Thank you! I love watching people build amazing things on RU-vid but I often wonder about what problems they face during a build. Those are sometimes the most interesting/inspiring bits of the project!
Yes! Not only fascinating but important too. The vastness of DIY videos in RU-vid easily leaves an impression that everything is easy by showing only the stages that end up in the final construct and usually even then in a condensed time lapse format. While I think this is mostly a great thing and in fact have learnt to hate videos where the author rambles making an hour long video about stuff that could easily be explained in minutes, it has its downsides that should be addressed in some way. By briefly pointing them out this video does just that without making it long-winded or tedious to watch, but actually more interesting, as stated by the previous commentators. I've been happily observing my 6 years old daughter's interest in DIY videos, but her being impatient by nature I'm a bit concerned how it affects her ability to concentrate and endure drawbacks and hardships that are an inherent part of learning and every creative project as they are of life itself. The best thing is of course to actually carry out projects with kids, but as they tend to get frustrated easily, I think it is in everyone's interest for creators to point out the time and effort it takes to achieve the stuff they make.
Yes yes yes! A million times yes! Important to love the process rather than worry about quick and successful outcomes. I'm getting better and better at that. :)
Fully agree with this comment. I was already enjoying the video a lot, and fascinated about hearing Leo's workflow and project breakdown.. but then, after watching the "failure" section, I subscribed straight away! Any makers/coder/creative person out there knows that sometimes it takes quite a number of attempts and improvements to get it right, but this is very rarely shown. Good on you Leo, very honest on your end... and beyond any of this, your project is very interesting, I particularly like the synth sounds going thru the plate..
Being a musician that came up and about in the digital age, it's very cool to see a hands-on homemade analogue representation of one of my favorite effects. I used plate reverb effects on everything I could when I was into recording and writing, so seeing that actually come from the titular plate is very cool.
Amazing stuff! Just a thought: I was watching a guy who made amplifiers in a similar way and he was saying that you should not input the audio from the transducer into the middle of the plate. Instead, you should off-set it (lower and to the right for example) so that the vibrations travel different distances to each of the edges. I guess this adds more harmonic character.
I know very little about plate reverb but as you're talking I'm using the same words as you and I understand exactly where you're going with this. Perfect DIY; thanks for the video!
Plate reverbs are around since the late 50s. They were the first artificial way of creating reverb ever conceived, other than literally building specially shaped rooms, so called echo chambers. Nowadays digital reverbs are usually considered superior, and some will even emulate the typical plate sound.
The first time I heard of a plate reverb was ten years ago in a guitar tab program named Guitar Pro and by using it, it made the midi output sound more natural. I imagined the "plate" would be a sort of plate, and was pleasantly surprised that RU-vid's algorithm somehow showed this to me reveal that they're actually made of plates.
Jeeeeezzzzzz that sounds ridiculously goooood ! To replace the cloth i had an idea, a little hammer like a piano hammer with a soft cloth on front touching the plate and it’s attached to the frame in a way that you can manipulate how much reverb you want.
Two BBDs and one of these. Its an album title, album concept, and "portable studio" all in one. Yup. I'm doing this... with a volume pedal for Plate send. Thanks man, this is gold.
This is really an AMAZING project, I will surely try to build it as soon as I have some time to spend on it. Just a pair of little thought: 1- Instead of taking a painted IKEA plate, cut it and sand it, it would be probably easier to go in a local metal carpentry and ask for a piece of sheet metal. They have different thikness, and chances are they have some spare part in a corner and give you for free. It is already flat (no corners or bending) and no painting on it. Sheet metal come in different standard measures up to 2.5 x 1 mt., and they cut it to build what they need. Anyway a sheet is not that expensive. you might also look for a local sheet metal reseller. Oh, chances are that they also have some spare "L profile", that you can cut and drill to build the frame. The total cost would probably be less than half. 2 - To dampen the plate maybe you could build another MDF thing like the one you did for the transducer, but with a kind of "claw"! at the end, that can hold something soft, so that you can place it and eventually change position and experiment with different shape and materials. 3- Another interesting thing would be to put some liquid on it, like mineral oil. It might sound interesting, kinda damping, and could prevent it from rusting also. Anyway, I talk too much but you build it. BRAVO!
