Reverb model used on Simon&Garfunkel 'Bookends'?

[annode]

!968.Always been fond of the open concrete parking lot sound of that verb.
I don`t know what they used and wish I did.
It sounds somewhat like the 1975 EMT 250 reverb and i`m sure that an emulation would get me a similar enough sound. But still curious about the verb that was actually used. Anyone know?

[annode]

Answering my own question;
- It appears that Capital Records studios both on the east and west coast used custom built underground echo chambers for reverb. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_S ... o_chambers

That would explain the concrete parking lot sound.
I`m sure IRs are abundant.

[GaryG]

I`m sure IRs are abundant.

I wouldn't be so sure... I've read Capitol were always very defensive about people sampling the chambers (loss of revenue etc), refusing numerous requests from software companies.

That's not to say they're not out there but I don't believe anything 'legal' is (and who knows what the quality is like if they were grabbed surreptitiously).

Come to Margate, UK, the Mill Lane multi storey car park has a great sound.

[annode]

Your probably right about that. I haven't found any IRs. Even Altiverb doesn't seem to host one.
...although I did see this: https://www.audioease.com/IR/VenuePages ... rooms.html
Maybe sampled surreptitiously as you guessed above.
What a great sound though! Like the sound in a subway/underground tunnel...dark,lonely,isolated,lost...great sound for ethereal electronic ambient.

Even though recorded at Capital NYC, who I doubt also had the same spec echo chamber as LA, they may have sent it to LA Capital for mixing/mastering and verb?

It's laid on thick here, have a listen;

[robotmonkey]

Valhalla VintageVerb I guess. I doubt S&G would use anything less.

[annode]

Valhalla VintageVerb I guess. I doubt S&G would use anything less.

Good suggestion. I'll give it a try and see if I can't set it to give me the same 'air' and distance.

Thanks.

[valhallasound]

Valhalla VintageVerb I guess. I doubt S&G would use anything less.

Good suggestion. I'll give it a try and see if I can't set it to give me the same 'air' and distance.

VintageVerb is more of an emulation of 70s/80s digital reverbs. ValhallaPlate, OTOH, emulates the EMT140 that would have been around during the Simon & Garfunkel days, and has some hybrid "plate/chamber" modes that are like plates but with the higher "modal density" of reverb chambers. I'd suggest ValhallaPlate.

If you can get a good reverb chamber impulse, this would work as well. I know that Simon and Garfunkel used some CRAZY reverb chamber techniques for the Bridge Over Troubled Water album:

- On "Bridge Over Troubled Water" the snare drum was played in the 7-story concrete staircase that was used as a reverb chamber in the Columbia NYC studio.

- "The Only Living Boy In New York" has Simon and Garfunkel doing massive overdubs of the ethereal harmony part, while singing INSIDE of a reverb chamber (a more compact studio reverb chamber in this case). These vocals were also encoded with Dolby A, but not decoded, which resulted in a lot of compression and high end emphasis.

Sean Costello

[be]

I thought it was the snare drum hit in "The Boxer" which was sent through the staircase...

Are there some reverb chamber-like presets in ValhallaPlate?

[Harry_HH]

If you can get a good reverb chamber impulse, this would work as well. I know that Simon and Garfunkel used some CRAZY reverb chamber techniques for the Bridge Over Troubled Water album:

- On "Bridge Over Troubled Water" the snare drum was played in the 7-story concrete staircase that was used as a reverb chamber in the Columbia NYC studio.

- "The Only Living Boy In New York" has Simon and Garfunkel doing massive overdubs of the ethereal harmony part, while singing INSIDE of a reverb chamber (a more compact studio reverb chamber in this case). These vocals were also encoded with Dolby A, but not decoded, which resulted in a lot of compression and high end emphasis.

Sean Costello

BTW These two are my all time favourite S&G song reverbs.

I think the Boxer, made a bit earlier, was one of the first "real grazy reverb" experiments. The story is the location was
empty elevator shaft inside Columbia’s East 52nd Street studio building on an otherwise quiet Sunday afternoon:
“There we were with all these mic cables, my drums, and a set of headphones, says Blaine. When the chorus came around — the ‘lie-la-lie’ bit — Roy (Halee) had me come down on my snare drum as hard as I could. In that hallway, right next to this open elevator shaft, it sounded like a cannon shot! Which was just the kind of sound we were after.”

[annode]

@ Sean;
Thanks for clarifying. I`ll listen to your ValhallaPlate.
Somehow I got Capital Records stuck in my head instead of Columbia Records NYC...getting older I guess. Now that I got that squared away,it appears Columbia studios had a 'group' of EMT plates in their basement. In the book I took this from they are referred to as an 'echo chamber' in one place...but later in the book it also says there were actual chambers used as well.
In any event, the EMT 140 and 250 plates should put a smile on my face.

I`m also celebrating my 5555th post!!!!

[be]

Ah, so it was the elevator shaft in that case... I guess I mixed it up, having read about some s&g recording techniques in a book several years ago.