Choosing a Reverb

Over time, your ears will develop and you will be able to hear the difference, and be able to choose an appropriate reverb. For now, choose what seems right. Try sticking to the reverbs that were added in the V2 operating system, as many people have reported they sound better than the earlier reverbs.

Then you only really have three important parameters: reverb time, which is how long the reverb lasts for (generally between 1 and 3 seconds - shorter for faster tracks, longer for slower tracks).

The aux return level will determine how loud the reverb is - don't be tempted to turn the reverb levels up until everything is washed out. Keep it subtle, and the result will be more natural.

And lastly the high frequency decay (called "HFdamp") on the DPS will determine the "brightness" of the reverb. With a high frequency setting, the reverb will be bright and have a lot of treble, and the brightness will drop off as you decrease the frequency so the reverb becomes darker. This simulates real life as hard, bright reflective surfaces (like in a cathedral) will give a bright reverb, but carpets, material and people will absorb the high frequency content and give a darker sound.

The other parameters are pre delay, diffusion and width. Predelay sets the amount of time occuring before the main reverb sets in. If you have a big room (let's go back to our cathedral) and clap your hands, the sound takes a long time to travel from the source (the clapping hands) to the walls, and then back and forth until you get the reflections mingled and you hear reverb. In a smaller room, the reverb is heard much quicker as the sound has less distance to cover.

In your mix, predelay is useful because it distances the reverb from the source, which can result in cleaner and less cluttered mixes than when the reverb appears straight away.

Diffusion alters the density, or how "thick" the reverb is, and corresponds to the amount of sound reflections that make up the reverb, and width alters the stereo spread between mono and wide stereo.

So have a little play and find out how the parameters affect the sound that you hear. Then you can decide on what you like.