Adding Delay/Reverb to Videos

egproductions

egproductions

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I produce a lot of videos that are shown at dinners and the like. Often there is an inherent reverb/dealy effect that happens when the video is being shown...either because of the speaker setup a venue has or perhaps the audio engeneer is adding a delay to his mixing system for various reasons.

That being said, I've come to like the sound of a delay in my videos...even when it's not being show live, I feel like a delay makes the video sound bigger and more important because it mimics the idea of it being shown at an important and large event.

Is it crazy/unheard of to add a delay to videos for the aesthetic of it?

Here is an example with and with the audio delay:

With Delay
www.eliecreative.com/transfer_1/delay%20test/Delay.mp3


Without Delay
www.eliecreative.com/transfer_1/delay%20test/No%20Delay.mp3
 
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If your clients like it go for it, not my cup of tea.

I would say that if you really want to do this that you use a good convolution reverb and not a delay line. The delayed version does not sound natural at all and more like you slapped a guitar FX on it. It is also very heavy, as in it makes it harder for your audience to understand what your actors are saying. You will not notice that so much because you know what they are saying.

And there in lies the trap. Reverb and delay lines are a bit like sugar, a little is nice but it's really easy to go too far. It is also something your ears/ brain compensate for so as you are working on something you will tend to add "just a bit more" because the old level has become you new norm and it doesn't sound reverby. Less experienced mixers, in music, often way over do the reverb and often pull the lead singer too far down. It's a very easy trap to get into.

But I am just one opinion and posting it here you will get a bunch more, which is the best way to find out if you have gone too far (fresh ears).
 
Delay for those kind of videos is just plain wrong.
Reduces clarity and screams "I'm an amateur who have no idea what I'm doing".

If it was something that was supposed to be surrealistic or if the environment warrant it, sure. But in the video you posted it just sounds silly.
 
Noiz2 said:
If your clients like it go for it, not my cup of tea.

I would say that if you really want to do this that you use a good convolution reverb and not a delay line. The delayed version does not sound natural at all and more like you slapped a guitar FX on it. It is also very heavy, as in it makes it harder for your audience to understand what your actors are saying. You will not notice that so much because you know what they are saying.

And there in lies the trap. Reverb and delay lines are a bit like sugar, a little is nice but it's really easy to go too far. It is also something your ears/ brain compensate for so as you are working on something you will tend to add "just a bit more" because the old level has become you new norm and it doesn't sound reverby. Less experienced mixers, in music, often way over do the reverb and often pull the lead singer too far down. It's a very easy trap to get into.

But I am just one opinion and posting it here you will get a bunch more, which is the best way to find out if you have gone too far (fresh ears).
Click to expand...

Thank you, this is exactly why I was asking the question. I wanted a unbiased and experienced opinion on it. I tend to play it really safe with my dialogue audio for interviews and almost never eq for fear of messing things up or thinking something sounds better but in reality I'm destroying it.

Does the interview audio in the non delayed version sound good to you? Would you have EQed things a little differently?
 
Noiz2 said:
If your clients like it go for it, not my cup of tea.

I would say that if you really want to do this that you use a good convolution reverb and not a delay line.
Click to expand...

Great comments from Scott. If you want to try adding some room/space to your tracks, you could try the convolution reverb tools in Adobe Audition, Adobe Premiere, and Apple Logic. Wouldn't be surprised if Vegas Pro had some too. There are other more flexible tools, but you may already have something that'll work for when you want to do this sort of thing.
 
I would never ever never add reverb, delay to any audio track unless it's for some 'special effect'. Reverb, echo and other FX are common in music mixes though.
 
I've used reverb (specifically IR/convolution) for ADR, greenscreen inserts, and semi-smoothing wet & dry shots in a sequence (common indie story...just trying to solve an understandable on-set problem).

(Or am I misreading your comment, Rick, and you're talking about delay reverb?)
 
I have added delay and reverb to dialog, though really ADR. Sometimes stuff just comes out too "close mic'd" and it doesn't fit. In almost all cases now I would use a convolution reverb because they just sound so much better.

Even these very in your face clips I could see putting some room on, but small room with soft surfaces and a light touch. It would take it a touch out of the "studio" and make it a bit more close and personal.

The biggest stand out problem with the big bounce (other than intelligibility) is that it doesn't fit the space we see. If instead it was shot in a wide shot in a large hall and sounded really close up you would want some bounce/ reverb so the sound matched the image.
 
Reverb can be cool:


Long delay works too:


Reverb + long delay:


Tweaking the 'Cathedral' type reverbs (typically turning them down a bit and adjusting various parameters) has a nice effect to deepen and widen the space. Usually best to err on the side of too little vs. too much (have others review your work as well, easy to get carried away). If you go through all the reverbs in Premiere, Audition, and Logic X, there's a lot of options.

Lots more options with plugins: https://iconcollective.com/top-reverb-plugins/
+ free plugins: https://www.soundshockaudio.com/10-best-free-reverb-vst-plugins/
 
I assumed the OP was referring to playback in a hall with a sound system. Using reverb and such to simulate a room or other environment is common.
 
As I said, not my cup of tea. On a bunch of levels. First is that as a fifth generation Californian, before the move, I just squirm at these kinds of videos as basically a parody of the stereotypy "CA, Valley girl" .... stuff. But then Goop creeps me out also. So I am probably not the voice to listen to since obviously there is a market that is just loving this "style". But I would use these as poster childs for how not to abuse reverb.

Now that I went there I will also say different genres have different "styles". I also hate with out reservation all "reality TV" I have seen. And I have worked on some. So while these may make me grab the stop button that may just be about me.

So for me, ignoring the content (and heck I have worked on plenty of projects I needed to ignore the content on so no judgments) I feel the reverb on these is way over the top. The spots are not "realistic" so it's not so much that they don't match the image but they just sound , to me, like someone new to sound just found the FX slot and is having a good time. Kind of like WWW ads with way over blown echo. For me when I hear this kind of OTT FX I just hit mute, or stop the video. I am probably not your demographic so that is not a reason not to do it but FYI I would never finish watching something with that much self indulgent SFX on it.

That said on my own playing around I might do something like this because reverb can be "cool". But then I would regain consciousness and turn it WAY down.
 
Lol Scott Jacqui is from Cincinnati, Ohio, and she asked for these effects to be turned up. Fits the style of the production, so I obliged :)

As noted in the prior post I suggested turning the effects down and having the result reviewed by others for exactly the points you made regarding OTT FX. If your client asks for more...
 
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