Reverb controls – SoundCraft MFX User Manual

Page 27

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Reverse Reverb
Reverse reverb works in the opposite fashion from normal reverb. Whereas a normal reverb has the loudest
series of reflections heard first that then become quieter over time, the Reverse reverb has the softest
reflections (essentially the tail of the reverb) heard first, and then grows louder over time until they abruptly
cut off.

Ambience Reverb
Ambience is used to simulate the effect of a small or medium sized room without noticeable decay. It is often
used for voice, guitar or percussion.

Studio Reverb
Much like Room reverb, Studio produces an excellent simulation of smaller, well controlled acoustic spaces,
characteristic of the main performance areas in recording studios. Studio is also useful with dialog and
voiceover applications as well as individual instrument and electric guitar tracks.

Arena Reverb
Arena reverb emulates a huge physical space such as an indoor sports venue or stadium. The characteristics
of Arena reverb are long secondary reflection times and a reduced amount of high frequency content. Arena
is a mostly mid- and low frequency dominant reverb, and is an ideal selection for “special effect” type
applications that require extremely long reverb times. It is not a good choice for a very busy mix, since it can
reduce intelligibility.

Spring Reverb
A Spring reverb is created by a pair of piezoelectric crystals—one acting as a speaker and the other acting as
a microphone— connected by a simple set of springs. The characteristic ‘boing’ of a spring is an important
component of many classic rock and rockabilly guitar sounds.

REVERB CONTROLS

Pre Delay
Creates an additional time delay between the source signal and the onset of reverberation. This control is not
intended to precisely mimic the time delays in natural spaces, as the build-up of reverberation is gradual,
and the initial time gap is usually relatively short. For the most natural effect, the Pre Delay values should be
set in the range of 10-25 milliseconds. However, if a mix is very busy or overly cluttered, increasing the Pre
Delay time may help clarify it, and set each instrument apart from each other.

Decay
Controls the amount of time the reverb can be heard. Higher settings increase reverberation times which are
usually associated with larger acoustical environments, but can decrease intelligibility. Lower settings shorten
reverb times and should be used when a smaller apparent space or a more subtle effect is desired.

Liveliness
Adjusts the amount of high frequency content in the reverberation tails. Higher settings increase high fre-
quency response, creating brighter reverbs; lower settings create darker reverbs with more bass frequency
emphasis.

Diffusion
Controls the initial echo density. High settings of Diffusion result in high initial echo density, and low settings
cause low initial density. In a real-world situation, irregular walls cause high diffusion, while large flat walls
cause low diffusion. For drums and percussion, try using higher Diffusion settings.

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