Reverb
Reverb is an audio effect that creates an echo and reverberates as it would in different spaces. It can give a sound the quality of being performed in a large room, or apply special sound effects. While most reverbs are designed to give the input sound a large room effect, a few are artificial effects.
Reverb is created digitally through sounds called Impulse Responses, which usually sample how a space reacts to a sound.
It can be accessed through the advanced menu for an instrument and is the fourth option on this menu. The Reverb Volume parameter allows the user to adjust how much reverb they want on a sound (similar to wet and dry levels used by other software).
Using reverb too heavily can cause a song's mix to become muddy, and less pleasant to listen to. Reverb used in moderation is an essential mixing and creative tool to bring music to life.
History
Before 2021, enabling reverb had only one setting, now named "Classic Reverb," and was a simple toggleable button with the reverb volume being always 100%. In 2021, the developers added new reverb settings under a dropdown menu. Later that year, a slider was added to apply reverb values between no reverb and the full amount of reverb applied from the old toggle options. These limits can also be bypassed manually by using commands in one's browser's console. In 2022, the developers added "Church Reverb" from a sample the user Cool172 provided, and in 2023, "Short Reverb" was added by Liam.
List of reverbs
- Classic Reverb — The first reverb ever added to the sequencer, and for several years the only one, it is a fairly standard room reverb with a very slight delay.
- Small Reverb — Small Reverb adds a more subtle reverb to an instrument than Classic Reverb. It causes the instrument to sound as if it is being played in a bathroom.
- Short Reverb — Short Reverb has a similar length with a much more neutral tone than Small Reverb.
- Large Reverb — Large Reverb has more echo and longer release than Classic Reverb.
- Church Reverb ― Church Reverb was added in 2022 with a sample Cool172 recorded of a clap in a church, hence the name. One of the brightest sounding reverbs, it adds an interesting dimension which could be described as hearing that instrument in a large room.
- Gated Reverb — Gated Reverb is similar to Classic Reverb, but the release cuts off more abruptly. It affects low frequencies most prominently.
- Lead Guitar ― Very short sample recorded from a guitar cabinet, cuts off high treble and most of the low end, intended to be used with guitars and heavy distortion, mellows out the overly bright tones that come with distortion. It can also be used to make instruments sound lo-fi or vintage.
- Rhythm Guitar ― Very short sample recorded from a different guitar cabinet, cuts off high treble and amplifies some of the low end, intended for background guitars with heavy distortion, cuts out some of the high end harshness from distortion. It can also be used to make instruments sound lo-fi or vintage.
- Reverse — Reverse applies a reversed sound playback of the note.
- Nova — Stretches out the attack and releases of a note, making it sound less sharp and more smooth.
- Ripple — Adds a series of delayed playbacks, each reverbed and decreasing in volume sequentially.
- Miasma — Miasma is similar to Nova, although Miasma minimizes the effect of the attack, thus making a softer and more consistent sound.
- Proton — Proton plays a sequence of notes that cycle through various levels of electronic-esque distortion and decreasing amounts of volume, at roughly 152 BPM. It is best used in individual notes with long intervals apart from each other.
- Schema — Schema plays a delayed playback and could be best described as a hybrid of Ripple and Proton. It has somewhat of a stereo delay effect and lasts a couple seconds.
- Sylph — Sylph immensely changes the sound and causes it to sound more like an ethereal chime, which is most sensitive to the frequencies in a D minor chord.
- Sparkle — Generated from a recording of a firework by Liam, it adds a slightly delayed echo that crackles as it fades out. When used at full strength, it will make sounds appear to swell greatly before they diminish.
- Cave — Long reverb that is delayed by more than a full second, adds a distant echo to instruments.