Reverb allows musicians and audio engineers to achieve a sense of space with their sounds, and is easily one of the most popular and important effects used in music. Yet, despite this, there are many elusive aspects to the effect, from why it occurs in the real world to how the various types of reverb plugins we see in the DAW<\/a> differ from one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this in-depth guide, we turn our attention towards reverb, exploring its definition, common types, parameters, best practices, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n See the table of contents below to easily navigate from section to section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Feeling ready? Let’s dive into the world of reverb!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reverb<\/strong> is a phenomenon that occurs when sound waves are reflected in a space, in such a way where it creates the effect of a sound persisting even after it’s produced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The music producers and engineers who are reading this might primarily think of reverb as an audio effect that we use when making music in the DAW.<\/a> However, keeping this definition in mind, the reality is that we hear reverb every day in the world around us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether it’s the walls in our room or the small objects sitting on our desk, most of our surroundings reflect sound to various extents. While we usually don’t actively perceive it, at any given moment we’re bombarded by the countless sonic reflections that bounce off of these surfaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That said, in certain environments the reflections are prominent enough that they become audible. Let’s imagine an empty hall for an example. If we stand in this space and clap, we hear a mixture of direct sound<\/strong> (sound that travels straight to our ears) and reflected sound<\/strong> (sound that radiates, bounces off of walls and other objects, and travels back to our ears). Reverb is the persisting sound that’s created by the sum of these decaying reflections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we navigate the world around us, we interpret this mixture of reflections to perceive the nature of the space we’re in. Thus, we mostly use reverb in our music to simulate spaces\u2014although there are plenty of other creative uses for it too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before we move on, it’s important to note that those who are familiar with delay,<\/a> or echo, might find the definition of reverb similar to it, and potentially confuse the two. While both delay and reverb are characterized by decaying reflections, the difference lies in the fact that with delay, you can audibly hear the individual reflections, while with reverb they blend into a continuous sound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s take a listen to what reverb sounds like in the context of music. Below is a vocal sample without any reverb:<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat you’ll learn:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n\n\n\nThe definition of reverb<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Reverb vs. delay<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWhat does reverb sound like?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n