Compression on a reverb send?

[Vass]

Hi,

I have a feeling i know the answer to this one but i may be wrong and an explaination may help me understand.

Do any of you compress reverb sends you have routed instruments through or is this a bad idea? I don't mean sidechain compression, i mean actually compressing the signal.

And just to help me understand, the threshold can be reduced significantly without any gain reduction. I currently have it at -45db before any reduction kicks in. Why is that?

Thanks for the help!!

[cbentley]

There really isn't a rule to this. The main question is how does it sound within the context of your desired result?

I'll typically compress drum room reverbs (compression after effect) to make them slightly more explosive if that's the sound I'm after. I'll also make certain that I send plenty of level into the reverb unit (or plug in) itself by inserting a trim plug prior to the effect and using the fader to set levels. This way your effect is getting plenty of signal as opposed to barely hitting the input, or... I'll send pre fader to avoid using a trim plug in but I don't recall Live being able to do this (compose in Live, mix in Cubase).

[Pitch Black]

or... I'll send pre fader to avoid using a trim plug in but I don't recall Live being able to do this (compose in Live, mix in Cubase).

There are PRE and POST buttons for each send in Live's master channel (in Session View).