Larger halls will also attenuate different frequency ranges at different rates, and the combination of which ranges last longer also affects our perception of the space. The reverb in that tiled bathroom will be considerably brighter sounding than a larger room with wood or fabric-covered walls. The tonal color of the reflections also plays a critical role. For example, a small but reflective room (e.g., a tiled bathroom) can have a decay time similar to a larger hall, but the smaller room’s early reflections will arrive sooner. The length of time until the echoes die away (decay) also helps determine the size of the space, but the way that decay interacts with the early reflections also makes a difference. The first echoes that occur when sound waves hit surfaces (early reflections) and the amount of time between the initial sound and those first reflections (pre-delay) work together to tell us how large the space is, and what our position is within the space. In most cases, what we hear is the product of thousands of echoes, reflected many times.Our brains decode this information in various ways. The way we hear that sound depends on several factors - how far away those various reflective surfaces are, what they’re made of, where our ears are located in relation to the original and reflected sound waves, and even other subtle factors like temperature, humidity, altitude and more. and echo back, mixing with the original sound. Those waves eventually hit multiple surfaces - walls, ceiling, floor, seating, etc. We can simplify things by breaking it down to basic physics.Like throwing a stone into a pool of water, sound emanates from the source in waves. One general guideline to consider is that, unless you’re intentionally after a special effect, the best use of reverb is typically when it’s almost imperceptible within your mix.Īt first look, many of the parameters of reverb units can be pretty confusing. Add too much reverb and your mix can easily become a lush pool of mush. An instrument’s direct sound is important in establishing directionality and clarity. In fact, excessive or poorly used reverb is one of the most common mistakes inexperienced recordists make. Not surprisingly, it’s easy to overdo it. Now, the challenge is no longer which reverb to use, but what combination of reverbs works to create a cohesive and natural sound. A single reverb device - usually a plate or chamber - was then used to create an artificial “room” ambience.In today’s DAW-oriented world, signal processing is cheap and plentiful.Įven entry-level recording programs offer a multitude of reverbs, and today’s recordings typically employ one or more reverbs on each instrument. As multitracking evolved, studios were designed to be fairly “dead” and mics were placed close to each instrument to capture as much direct sound as possible, with minimal reflections from the room. Studios were prized for their natural ambience. In the early days of recording, the only reverb on a record was that of the room the recording took place in. One of the first documented uses of natural reverb to intentionally enhance a recording was by engineer Robert Fine, who introduced ambient mics on some of the early “Living Presence” recordings on Mercury Records. Improvements in microphone technology and the advent of audio tape made it possible for recording engineers of the day to experiment with mic placement, increasing consciousness about reverb, if not necessarily options. In the post-WWII Big Band-era of the late ’40s and early ’50s, radio began to play an increasingly important role in how audiences consumed recorded music. This worked fine for the recordings of the day, which were mainly of the orchestral and operatic genres. The sound of the room itself was picked up by the microphone (and in most cases it was just that – one microphone), and rooms with great sonic characteristics, mainly theaters, symphony halls and the like. In the earliest recordings, the only reverb was what occurred naturally in the recording environment.
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