What are your favorite non-Valhalla reverbs, and why?

[@midnight]

i don't know how to embed

this song elicits some pretty heavy emotions from me, largely due to the haunting ambience

[valhallasound]

i don't know how to embed

this song elicits some pretty heavy emotions from me, largely due to the haunting ambience

You're viewing YouTube as a secure webpage - just remove the "s" from the "https://" and your YouTube links will show up in your posts.

Sean Costello

[Liero]

I don't know if it was already mentioned or not, and whether Sean already knows of its existence but:

ARIESVERB (!!!)

www.ariescode.com

[valhallasound]

I don't know if it was already mentioned or not, and whether Sean already knows of its existence but:

ARIESVERB (!!!)

www.ariescode.com

It's been mentioned a few times, yes.

I remember reading an article by the Ariesverb creator in one of the "Game Programming Gems" books. At the time, the reverb algorithm was a fairly simple 4-delay feedback delay network. The current version of Ariesverb is considerably more complex than this early published work.

Sean Costello

[valhallasound]

i don't know how to embed

this song elicits some pretty heavy emotions from me, largely due to the haunting ambience

I'm going to guess that some real chamber reverb is being used. A lot of those LA studios in the 1960's had their own custom reverb chambers. It probably wasn't that uncommon to use spring reverbs on the amps while recording, but I am getting more of a chamber vibe from this track.

Sean Costello

[bsork]

I have a little theory about why the grainy old reverbs might sound good on a mix, but not always on isolated sounds...

When a big part of the mix is sent to the reverb, the "graininess" to some extent disappear as the reverb from the different mix elements fill out the holes, so to speak, with less build up of sounds upon sounds.

The fact that the higher frequencies, where the potentially sharpest attacks would be, are more or less missing probably helps too. I also think that the "lower quality" of each repeat could be part of it, as the repeats get a little smeared and less distinct. Kind of diffusion at a micro level.

The white noise does also help, of course.

Just my 2 øre

[valhallasound]

I can't really put into words why I find this so sonically appealing. I guess I feel like the degradation of the audio quality turns the sonic space into something that feeds my imagination. It sounds both unreal and real at the same time. And yeah, I suppose it's more ambience than reverb per se.

Apparently Springsteen recorded these tracks with a tube Echoplex. My guess is that some room ambience was also picked up via the SM57s.

Sean Costello

[valhallasound]

Most reverbs that try to sound epic, profound or spiritual end up sounding cornball to me, this one doesn't.

Zoom lens on a mountainside trail by Machu Picchu, flattening out the perspective and making it look like the extras are walking along an almost sheer mountain cliff. Fog obscures details. Garrulous Klaus Kinski, hands perched on his sides, glares over the entire scene. Saw this movie on the big screen as a 19 yo. Blew my mind.

Tape echo, fuzz guitar, & Mellotron/Chamberlain mixed choir. The reverb sounds like it could be an EMT plate, or maybe some crazy spring reverb. Slightly metallic, but in a really nice way.

I own a disturbingly large number of Popol Vuh CDs.

Sean Costello

[Sequent]

Cool! It's great to find someone who loves Popol Vuh! Though I have to admit, I haven't listened to them in a while. I probably don't have as many PV cds... it sounds like you probably have more. But I do have a fair number. I still have a few on lp as well.

FWIW, I have nearly all the Steve Roach cds (very hard to keep up!), nearly all Anthony Philips, and absolutely all Stephan Micus.

[antithesist]

Lots of PCM70 on the Roach titles I think and Stephan Micus is God.

[rj0]

Most impressive spatial encounter recently was with: Thunder Verb (not the cheap hootch)

At 3AM, I was out on the deck and this low, throbbing thunder rolled in from the sea up the shore around our house, up the hills through the canyon and back again. If I wasn't so thunderstruck, I would have grabbed the R09, not that mere digital stereo would have done it justice. It was 270 degree surround sound with big analog balls on its way to have aural sex with any cochlea membrane in a 10 mile radius. I'm still reverberating.

I remember a couple years ago, during a severe storm, massive thunder with a tremendous metallic sound and reverberation, almost like a humungous cymbal crash. Loved it! (Sadly, have never heard anything even vaguely similar since.)

[valhallasound]

Lots of PCM70 on the Roach titles I think and Stephan Micus is God.

You just reminded me that I need to bring the PCM70 up from the basement. It's been a while since I took a good listen to that unit. I'll bring up the LXP-15, although I think that unit is kinda...meh.

I mean, sure, there is nothing WRONG with the LXP-15 algorithms, but they don't really inspire me. No modulation. The PCM70 has chorusing within the Concert Hall, which is probably one of the main algorithms used by ambient folks (my guess is that the 6 voice chorus/delay got a lot of use as well). I should compare the PCM70 Rich Plate to the LXP15 Rich Plate and see how close they are.

Sean Costello

[Waker]

My reverb moment is hearing the piano part in We love you.

A heavy tortured plate on 100 % mix. Such a nice part.

[fateamenabletochange]

You just reminded me that I need to bring the PCM70 up from the basement.

Sean Costello

I bought a PCM 70 a few months ago, have the Total Mix Out of my Jx10 into it, mixed with the dry Upper and Lower out...hasn't budged off Psychoechoes patch yet.

[valhallasound]

My reverb moment is hearing the piano part in We love you.

A heavy tortured plate on 100 % mix. Such a nice part.