb Time relate to the Diffusion Network on a reverb plugin (i.e. RT60)

Answer 5

The decay time control adjusts the time required for the diffusion tail to drop to 1/1000th (-60 dB) of its initial amplitude

Question 6

How many seconds is roughly the reverb time (RT60) of a natural room space?

Answer 6

one to three seconds

Question 7

Up to how many seconds is roughly the reverb time (RT60) of a large hall or church ?

Answer 7

up to eight seconds

Question 8

What does the Shape control on a reverb generally affect?

Answer 8

It affects the prominence of the early reflections, as well as their overlap with the diffused sound

Question 9

Describe the how differing Shape settings on a reverb plugin will affect the early reflections and diffusion and the resulting sound

Answer 9

With small values, the reflections decay more gradually and the diffused sound occurs sooner, leading to a larger overlap between these components. With large values, the reflections decay more rapidly and the diffused onset occurs later; A higher value can sometimes improve the source’s intelligibility, while a lower value may give a smoother decay.

Question 10

How will very large and very small Size settings alter a reverb’s characteristics ?

Answer 10

A very large size will lend a shifting, diffused delay effect to the reverb, a very small value will give it a highly coloured, metallic feel

Question 11

How much Density is it generally best to set on a reverb ?

Answer 11

As much as possible without colouring the sound

Question 12

What can be the result if too much and if too little Density is set for a reverb

Answer 12

Too little can make the reverb sound grainy and too much can colour the sound

Question 13

What are the three stages/elements of reverb?

Answer 13

Pre-Delay, Early Reflections and Diffusion

Question 14

Describe how to use delay in Ableton to add stereo width (Haas Effect) that has good mono compatability

Answer 14

First set the Dry/Wet to 100% and feedback to 0, turn off the filter/modulations, and put in stereo mode. Then insert a Utility plugin after the Delay and put into Mono mode. Finally, unlink the left and right channels and set the time of the left to 1ms and then increase the right channel’s time as much as possible before the sound begins to go out of phase and then remove the utility.

Question 15

Describe how to create an analogue-style chorus effect using Ableton’s Echo, and some parameters (four suggestion) than can be adjusted to change it’s character

Answer 15

First set the Dry/Wet to 100% and feedback to 0%, remove filters and modulation and set in stereo mode. Now set the time (linked L&R) to 20ms and adjust the modulation amount for the delay to a moderate value and set the phase to 90 (offset) with a rate of 1Hz to begin to hear a chorusing effect. From here bring up the feedback to around 40-60% . With this basic sound you can (1) adjust the modulation rate above and below 1Hz, (2) introduce some analogue Wobble in the Character tab, (3) apply the filter section and/or input gain to give a saturated/vintage character, and also (4) add reverb in the feedback loop.

Question 16

Describe how to create a Flanger effect using Ableton’s Echo, and some parameters (two suggestions) than can be adjusted to change it’s character

Answer 16

First turn off the filter and any Character Tab settings, set the delay time (linked L&R) to 1ms, the feedback to 75% and Dry/Wet to 100% in Stereo mode. Also set the modulation amount of the delay to 100% with the rate at 1Hz and offset to 90. Two ways to change the character of this basic flanger are by adjusting the modulation rate above and below 1Hz and applying the 4x mode for the modulation amount.

Question 17

Describe how to use Ableton’s Echo to create an analogue looper and what controls you could adjust to enhance it’s character and colour

Answer 17

First set the feedback to 100% and Dry/Wet to 50% and the delay time in synced time mode to 1 (bar) with L&R also synched and Re-Pitch mode enabled. Now create a loop by ‘overdubbing’ notes within the repeats and shift the time up to 1/2 or 1/4 and then return to 1 (or used in doubled pitch). The re-pitching process itself adds analogue-style artefacts, but you can also add post-delay reverb, drive the input for saturation, apply the filter, and add some Wobble in the Character Tab for a more vintage charcter.

Question 18

Which Export/Render dithering option will result in the cleanest and lowest audible noise output when creating a final file (mastered) for distribution ?

Answer 18

3 POW-r dithering