From Plugin Alliance and Fielder Audio comes bx_rooMS, Brainworx’s brand new reverb plug-in that incorporates Mid/Side processing within their TrueSpace multi-algorithm. Immediately, I liked the intuitive GUI that offers fast selection and editing of over 200 included presets. The five reverb starting points are: Ambiences, Rooms, Plates, Hall and Churches with each having three size options quickly set using the Small, Medium and Large buttons.
I installed in Pro Tools 12.7.1 HDX and got to work mixing a new pop song. For this project, I was looking for a collection of unique time-based effects—reverbs, delays and pitch changers that I tend to use for Pop music mixes. bx_rooMS reverb is two mono reverbs that allow for some unusual set ups. Some parameters are: Pre-Delay up to 200ms, Wet/Dry and By- pass buttons for both the output and the input signal so reverb tails continue after muting the input signal.
It gets more interesting with the two-section proportional Q equalizer for “carving” either the Mid signal only, the Side or both together as an M/S signal. The Mono Maker section is an adjustable high-pass filter that removes “mud” buildup in the center.
I had a well-played double-tracked acoustic guitar part, and I wanted to create a special space that was big sounding. I left the double- tracked acoustic guitar track dry and center panned. For the main acoustic, I went with a Small Room and increased the Reverb Time.
My main acoustic guitar was recorded in X/Y stereo and I wanted to widen the stereo ambience. The Stereo Width control will adjust the reverb return from mono to super wide stereo and, listening just to the stereo reverb in mono on my monitor controller, I can tell you there were no level shift or phase issues at all.
I tried bx_rooMS on orchestral instruments—strings, bells, glockenspiel and brass. In a word: lovely! On a vibraphone track, I inserted bx_rooMS running a preset called “Rave Club.” I ended up folding the pan pots inward on the stereo source track to make the vibraphone denser as it was playing melody in the chorus. What a beautiful sound!
Definitely a unique and fresh reverb for stereo mixing, I am highly recommending Plugin Alliance’s bx_rooMS reverb. I found this plug-in to use minimal CPU so I may start doing more inserted reverbs for very specialized treatments. Like all Plugin Alliance products, you can download fully functional, 14-day demos at Plugin-Alliance.com. It is downloadable for $199.
plugin-alliance.com/en/products/bx_rooms.html
BARRY RUDOLPH is a recording engineer/mixer who has worked on over 30 gold and platinum records. He has recorded and/or mixed Lynyrd Skynyrd, Hall & Oates, Pat Benatar, Rod Stewart, the Corrs and more. Barry has his own futuristic music mixing facility and loves teaching audio engineering at Musician’s Institute, Hollywood, CA. He is a lifetime Grammy-voting member of NARAS and a contributing editor for Mix Magazine. barryrudolph.com
