Hi guys! Long time watcher, too “on the other side of the world” to message you at some insanely early time during VCQ. You probably won’t see this but I hope you do. A few years back, I discovered your channel; bingeing XTC content on RU-vid, I came across the excellent Dave Gregory 12-string special and the rest is history. Although I’d been playing guitar since about 13 or 14, after a few failed bands and a great many sparsely-attended gigs, I had lost the joy and was playing less and less. Well. As I dived into your catalogue, I learned so, so much. I developed new ears and a whole new appreciation for tone. The joy started to come back, I joined 2 new bands and became more active than I’ve ever been. Of course, I caught a bad case of GAS - many pedals and a few extra guitars have swung my way (including, finally, a bucket list purchase - a rather dishy Les Paul) but I’ve never felt as connected to music as I do now, at the ripe old age of 45. Things have been pretty hard lately and today I hit a bit of a wall. After a long, LONG day, I finally got to sit down and play. With a Strat, a fuzz, a vibe and a couple of Fender amps I completely lost myself in a 45-odd minute swamp blues drone groove. All of the last few years of GAS, tweaking knobs and switches, patches, practices and demos faded into this moment of absolute hypnotic connection. I finally really “got it”. Wow. Long, overwrought comment I know but it was such an epiphany I felt I just had to share it with someone who’d actually understand. Thank you, sincerely, for everything.
Nice one Tom and thank you for sharing that. If we can be a conduit to some sort of peace and connection with what’s actually real (not all the bullshit), that is a truly wonderful thing!
Nice post! These two fellas are special indeed. Easily my favorite show. Not just RU-vid channel, but it’s easily my favorite out of all places to consume content. It’s not just the gear, the show would be ok if that’s all it was, but Dan and mick have such a great chemistry. I have never met either of these two great men, but it feels like I’ve been friends with them for years. Anyway, great story and you’re not alone when it comes to these guys re-igniting your love for guitar.
Lovely post. The show is indeed an inspiration, as well as being informative and quite entertaining. My favorite thing online and they inspire me to play more!
This is what I always end up doing when I touch my reverb pedals' settings. 5 minutes of practising and then 2 and half hours of ambient and space-y weird reverbs. So much fun just feeling and tasting the sounds.
Glad you mention the Zoia near the end there-it is precisely this flavor of “let’s make an epic reverb patch by hand with delay lines” that keeps me coming back.
Of all the fascinating things that you have done on this channel, the frankenstein pedalboards are my absolute favourite! It’s such a gift to see it laid out in that way and actually understand what is happening in the pedal! Brilliant! Thank you for taking the time to do that! Cheers!
As a church guitarist, big reverbs and delays are our bread and butter! Personally, a lot of what I'm trying to do on a Sunday is create ambience or space within the auditorium that helps the room *feel* different. Sort of like musical stained glass!
I agree. Wonderful description. In a 'traditional' church building of old, if course, there is usually tons of beautiful, authentic reverb. It's obviously difficult to tame and can be a nightmare if largely uncontrollable. Then it will change between practice and live, depending on how many people are in the congregation. However, that's part of the art, so when they came along, (in 1986, I believe, the first being the Yamaha REX-50, derived from SPX-90 Rack), I was more than a bit familiar.
The holiday socks made me realize its going on the third set of holidays that ive been watching yall. Youve helped me stay interested when a stroke left me unable to play. Ive learned a ton about not just gear but the science of sound and the technology we use to make music... as I type this i have my little bedroom rig ive been putting together with an eq, a boost and two drives so far... i have the blackstar idcore for now so it has all the mod and delay that i need currently built in... but I was on the verge of giving it up after almost 30 yrs. Shows like yours and JHS and andertons kept me interested enough to keep trying to pick it back up and now im most the way back. Thank you.
I absolutely LOVE it when Dan "builds" pseudo pedals like this! Great show! I'm still a conventional reverb guy but even my Digitech Polora can get out there pretty far.
I love reverb.. everything from different flavors of slight to the glorious layered textures of washed out oceans. Watching this is really inspiring and reminds me that sound and creativity are infinitely beautiful, and just being able to express art is a gift
I enjoyed Dan breaking things down to their individual components. A lot of the interesting digital pedals coming out lately seem to be combinations of effects built into one pedal. Instead of buying these I've been attempting to recreate them with what I have on hand. I'm not always successful, but it's a fun journey. I have one thing I've come up with that I really like though. I've always liked the idea of shimmer, but don't like the way it sounds because I don't like pitch shifted sounds. So I replaced the pitch shifting with pad sounds from a Boss SY-200 and to my ears it sounds much better. I never use the SY-200 for overt synth sounds. It's good for that, but for me it's more awesome as a layering tool.
Probably the best video I've seen from you guys so far (and it's up against some pretty stiff competition) there's a kind of demystifying going behind the curtain nature to what you doing that actually begins to counterbalance all the 'mine the miners' adverts for must have new gear. Great respect for what you're doing.
I LOVE how Dan is as fascinated by making great sounds, as he is by making guitars have great sounds. Watching his face with the reverb into to overdrive… priceless. This same approach is something I always loved… and drove my parents nuts with as a kid. It’s also the main reason I run a Helix rig… so many opportunities to make awesome sounds, as well as my guitar sounding awesome.
These Frankenstein creations are some of my favorite episodes. Loving the content in the last few weeks guys, NPD, cable blog now this... Pedal Ambassadors, you are truly spoiling us!
