Post on 15-Aug-2015
Introduction
What is Reverb?
Uses of Reverb
Types of Reverb
Algorithmic Reverb
Convoluted Reverb
Comparison
Which reverb to use?
Hello! My name is Ankit Gomkale. I live in
Bangalore, India. I am very much
passionate about music. I have been
playing guitar from 6 years.
This lesson is for week 5 of Introduction to
Music Production at Coursera.org. I will
be talking about similarities and the
differences between algorithmic and
convoluted reverb. Also, I will
demonstrate the importance features in
both types of reverb.
Reverb is the effect that is applied to a
sound signal that makes it “sound” like
it’s in a space. This space can be
anything from a recording studio, jazz
club stage, orchestral hall, or anything
you can imagine.
To make instruments sound real / like
recordings in real rooms
To apply a thickness effect or a
“distance” effect (exaggeration)
In algorithmic reverb, sense of reverb iscreated in mathematical formula, similarto how synthesizer creates sound.
Algorithmic reverbs generate your reverbsound strictly based on parameters youset in the DAW.
Based on set parameters, algorithmicreverb emulates real spaces. This reverbdoes not sound very real on singleinstrument.
Convolution reverbs use real sound
samples, recorded from real rooms
known as “Impulse Responses”.
The reverb plug-in filters sound through
this impulse response to generate a
“believable organic tail” based on the
characteristics of a real room.
Algorithmic Reverb:
› A lot of parameters need to be adjusted.
› Needs less CPU processing.
› Easy to use but hard to master.
Convoluted Reverb:
› Uses “Impulse response”.
› Sounds more natural.
› Pretty heavy on CPU.
The answer is- Both!
I tend to use convolution reverb on solo
instruments because they help fill out the
sound where there aren’t many other
things going on in your track.
Algorithmic reverbs on the other hand
tend to excel at adding reverb to full
mixes, or samples that already have
some room recorded in.
Every algorithmic reverb plugin can be more or less difference from one another in terms of features but every one of them will have a section dedicated to toadjust time design parameters like –decay, pre-decay and attack.
If you are trying to create a sound of an actual room then keep the reverb time at less than 2 seconds. After than it sounds unnatural.
The same thing applies to “room design”.
It is the second fundamental section of
algorithmic reverb effects and here you
can make your own “virtual recording
room” by setting its height, width, etc.
Here you can configure your high cut,
low cut filters.
Changing the high cut filter is like
changing the materials in the space.
More of high frequencies gives you sense
of being in empty room with hard walls.
On the other hand, less of high
frequencies give you feeling of warm,
curtain filled room.
Due to lack of resources, I could not
make audio or video tutorial. So I had to
settle on this write up tutorial. During the
course, I learnt some new things from
various sources on internet. I made use
of the knowledge I got by putting it in this
tutorial. I hope you find this tutorial
helpful.