Reverbs

• Gives the impression of space
• Using reverbs can make it sound as if an instrument or sound is in a small room.
• It creates a sense of depth in a mix
• Adding reverbs can make sounds sound further away even at the same volume
• Reverbs are made of many, many repeats of a sound
• It is caused by the sound waves bouncing off of the walls in the space
• Each bounce of the wall is call a reflection

Ableton’s Reverb

• The reverb device in Ableton is a room/hall reverb which means that it creates reverbs using algorithms
• The algorithms will emulate the way that sound moves through a small room or a performance hall.
• Reverb’s interface is visually quite busy, with several graphs.

Algorithmic reverbs

• Algorithmic reverbs are the reverbs which use mathematical models to create reverbs

• Albeton’s also often have chamber modes which sound huge, similar to hall reverbs, but are much more dense with lots of reflections.

Important controls

• Size
  • Sets the size of the virtual room
  • Larger value = Will space reflections out and create a sense of being in a huge space.
  • Small value = will bunch reflections up and give a sense of being in a tight space.
    • Might get some metallic-sounding effects in a small room.
• Decay Time
  • Sets the length of time that reflections take to die away
  • Long decay times may start to run into one another and make a mix sound muddy.
• Density
  • Sets the amount of reflections that are generated.
  • Very dense reverb = fill up a mix very quickly
    • However it can give a retro vibe
    • Therefore it is worth trying both dense and thin reverbs to find the ideal balance.
• Pre Delay
  • Sets a length of time before the reverb outputs reflections
  • Useful for instruments that you want to add lots of reverb to but keep out front in the mix, particularly vocals.

• Dry/Wet
  • Sets the balance between the clean signal and the reverb

Other Reverbs

• Spring
  • Found in guitar amplifiers and consist of a spring with an audio signal passed through it.
  • Have a very characterful sound which react to loud input with a splashing sound
• Plate
  • Created by passing an audio signal through a very thin suspended sheet of metal.
  • Sound very smooth
  • Work for a wide range of sources especially vocals.
• Convolution
  • Similar to algorithmic reverbs but models real spaces by loading an impulse response.
  • Impulse response is created by recording how a space responds to a calibrated input signal