Another not-awful paper, “Reverb in Recording,” which I wrote in the spring of 2013 for an awesome class. Awesome sources for checking out. This paper focuses on the changes of artificial reverb over time and does not focus on the technical aspects of how it actually works. There are plenty of other places that explain that.
Reverb in Recording
Reverb is an effect that we hear in nearly all of modern recording. The effect is unlike echo (or “delay”). Echo is the repeating of a sound that has just been heard. Reverb is not hearing a duplicate of the previous sound, but the held out ringing of a sound in addition to delay. It is the effect that makes large buildings, like cathedrals and concert halls, so interesting. Reverb is usually the result of the acoustic environment a given sound is produced in. When we hear reverb in recording, it is often fake. With only a few exceptions, such as recording in a live reverberant environment, most reverberation heard in recording was added in the studio.
Prior to the 1950’s, reverb was considered an undesired effect in recording. The quality of playback on home phonographs and commercial jukeboxes were exceptionally poor; the audio produced from these early devices was often “tinney” and lacked a fullness. Recordings were often of classical performances in large concert halls that were naturally reverberant. When reverb was unintentionally recorded and played back on these early devices, it furthered their unsatisfying sound. Studios resorted to making recordings in the most acoustically dry environments they could find or create.
Behold, the 1950’s! The evolution of recording and playback technology is finally allowing for quality playback. A number of advances in recording technology had occurred:
World War I resulted in a number of audio technology advances, most importantly amplification via. the vacuum tube.
Steel wire recording advanced enough to make it useful for sound recording; this made recording easier in general and higher in quality compared to other methods such as recording directly to wax.
In the early 20’s, Western Electric developed an electronic recording process. This allowed for the grove being cut into a record to be amplified, significantly improving the quality of output (Morton, David).
In 1924, the Columbia Record company had begun to produce its first ever electronic recordings.
In the 1930’s, magnetic tape recording had become introduced. This allowed for easier editing and modification of recording and significantly better quality recording.
Between then and the 1940’s, a number of small but significant improvements were made: LP (long play) records were introduced. Experiments with reduced record rotation speed began bringing play speed from ~78RPMs to 33 1/2 (Morton, David).
World War II would begin and cause yet another major technology push. Advancements lead to the device that most of us know as a record player: 33 1/2 RPMs, motorized turntable, electrically produced records, a small lightweight needle with pickup cartridge, an amplified output. Finally, a high-fidelity audio reproduction device had been produced.
How does one create artificial space in a recording? In 1947, Universal Records recorded the Harmonicats: “Peg O My Heart”. This recording is frequently cited as the first to have artificial reverb in the United States. How was it produced? Audio engineer and founder of Universal Record’s Milton Tasker “Bill” Putnam placed a speaker and a microphone in the studios bathroom, and played back and recorded the recording. Thus was born the very very “high tech” audio effect we know as Chamber Reverb (Shanks, Will). Chamber reverb would continue to be used, although the use of studio restrooms for the effect would end (with the exception of hobby studios and home recording). The technology became more refined: studios would construct small rooms with non-parallel surfaces completely coated in shellac. A speaker would be placed at one end and a microphone at the other. It is worth mentioning that natural reverb did become more popular in the 40’s after the introduction of hi-fi playback; Will Shanks writes: “An engineer named Bill Fine brought back the popularity of natural reverb as an effect by putting a single mic in a large hall to capture the ambience of a recording. The recording was released on Mercury’s ‘Living Presence’ record.”
Audio engineers for several companies experimented with many methods of producing artificial reverb. The results would prove to significantly change the way both recorded music sounded as well as live music at concerts. The technology would become more affordable, smaller, and easy for any instrumentalist or audio hobbyist to obtain.
In 1957, EMI introduced the first ever plate reverb system. This 600lb device could be placed in the studio and became popular very quickly. This device produced a sound that was less “real” sounding then a chamber reverb, but was considerably smaller and easier to place in the studio, although still too gangly to be portable for live performance. The first version that EMI introduced was exceptionally difficult to use and required precise adjustment. The second version was less finicky and considerably easier for the audio engineer to operate (Shanks, Will). The effect that came out of the plate reverb did not have some of the disadvantages that a spring reverb unit had: it didn’t sound “boingy” and it worked well with recording percussion. The disadvantage was that the reverb responded instantly, there was no delay before the reverb effect started and this could result in lyrics being more difficult to understand (Dennis, R.). Delay would often be added by using tape by placing two magnetic heads slightly distanced from the other (“Understanding & Emulating”, 2001). This helped to clear up the instant response problem of the plate reverb system.
