Recommendations for Reverb/Delay VSTs for soaring leads like Billy Gillies?

[Googous]

I've been using Valhalla Supermassive to try and get huge soaring tails on notes without the nastiness long release can bring but the plugin has very limited controls and it's very difficult to keep it sounding clean. I've gotten some good results but it's just not hitting for me and I would love more controls like independent Dry and Wet.

Nostalgia by Billy Gillies is a great example but tons of his tracks have these huge beautiful epic leads with vibrant tails that fade off into the distance. I very very much appreciate anyone who can give me some advice because I've been trying to iron this out pretty much since I started producing like 3 years ago.

 

[facade1984]

I'm not sure that reverbs and delays are necessarily the key to achieving big sounding leads, I would say the secret to that lies more in the eqing and sound choice but if you want a bit more control over your reverb I'd suggest using it as a send effect rather than an insert, that way you can process the reverb tail completely independent of the source sound. I like to play with the eq a bit and also use a subtle bit of ducking so my reverb tails don't muddy up the mix. That's just one possible solution out of thousands, but I hope that helps

 

[LostLegend]

I've been using Valhalla Supermassive to try and get huge soaring tails on notes without the nastiness long release can bring but the plugin has very limited controls and it's very difficult to keep it sounding clean. I've gotten some good results but it's just not hitting for me and I would love more controls like independent Dry and Wet.

Nostalgia by Billy Gillies is a great example but tons of his tracks have these huge beautiful epic leads with vibrant tails that fade off into the distance. I very very much appreciate anyone who can give me some advice because I've been trying to iron this out pretty much since I started producing like 3 years ago.

Do you have an example track we can listen to of what you are trying to achieve? Easier to give advice when we know exactly what sound you are going for.

 

[Googous]

Do you have an example track we can listen to of what you are trying to achieve? Easier to give advice when we know exactly what sound you are going for.

Nostalgia by Billy Gillies is a great example. Closed Eyes by Billy Gillies as well. The main lead synth sound in the chorus in either. They sound like short notes with long tails but they don't seem to have a long release sound from the actual synth. It's a lot cleaner and very thick. I think it's a synth playing an arp with minimal release on the notes and what I believe to be some effects creating the tails.
At this point, my only guess is it's a combo of delay and reverb but I can't figure it out. You can get very nice thick reverby effects like this out of delay alone but I can't get it to sound that good in all the hours I've spent fiddling with things trying to dial in something good. But ultimately these big epic trance leads are what I've wanted to get down since I started producing years ago and I just can't manage to put together anything good without Supermassive.

 

[FatBerryDSP]

Old thread, but this one comes up a lot, so a few things that usually get you those long, clean tails behind short lead notes:

1. Keep the synth release short and let the effects make the tail. Put the delay and the reverb on sends rather than on the lead itself. That gives you the fully independent dry and wet control you're after, and you can process the tails on their own.
2. Delay first, then reverb. A dotted 1/8 or 1/4 ping-pong delay with feedback around 30 to 45 percent, sent on into the reverb (send from the delay return into the reverb bus as well as from the lead). The repeats get smeared into the reverb, so the tail feels long and moving without one huge washy decay.
3. Duck the tails from the dry lead. Put a compressor on the delay and reverb returns, sidechained from the dry lead, with a fast attack and a release of around 150 to 300 ms. The tails get pushed down while each note plays and bloom in the gaps. That's most of the "clean but huge" effect.
4. EQ the returns hard. High-pass them at about 300 to 500 Hz and roll off a bit of the top above 8 to 10 kHz. Mud and fizz in the tails are what make long reverbs sound nasty.
5. Pre-delay of 30 to 60 ms on the reverb keeps the attack of each note dry and defined.
6. Width on the returns, not the lead. Keep the dry lead fairly centred and let the delay and reverb carry the stereo spread.

Disclosure: I'm with Fat Berry DSP, we make audio plug-ins. Our Endless Mistakes delay ducks its repeats while the part plays, so point 3 is built in, if you'd rather not set up the sidechain by hand. It's $24.99 until 1 December, then $49.99, with a 30-day trial: Endless Mistakes: Tape & Multi-Head Delay | Fat Berry DSP
The sends and sidechain approach above works with any delay and reverb you already have, though.