Digital reverb

[woops]

@Woebot once made a thread "echo and reverb" which covers some of the history of reverb - in which @woops made some pretty pertinent points - plus plenty of examples of historical uses of reverb, echo, and delay in pre-80s recordings - it wasn't always "dry" before the 80s

well my understanding is that when digital reverb was invented whenever that was, was the first time you had a reasonable reproduction of a physical space. prior to that you only had simulations of "what" a sound reverberating "might" sound like. the reverb was produced by a physical object like a spring - or a plate reverb which apparently was so massive it filled a room. so these effects could be used tastefully i suppose, but if they were turned up loud and noticeable as on most of those 60s records in @Woebot's thread, they'd sound like a special effect.

but suddenly you have this relatively small unit, the digital reverb, which could produce a realistic (probably at first not that realistic, but more so as technology improves) reproduction of a physical space, like all the classic presets "cathedral", "drum room" and so on. these were modelled after nature, ie you'd have a load of echoes (produced by a delay) increasingly filtered (and "convoluted") by the acoustics of the space in question. a bit like the classic thing of shouting across a canyon, hello-0-0 same principle right? in a small space like a bathroom that happens much more quickly.

20 to 1 at night

 

[woops]

so suddenly you have this effect that is much more useable and tempting to the producers of the time and next thing you know, they're putting it on everything, cos they're producers. it sounds fresh and everyone wants it etc. and a new era is born. not only that but phil collins figures out a way to "gate" the reverb, to cut it off quickly and make a snare drum sound massive. and that effect has never been away, just got more refined.