Reverb and its effects

Reverb

Reverb is short for reverberation is when a sound is reflected, causing a large number of reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is absorbed by the surfaces of objects in the space - this could be furniture and people, and air.

Lloyd, Llewelyn Southworth (1970). Music and Sound. Ayer Publishing. p. 169.

From my A-level studies of physics, I understand that sound waves are longitudinal waves that the vibrations of sound particles travel parallel to the direction of wave motion. Sound waves can bounce backwards and forwards in many directions, even when you're speaking to someone directly, others can still hear you but hear a more 'died out' sound.

An example of reverb is when you speak to someone, you project sound waves at the listener as well as other directions. The waves that aren't directed at the listener reflect of the surroundings such as walls, furniture etc. and when the waves do reflect, two things happen:

1. The waves lose energy, causing the sound to dissipate.

2. The waves take longer to travel the listener's ears.

These reflections can be referred to a series of 'fast echoes' which differ depending on the environment the sound is within. For instance, in a empty church hall, reverb is at its most pronounced - However, the more people inside the church hall, the more the reverb is reduced as the people absorb the sound.

Effects of Reverb

There are 3 possible reasons why you would put the 'reverb' effect on a sound:

1. To create special effects for certain sequences such as dreams or flashbacks

2. To restore the natural sound as the listener would expect to hear it. What this means is that if your recorded sound is in a low reverb environment such as a studio booth, you may want to add reverb on it to make the unnatural sound of the studio seems more natural.

3. To enhance the sound - especially dialogue. Reverbs fills out the voice of someone and can help smoothen minor vocal fluctuations so they aren't as obvious to the listener.

Here is a good example online of the effects of reverb on drums.

http://www.mediacollege.com/audio/reverb/examples.html

Uses of Reverb for Project

Reverb can be incorporated in both my soundscape and my interview. I think it will definitely needed to be used for interview as the interview shall be taking place in a studio booth so by adding reverb it will give a more natural sound to my interview. As for my soundscape, some on the sound clips I have recorded could have the reverb effect put on it as my sounds vary in terms of what environment the sound was recorded in. For instance, some of the sounds I have recorded take place outside such as on the beach or in Brighton town. Others have been recorded inside or in more of a closed environment. I believe it is important to understand what reverb is and how it effects sound as making a sound that gives a more natural feel to the listener can only heighten and improve the sounds you have recorded...if used correctly.