PRODUCTION TRICKS: REVERSED PIANO REVERB
Updated: Jan 7, 2021
"This trick is perfect for intros, transitions, pre drops, and can be used creatively within the arrangement of your beats."
Hey, welcome to our production tricks blog : ) This is intended to give you some tips and tricks, which you can apply and use creatively in your tracks!
In this post, we want to show you a simple but very effective trick. It has been used time and time again in thousands of tracks, and always remains timeless - because it always works. As the tittle suggests, it is the infamous "reversed reverb tail". Let's dive in!
First, choose a sound - preferably short - a stab, a chord, a one shot. We'll start with an A minor Chord, using a Piano VST Instrument on Logic Pro X.
You want to load a Reverb plugin on the channel's insert section - we're using ChromeVerb, one of Logic's stock Reverbs, which we find is very user friendly and sounds great.
Set the settings of the reverb output to WET only, so there is no audible DRY signal, just the wet reverb output. You want to have a long reverb time set, anywhere between 12 - 20 seconds. Note that, the actual reverb tail is not going to last that long - rather, with this setting, we ensure a rich tail following our input signal - you can always shorten the resulting audio region afterwards, while keeping a "thick" sound.
Great! Now, you want to bounce or render this region, on a new channel. Logic has a cool function called "Bounce In Place" (right click menu). This will instantly generate a new audio file, on a new track in your session, with the added effects on it. Since we had our Reverb Output set on WET only, we should expect an audio file with just the reverb tail of our initial instrument / region.
*As you bounce in place, make sure you have the "include audio tail" box ticked! If you want, you can name your file "reversed xxxxxx" as the file that will be generated will be the one we are reversing later.
Once you have the new audio, you want to open the Audio File Editor in Logic (double click on the audio region) and click on "File". Then, head over to the "Functions" menu, and click on "Reverse".
Boom! Your Reversed Reverb is ready for use : ) Make sure you mute the initial audio track, in case you don't want in the picture.
*Usually, the first seconds of our reversed audio region will be quiet, as it is the part where the reverb tail had essentially lost its momentum and faded out. I suggest you shorten it to where you start having an audible impression.
Thank you so much for reading and we hope you enjoyed our blog on this topic. This trick is perfect for intros, transitions, pre drops, and can be used creatively within the arrangement of your beats. Enjoy !!!
- Two Islands Music