CREATE EFFECTS CHANNELS 

Many mixers have a standard set of go-to effects that they’ll set up before they begin a mix, since
they know that they’ll eventually be put to use at some time during the mix. This will be covered
more in Chapter 8, “The Dimension Element: Adding Effects,” but one quick setup that works well
even for tracking, overdubs, and rough mixes utilizes two reverbs and a delay and is set as
follows:     

For drums: Use a reverb set to a dark room sound with about 1.5 seconds of decay and a pre-delay
of 20 milliseconds.  

For all other instruments: Use a plate with about 1.8 seconds of decay and a pre-delay of 20
milliseconds. 

For vocals: Use a delay of about 220 milliseconds with two repeats. 

These settings work very well together and create a nice blend of ambience without much
tweaking. Another common setup uses two reverbs and two delays, which are set like this:  

Short reverb: A room program with the decay set from .5 to 1.5 seconds of decay with a short pre-
delay timed to the track. (See Chapter 8 for more detail on how to do that.) 

Long reverb: A plate or hall program with a decay set from 1.5 to 4 seconds of decay and a pre-
delay of as little as 0 or as much as 150 milliseconds timed to the track (depends on your taste and
what’s right for the song). 

Short delay: A delay of about 50 to 200 milliseconds. 

Long delay: A delay from about 200 to 400 milliseconds. 

Your own particular starting point might use a lot more effects, or you may prefer to add effects as
they’re needed during the mix. Regardless, it’s a good idea to have at least some effects set up
before you begin the mix so you won’t break your concentration to set them up later.