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Science of Sound: Reverb (FaderPro)
Everything Music Producers Need To Know About Reverb
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About this course
Join Jono Buchanan, an Apple-certified Logic Pro instructor, composer, sound designer and mix engineer, for a closer look at one of the most popular and widely used effects in a producer’s arsenal: reverb.
Over the course of nearly two hours, you’ll build a strong understanding of natural and artificial reverb from the ground up, learning the fundamentals of space and reflection and how they can be applied in the context of a mix.
No matter if you’re recording in a professional studio or your bedroom, the sound you get will be informed by the acoustic qualities of the space. Normally, measures are taken to reduce as much of the reverberation in the room as possible in order to get a dry sound that you can have more control over. With a good clean recording in the bag, reverb can then be added to locate your sound in almost any space imaginable, whether it’s a concert hall, a cathedral, or smaller room settings.
When applied correctly, reverb provides a sense of depth and thickness, and allows the natural harmonics of a sound source to shine through a mix. With too little reverb, your sounds can end up dry, flat and lifeless; with too much they’ll come across washed out and cavernous. Knowing how to get the balance right is crucial when producing music, and that’s where we can help!
In Science of Sound: Reverb, Jono shows you how to design a reverb to fit your track, diving into the parameters of some well known algorithmic and convolution plugins. You’ll see him play around with decay, damping, size, diffusion, modulation and EQ parameters, and hear how they affect vocals, instruments and drums.
At the end of this course you’ll also know how to use a reverb plugin as either an insert or an auxiliary effect, and learn how to get creative by adding delays and filters to the chain.
This course is part of the Science of Sound series, which goes deeper into important music production topics that you'll use again and again in your own projects. Understanding the fundamentals behind concepts like reverb, equalization, compression, delay and the way in which we as engineers and listeners perceive sound will allow you to approach your productions with a greater confidence, purpose and know-how.
No PhD needed, the science-y parts are explained by our awesome educators in a way that anyone can understand!
Over the course of nearly two hours, you’ll build a strong understanding of natural and artificial reverb from the ground up, learning the fundamentals of space and reflection and how they can be applied in the context of a mix.
No matter if you’re recording in a professional studio or your bedroom, the sound you get will be informed by the acoustic qualities of the space. Normally, measures are taken to reduce as much of the reverberation in the room as possible in order to get a dry sound that you can have more control over. With a good clean recording in the bag, reverb can then be added to locate your sound in almost any space imaginable, whether it’s a concert hall, a cathedral, or smaller room settings.
When applied correctly, reverb provides a sense of depth and thickness, and allows the natural harmonics of a sound source to shine through a mix. With too little reverb, your sounds can end up dry, flat and lifeless; with too much they’ll come across washed out and cavernous. Knowing how to get the balance right is crucial when producing music, and that’s where we can help!
In Science of Sound: Reverb, Jono shows you how to design a reverb to fit your track, diving into the parameters of some well known algorithmic and convolution plugins. You’ll see him play around with decay, damping, size, diffusion, modulation and EQ parameters, and hear how they affect vocals, instruments and drums.
At the end of this course you’ll also know how to use a reverb plugin as either an insert or an auxiliary effect, and learn how to get creative by adding delays and filters to the chain.
This course is part of the Science of Sound series, which goes deeper into important music production topics that you'll use again and again in your own projects. Understanding the fundamentals behind concepts like reverb, equalization, compression, delay and the way in which we as engineers and listeners perceive sound will allow you to approach your productions with a greater confidence, purpose and know-how.
No PhD needed, the science-y parts are explained by our awesome educators in a way that anyone can understand!
What you'll learn
- Master the technique of filtering low frequencies from reverb to maintain mix clarity
- Create cohesive spatial depth by layering multiple reverb treatments
- Calculate tempo-synced pre-delay times using the formula 240,000 ÷ BPM ÷ note division
- Learn how to add reverb to bass sounds without creating mud
- Understand the physics of how reverb works in physical spaces
Release date: 08/22/2023 • 1h 55m runtime
Sample lessons
Reverbs in Recordings
Demonstration
Moving a Sound Around a Space
Demonstration
Vocal Reverb
Demonstration
What's included
10 lessons
Science of Sound: Reverb
Whenever we hear a sound, we're actually hearing a combination of two distinct elements: the original source of the sound and the space around it. For example, if the same violinist were playing the same violin in a practice room, a concert hall, and a cathedral, the player and the instrument would remain essentially the same. However, the experience of hearing that music would differ greatly because the practice room, concert hall, and cathedral each have unique acoustic properties.
