Echo Chambers Part 1 – “Chambers of Myth”

Product Description

This library is available in 44.1, 48, 88.2, and 96khz sample rates (you get all 4 sample rates when purchasing). Special thanks to Max for creating the skin!

An echo chamber is a reverberant real space, which is used to add reverb (not distinct ‘echoes’) to any audio signal. This is done by playing the signal into the space through a speaker, and picking up the audio from that space with at least one microphone. The speaker/mic are usually arranged such that very little signal can travel directly between them, with the sound waves having to bounce off of the walls (becoming diffuse) at least once before reaching the mic(s). In other words, mostly just the reverberation of the space itself is captured. This new, reverb heavy aka “wet” signal can then be mixed back in with the original dry audio to taste.

This method was actually used to get reverb effects into recordings before any of the more artificial methods (plates, springs, digital units) became  common. Famous examples include the fabled chambers at Capitol Records  which are still in use today, Phil Spector’s chamber(s) at Gold Star Studios, and  3 chambers at Abbey Road Studios. It’s not too common for a studio to have a  dedicated, purpose-built echo chamber these days, but some still do. Some will  utilize a kitchen, lounge, bathroom, hallway, or other space as a make-shift echo chamber on occasion. This means echo chambers can have a wide variety of  sizes, shapes, and types of material making the walls/floor/ceiling, and ultimately, a wide variety of sound in the reverbs they can produce.

Two different echo chambers at two separate studios were sampled for use with Nebula in this library. One very spacious sounding one with all plaster walls (sampled in stereo), and another one with some concrete walls, some plaster walls, and some with bamboo on them to diffuse the reverb (sampled with a mono mic). Both chambers sound great and very different. The first one was sampled with the door going in both open and closed, and with the speaker in two different positions, and the second one was sampled both with and without additional foam diffusers. So for both, you get various levels of reverb length/dampening, and then there were even more captures that produced brighter and darker (more treble or bass) variations.

The best part is that all these different reverb programs can be quickly selected by using buttons on the included custom skin. In total you get 46 reverbs to choose from.

There’s an “early” control that allows you to adjust the level of the captured early reflections. It goes from 0 to 200%, with 100% being the default and giving you the exact result that was sampled. Combined with the feedback control, you have some ability to shape the result you get.

Be sure to check out my audio demos (click the audio demos tab) to hear these programs in action! Also check out this video by Max: