What it is, how to use it, where to use and why

Reverb is not only considered to be a sexy effect, but it is also one of most widely used effects—which also makes reverb one of the most easily overlooked effects. Reverb can be found practically in every piece of signal-processing gear out there. From amplifiers to stomp boxes, home recording hardware to its software counterparts, from mixing boards to apps for smartphones, reverb is arguably the one effect that we can’t do without.

But, how many of us really know what reverb is? Or, how it works? We’re all guilty of doing the same thing; i.e., we grab the dial for reverb and tweak it until it sounds good. Unfortunately, there’s a whole lot more to using reverb than turning a knob. So, let’s take a closer look.

What is reverb?

Reverb is a simple, organic-sounding effect that is used to create a mood and change the environment of your sound. The effect itself creates a 3-D image in a recording and it’s the easiest way to change the sound of the room. Some presets use room examples to help you select the kind of reverb that you’re looking for. For example, from bathroom to church, rock club to arena, and everything imaginable in between can be created by the reverb effect if used properly.

Technically, reverb is short for reverberation. Reverberation occurs in real-life situations when a sound is created and bounces off of walls, floors and ceilings. As the sound bounces it fades with each bounce. These bounces, or reflections, can be measured and recreated by the reverb effect. In the real world, a natural reverb is the series of tiny echoes that occur after a sound is generated. The perception of these echoes allow the human ear to process the size of the room, how close or far the sound is, and much more information that is beyond the scope of this article.

How does the reverb knob on my amplifier work?

All of the complexities of reverberation can be manipulated by adjusting a single knob on guitar amps. However, a typical analog amp can only produce a certain type of reverb and the knob will adjust the size of the room or the amount of effect. Digital amps will allow for more complex adjustments; such as: room sizes (small room, concert halls, etc.) to types of reverb (digital, spring, plates, etc.).

The advent of technology has created an overwhelming amount of choices when it comes to selecting guitar effects; but, fortunately for us, with everything from pedals to software plugins, the reverb effect works basically the same way in each instance. Reverb has three basic adjustments: volume, depth and decay time.

Volume:

This is the amount of the effect that you want to apply to the sound. Volume determines the amount of effect that you hear. Amongst musicians and recording engineers the term is “wet” versus “dry”. Wet is the amount of effect that has been added to the sound while dry refers to the unaffected or unprocessed signal.

Depth:

This is the size of the room. As you increase the depth, you increase the size of the room. However, you should be careful when tweaking this parameter. One of the side effects of adding too much depth is that you sacrifice clarity. Too much depth could lead to a muddy or cloudy guitar sound.

Decay Time:

This parameter adjusts the reflections that a sound generates. You can increase or decrease the length of the waves and how much time it takes for them to dissipate.

You will also find reverb units that have less or more (discussed below) of the three parameters mentioned above and they will offer more variations to what we previously discussed.

Reverb is not a complicated effect which is one of the reasons that it is so popular. But understanding what it is and how to use it can make or break the part that you’re playing.

Where and why to use reverb?

When you listen to music, you’ll notice that reverb is used on practically every instrument. For guitar players, it can create an aggressive mood (less reverb) to a lush, dreamlike mood (more reverb).

In a recording, reverb can be used to help instruments find their natural space. Generally, everything is recorded dry (no reverb). And, if it was left dry, everything would sound in your face. Reverb softens the instruments and helps push them into the right spot of the recording creating a much more attractive listening experience. Even though music is recorded in a studio, the amount and type of reverb added to the instruments can create the illusion that the recording took place in a club, on a stage, outdoors, you name it.

Digital vs. Spring Reverb

Digital reverb is very common these days and available on practically every piece of gear. The features that make this choice popular for guitarists is that it offers an almost infinite amount of options that are made available in a small computer chip. The other added convenience of digital reverb is that it is consistent and reliable.

Spring reverb is an actual spring that is housed in a tube that resonates and vibrates when a sound travels through it. It creates a more thicker and warmer reverb than its digital counterpart. For this reason, guitar purists prefer the sound of spring reverb. The problems that occur with spring reverb is that, if you accidentally bump into the amp, the spring unit creates a sound like a tiny explosion coming through your amp and the spring units do not travel well for the gigging guitarist.

Additional Settings

In addition to the parameters that we discussed earlier, the more sophisticated digital units will have the following settings: type, diffusion and tone.

Type:

Rooms, plates and their sizes from small to large.

Diffusion:

The type of material that the sound reflects off of. For example: wood, tile, carpet, stone, etc.

Tone:

This is a basic EQ setting that in most instances affects the middle frequencies.

Final Tips

In the studio, you will have a more controlled environment and can experiment with different reverb types and settings. For live use, keep in mind that every room, club, stage, etc. has its own natural reverb. Be careful and do not use too much reverb in a live setting because your guitar sound will get lost. Remember, “less is more”.

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