Real acoustic space or synthetic reverb? Phoebe Bridgers

[Sundown]

Hey all,

 

This is really just a curiosity question and a learning question…

 

Take a listen to this verse vocal in a decent room or with a good pair of headphones. The verse vocal comes in at about 36 seconds from the start.

 

Do you hear a real acoustic space, or do you think this is digital/software reverb (or perhaps a mechanical, vintage plate)?

 

Phoebe Bridgers - Funeral

 

I don’t hear any perceptible pre-delay and the first time I heard this song through TIDAL the reverb really knocked me back (in addition to the great songwriting and arrangement). It’s a big reverb but it doesn’t sound like an 80’s hair band. It’s very fitting for the track.

 

Anyways, I’d be curious if you think the vocal reverb is the result of a real, recorded space or if it’s processing applied after the fact.

 

Todd

[Dave Bryce]

Digital reverb has gotten reeeeally good over the years.  Things like Bricasti’s M7 (which houses six Blackfin processors, essentially 12 SHARCs) is more about realism than effect, so it can be very difficult to tell.
 

dB

[Anderton]

There's so much going on it masks the subtleties that would allow positively identifying the reverb type. But based on the decay at the end, I'd say digital reverb.

[analogika]

There's nothing real about that reverb. It's very nice, it's super tasteful without being overbearing, but it's not natural. 

[KenElevenShadows]

Digital reverb has gotten really great, as dB mentions above.  I believe it's a very beautiful sounding digital reverb.

 

Nice song, and I like the guitar feedback and acoustic guitar as well.

[Anderton]

I think the odds are excellent that any reverb you hear these days is digital. I'm not sure there are a lot of studios left with purpose-built concrete chambers.

 

However, I do like to mix pseudo-early reflections in with reverb. Here's an excerpt from my Max Your Mix! eBook. Don't laugh until you've tried it.

 

Supplementing Reverb with a Physical Acoustic Space

 

Although digital reverb’s sound quality has improved dramatically over the past several decades, there’s nothing quite like a physical acoustic space. Even relatively small, reflective spaces can provide a useful ambiance. For example:

 

1. Send a bus output from your audio interface to a speaker in your bathroom (fig. 13.5).

 

 

Figure 13.5:  I know it seems silly. But try it, and see if you still think it’s silly. 

 

2. Place a mic in the bathroom, patch its output into an audio interface input, and adjust its level with the audio interface’s mic preamp.

3. Send the desired sounds to the “bathroom bus.” Also consider a send from this bus to the main reverb bus.

4. Modify the bathroom’s acoustics by adding or removing towels, opening or closing a shower curtain, or placing a throw rug on the floor. 

 

These reflections can provide useful effects, as well as complement digital reverb. Mix the reflections from the bathroom with the digital reverb. The physical space will provide a sort of “sonic caulking” to the digital reverb. You may be surprised at how much this enhances the sound.

[Anderton]

I found a video I did awhile ago for Full Compass on bathroom reverb, with an audio example so you can hear what the early reflections sound like: