Lexicon plugs to set mood of the song

Lexicon do reverbs which is nigh on possible to beat, they add to the tone or message of the song that you maybe singing. Unfortunately, not everybody writes songs that reflect the state of the world that we live in. Core songs are about Love, money, Sex.
 
How many of us sing about world issues, Fear of losing loved ones, possessions, homelessness, Racism etc, etc.
 
I have never heard a song about Racism go to number one and with political agendas and political correctness, I wonder why this is? I think Racism is a (disease)/agenda with motives that are somewhat hidden and cannot be spoken about openly political correctness hides our true motives at times too and because whether we admit it or not, it exists. In every corner (supposing that the world is not round) of the earth, even in these forums.
 
I myself have often wondered about writing a song that touches on this subject, my question is what reverb would best bring out an important message like this one.
 
Some song writers would not worry about the process but I believe that there is a process for touching on serious topics and pushing for these types of songs to be brought further into the public domain instead of sandwiched between excrement which only purpose is top ten commercial succes.
 
So what reverb do you use on songs that you would deem as having a serious message behind it?
 
 

War - Edwin Starr.  Lady In Black - Uriah Heep - same message, totally opposite ends of musical spectrum.  Not racism but a serious topic nonetheless.  

As far as reverb goes, it really depends - like for any song - where you picture your message being delivered.  Smoky club - small room, Large Arena / political rally - large hall.  Voice of God- Cavernous etc.  A studio crafted song that is supposed to sound like a produced message - plate.  Personally I don't think the message dictates the reverb - it is where you want your audience to hear you.

On a side note I am the performer and engineer on a daily broadcast into Second Life - www.secondlife.com . Basically live vocal and guitar over self made back tracks or looper tracks.  All the venues in second life are created by the residents and vary from coffee shops to arenas to underwater venues (you haven't lived until you have played to mermaids lol).  For this reason, other than fx type reverb on guitars etc.  my back tracks are almost bone dry.  I add the verb at performance time and will vary it to match the "room" I am performing in. Rather nice to be able to create your environment instead of fight it.


Cheers..Grif
 

Capturing a sound an era a message that is brought back to life! I think is an essential part of music as we all have songs that bring us back or to a certain place in time. What is music if we cannot delve into real life whats goin on topics.

I think the world needs to have a so called reformation of musical structure to ake it to the next level. Personally I am not feeling the wishy washy hi techno sounding rubbish (gaga) reciprocal type of so called anthems that even written on a piece of toilet tissue would be classed in my opinion of making the tissue paper of less value then when it has been thoroughly used and discarded....

But thats just my take on it :)

A couple of references for ya.

James Brown - Say it Loud I'm Black and I'm Proud
Pubilc Enemy - Fight the Power (and indeed the whole 'Fear of a Black Planet' album, which has sold over 2m copies)
Sly and the Family Stone - Everyday People
Bob Dylan - Blowing in the Wind
Labi Siffre - Something Inside So Strong
The Impressions - People Get Ready (ok it went to number 3 but it's a monster track, look how many people have covered it since)
KRS1 - Why is that (again probably didn't do No1 but is a powerful and eloquent dissection of structural racisim)

Quite a diverse crowd so sorry it's not going to help with the reverb question as others have already stated; it's going to depend how you choose to articulate your ire that should steer how you generate the aesthetic space it sits in.

Child