Often when people think of reverb in recordings of the mid 20th century, they think of spring reverb. Spring reverb was invented sometime in the 1930’s by Bell Labs. The original purpose was to simulate the delay of long distanced telephone lines. The effect was not used for music until Laurens Hammond, one of my personal favorite inventors, was seeking a way to make the sound of his electronic organ more attractive to home users (“Accutronics reverb”). Hammond’s company would adapt the design to his instrument and it would become a standard option in all Hammond organs. Reverb units would quickly grow smaller and more affordable. In 1961, the Fender Musical Instrument Incorporation began to sell reverb units, and sold the first amplifier to have a reverb unit built-in in 1963 (“AmplifiedParts”). Other amplifiers would soon include reverb as a feature, and other external reverb units would be available. Low cost and portability made this device take off quickly. Even mixer boards would include reverb units, allowing reverb to be instantly added to live audio. When a spring reverb unit is hit, it creates a crashing and thunder-like sound; this would become a gimmick used in recording and live performance. Spring reverb, in my opinion, is the easiest to recognize reverb technology. When applied heavily, it almost has an “under-water” quality. Spring reverb works well for guitar and organ, although many units tend to overreact on some specific notes and ring very loudly. When applied to percussion, the sound becomes almost “bouncy”. These disadvantages kept it from being popular in studio editing, but individual instruments would be recorded with spring reverb.
Nearly all reverb in current recording is added digitally. Whole computer programs and hardware units are dedicated to reverb, some costing nothing and others costing thousands. Many higher end programs allow the simulation of different kinds of environments; some even claim to duplicate the acoustic effects of specific concert halls. How anyone would ever say “Wow, that sounds exactly like the reverb of the Sydney Opera House” remains a personal mystery to me. The use of chamber reverb in the form of bathrooms, stairwells, and other spaces is still sometimes used in home-studio recording and with independent artists; it has become a novel sound.
Aside from recording, reverb is also used in live concert performances. Often rock concert venues lack the desired acoustic properties of reverb and amplification. Adding reverb to the amplified sound can give the performance a new dynamic. The current method of adding reverb to live venues is all digital. As mentioned before, spring reverb (being small and portable) was added to mixing boards. This could be used for easily adding reverb to live concerts. Carl Nave of Georgia State University wrote about the inclusion of reverb in mixing boards: “A cheaper and more portable system of reverberation was the spring reverb used in many sound mixing boards and guitar amplifiers… Although having the advantage of small size, the reverberation was mechanical-sounding and often harsh. And as many sound-board operators found out, if you bumped into the sound board during a performance, everybody knew it!” It is easy to overlook how profound the idea of instantly artificially changing the actual sound of a room is.
Bibliography
Morton, David. “Electrical Recordings.”Recording History. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.recording-history.org/HTML/phono_technology6.php>
Shanks, Will. “The History of EMT and Reverb.” UniversalAudio. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2013. <http://www.uaudio.com/blog/emt-reverb-history/ >
Dennis, Robert. “The History of Delay and Reverberation.” Recording Institute . N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2013. < http://www.recordinginstitute.com/da154/ARP/chap3Sig/0308hist.html>
“Understanding & Emulating Vintage Effects.” SoundOnSound. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. <http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/jan01/articles/vintage.asp>
“The History of Spring Reverberation .”Accu Bell Sound Inc. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2013. <http://www.accutronicsreverb.com/>.
“Spring Reverb Tanks Explained and Compared | Amplified Parts.” Amplified Parts. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2013. <http://www.amplifiedparts.com/tech_corner/spring_reverb_tanks_explained_and_compared>
Nave, Carl. “Adding Reverberation.” HyperPhysics. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013. <http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/acoustic/reverbadd.html>
