Everything you Need to Know About Reverb

Everything you Need to Know About Reverb

Learn the secrets of this important effect to elevate your recordings.

Arguably the most-used effect in modern recording, reverb has shaped the sound of thousands of classic albums.

From providing space and depth to vocals to adding "drip" to a twangy guitar or lushness to ambient synths, reverb is behind some of the most iconic sounds of the past century.

Here, we'll dive into this magical effect, its different types, and how you can use it for professional sounding recordings.

Different Types of Reverb Explained

Like other studio effects, the type of reverb you choose is dependent on the sound you're looking for.

  • Chamber reverb gives you a natural, organic sounding reverb from actual reflective spaces.
  • Plate reverb is lush and natural sounding, but not necessarily like a room.
  • Spring reverb is full of vibe, famous for its "drip," and sounds like nothing else.
  • Digital reverb adds expansive sheen and clarity or full-on soundscape that traditional analog reverbs simply can't do.
  • Room emulation gives you the sound of physical spaces, typically a classic studio.

The History of Reverb

In early recordings, the only reverb that occurred naturally in the recording environment was the sound of the room itself.

This worked fine for the music of the day, which was mainly orchestral and operatic genres.

But as pop music and recording technology evolved, so did the desire to not only add space, but to control the space.

One of the first documented uses of natural reverb to intentionally enhance a recording was by engineer Robert Fine, who introduced ambient mics on some of the early Living Presence recordings on Mercury Records.

But it was Universal Audio founder Bill Putnam who pioneered the use of artificial reverb in recordings in 1947.

Putnam converted his Chicago studio’s bathroom to create one of the first purpose-built echo chambers.

The unique sound of his Universal Records label’s first recording, “Peg o’ My Heart” by The Harmonicats was an instant hit.

On this 1947 hit, UA founder Bill Putnam popularized the use of artificial reverb using the restroom at the studio as an echo chamber.

Using Chambers for Reverb

With chambers becoming the de facto way to add and shape reverb in recordings, the lush effect became a huge part of the sound coming from legendary recording spaces — most notably the Les Paul-designed chambers underneath the parking lot at Capitol Studios in L.A. and Motown's Hitsville studios in Detroit, where the chambers are located in the attic of the iconic studio.

And although the concept is simple — placing a speaker in one corner and a microphone in another and mixing the sound with a live recording — the engineers at these studios were able to fine tune their reverb with different selections of mics and speakers inside the chamber.

Read: Discover the Legendary Hitsville Chambers

Learn How to Use Chamber Reverb on your Mixes

The Introduction of Plate Reverb

As groundbreaking as Putnam’s echo chamber concept was, it still utilized the natural ambience and reverb of a real space.

It wasn’t until 1957 that the German company Elektro-Mess-Technik (EMT) unveiled their EMT 140 — the first plate reverb.

The EMT 140 worked by attaching a small transducer to the center of a thin sheet metal plate; vibrations from the speaker were sent across the surface of the plate, and were picked up by one or more small pickups attached to the edge of the plate.

A brochure image of the EMT 140. The engineer set the decay with the damper control (the wheel up top), and ran the reverb return through additional EQ at the console for more control of the effect.

The result was a dense, warm sound that emulated a natural room echo, but was uniquely its own. And while the EMT plate reverbs were large and unwieldy, they were still a cheaper and more versatile alternative to building a dedicated echo chamber.

If you're curious about plate reverb, but the EMT 140's deep controls are intimidating, the UAD Pure Plate gives you the same lush tone of a vintage plate, but with a simplified control set.

Read: The Origins of EMT Reverb

Spring Reverb and the "Drip"

Another technology that emerged during the ’50s was spring reverb. Essentially, a spring reverb works in much the same way as a plate, but substitutes springs for the metal plate.

Because springs take up far less space, spring reverbs became popular in applications where plate reverbs were impractical, including tube guitar amps from the '60s — Fender being the most famous — with classics like like the Dual Showman Reverb, Twin Reverb, Super Reverb, Deluxe Reverb, and more.

Not to be overlooked, Fender's standalone reverb tank, the tube-driven 6G15, was built from 1961-66 (a reissue came in the early '90s) and became a staple where spring reverb reigned supreme — surf music.

King of the Surf Guitar, Dick Dale used spring reverb for the ultimate "wet" tone

The undisputed king and heavyweight champ of studio spring reverb, however, is the AKG BX 20 Spring Reverb.

No, that's not a water heater. It's the insides of the AKG BX 20 spring reverb.

Introduced in the late 1960s, the AKG BX 20 reverb was a high-water mark for AKG’s esteemed engineers. An ingenious assembly of mechanical and electronic componentry, the BX 20 offered the glorious depth and color of spring reverb without any of the limitations or "lo fi" character.

The AKG BX 20 is also famous for its dual-spring tank design, allowing for lush stereo effects.

Learn How to Add Spring Reverb to your Mixes

Watch Now: 5-Minute UAD Tips: AKG BX 20 Spring Reverb

Modern Reflections: Digital Reverb

By the mid-70s, digital reverbs started appearing with the introduction of the EMT® 250, the first digital reverb/modulation effects unit introduced in 1976.

WIth its "lollipop" levers, the rare EMT 250 was a favorite tool for ambient music creators.

