Reverb effects in MainStage

You can use reverb effect plug-ins to simulate the sound of acoustic environments such as rooms, concert halls, caverns, or an open space.

If you’re new to using plug-ins in MainStage, see Add and remove plug-ins in MainStage.

Sound waves repeatedly bounce off the surfaces—walls, ceilings, windows, and so on—of any space, or off objects within a space, gradually dying out until they are inaudible. These bouncing sound waves result in a reflection pattern, more commonly known as a reverberation (or reverb).

The starting portion of a reverberation signal consists of a number of discrete reflections that you can clearly discern before the diffuse reverb tail builds up. These early reflections are essential in human perception of spatial characteristics, such as the size and shape of a room.

Plates, digital reverb effects, and convolution reverb

The first form of reverb used in music production was actually a purpose-built room with hard surfaces, called an echo chamber. It was used to add echoes to the signal. Mechanical devices, including metal plates and springs, were also used to add reverberation to the output of musical instruments and microphones.

Digital recording introduced digital reverb effects, which consist of thousands of delays of varying lengths and intensities. The time differences between the original signal and the arrival of the early reflections can be adjusted by a parameter known as predelay. The average number of reflections in a given period of time is determined by the density parameter. The regularity or irregularity of the density is controlled with the diffusion parameter. Included among the digital reverbs are the unique EnVerb and ChromaVerb. See ChromaVerb overview.

Computers make it possible to sample and analyze the reverb characteristics of real spaces, using convolution reverbs. These room characteristic sample recordings are known as impulse responses.

Convolution reverbs work by convolving (combining) an audio signal with the impulse response recording of reverb characteristics for a given space. See Space Designer overview.

Download the guides:

MainStage User Guide: PDF

MainStage Instruments: PDF

MainStage Effects: PDF

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