We frequently hear about different reverb ‘types’, by which people are usually talking about the different categories of reverb found in plugins. Depending on who you ask there are five or more categories, typically Hall, Room, Plate, Chamber and Spring with frequent additions such as Ambience and Church. This post isn’t talking about these reverbs which try to accurately represent something which exists in the real world. It’s referring to artificial reverb treatments which don’t have an equivalent either in the built environment or in electromechanical form, but are so popular as to represent a commonly understood type of effect rather than an arbitrary choice.

In this article and accompanying video Julian looks at how to create two such reverbs - Shimmer Reverb and Gated Reverb. While there will inevitably be some who will insist that there is one definitive way to create these effects, they are each based on a principle and that is what is presented here.

Shimmer Reverb

This effect is very popular, particularly with guitarists. It uses a pitch shift before the reverb to create a reverb the pitch of which is offset from the pitch of the dry audio. This is usually by +12 semitones. This octave up transposition gives a characteristic sparkle to sounds and is particularly pleasing on sustained sounds with a slow attack.

The details vary and there are many options when it comes to the specifics. Compression on the reverb can help create a more pronounced effect, modulation can add richness and as the results are artificial by design there is great freedom with this effect to experiment.

Gated Reverb

Usually reverb builds up quickly and decays in a predictable and characteristic way as a result of the absorption of energy based on the materials in the space being recreated. The decay may be long or short and different frequencies will decay at different rates but the shape of the decay will always be similar.

Gated reverb creates a very unnatural decay, altering the taper of the decay by shutting it off very suddenly. This effect was made famous during a session at Townhouse recording Phil Collins’ drums. The precise details are disputed to some extent about when and how this effect was first used but whether it was for a Peter Gabriel record or something else, the essence of the effect is that a drum ambience is artificially extended using heavy compression to bring it up in level and is then cut off very quickly by a gate.

The SSL listen mic compressor and the diffuse ambience of a stone drum room are both closely associated with this sound as they were a part of the earliest examples of this effect which made it so famous and so popular, but the only mandatory element of gated reverb is a gate. In the video you might notice I have a compressor in the expected position on the reverb return but in that case I chose not to use it as it changed the rhythm of the effect in an undesirable way. If the reverb is energetic enough for long enough you might not need compression at all. It is still a gated reverb.

Using a preset in a suitable reverb plugin is the fast way to get this sound but, apart from the control you get doing it manually, it’s also a masterclass in setting up a gate. If you have a specific result in mind you might find it easily but you might also find yourself getting very familiar with the Hold and Hysteresis controls to get precisely the right shape of energetic ‘whoosh’ following your snare drums.

If you’re unfamiliar with reverb basics I recommend this excellent primer video from Avid’s Simon Sherbourne.

What specialist effects would you like to see us dissect in a future article? Share you thoughts in the comments.