A
rtificial reverberation was originally
developed to mimic the natural
reverberant qualities of real spaces,
such as rooms, concert halls, and
cathedrals, but particularly in the predigital era, these emulations often fell
noticeably short of this aspiration. That's
okay though, because the characteristics of
these man-made devices, though less than
perfectly realistic, eventually were beloved
by musicians and recordists for their own
unique qualities, becoming an integral part
of the complex fabric of popular recorded
music. Whole genres of music have even
been based on some of these blatantly
artificial sounds. I mean, could surf rock
even exist without spring reverb?
Along with the mighty and ubiquitous
spring, the other reverb tone that has
attained classic status among guitarists and
recording engineers is plate reverb. In the
‘60s and ‘70s, in particular, plate reverb was
king, and it remains very popular to this
day, for everything from drums and vocals,
to horns, and of course, our precious
guitars. Unlike a spring unit, however,
fitting a real plate 'verb in an amp or on a
pedalboard would be quite impossible. A
genuine plate unit, such as the inimitable
EMT 140, is around seven feet long and
weighs about 600 pounds. The basic
mechanism of its function involves a
transducer that vibrates a large, thin sheet
of metal suspended inside a box. Pickups
or contact microphones then capture these
vibrations, transducing them into audio.
Digital emulations of plate reverb's
signature sound, that bright, lush ambience
that decays so very smoothly, are relatively
abundant, and generally of excellent
quality. Guitarists today have more choices
than ever, with many common digital reverb
pedals having one or more convincing plate
simulations. Here are a few of our favorite
boxes for realistic plate reverb sounds that
you can take on the road with you, or store
quite comfortably at your jam spot.
ToneReport.com
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