Give your reverb a purpose

Hello Audified friends,Do you sometimes find yourself wandering in the realms of your recent mix, in the latter stages of its development, that is, thinking about why it sounds so flat, lifeless, and somehow evocative of such unpleasant adjectives?Using your reverb generically and, in a way, automatically may be one of the reasons.Many of us have our favorite reverb plugins and presets and just put them on desired tracks and consider the thing done. You know your verb of choice sounds epic on all drum kits every time, right?Consider points that may inspire you to think differently about your reverb effects.But first, a little bit of context.There was a time when reverb was just a natural acoustic phenomenon. There were no plugins in the studios. Heck, there were even no studios! There was just a cave, a city hall, or a church full of natural surface-driven reflections. After the early stages of audio recording history, there came a time (the late 1940s) when the studios used a stairway, bathroom, or later a dedicated room as a reverb chamber. Meaning placing a mic in there, possibly a sound source (if they were not doing a live capture of music playing next door), shutting the door or didn’t, and recording the natural reflections occurring in the chamber.In the late 50s, German company EMT built the first artificial reverb unit. The EMT 140 Plate Reverb. It was quite a big device (a couple of meters long), which imitated the natural reflections by sending the audio signal through thin metal plates suspended by springs attached to the reverb frame. The engineers then mixed the reverb signal with the dry audio to create the effect.So now you know a bit of history, but how does it relate to the formerly stated problem?The key here is to picture what the reverb really is and how our mind traditionally perceives it. We associate it with spaces existing in reality. For example, an orchestra playing in a large cathedral, a guitarist ripping in an 80s stadium, or a jazz trio playing in a small room. And so forth.However, how to bring your mix to the next level regarding reverb when mixing in the box?Imitate existing spaces.Instead of randomly messing around with the parameters of your plugin, start with a specific space in your mind. You may say: I want this acoustic guitar to sound like placed in a cathedral. Or: This lead vocal should sound like sung in a small club. See? Now you have a plan for that track