.svg)
.svg)
Reverse reverb is one of those ear-catching effects that can highlight the arrival of a particular sound in a track.
While it can be applied to any sound, reverse reverb is most commonly heard on vocals—check out the transition into the hook of Galantis’ “Runaway (U&I)” for a prominent example.
The distinctive effect swells in around 0:31.
In this article, we explore what reverse reverb is and break down how you can apply it to your own vocals (or any other sound of your choice), step-by-step.
Let’s dive in!
What is reverse reverb?
Reverse reverb is the effect created by taking the tail end of a reverb and then reversing it so it leads into the original sound. Instead of the reverb fading out after a sound, it swells in beforehand, creating a supernatural build-up.
The technique is most commonly used in genres such as pop, ambient, hip hop, and electronic music, and it’s particularly effective at emphasizing a phrase and giving a sound more emotional impact.
Voice to verse—anywhere. With the addition of Splice Mic, you can instantly test and record ideas, explore genres, and unlock new creative possibilities, all from the Splice mobile app.
How to create a reverse reverb in the DAW (step-by-step)
In the tutorial video above, artist, singer-songwriter, and producer Esthy demonstrates how she applies a reverse reverb to her vocals in the DAW—see below for a breakdown of the six steps, and watch along to hear them in action.
1. Create a copy of the vocal
First, duplicate your vocal recording onto a new track. This will make it easier to manipulate the audio for the reverse reverb effect while keeping the main vocal intact.
2. Isolate the section you want to reverse
Next, adjust the gain as needed and isolate the section you want to reverse—this snippet should be the first line or even a single note. If you’re working with vocals, cutting the segment so it ends in a vowel will help make the reverse reverb effect sound cleaner.
3. Add a long reverb
Now, apply a long, lush reverb to the chopped vocal section—in her example, Esthy uses the “LV Long Shimmer” send preset on BABY Audio’s Crystalline. Pushing the wet level to 100% on your reverb will effectively isolate the effect, and cutting out the low frequencies with EQ could help reduce any mudiness.
4. Bounce the track with the reverb
Once you’re happy with the reverb tail, freeze and flatten this version of the track again (depending on your DAW, this might also be called something like “bounce audio to new track”), so that the reverb is now baked into the waveform.
5. Reverse the audio
Now, reverse the new audio segment that has the long reverb applied, and trim it as needed so that you just have the swelling effect.
6. Position and blend the effect
Last but not least, place the reversed audio just before the original vocal phrase, and you’ll have the effect. You may also want to automate the panning or volume to make it move across the stereo field or blend better with the mix. Adding another more subtle reverb to this track could help smooth the effect out as well.
Keep learning
Reverse reverb is one of many effects that can be used to enhance your vocals—to keep learning, be sure to watch the rest of Esthy’s tutorial, where she covers additional techniques including tape-based effects, transposition, and more. While all of these effects are individually subtle, they can add up to bring that extra commercial polish to your vocal sound.
And for other vocal recording-related topics, also check out some of our dedicated guides below:
And there you have it! Have you used reverse reverb on your own tracks before? What other music production topics would you like to see us cover next? Let us know in the comments section of the video, and subscribe to the Splice YouTube channel for more artist-led tips, tutorials, and insights.
Try BABY Audio’s Crystalline for free, and then rent-to-own it until it’s yours:
May 21, 2025