While the instrument itself remains unchanged, the space around it varies, affecting what we perceive as reverberation or "reverb" for short. Reverberation is all about how sound moves within a space and bounces off its surfaces to reflect or reverberate certain frequencies within the sound being played.
Reverb can be conceptualized as many individual echoes. When a sound travels from its source into a room, it spreads in all directions: left, right, up, down, front, and back. As this energy disperses throughout the room, it begins to fade. The initial echoes reaching the listener are the loudest since less energy has been lost at that point.
However, with each successive surface an echo bounces off, more energy is lost, leading to decreasing volumes for each individual echo. Reverb consists of a large number of these reflections, and we don't hear each one separately. Instead, we perceive a cloud of echoes, lasting until the sound energy has completely dissipated.
The characteristics of reverb can vary significantly depending on the room's size, shape, and the materials it's constructed from. Record producers and mixing engineers often experiment with reverb in pursuit of new sounds for their records, just as they experiment with the source sounds.
You might already know that recording studios are typically acoustically treated to minimize reverb reflections. Producers do this because they want the flexibility to add the precise type and amount of reverb to the sounds they record during the mixing stage. If a sound is recorded with room space as part of the source, it becomes challenging to remove it cleanly, thereby limiting what can be done with that sound later on.
That's why individual instruments, especially vocals, are almost always recorded in spaces where reflections can be minimized. Sometimes, however, the sound of a particular space is a reason to record there. For example, Abbey Road Studio One is a popular choice among film composers due to its unique acoustic properties, and its reverb has become legendary in film soundtracks.
In conclusion, when making recordings, it's essential to consider whether you want to minimize reflections for maximum flexibility later on or seek creative spaces to record in, allowing the natural acoustics of that space to become a part of the sound of your mixes. Your choice will significantly impact the character and quality of your final product.
While the instrument itself remains unchanged, the space around it varies, affecting what we perceive as reverberation or "reverb" for short. Reverberation is all about how sound moves within a space and bounces off its surfaces to reflect or reverberate certain frequencies within the sound being played.
Reverb can be conceptualized as many individual echoes. When a sound travels from its source into a room, it spreads in all directions: left, right, up, down, front, and back. As this energy disperses throughout the room, it begins to fade. The initial echoes reaching the listener are the loudest since less energy has been lost at that point.
However, with each successive surface an echo bounces off, more energy is lost, leading to decreasing volumes for each individual echo. Reverb consists of a large number of these reflections, and we don't hear each one separately. Instead, we perceive a cloud of echoes, lasting until the sound energy has completely dissipated.
The characteristics of reverb can vary significantly depending on the room's size, shape, and the materials it's constructed from. Record producers and mixing engineers often experiment with reverb in pursuit of new sounds for their records, just as they experiment with the source sounds.
You might already know that recording studios are typically acoustically treated to minimize reverb reflections. Producers do this because they want the flexibility to add the precise type and amount of reverb to the sounds they record during the mixing stage. If a sound is recorded with room space as part of the source, it becomes challenging to remove it cleanly, thereby limiting what can be done with that sound later on.
That's why individual instruments, especially vocals, are almost always recorded in spaces where reflections can be minimized. Sometimes, however, the sound of a particular space is a reason to record there. For example, Abbey Road Studio One is a popular choice among film composers due to its unique acoustic properties, and its reverb has become legendary in film soundtracks.
In conclusion, when making recordings, it's essential to consider whether you want to minimize reflections for maximum flexibility later on or seek creative spaces to record in, allowing the natural acoustics of that space to become a part of the sound of your mixes. Your choice will significantly impact the character and quality of your final product.
