I'm no expert on punk rock, but as a general practise, I'll have at a basic room program and a plate of some sort on aux returns. I'll then aux send differing amounts from each track to one or both to taste. Often I'll need some additional specialty reverbs for specific tracks, like the snare or lead vocals. Sometimes I'll need a longer reverb as a special effect just for one part of a song as well.

This may sound like reverb overkill, but in practise I may be sending very small amounts to each one.

Another possible use for reverb is to unify a mix. Putting a little on the 2-bus may make elements that sound like they were recorded in different spaces (like overdubs) sound more cohesive. But that would be a step that I would do only towards the very end of the mix process.

Well im pretty big in the punk rock production scene ive done the misfits and conflict etc and i d say you can use however many recordbs you want on whatever but the kids dont wanan notice em. So do what you have to but any grainy tails are gonna turn off the kids. Reverb is probably the leasty important thing in punk rock.

I've been mixing heaps of punk projects lately, I ahve to agree with CFS - if you use reverb don't make it obvious.

I usually dial up a small, tight room verb for drums, and run just the snare and toms through it, just to give them a little ambience - certainly not so you can hear a decaying tail after every snare hit.

Most important element to get right for the drums is the kick sound. This will define just what genre the song sits in - if you deakling with a Blink 182 style powerpunk band (not Really punk imho) then your standard rock thud is fine. But if your going for a more NoFX / Frenzal Rhomb kind of punk sound, the your gonna have to get plenty of "punch" on that kick - usually around 1.5 to 4 Khz. Scoop out around 250-400Hz, boost a little 80-100hz, and mix that kick really loud with some good compression (Distressor's work great here) and build the mix around that. That is what defines a modern punk sound.

Mix your guitars fairly bright, with a stereo delay spread (pan original signal hard left, delay by about 10-15ms, pan delayed signal hard right). Bass guitar can go a couple of ways, it usually involve a fair amount of direct signal, fairly bright so you can hear the strings rattling a little on fast riffs, but still with plenty of bottom end - you really have to have a good player to get the right tone here.

Vocals tend to be mixed preety loud, pretty dry - no big plate verbs! The punk fan hates cheesy production. Again, go heavy handed on the compressor.

Hope this helps, use your head as to what is the feature of the song, and build on that. Some punk bands aint the best players but have a ton of attitude - bring that out in the mix. And make the kick nice and loud!

Excellent post, Adam! Great ideas and well written. I've been pasting some of the more useful and insightful posts from this forum into a "useful tips" folder on my computer. Yours has been added to the collection! :D

Yes indeed CFS. I was in a punk rock band all through high school. This was the attitude:
Reverb = corporate rock

:) Everything up the center, dry, compressed, and lots of cymbals.