What is reverb and what is the difference between reverb and delay?

Well, to over simplify it (almost to the extent of being close to lie), you could see it as reverb being room reflections and delay being echoes.

Before we dive into the components. Let’s imagine a large hall. There is nothing in it, just you. Clap your hands, a single hard clap. The most likely thing that happens is that the sound from your clap bounces off the walls and comes back to you. Echo. The closer you stand to a wall, the faster the sound bounces back to you. The further away, the longer it takes. And the lounder your clap is, the sound is able to travel longer through the air. Because just like when you move around, the sound looses energy when moving through the air. The more energy (louder) the longer it travels. Which can easily be tested. Same hall, your clap echoes back to you, but if you whisper the word “Hello”, you will most likely not receive any echo back. But yell all you can, and the hall will reward you with a reply. The mechanics behind an echo is that the sound moves in a direction, hits a hard surface and bounces. Depending on the direction of the sound compared to the surface, it might bounce back to where it originated from, or in a completely different direction, kind of like a ball on a snooker-table. One surface gives one echo, several surfaces may generate several echoes. To get this effect, delay can be used, and depending on the settings of the delay, you can get the sound to bounce one or more times, with various timesettings for the echo to return. As the name suggests, the delay is moving the sound backwards in the timeline, delaying the sound. If you take a signal direct to the delay, and then into your mix, you just put the sound backwards in time, delaying it, but if you play the source in your mix, and simultaneously send it to a delay, it will be played in the mix first, and then return via the delay according to the settings on the delay.

Now, let’s make the same fictional experiment, but with reverb. Reverb is in a way just like delay, only that it is not only one reflection, it is multiple reflections from multiple directions. Imagine yourself in a church instead of a large hall. Plenty of hard flat surfaces close to you, all around you, even in the high roof. Now imaginary clap again. This time the sound travels from your hands in all directions and are getting bounced back towards you from many directions at the same time, both direct bounces and bounces of bounces where the sound has bounced of one surface, to the next, and perhaps a few more, before getting back to you. Now, you do not hear each individual bounce returning to you, but a collective bounce reaching your ears. The energy in the sound is also important here. A whisper might bounce back to you, but will not “stay in the air” for as long as the clap does. You will get a (non-mathematical) formula like this:

• Low sound close by – strong direct sound, some or no reflections
• Low sound further away – low direct sound, almost no or no reflections
• Strong sound close by – strong direct sound, strong reflections
• Strong sound further away – low direct sound, strong reflections

Please note that above statements are also oversimplifying hugely. Point being that a sound is a mix between its direct trajectory and the reflections. The closer you are to the source, the stronger the direct sound is. The stronger the sound is, the more reflections will hit you, and the lower the sound is, fewer reflections will hit you.

Now, why do I spend time writing about this?

Well, in my opinion, knowing this will help you place your sound in the mix. Moving it back and forth as you wish, create a large room or a small room, taking sounds to the same room or separating them into different rooms. Forging sounds together or dividing them. Like panning, but with several more dimensions.

All rooms have a ”reverb profile” with sound reflections. Unless it is designed specifically to not have any reflection at all. And most rooms are filled with stuff that effects the “reverb profile” of the room. The more stuff, the less reflections. Then there is designing a “reverb profile” (like cinemas, offices, shopping malls etc) where you actively put up different kinds of dampeners in well chosen places to reduce unwanted reflections.

This is something you should be observant about when you record something with a microphone. The closer the mic is to the sound source, the less of the room acoustics you get in your recorded sound signal, the further away, the more of the room acoustics you get. Here is nothing right or wrong, just be aware so you can make a conscious decision on how you want to use the signal you record. In some studios, the room acoustics are so good that you really want to have it with your recorded sound signal, and sometimes, it is highly unwanted to have extra room acoustics along with your sound signal. It all depends on how you want to use it and what you are after.

As always, stay curious and play around!

Music creation is very individual, as are the type of music that appeals to you and what music you find yourself disliking.

As for my view of music creation, it is a process that I need to go through. But it always contains some or all of the categories below:

• Rhythm – preferably complementing
• Tension between sounds
• Movement and direction – preferably opposite
• The baseline (not to be mistaken for the bassline)
• Harmonies
• Dynamics – intensifying and decreasing the energy
• Flow of energy and intentional focus
• Add or subtract? The perfect balance (not as in L/R)

Sounds easy and crystal clear?

Before you continue, let’s just introduce a term that I will use frequently in my explanations below. Element.

An element can be a sound, a melody, a rhythm, basically any component in the song or track that is a unique entity. For example, a melody played on a piano can be one element, and even if using the same piano sound playing chords, that could be another element. Drums could be seen as one element, or various elements, depending on how you want to use them. In my mind, there are no restrictions or strict definition as to what an element is, even so, I break down everything in my songs are divided into elements, one way or another.

Now, let me break it down.

