How to get Phil Collins’s gated reverb.
Posted by Björgvin Benediktsson on 7.7.2009
Gated reverb master
I see many people wander into this site from Google searching for gated reverb. I wrote a post about the difference between gate reverb and gated reverb some time ago but I never really delved into the details of the how-to.
Gated reverb is a staple 80’s snare sound popularized by artists such as Phil Collins. Many other artists and producers have used it over the years although it is always relacioned to Phil Collins, as seen by the google search “gated reverb collins”.
In any DAW, this technique is pretty simple and easy to do and doesn’t involve a lot of steps.
Ingredients are:
- Snare track
- Aux send
- Effects return track
- Gate with a side-chain
- Judicious amount of reverb, preferably a hall.
Now, when you have all the ingredients together you mix the snare track as you like it, eq’ing and compressing as needed. When you have the snare track as you want it it’s time to send it via an aux to a stereo reverb.
I use Logic and use Logic’s Space Designer to dial up a big hall setting. Remember to have the reverb on 100% wet so the channel only has the reverb sound.
Now insert a gate after the the reverb. Put the threshold as far up as you can, essentially killing the reverb. Now via your side-chain on the gate patch the gate to the snare-drum track.
Now go gate it!
When your gated reverb is side-chained to the snare track you can start fiddling with the parameters of the gate. Reduce the threshold so it starts letting the reverb through. The reverb should breathe in time with the snare drum creating a thick snare drum sound without an excessive reverb trail.
Experimenting with the attack and release you can get different results. A fairly fast attack and medium release in time with the snare creates a sound that sounds like the reverb is being sucked into the snare again.
I like having the attack a little slower. That way you hear the snare sound first and it sounds like the snare is breathing out the reverb before promptly sucking it in again.
Experiment with the parameters until you get something you are satisfied with. Gated reverb can not only be used on a snare, you can experiment with other instruments as well.
