Reverb gets muddy when its tail piles up low end and covers the dry sound. Put it on a send, cut the lows out of the tail, darken the top, and duck the reverb while the dry part plays so it blooms in the gaps. Try all of that before you shorten the decay, so the space keeps its size.

Use a send, not an insert

One or two shared reverbs on return channels keep the whole mix in one space, and you control the tails in one place. Set the reverb on the return to 100% wet. The dry sound already comes from the channel.

Leave the kick and bass dry, or nearly dry. Reverb on low parts is where most of the mud comes from. If the whole drum bus gets reverb, duck the return from the kick.

Cut the low end out of the tail

Hazex has two controls for this. HPF-LINK is a high-pass on the tail that moves with the input level, so the low end of the reverb clears while the part plays and opens up as it fades. Sub-Anch splits off the tail's lowest band and keeps it tight and in mono, which matters on club systems.

On a plain reverb, a high-pass on the return does the same job. Around 150 Hz is a common start for a bass return. Set it by ear.

Darken the tail

Bright tails build up harshness, dark tails sit behind the dry sound. Raise Damping so the tail loses its highs as it decays, the way a real room soaks them up. Tone is a shelf after the reverb: below 0% pushes the space back, above 0% brings it forward.

Duck the reverb under the dry part

A reverb that ducks while the dry part plays stays out of the way of the words or notes, then fills the gaps. Hazex's Duck does this inside the plugin, with a 3 ms lookahead so it reacts before the hit. Sens sets how readily it responds.

Duck: the tail stays down under the dry part and blooms in the gap Dry part playing Tail blooms Time → Dry Reverb tail Diagram by Remi Blaze · remiblaze.com Duck: the tail stays down under the dry part and blooms in the gap Dry part playing Tail blooms Time → Dry Reverb tail Diagram by Remi Blaze · remiblaze.com
A sketch, not a measurement. Gray is the dry part, orange is the reverb tail. With Duck raised, the tail stays low while the part plays and blooms when it stops.

The Hazex manual FAQ has more on making the reverb breathe with the track.

Then look at the decay and pre-delay

If it's still too much, shorten Decay. Busy, fast parts want short tails. Slow parts and breakdowns can take long ones. A little pre-delay (Pre-Dly) leaves a gap before the tail starts, so the dry attack stays clear.

Tip To tighten the space for a drop, automate Decay shorter going into it.

How do I set up a clean reverb send with Hazex?

  1. Put Hazex on a return. Insert Hazex on a return channel and set Mix to 100%.
  2. Send the parts. Send the parts that need space to the return. Leave the kick and bass dry or nearly dry.
  3. Clear the lows. Raise HPF-LINK until the low end of the tail clears, and set Sub-Anch for the low end it keeps.
  4. Darken the tail. Raise Damping and pull Tone below 0% until the tail sits behind the dry sound.
  5. Duck it. Raise Duck until the tail stays out of the way while the part plays and blooms in the gaps.
  6. Set the length. Only then shorten Decay if the mix still feels crowded.

Frequently Asked Questions

Usually not. Low parts build mud fastest. If they need space, use very little and high-pass the return, or duck the return from the kick.

Try cutting the lows, darkening the tail and ducking first. Each one stops the tail building up while it keeps its length, so the space still sounds big.

A send, in most cases. One shared reverb on a return puts the parts in the same space, and you shape every tail in one place. Set the return to 100% wet.

Bright tails stack up. Darken the tail with damping or a high-cut on the return until it sits behind the dry sound.

Plugins in this post

This tip uses Hazex 1.1.0. Some steps may differ, or not apply, if you're on a different version. Tried this workflow, or got stuck along the way? We'd love to hear from you: contact us.

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