

The audio signal would be run through a metallic plate, and the vibrations of the plate would be recorded. This gave them a “wet” reverb signal they could then mix into the original signal.Ĭhambers feel denser and thicker than other reverbs since they are really a small space artificially made to have more reflections. The engineer would run the audio into the room via a speaker, which was then recorded with mics in the room. They were basically a small side-room or chamber (hence the name) that had a lot of angles and was covered in very reflective surfaces. These large and flowing reverbs generally push a sound further back in a mix.Ĭhamber reverbs were an invention to make reverb accessible without requiring massive spaces. They are the sound of the reverberations in a large space, like concert halls, cathedrals or concert venues. Hall reverbs sound big, smooth, and spacious. Think of this like a cohesive glue that places sounds into one real space. The main purpose of a room reverb is to for most or all elements of your mix to have a shared space. Most room reverbs are an emulation of a studio room designed for the purpose of having a specific sound to them. This became the origin of what a lot of modern-day reverb plugins try to emulate. Phil Spectre, famous for his “wall of sound”, was revolutionary in his approach to space by recording different elements of his song in different studios so that he could get different sizes and tones in the recordings.Īs our audio gear became more sophisticated, we came up with many solutions to add reverb without having to have large spaces to suit our needs. After reading this post you’ll get a much stronger idea of the different types of reverbs, when to use them, and our favorite reverb plugins on the market.īefore we came up with techniques to emulate reverb, there was only one way to have reverb on your tracks- record them in a space that had the room characteristics you wanted. I came to learn that there are many kinds of reverbs, at varying levels of quality, with different characters that suit different purposes. My DAW already has reverbs – why would I buy more? When I was newer to producing, I had difficulty understanding the purpose of purchasing additional reverbs. Before we even get into discussing the best reverb plugins available, it’s important to talk about why we should even care.