Still regarded as one of the best-sounding reverb units ever made, the EMT 250 left an immeasurable mark on record-making history in the hands of studio legends like George Massenburg, Bruce Swedien, Daniel Lanois, and Brian Eno.

Read Now: Take a Deep Dive into The EMT 250

Brian Eno and Harold Budd relied on the EMT 250 for the 1980 classic, Ambient 2: The Plateaux Of Mirror.

Next on the Mt. Rushmore of digital reverbs are the iconic Lexicon 224 and Lexicon 480L.

Released in 1978, the 224 was the reverb that defined the sound of an entire era. From Talking Heads' Remain In Light and U2's The Unforgettable Fire to Peter Gabriel's So and Kate Bush's Hounds of Love, the Lexicon 224's lush tail and spacious soundscapes make it one of the most popular digital reverb units of all time.

The sleek Lexicon 224 desktop controller and the less-seen 4U "mainframe."

Not bad for a device that offers eight reverb programs and a single chorus program!

Nearly every track on U2's 1984 masterpiece The Unforgettable Fire is bathed in the lush reverb of the Lexicon 224.

Eight years later, Lexicon released the Lexicon 480L, which In addition to Lexicon's prized reverbs, the 480L's random time-varying "Effects" algorithm offers dramatic reverse, doubling, tremolo, and chorus sounds.

Combined with its unique four-voice Twin Delay algorithm, the Effects algorithm turns the 480L into a versatile multi-effects system with unending creative potential.

Cocteau Twins' guitarist Robin Guthrie used the Lexicon 480L on this track from 1990's Heaven or Las Vegas.

"The Lexicon 480L's 'Shape' and 'Spread' parameters are the ultimate reverb sculpting tools."

—Chuck Zwicky (Prince, Nine Inch Nails)

The other giant of digital reverb is undoubtedly the AMS RMX16 Digital Delay.

The AMS RMX16 was the world's first microprocessor-controlled, full-bandwidth, digital reverberator.

Heard on hundreds — if not thousands — of seminal recordings from the 1980s onward, the RMX16 is still found in nearly every major recording studio the world over.

Its unique and lush reverb programs of the RMX16 are instantly recognizable on classic records by U2 and Peter Gabriel to Radiohead and Rihanna.

In the ’80s, if you were fortunate enough to have AMS's exclusive aftermarket barcode reader system, you could load nine additional programs into a stock RMX16, including 810 ms of delay, brighter rooms, and variations of the legendary RMX16 Nonlin, Reverse and Plate reverbs.

The infamous RMX16 barcode sheet. Thankfully the UAD version gives you these ultra‑rare programs of a fully customized unit.

The RMX16 is probably best known for adding the reverb to one of the most famous drum fills of all time.

Using the "Non Lin 2" setting, the RMX16 added thunderous gated reverb to Phil Collins' toms.

Capturing the Sound of a Room

In 2013, Universal Audio released the Ocean Way Studios — a groundbreaking plug-in that combines elements of room, microphone, and source modeling — giving users an authentic replication of one of the world’s most famous recording rooms.

“Capturing the rooms at Ocean Way Studios was one of the most ambitious projects in UA history,” says Universal Audio CEO Bill Putnam, Jr.

The magic of Ocean Way — as well as the more recent Sound City Studios plug-in — is found in UA’s proprietary Dynamic Room Modeling technology — an exclusive combination of signal processing and advanced measurement techniques.

“For Ocean Way Studios, we went far beyond previous convolution technologies to provide the complex interactions between room, source, and microphones — all the things that make the acoustics at Ocean Way Recording so special.”

— BIll Putnam Jr., Universal Audio CEO

Whereas standard convolution reverbs only provide a sonic snapshot, Dynamic Room Modeling offers the full spectrum of a studio’s ambience possibilities.

Discover How to Add the Sound of Iconic Rooms to your Music

Tips & Tricks — Ocean Way Studios Plug-In | Universal Audio

UAFX Pedals: Explore All the Classic Reverbs

With UAFX pedals, you can add studio-quality reverb effects to your pedalboard.

Golden Reverberator is UAFX's flagship, no‑compromise reverb unit.

Looking for a reverb road less traveled?

The Galaxy '74 Tape Echo & Reverb fits the bill, giving you the unique spring reverb (and of course tape delay) found in the Roland Space Echo* — a quirky favorite heard on hundreds of records from King Tubby to Portishead, Stray Cats to Radiohead.

Galaxy '74 Tape Echo & Reverb gives you warm, warped, relentlessly analog effects.

If you're searching for big 'verb ambience in a pedal with a smaller footprint, you can't go wrong with Heavenly Plate Reverb and Evermore Studio Reverb, giving you all the warmth, sheen, and space of the iconic plate and digital hardware reverbs.

Two UAFX compact pedals that put studio reverbs right at your feet.

Learn how to use Reverb from the Pros

Now it's time to add this time-tested effect to your own productions!

A great place to start is learning about the best reverb plug-ins and how to use them, as well as harnessing professional reverb tips from the producers of Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, and My Morning Jacket.

You'll quickly discover that reverb — in all its wonderfully diverse types — can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

*All trademarks are property of their respective owners and used only to represent the effects modeled as part of Galaxy '74 Tape Echo & Reverb.

— UA Staff