I got inspired from your last video and also built a plate reverb for our studio. An awesome time with our studio team. Anyways we used moongel to dampen the sound. Its what drummers use to control their drumskin resonenses. If you are intrested we can send you soundsamples and pictures of our project :D we tuned it to sound like our emt140. We would also really like to see you build an spring reverb :D
Awesome! Several people have said they'll do it, but this is the first time I've heard of someone with a finished unit. I would *LOVE* to see photos and sound samples of your plate! If you use Facebook, maybe you can post it on the LeoMakes page? Here's a link: facebook.com/leomakesstuff/
To be fair, before your last video, I didn't know what a plate reverb was. It was a really cool intro and demonstration, and the friend I sent it to really enjoyed it as well. Keep up the awesome stuff.
You deserve so many more subscribers. This reverb plate came out a lot better than I had originally expected. Your talk on failure was super inspiring too dude.
Wow! That’s impressive. Your first attempt was fun to watch and turned out much better than I expected, but not something I would ever see anyone actually using. But this spruced up model is legit! I would actually use that verb. Cool Project!
This sounds fantastic for a DIY effort. 👍 I think your final result is greater than the sum of its parts; combining hardware and software and experimentation AND not afraid of pushing through your failures along the way. This is the mark of success. Peace. 🙏
Excellent job. I love watching process in action. Re, the dampener. Fab the same base as the piezo but with front and back plates to hold a longer screw with t-nuts to screw a pad with thick foam/wool/cloth against the plate.
I had no idea what a plate reverb was when RU-vid recommended your previous video. I still have no idea WHY RU-vid recommended that video, but I learned something new, and I thought it was neat! Apparently YT now thinks I need to watch this second video as well. I guess I will.
this was the best thing ive seen yet topping the homemade speaker built from a red solo cup a bolt and a CD. kinda wish they made these commercially so i could set one up in my room when im jamming out
May I ask you one simple question? Why didn't buy a piece of blank sheet metal instead of cutting off the folded edges and scraping of the black coating, wouldn't that be easier at almost the same price compared to the rent for the angle grinder? By the way, I am one of the new subscribers and I'm really looking forward to seeing more of your excellent videos! Greetings from Germany!
To be honest, it was easier/cheaper/faster for me to just go IKEA. However, if you know a good metal shop, that is probably a better way to do it. The sanding takes forever. Thanks for watching and the nice words!
A piece of sheet metal is going to be cheaper than this, but then he wouldn't get the "ikea hacks" youtube views bump, which is important for a creator.
This project is a great watch because 1. Plate reverbs are usually out of the price range of the average joe. 2. Plate reverbs sound really cool. It's a DIY that makes good sense....
Subscribed after watching the first diy plate reverb video. Glad you made a second video showing how it can be improved. Lots of great info. Thank you.
charlie scourbys I thought it sounded awesome! But you’re right, checking polarity is never a bad idea. I’ve been surprised a few times. Just when you think it can’t get better...boop!
i loved your talk about failure, i do the same thing at shows, and make sure people know that where i am now is not where i was, i just kept pushing and pushing, and i still do and i fail and i learn from it loved it bro, ive got your next whiskey in kansas usa
Oh man Oh man, THANK YOU. i was playing with this idea to build one but always thought it is too difficult/complicated. You not only made it look easy but also explained all the steps in detail and shown you are passionate about it! This is true a way of life :) I think i have my first project right in front of me, thanks to YOU my friend. Cheers
I like your experimental, but down-to-earth and well thought-out approach to this project (I like to learn and get entertainment from anything electronic/audio related.) Keep up the great work! Subscribed :0)
Ive been mixing and producing music for 15 years now and have tested a lot of plates - this one sounds like the ones you find in Cubase and other vst plug-ins. Great work!
