How to Add Reverb to Vocals (and Pick the Right One)

Reverb is the difference between a voice memo and a record. It puts your voice in a space — a room, a hall, a studio — and instantly makes it sound produced. Here's how to add it on iPhone, and how to choose the right type.

The reverb types, translated

Small Room — subtle, intimate, "expensive studio" sound. The safest default for spoken word, acoustic covers, and close vocals.
Medium Room — the modern pop vocal space. Noticeable but tight; works on almost everything.
Medium Hall — big, emotional, long tail. Ballads, slow choruses, cinematic moments. Too much for fast lyrics.
Plate — the classic bright vocal reverb used on records since the '60s. Adds sheen without sounding like a physical room.
Cathedral — the biggest space in the app. Enormous tail; use it deliberately, on a single held note or an ad-lib, not a whole verse. It's what the Stadium template is built on.

Adding reverb in Voice Tune, step by step

Record or open a vocal in the free Voice Tune app.
Clean first. Run Isolate Vocals before reverb — reverb makes any noise in the recording permanent.
Check what your template already did. Most templates ship with reverb dialled in — Stadium is a cathedral at 55% mix, Natural Tune is a light room. If it already sounds right, you're done.
Tap Adjust and switch on Reverb, then pick your space (Small Room, Medium Room, Medium Hall, Plate, or Cathedral).
Set the Mix knob. Start at 25–35% for singing, 10–20% for rap and spoken word. The right amount is when you stop noticing the reverb and just notice the voice sounds good.
Optional: add Delay. A short delay before reverb adds rhythm and depth — Voice Tune's Delay has Short, Long, and Robotic presets with Time, Mix, and Feedback dials.

The Adjust sheet in Voice Tune — reverb spaces (Small Room, Medium Room, Medium Hall) with the Mix knob, above the equalizer and delay

The golden rule: if a listener says "nice reverb," you used too much. Set the mix where it sounds good, then pull it back 5%.

Reverb recipes by use case

Acoustic cover: Small Room, ~30% mix, no delay.
Pop vocal: Medium Room ~30% + short delay at low mix, after pitch correction.
Ballad chorus: Medium Hall, 35–45% mix — let the tail bloom between phrases.
Arena moment: skip the dials and tap the Stadium template — cathedral reverb plus a slapback delay, already balanced.
Melodic rap: Plate 15–25% over the Hard Tune template. See the T-Pain effect guide.
Podcast/voiceover: Small Room under 15%, or none at all.

Common questions

Should reverb go before or after pitch correction?

After — and Voice Tune already does this for you. Templates tune the dry vocal first, so the pitch detection hears a clean signal, then the effects chain (reverb included) sits after it.

Why does my vocal sound like it's "in a bathroom"?

Either the mix is too high or the recording room itself was echoey. Reduce the mix, and next time record in a soft-furnished room — see our recording guide.

Can I add reverb to a recording made in another app?

Yes — import the file into Voice Tune and the whole Adjust sheet applies: reverb, delay, EQ, compressor, and Isolate Vocals.

Give your voice a studio space

Five reverb spaces, delay, EQ, and more — free in Voice Tune.

Download Voice Tune Free