Reverb, 10/20/13, AES NY

Reverb Technologies
o Acoustic
Reverb chamber.
Small, but highly sound-reflective space.
Bathroom.
Basement,.
Stairwell.
Kitchen.
Garage.
Microphones and loudspeaker can create a reverb
chamber in ordinary spaces.
o Sabines Reverb Equation
RT60=(0.05)(V/A). In seconds.
o Mechanical
Springs (resonance of multiple springs while
vibrating).
Plates (steel sheet with driver and pickups, two
dimensional as compared to a space).
Mechanical resonance as analogy for acoustic
resonance.
o Digital
Algorithmic
Comb Filter
All Pass Filter
Hybrid
Convolution
Reverb Data
o Reverb Time (RT60)
Length of time required for reverberant level to fall
by 60 dB.
Typically a 30 dB window is measured and doubled
for measurements.
Avatar and three major concert halls have a mid
frequency reverb time of approximately 2s. Good
place to start to emulate a concert hall.
Less than 2s simulates a more absorptive or smaller
concert hall. Greater than 2s simulates a very wet,
large hall.
All spaces shown in presentation slope off at higher
frequency reverb times due to air absorption.
Include air absorption qualities to create a sense of a
realistic space.

Extra low freqency reaches can simulate a very well

produced hall. This may not work for many mixes,
but works very well for romantic orchestral music.
Springs and plates do not have air absorption or
follow Sabines Equation.
Signal Processing Strategies
o Fix
Close-Mic Compensation
Multitrack production often necessitates close
micing for isolation, utilizing close and creative
mic techniques, to avoid ambience decisions til
mixdown using highly absorptive recording
spaces.
Subtle addition of reverb can make a close
miced track more realistic, less immediate (less
than 1s).
Clean Ending
Location Recording
Noise
o Mechanical systems, leakage from
outside, audience.
Add artificial reverb to cover up messy
endings, extend reverb tails, by adding realistic
simulations of the real space.
o Fit
Spatial Content (Contrast)
Use reverb to create contrasts (slightly
different reverbs on different instruments and
elements) and avoid masking.
Can be used to emphasize phrasing or
highlights of songs.
Pre-delay=the gap in time before the onset of
reverberation.
Extending the pre-delay time makes it easier to
hear the reverb. The concert halls discussed
have 20-30ms of pre-delay.
Common effect is tape pre-delay (often to plate
reverb).
Distance
Cues include level, direct to reverberant ratio,
and (most important) slight high frequency rolloff due to air absorption (shelf at -2 to -3 dB,
slope of less than 2 dB per octave, attenuation
around 2-3 kHz).

Creates an extra dimension in stereo imaging

(depth).
Adding stage reflections adds early reflections
that emulate the soundstage/stage house.

Width
Early reflections create stereo width (even in
mono signals).
o Panned reflections (decorrelated energy).
o Short reverb for ambience (<500 ms).
o Expands perceived size of sound source
(aural, not visual size).
Duration
Extended duration helps our perception of
different tones. Signals 200ms or less need
extension to keep the perception level (fairly)
flat.
See masking notes from previous days and
BADASS.
Synthesize sustain (reverb perceptually fused
with source).
o Dense, 0ms pre-delay.
o Vocal consonants, transients, etc.
Compression
o Fast release, otherwise aggressive (high
ratio, low threshold, fast attack).
Non-Linear Reverb
o Backwards reverb algorithm, reshapes
envelope to make the reverb tail get
louder and then quieter.
o Much better in ensemble to pull an
element out of a mix.
o Treat combination of snare and non-linear
reverb with more natural (lightly applied)
reverb to make more realistic
Ensemble
Performs as headphone-assisted ensemble.
Recorded as multiple close mic tracks.
Panned multi-mono does not sound like a live
section.
Single reverb integrates into a single
ensemble.
o Feature
Liveness

Pattern of early reflections evocative of a

space.
Excitement, energy, emotion.
Room size parameter introduces more of a
live concert feeling.
Simulation of a Space
Specific real space
o Sound, history, feeling, memory,
distinction.
o Acoustic icons (halls, houses of worship,
performance clubs).
o Location recording post-production.
Dialogue Replacement with Convolution Reverb
o For close miced, unrealistic dialogue.
Generalized Real Space
o Realistic, yet not specific.
o Parameters adjusted freely.
Unreal Space
o Creative combinations of settings not
bound by the physics of room acoustics.
Change of Scene
Highly reverberant to completely without
reverb.
Works with context of song for change of
setting.
Timbre
No reverb has a flat frequency response.
The reverb changes the envelope and applies
some non-EQ EQ to the spectral content of the
source.
More for plates and chambers than springs.
Longer reverbs add more darkness and
warmth.
Adding sizzle
o Short bright plate reverb
RT=0.4s.
Bass multiply=0.6x.
0ms pre-delay.
Alternative to EQ (softer, more gentle
introduction of timbral shift).
Gated and Compressed Reverb
Compression extends the reverb, gating cuts
off an overly long tail.

See BADASS notes.

Reversed reverb on a snare hit happens before
the beat.
Dynamic Reverb
Change over song form to emphasize different
sections, can correlate with other effects
processing to create different atmospheres.
Regenerative Chamber
Record chamber.
Send recorded chamber sound into chamber
again (multiple times if you want).
Modal resonances are heavily accentuated with
more repetitions of sends.
Synthesis gesture. Can be used to thicken
vocals.
Signal path=signal to mixer to fader to effects
sends to delay and back out to main effects
send to reverb device and send to
loudspeakers.
Synthesis
Convolve with innovative or alternative spaces.
o Pipes, tubes
o Water tanks or oil tankers
o Stairwells, chimneys
Convolve with non-space waveforms.
Pitch Shift Reverb