Hello terrestrials, this is a very easy trick to setup and sounds great. This technique was created by the famous Abbey Road Studio (The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Bowie, Radiohead, Coldplay) to combat the low frequency build that would result from using the physical plate reverb units, found in high end studios at the time. By adding an EQ before the reverb output, filtering out 600hz and below using a high pass filter and filtering out 10k and above using a low pass filter, clarity was created by filtering out the rumble and sizzle that would muddy a mix. This also allows for a higher level of reverb on the track without the added mud. 

Below is how you setup Abbey Road Reverb EQ on a reverb in Studio one.

First create a track, be it a vocal, drum loop, guitar, whatever you want. 

Next, create an FX bus, or AUX in other DAWS and insert a reverb plugin. The original process involved a plate reverb, but you can use any reverb you like. Name it something you will remember for the next step. Make sure the Mix is 100% wet.

On the track you created, add a send to this reverb and turn up the send level a bit.

Now set a loop region and listen to the track. You will hear the low end getting thick and the highs building up. Go to the FX track and add an EQ, before the reverb, and configure as follows…

HPF at 600hz, LPF at 10K. Note these are starting points depending on the source audio. You can adjust these to taste. Some engineers like 6K for the Low Pass Filter. You can also reduce some mid frequencies as well using a bell curve for even more clarity, 2K being a popular area. Experiment and make your own sound.

Now play the loop and notice the change in clarity. You can now add it to the mix without over loading the lows and highs, add it to several tracks and maintain some clarity. This is great for drums as the kick and cymbals are tamed before feeding the reverb.

As always, have fun and happy mixing my friends!

Jeff Hollywood…

EXTRA TIP: Some engineers also add Saturation before the EQ to add more harmonic content to the over all sound.

NOTE: For unmodulated reverbs, it makes no difference if the EQ plugin is before or after. However its good practice to place it first in case you use a modulated (time variation, movement) type reverb algorithm.