Re: Adding Music to a Bar Scene

All good suggestions.

A plug-in like SpeakerPhone or Altiverb will definitely do the job. Most probably out of your price range.

"Worldizing" by playing the track through speakers - anything from a boom box to PA speakers - works well even if you "close mic"; you get the tone that you want and add the reverb later. BTW, the reverb doesn't have to be the exact 'verb you see on screen. Filmmaking is all about creating a believable illusion, not recreating reality.

It, of course, depends upon the film and the requirements of the scene, but combining the processed signal with a little bit of the original signal can achieve some interesting results.

Making the signal mono gives it more realism, but I sometimes prefer the stereo spread as it leaves the center more open for the dialog