@@LeoMakes Hey, would love to be able to listen to it on Soundcloud or even RU-vid, really love the vibes of that tune. Sorry the project didn´t go anywhere but perhaps you can make us a little happier by just sharing it with us somehow :) Keep up the good work!
I'm about 50% done with mine. It's a really great replacement for the ones I used to use at Parkgate Studios in Battle England. We had some of John Lennons old plates which took 4 of us too move. So far this is turning out to be about 5% of the size/weight of those behemoths.
The first thing I've thought when I first heard of plate reverbs was "I have some sheets of metal... some needed guitar pickups, and I can find a transducer pretty easy... I should make that someday" now hearing how your build sounds... I REALLY want to make it myself now
WOW Fantastic! If you're still looking for a solution to tweak the resonance, the first thing that came to mind are "Moon Gels" I'm sure you've come across them on snare drums and toms. I usually cut them in half or thirds and try different placements for the right amount of "ring". Great work and excellent explanations!
Really great video, it's not an EMT plate but sounds really nice with these upgrade. Now i really consider making one on my own (when i'll be in a bigger apartment). For those who fear handsaw and manual work in general, consider going in a FabLab, they all have a CNC and/or a laser cutter as well as (in general) a lot of ingenious people that can help you for this project.
Can someone not manufacture cheap plate reverbs like this? It seems as though it would be really inexpensive to make a commercial product version of this. Why are all plate reverbs out there so expensive?
Not all of use are blessed with creative hands! I remember struggling to handsaw a plank in half back in school! Plus I don't own any tools 🤔 But I appreciate the sentiment 👌
this sounds great!! As far as dampening goes, you could mount a rubber knob or foot on a threaded rod to the same bar to which the transducer assembly is mounted. Then it's as simple as turning the rod, increasing or decreasing the pressure applied to the panel
Awesome work. One thing you can do for dampening is stick on rubber pads , or even Maganets with Rubber pads on them. That way you can re position the magnet pads around to get the desired sounds. You can get thin dense pads with strong magnets glued to them. An idea anyway.
Electronic reverbs came later... Recording studios would have reverb rooms where they would put speakers and microphones to create the effect before we had good enough electronics...
Your original video inspired me to start working on a design for a wall mounted plate. My idea for dampening was a felt pad on a piece of plywood that could be adjusted. In your case, you could build a second mount like the one for your transducer and just put felt on the end of it instead. That way you can adjust how hard it presses on the plate.
Well i didn't know what a plate reverb was, but now i do! Guess it was imaginable too. Dope video, good content, good philosophy, well explained, well edited
Smiling at 13:25. Good job! One suggestion: put some dedicated EQ on the drive, or the pickup, or both. Also, use two piezos for stereo, and - don't - mount them symmetrically.
I know this video is over 2 years old so my comment may have been already made but..... Back in the 70s when I worked at Neve designing consoles, I visited quite a few UK studios all of which had plates, However, almost all of them delayed the feed to the transducer. Many of them used a high speed Revox A77 running at 15ips for this purpose. Since the gap between the record and replay heads on the A77 is about one and a half inches, the delay was about a tenth of a second or 100mS. You might like to try this. Cheers Ian
Thanks for your insight! It's interesting to hear about the "very analog" delay caused by the gap between the record/replay heads of the tape machine. I don't have that prototype anymore but the pre-delay would be easy enough to simulate in software, I suppose. Thanks for watching!
Amazing build! Really want to get into some DIY reverbs, oscillator and synthesizer... I'm really happy that I found your channel, keep staying creative and stay happy!
I really like and appreciate very much that you add a great column in between to add your takes on how we used to enjoy things through making! I can definitely relate to that sense of achievement after working so hard! I'm gonna try the IR and gonna try build up one on my own too! Thanks for inspiring!
