hi...

I'm mixing a bunch of tunes that will support a live performance (a play). Most likely the performance will be in some sort of hall with tons of reverberant decay. I've never done anything like this before and I'm worried about making inaudable tracks.

My question is: should I mix all the tracks with little or no reverb? The only problem is that some of the instruments are sampled and need reverb to sound good. Also I have a few live instruments like violin. Solo violin is usually very harsh so there's always plenty on reverb on there...but should I forgo?

Good question. My first instinct would be to say know, but on second thought, remember that the natural reverb of the room will affect all the instruments equally, whereas artifical reverb (usually) would not be used like that. Ergo, artificial reverb will still be noticeable relative to the other instruments. As to how coherent it will be, that's something different.

Your best bet is to make two separate mixes, one of which will have no reverb. Assuming they're going to practice with it, you could maybe pop in and listen to both before actually giving them one.