Rhythm – preferably complementing 

Rhythm, what is it about? To me it is the position of the note or sound, in comparison to the other surrounding notes or sounds. If the beat goes 1 – 2 – 3 – 4, and each sound or note is put on either 1, 2, 3 or 4, it will both get crowded on those positions, and probably feel a little stiff. To me, it is important that each part of each element (see above explanation if you missed it) gets its own space within the rhythm, to separate the elements from each other and make use each element through out the track, it needs to (in my opinion) gets its own space in time. And rhythm is just placing things (elements) in (or perhaps on) a timeline. Now, naturally, there are multiple times in each track that elements will occupy the same space, it is inevitable (yes, you may take it as a challenge!) to do so, but not all the time, and to me it is important to intentionally create differences between elements rhythmically, to enjoy the benefits of each element and create a tension between them (read more about tension below).

Tension between sounds

To me, it’s important and essential to create tension in a track. Another way to put it is to create friction. One sound or element meeting and interacting with another sound or element. Creating magic between the two, this can be done in several ways, the two most obvious is of course by using harmony or rhythm. But it can also be by using filters (equalizer) making sure that the elements meet in the same frequency space, or meet with a deliberate distance between them. It can also be created by various FX’s, like putting two elements in the same room (by using reverb) or let them be in different rooms. Or let them bounce off of each other with delays perhaps?

Movement and direction – preferably opposite

An element probably has a direction, upwards, downwards, forward, backwards, inwards, towards the background our out in your face. If all elements move the same way, I find it to be hard to control the force of combined elements, they tend to go their own way and leave me a bystander, often feeling overrun by the force. So I’d like to take time to design the movements in opposite directions to get the track to move the way I want it to move (yes, I confess, I am a little control freak in this way). Occasionally it can be fun to let an element or two create unintended forces in directions I did not foresee, but if that happens, I tend to balance it with some other element, to keep it not spinning out of control.

The baseline (not to be mistaken for the bassline)

The baseline. As stated above, not to be confused with the bassline, or the drums, both which are often used as baseline. To me, the baseline of a track is the thing every other element uses to bounce off of, to get a point of reference so you can feel the movement and/or create tension. This can of course be done without a baseline, but to me it is much easier to have a baseline though out the track. Now, in all honesty, the baseline can change, but I tend to use the same element or combination of elements throughout a track.

Harmonies

Harmony. I mean this from two different perspectives. Harmony as in creating chords, happy or sad, and harmony as in coexist in harmony. To create harmony (chords) it is common to do it with one instrument, like piano or guitar, but it can also be created between different sounds playing one note each, building a harmony. Which ever way you want to create harmony (both perspectives) each individual note needs to coexist with the other individual notes, to form the unity of the harmony. This is true in the case where the harmony is created with a single instrument or with several instruments or sounds. And a harmony does not necessarily need to create a chord that is either happy or sad, it can create a balance between two notes, and a third element, let’s say a melody, can decide if the harmony is neutral, sad or happy. Or it can alternate and in one passage of the track create one harmony, and in another passage create a different harmony, with a little change in the melody. To put it blunt, you can use both C major and C minor in the same song, depending on what you want to communicate.

Dynamics – intensifying and decreasing the energy

Talking dynamics in music, most people tend to think about compression. But this is a completely different dynamic I am after. To create more energy in a track, it is easy to add element after element, to intensify the melody, or increase the number of notes played. It is as easy to decrease the energy by removing elements. My goal, as I often work with few elements is to get the increase and decrease within the elements and using the various elements to complement each other. Just adding a or subtracting one or a few elements to get the desired dynamic changes I want to communicate throughout the track.

Flow of energy and intentional focus

The entire dynamics of a track, that I addressed above, is to get a flow of energy through the track. And I also like to use this as an excuse to put intentional focus on a specific element. If I add a melody, the mind and ears are easily focused on the newly introduced element, moving the other already ongoing elements a bit to the back of the attention span. Not necessarily in the sound landscape, just the attention span. While one element is in focus, it is easy to remove one of the elements in “the back” to decrease the energy flow keeping focus on just the elements you want to use to build the particular part of the track.

Add or subtract? The perfect balance (not as in L/R)

This raises the question. Add or subtract? To me, just adding elements and stack ‘em on top of each other easily clutters the track. And I do not like clutter. I want to keep each track as clean as possible, giving space to each element and to keep it balanced. Each element I introduce in a track needs to have a purpose, needs to have a dedicated space and needs to add value. Both by introducing it in the track, and by removing it. Giving elements place in the sound landscape can be done in various ways, rhythmical, harmony wise, panning to left or right, filtering it (using equalizer, cutting frequencies out or emphasize a particular frequency). But it can also be accomplished by removing elements that occupy the same space on the timeline. Or, of course, by adjusting the volume with automations to the faders. Or in a million other ways, limited only by our imagination.

My point to all of the above is to intentionally introduce sounds and elements, and allow each element to have its own purpose and space in the track. Good luck in your music creation and remember to have fun and stay curious!