Where to Put the Gate in Gated Reverb

A reader writes in with a question about the gated reverb trick in Mixing Strategies(https://www.audio-issues.com/strategies):

“About the Gated reverb, I miss the point where the “gate comes after the reverb.” That means that in the reverb return track you insert a gate? Also can you use a stereo reverb as a send FX in a mono instrument track?

Short answer?

Yes.

Longer answer: On the reverb return bus, where you would send the on the same send return(auxiliary bus, effects return etc) and side-chain the gate to the original snare track.

That way, whenever the drummer interesting reverb effects that tie to the snare sound.

Big in the 80’s, not as big now. Still used, but with more subtlety.

Stereo Reverb on Mono Sources?

Gated reverb works just fine with a stereo reverb. It follows the same principles, but I tend to use mono reverbs on snares. It’s simply a preference thing. If the stereo reverb sounds big and groovy and you love it, go for it.

A good starting point is to have a nice stereo reverb for the whole drum-kit. If you need a little extra separation, an extra mono reverb just on the snare can add an extra layer of depth to your drum sound.

That’s actually a trick I’ve done a video for in the upcoming revamp of my Mixing Mistakes e-course. But that’s news for another day.

Image by: themooring

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