alternatives to digital reverb

[tsw]

You people are rubbing off on me. I had ordered a TC Electronic multi-effects box but, in a fit of insanity, cancelled that order and put the money toward a Distressor. I will have the Distressor in a few days, which is enough to make me nauseous with excitement. What I won?t have is any type of reverb, delay, etc. In a way I?m happy about this; a lot of people I like (Jim O?Rourke comes to mind) say they wouldn?t touch digital reverb for anything.

So, my question: what are some alternatives to digital reverb? Any recording tricks you guys use to build natural reverb in? If not recording techniques, anybody know of any inexpensive reverb units that don?t sound like crappy digital reverb? After all, I pretty much blew my savings on the Distressor.

Thanks,
Andy

[I'm Painting Again]

I think the most inexpensive way to get a great reverb is to use a big nice room or a stairwell etc..either live or pre record a track(s) and play it in the space through a pa and mic the space..or get/build a tube spring or plate if you have some money..

[eeldip]

the wonders of spring reverb never cease to amaze me.

even my cheapo pioneer has some applications.

[pandafresh]

spring reverb.. i have a dod r-845.
its mono and i love it. i pretty much dont use anything else for reverb.
i pretty much hate reverb. its cheesy, and its only real purpose is to cover up shit.
if you do good work. you dont need reverb imo.
i keep some digital verb around cause peopl i work with like to have verb on their voice well tracking [though i dont record it] it does help them keep there pitch some it seems. a big old hall and tons of it in their headphones.

so get a spring reverb. i think i got my for like 50$..
and delay. well imo its either tape, or its not. so anything will do unless you want the tape sound. [atleast for me]

-trevor

[tsw]

Sorry to be a dumb-ass, but as someone who's come into recording in only the last few years, I don't really know much about spring reverb. Could you tell me how it works? Where to get one? Brands? Models?

Thanks again,
Andy

[Meriphew]

spring reverb.. i have a dod r-845.
its mono and i love it. i pretty much dont use anything else for reverb.
i pretty much hate reverb. its cheesy, and its only real purpose is to cover up shit.
if you do good work. you dont need reverb imo.

I can't imagine Sigur Ros without reverb. I can't imagine Neko Case's twangy vox without reverb. Reverb definitely has a place where it fits nicely.

[joel hamilton]

There are a lot of units that arent a million dollars, that require some "help" in the quality department.

I mixed arecord using only the SPX90, and I woud up chambering the reverb returns in the live room, through a home stereo setup used for listening only.

The verb was really, really good that way. A nice 1.5 second room verb, put out to a medium sized tracking room with roughly a .7 decay, but slappier with brick walls. The verb returns from a "shitty digital reverb" went out to the stereo, and I used two 4033's really far apart (like 10 feet) and used the mics as the verb return with a little compression.

That is a lot of gear to make the verb sit, but it sounded great, and unique, and really wide and spacious on the drums and a little on the main vocal.

IMO, chambering cheap reverbs makes them sound like a million bucks, and I would rather do that than use some questionable spring... Just my opinion.

Every piece of gear has its place IMO, so I might not be the one to ask.

I have used all the super high end ;exicons, and they are great. I think having a predisposition against a piece of gear is stupid, and limiting, no matter how lofty the intent of the statement may be.

[I'm Painting Again]

spring reverb basically comes from a box of springs moving around..natural sounding?..hell no but very cool for surf/space/indie type sounds IMO..its like the reverb in a guitar amp..you know when you bang the amp when its on its like chrashsproingkchhh!!..those are springs..

they are found on guitar amps, old organs, in amp head type boxes, rack units, or just an amp and a box with wires if it has no housing..

[I'm Painting Again]

Hi Joel!

BTW I hadn't thought of chambering a cheap reverb before, thats ace!
Can't wait to try that out..

[Punkity]

One thing I?ve always wanted to try is taking my location recording set-up to a parking garage, warehouse space, or some tall stairway around town with some sort of playback system and getting my reverb from there. I?ve even tried out a few places with my acoustic guitar. I?ve got a great recording rig from my student movie days, so this isn?t a problem. Playback could be a problem, but not a huge one. Getting permission for some of these places would be nearly impossible, but those are the best places and would be good for business (He gets reverb from WHERE?!?). Of course I would never break the law. Ever. Nor would you, gentle reader, I am sure.

Has anyone tried this?

[pandafresh]

I can't imagine Sigur Ros without reverb. I can't imagine Neko Case's twangy vox without reverb. Reverb definitely has a place where it fits nicely.

well i said. its just me. but thats probly why i don't have any sigur ros, or neko case, or my favorite [wtf verb?] albums..

sure reverb has its place. but its something you shouldnt hear..

i guess its just me.

-trevor

[matttherat]

My Morning Jacket anyone? They recorded vocals in fucking grain silo!

That or find an 18th Century castle in England.

Bathrooms (showers) are great.

[the velour fog]

it's been mentioned here before, but there's always the silophone!

http://www.silophone.net

[red cross]

The Peavey Valverb is a tube spring reverb unit that really rocks. Cool tremelo too! What I like to do is put a tape slap in front of it as the pre-delay, helps to keep everything from getting too muddy...

[soundguy]

completely off topic, but there are some arvo paart records that were done a while back which were recorded in these old stone churches in some corner of Europe. Probably the most insane sounding verb I have ever heard on anything, ever. All you need is a 600 year old church and you are all set.

dave