seeking something that can give strength to drones without the use of reverb.
I often get thin sounds that could sound good if they were wider/colder/brighter.
But the use of reverb either takes away the punch or makes it sound cliche.
Thanks.
Look for delays that also has filter capabilities, thus making the echoes "different" in feeling.
Or get the actual good reverb that does what you seek; Eventide Space. Nothing more potent IMHO.
Colder and brighter? Have you considered a spring reverb?
Synth pedals for guitar or bass (on some settings) might also be worth considering.
wider = L & R signals sound different from each other
so processing L & R channels separately will produce wider
simple EQ with different settings on left and right can work
delays should work too (maybe try short delay times and/or delay time modulation)
or pitch shift L & R to make them slightly out of tune
there's a pile of dedicated stereo widener plugins, but personally not a fan, never use them
brighter/colder = frequency balance
so you can do brighter with EQ alone...
boost cold frequencies, cut warm frequencies, all done
alternatively, distortion/saturation that messes with the frequency spectrum how you need... tone knobs on distortion pedals etc
or layer stuff, i.e. make a copy of your initial sound, process to make it bright a.f. (maybe even pitch shift an octave up), eq out the lows,
then add what's left back to the original not-bright-enough sound to taste
or use a dedicated exciter plugin, of which, again, not a fan of
You didn't specify that do you record your drones live in room thru amp or do you record line-in? Room recording makes the world of difference because by that you will capture those drones resonating within room, it will introduce natural reverbation that widens the sound but not in unnatural way. I think that you could also try phaser to create more movement, i.e. super-slow sweep.
I would also consider blending some microphone feedback into the drone, if you are using and recording with an actual amp. Easiest way to do this is to place an dynamic mic (easier to control the feedback due to low output) into the same space with the amp and connect it in the same mixer with the primary sound source. Then slowly open up the mic channel until the feedback emerges and stays just below the threshold of running loose.
meatbox