Reverbs in Recordings
In this lesson, we will explore the multifaceted role of reverb in music production, focusing on how producers and engineers create unique sounds through spatial treatments. Delving into the history of reverb, we will look at famous examples such as Headley Grange house, where Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" captured the natural acoustics of space, inspiring a new wave of recording techniques. We'll also examine various tools used across different musical genres, such as Elise's Quadraverb in dance music and the Lexicon 480L in modern pop, highlighting how reverb has evolved to become an essential part of sound-making. The lesson emphasizes creative decision-making over default choices and encourages producers to consider the historical context of reverb while crafting innovative spatial treatments to enhance the emotional impact of their records.
Moving a Sound Around a Space
In this lesson, we will explore the science of how sound behaves within a spatial environment, focusing on the relationship between direct sound and reverberation. Utilizing a basic solo tom part, the lesson demonstrates how to manipulate the sound's position within a virtual space, moving it from the front of the stage to further back. As the sound moves, participants will experience how the reverb becomes more prevalent, and the direct, dry sound decreases. This provides insights into the sound stage's dynamics, whether in orchestrating where different instruments are placed or in electronic music where spatial considerations can bring a nuanced balance to the sound. The lesson encourages experimenting with reverb and understanding where sounds are coming from to craft a richer musical experience.
Tour of Alogrithmic Reverb
In this lesson, we will explore the concept of algorithmic reverb, starting with the fundamental principles and using simple tools to demonstrate how space can be added to sound. Using a dry drum loop that encompasses various parts of the frequency spectrum, such as bass from the kick drum and mid-range from snares, we will analyze how reverb behaves across these frequencies. Through the utilization of sound tools like Little Plate, the lesson will guide us in manipulating key parameters like decay, mix, and low cut. We'll learn how to control the duration and blend of reverb in a sound and how to exclude certain frequencies from being reverberated. By understanding and experimenting with these elements, we'll be able to enrich our sound manipulation techniques and apply reverb more effectively in various musical contexts.
Parameter Tour of Algorithmic Reverb
In this lesson, we will explore the detailed parameters of standard algorithmic reverb, using Valhalla's vintage verb to model a reverberate space tailored to the needs of a specific track. By working on an unimpressive lead sound within a track, the goal will be to add richness and depth through carefully adjusted reverb. The lesson will highlight various tools available in the Valhalla vintage verb, such as the mixed dial, which sets the blend between dry and wet sounds; the decay dial, for controlling the overall reverb time; pre-delay, which sets the length of time between the dry sound and the onset of reverb; and damping controls, for manipulating the behavior of the reverb with respect to high and low frequency content. Through these parameters, the learner will gain insight into how to enhance sounds and creatively use reverb within music production.
Tour of Convolution Reverb
In this lesson, we will explore Convolution Reverb, a technique that takes a recording of a space, called an impulse response, and applies its acoustic properties to a sound. Unlike algorithmic reverb, which creates spaces synthetically, Convolution Reverb provides authenticity by capturing the unique sound of a real space. We will work on a solo piano part, demonstrating how Logic's space Designer reverb, a Convolution Reverb plugin, can wrap the impulse response around the sound, offering a natural and realistic reverb effect. By selecting presets and choosing specific spaces within the plugin, we will show how the impulse response can be applied to create different atmospheres and depths to a sound. The lesson will emphasize the creative potential and practical application of Convolution Reverb in music production, focusing on parameters common to most Convolution Reverb plugins, ensuring accessibility for various users.
Using Reverb as Inserts VS. Aux
In this lesson, we will explore two main ways to introduce reverb to a track: inserts and auxiliaries. Inserts are used to place a reverb between a dry signal and the output channel, working on one specific sound, while auxiliaries create a separate space where reverb can be added to multiple sounds within a mix. Through the example of a solo piano part, we will first demonstrate how to use an insert, such as Valhalla vintage verb, to create a unique reverb treatment for the piano, adjusting parameters like decay time and high and low frequency content. Then we'll discuss the limitations of this approach when dealing with multiple instruments, like an orchestra, where individual reverb settings for each player would be impractical. Here, the use of auxiliaries becomes more efficient, allowing for a consistent reverb treatment across different instruments. The lesson will guide you through experimenting with both approaches to achieve the desired spatial effect for various musical scenarios.
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