Loooong reverb

[peterandthewolf]

Hi there,

I can't achieve a certain effect and I decided ask for the audio masters of this incredible forum.

Maybe you've heard it in other songs, but one example I've found is in the "The Brave One" soundtrack, by Dario Marianelli. He uses a very long reverberation on the piano part, in the first track, but it seems to have something else. It's a very long decay, with a very long and gentle ramp down. Whenever I try to set a large decay time on a reverber, the sound doesn't last much, and vanishes away too soon. Yet, the sound gets too unfocused with large decay times, and with a somewhat ugly low (bassy) sound. Marianelli accomplished it even with very high piano notes, and played very softly ... it's a mistery for me.

I really appreciate any light on this matter. It might be very obvious for many of you, but I'm stuck with this issue for a long time now.

Regards
Pete

[steve]

Make a copy of the track, and apply reverb to the copy - this should be a "Wet only" effect.
Use the Time-shift tool to move the effect track a little to the right.
Apply Equalization to the effect as required.
Adjust the volume of the reverb track using the track volume slider.

("Dry" = original sound. "Wet" = processed sound)

To create a reverb that stays at a high level longer, but does not start off really loud, use the "Leveler" effect (Audacity 1.3 only) to even out the volume of the "Wet" track.

[peterandthewolf]

Thank you so much. Man, I was helpless as it took a while for you to answer that. I'm very glad you did. I'm gonna try it tomorrow morning and post a feedback about your suggestion.

Regards and thx again.
Peter

[steve]

Considering that Audacity is free software, and both development and support come from unpaid volunteer enthusiast, and there seem to be relatively few people able and willing to regularly contribute, I don't think that 3 days is a particularly long response time - heck it is better than the support from many commercial applications.

Anyway, good luck with the effects. I look forward to hearing how you get on. (And if you find that you are able to help out at all on the forum, either now or in the future, please feel free to do so - you know how much other users appreciate a little help when they need it )

[peterandthewolf]

Thank you very much.

It worked way better than my early attempts. The winner is the leveler effect, i guess, because the result get much better after putting it, and that "wet only" track thing makes a lot easier to control the level of the effect.

I didn't mean you took very long to answer. I was quite anxious, just that. I'm in much debt with you for this hint.
I hope I can help anyone some day. All my questions are so basic ... but anyway, I'm going to study audio production more deeply from no on, and gonna try to participate more actively on the forum.

best regards
Pete

[steve]

but anyway, I'm going to study audio production more deeply from no on, and gonna try to participate more actively on the forum.

I look forward to seeing you around.
Have fun with your audio production.
Steve