All different, both engineers and music producers. However, among the common disagreements, there are some striking similarities. We all use and love the space of compositions and cannot do without it.
If you are new to the music world of production, then you can very easily get confused in the types and algorithms of reverbs.
The basic idea is this: a reverb processor is a device that uses special code (magic math) to turn the original sound into a blurry spatial version. This can be configured in many ways, but developers often apply their presets, which you see in most plugins. Standard types are rooms, halls and wards.
1. Room
The most basic type of reverb is the room. She has her own space with walls. If you are in a half-empty room, then tapping on deaf objects or hitting your hands – hear a short reflection. The rooms have their own shades and speed.
The rooms have practical forms, such as flat surfaces and parallel walls. These flat, parallel, reflective boundaries cause sonic anomalies such as modal interference, standing waves, flutter reflections and resonances. Simply put – its color.
The room has a lot of “imperfections,” but it is they that make the sound attractive. Let’s be honest, who didn’t want to record the drums in the garage? And listen to how your friends’ acoustic guitar sounds in the living room. With the help of such reflections, it is easy to bring the signal directly to the listener, and more than one mixing of the project can not do without such small distortions.
2. Concert Hall
Concert halls are places designed to enjoy music. They are designed for a more even sound (although some of them are designed to enhance the low frequencies to give the orchestra a grandiose sound). Such rooms will add brilliance, reveal violins, pianos and guitars.
— See also: What is resampling? —
3. Chamber Reverb
Once, when there were no digital reverbs, the modest owner of the studio lived. And this man wanted to hear the sound of a vast space. Unfortunately, the property was expensive and there were no resources to rent a giant hall. Therefore, he highlighted a room with very reflective surfaces and oblong corners. Since the room has many reflections, the reverb went into the tail of the signal. Thus, chamber reverb was born.
Admittedly, this story is a bit embellished. Chamber rooms have a huge amount of color and texture. Anything that needs a punchy blurry hue can be handled with such reverb. Previously, they were often used on R&B and in classic rock.
4. Plate Reverb
This is the main type most commonly used. Plate reflections have an iron reflection and two-dimensional space. In a two-dimensional sheet, the echo signals have the same density from beginning to end. Since the speed of sound is much higher in metal than in air, the plates have a high echo density. These two factors imply smooth reverb tails (especially at higher frequencies). In other words: the metal not only looks brilliant, but also sounds brilliant. Plate Reverb is useful for most tools because of the even distribution of reflections.
5. Ambiences
The word Ambience refers to the ambiguous space around something. Whether it is sounding (for example, guitars) in the forest, desert, and other unlimited places. And although it is difficult to imagine where this can be applied, it is ideal for sounds that already have a ton of character and dense harmonics (for example, synthesizers in dance styles). Short atmospheres are applicable in rep styles (e.g. voice).
— See also: Antares – Autotune 8 —
Bonus: Nonlinear Reverb
There is also a reverb style called non-linear. Like Ambiences, such devices are not included in certain categories, but have their own differences. In non-linear reverb, echoes can be expressed in the final seconds of a release. These are not natural reflections, but they can be a cool creative effect in the music world. They are convenient to create rhythmic distortions when processing, for example, drums or use as a slapback on guitars.
