Video summary

What You Don't Know About Reverb - Reverb Masterclass

Main summary

Key takeaways

Educational

Main ideas and concepts (what the video teaches)

  • The video explains how artificial reverb is used in mixing to add space, openness, and dimension—especially when real reverberant spaces aren’t available and studio recordings often sound dry, controlled, and close due to acoustic treatment.
  • It frames reverb as having two broad purposes:
    • Recreating real spaces (realism)
    • Creating effects for additional dimension and artistic character
  • It then walks through major categories of reverb (historical and modern), describing:
    • How they work
    • What they sound like
    • Where they tend to be useful in a mix

Methodologies / practical mixing approach mentioned (step-by-step patterns)

Using plate reverb (a common technique)

  • Increase the plate decay time to the maximum
  • Lower the blend/wet amount so only a small amount of reverb is always present

Result:

  • A “shimmering” layer underneath vocals or guitar
  • Adds presence/brightness without fully washing out the dry signal

Avoiding washout (implicit rule across types)

  • Keep the wet amount low enough that the reverb does not overwhelm the original signal
  • Too much reverb makes the mix sound blurred / washed out

Types of reverb covered (with key traits and typical use)

1) Echo chamber reverb (1930s–1940s)

  • Core concept: Send the mixing console signal into a physical echo chamber
  • Signal flow:
    • Dry signal → played through speakers in the chamber
    • Sound reflects off chamber walls → captured by microphone(s)
  • Chamber construction:
    • Varied shapes/sizes, tiled or smooth painted walls to shape reflections
  • Sound/behavior:
    • Bold and obvious
    • Can have a lush decay tail
    • Often not balanced in tone and may require filtering/EQ
    • Character was common in 50s/60s recordings

2) EMT 140 plate reverb (introduced 1957)

  • Core concept: A large metal plate inside a heavy wooden enclosure creates reverb vibrations.
  • How it works (mechanically):
    • A transducer converts the electrical signal into vibrations
    • The metal sheet/plate vibrates
    • Output transducers/pickups convert plate vibrations back into electrical signals
  • Sound/behavior:
    • Bright and smooth
    • Doesn’t sound like a natural space, but is musical and useful
  • Controls/features:
    • Decay length to blend dry and wet
    • Width control (stereo/spread of reverb)
  • Typical use:
    • Great for vocals and instruments
    • Adds presence and brightness
    • Should be used carefully to avoid washing out the track

3) Spring reverb

  • Core concept: Similar to plate reverb, but uses springs instead of a plate.
  • How it works:
    • Springs are attached to transducers
    • Housed in a smaller tank/canister
  • Sound/behavior:
    • Distinctive transient behavior
    • For fast transients it produces a spiraling “ping” sound
  • Typical use:
    • Often inappropriate for drums (can sound ridiculous on fast hits like drum transients)
    • Common on electric guitar
      • Plucked notes / hand slaps can benefit and enhance the groove
    • Also adds subtle presence/dimension to other material

4) Digital/algorithmic reverb (1970s onward; e.g., Lexicon 224, EMT 250)

  • Core concept: Create depth/space by generating many stacked, repeated, cascading delay/decay tails from the original signal.
  • Key capabilities:
    • Multiple layered effects to shape/modulate the reverb
    • Ability to modify early reflections (the first reflections you’d notice in a real space)
  • Early reflections importance (demonstrated conceptually):
    • Removing early reflections makes it harder to perceive room shape and size
    • Adding them back improves perception of the room—not just the late “lush” body
  • Room → Hall progression:
    • Room reverb: designed to be livelier and fairly natural, but not perfectly balanced
    • Increasing decay leads toward hall reverb, designed with acoustics in mind
  • Typical use:
    • Hall reverb can sound balanced and natural, but isn’t always right for every mix
    • Subtle hall on acoustic instruments (example: cello) can be especially pleasing
  • Special effects:
    • Algorithmic reverbs can create reverse reverbs and other non-natural effects

5) Convolution reverb (favorite digital type emphasized)

  • Core concept: Uses impulse responses (IRs) to capture the sound of a space or device.
  • How it works (conceptual process):
    • Play a short impulse in a space or run it through a device
    • Record the result with a microphone
    • Use that recording as an IR inside a convolution reverb plugin
    • The plugin combines the IR response with the original audio to recreate that space/device sound
  • Advantages:
    • “Perfect recreation” of the captured space/device character
    • Many IRs exist; people share IRs of vintage hardware and real environments
    • Easy workflow: load an IR into a plugin
  • Downsides:
    • Higher CPU and especially RAM/memory usage because IRs must be stored

Main lesson / takeaway

  • Reverb selection is about matching the type of reverberation behavior (brightness, smoothness, transient character, realism, early reflection control) to the mix context.
  • The video implicitly encourages restraint:
    • Use enough reverb to add space and presence
    • Avoid excessive wet levels that blur/wash out the original performance

Speakers / sources featured

  • Speaker: The video creator/host (referred to as “I”; no name provided in the subtitles).
  • Named reverb manufacturers/models mentioned as sources/examples:
    • EMT (EMT 140 plate reverb; also “EMT 250”)
    • Lexicon (Lexicon 224)
  • Audio technologies/concepts mentioned (not people):
    • Convolution reverb / impulse responses (IRs)
    • Echo chambers
    • Digital/algorithmic reverb
    • Room reverb vs hall reverb

Original video