When I think of an artist using reverb in a texturally musical way, I think of Devin Townsend. The way he not only uses reverb in his music, but to facilitate the writing of it, is a wonderful example of how an artist can use such an effect. Reverb to Devin is what delay is to Andy Timmons, it is a core part of not only their tone, but also the personalization of their music. Fortunately, there is so much flexibility with effects nowadays, that we can, if so inclined, find our own voice in whatever kind we expose ourselves to. TPS helps facilitate that exposure to that world in a way that is educational, fun, and inspiring. So, thank you Mick and Dan. Also, I still hope that one day there will be a TPS event featuring all the past guests, if not live, then maybe a series of livestreams. Anyhow, all the best guys.
@@jamesh2659 Indeed. And I think it's a very apt description as well. But no matter the genre or combinations of genres, the way he utilizes reverb remains a signature piece of the work. Great stuff.
About the "delay lines" and how many. For a "real space" I'd guess it would be as many as you can. But by the nature of sound bouncing on surfaces, each bounce adds less and less to the final result, because the wave looses energy on each bounce. Once you get to 16, maybe the 17th would add a little more, but not enough to justify the extra cost/components/processing time. I know more about light bouncing than sound, but many of the same principles apply when talking about waves bouncing around and being perceived by us :)
Well done Dan, I have been playing, recording and gigging with loadsa reverb and multiple delays for the past 10 years, tones, texture and volume swells are where its at!
One of the analogies that makes sense to me...think of verrry basic 2D geometry. Reverb is like a perfect circle. Delays are like a polygon for instance a hexagon. To turn a hexagon into a circle all you are really doing is adding an infinite amount of sides and angles. Real reverb in a room is the circle with infinite (or nearly) reflections. To our ears, the more a digital pedal or pedals can create reflections that accurately reflect fidelity of real life, the more it feels real. So the same way that a octagon gets closer to resembling a circle than a hexagon and the more sides you add the closer and closer it gets, the more a processor can resemble the many many reflections the closer it gets to real reverb. Super cool demo, you guys are the best.
Happy Friday! I love these Franken-board episodes. This is how my brain works as I twist knobs, and dive into menus on digital pedals. If I can't visualize what's happening in an analog sense, I put the pedal back in the box. Thanks guys!
The chase bliss mood demonstrates this concept as well on it’s reverb mode on the wet channel. It’s fun to take the delay lines and morph them from individual delays to a really washed out reverb sound
love you guys. gotta tell ya, That Pedal Show has taught me a ton over the years. and it's all fun. The way Dan breaks it down technically is interesting and engaging. Wish I was as well spoken as y'all are. The "analog reverb" board is a great idea
I’m stacking a old blood noise sunlight into a specular tempus on spatium into a twin reverb with reverb set kind of low. For some cool pad like sounds. Add nobels odr1 in the front for crazy soaring lead sounds with long decay. Fun to play with on the looper.
Awesome! Now we need another episode in which Dan builds a full on Schroeder reverb / Feedback Delay Network built out of modulated delays and comb / all pass filters. LOL (yes, you can actually do this in Zoia and people made some great downloadable patches, like '1978 Plate'). If you want to learn more about the workings of reverb algorithms and how to actually smear the repeats of the delays, there are some great resources available right here on RU-vid. For instance, check out 'Sean Costello on reverb design' and the 'ZOIA Bootcamp #6: Delay Lines, Smeared Repeats and Multitap'.
For a lovely use of pitch-shifted reverb in a live song with overdriven guitar, look up “Running To Stand Still” from U2’s ZooTV Sydney show. The Edge doesn’t get nearly enough TPS love!
Really awesome! Thanks so much for your creativity and insights on reverb! How about a show with Neil Halstead from Slowdive about delays and reverbs? You should try to get him on the show. I think he uses like 4 delays or more at the same time, at least they are on his pedalboard from what I've seen.
Another great breakdown. I'm on a Grail quest for my ultimate reverb. Its taken years, and a lit of cash. I want compact simple to dial in stereo reverb, with capability to do infinite, at a reasonable price. I finally decided to spend proper money on a proper reverb. Eventide Black hole, to many controls, very brittle, it seems to affect the dry tone in a hi end way, I'm sure you can get a better sound from it, I haven't got learning curve capacity nor time. The quest continues. Your vid helped understand better what's going on with the settings.
@Neon Thunderbird I've looked at that one several times, it appealed as it has a massive input headroom, and do a lot with really hot signals. I didn't realise it had near infinite trails. I've heard a friend use one and it sounds great.
Ohhhh baby I am here for all of this! I looove reverb expeditions! I make these noises with my MXR M-300 reverb, a cheapo Valeton Coral Verb II, and my amp's built-in reverb on top. Outer space here I come! FYI, Today I just got the 5w Bugera v5 Vintage Infinium amplifier with the 8" Turbosound speaker and 3-position attenuation. Beautifully built with quality materials, clarity of tone, and more than enough volume for my wee space. My first-ever tube amp after 29 years of playing digital amps and I am in love. Cheers!
I have my subnup right at the front of everything. I was messing around in the garage a few weeks ago and had up and down going into massive reverbSSS (including a shimmer) and delays and I think I accidentally wrote the end of the next andsoistopped album. That’s what’s so great about this stuff - accidents happen and before you know it you have stumbled on something special.
Just turned the video on, Mick is holding the DGT. It's going to be a good day :D thanks for including it in the videos more, I flippin' love the sound you get out of that thing!
An excellent episode that I learned a lot from in terms of better understanding more complex reverbs. Also great to see the DGT coming out of the rack more recently. I ordered my build a year ago so only another year to go! Thank you as always for the superb work!
I got an Astral Destiny myself just a couple of months back, and it's such an amazing pedal! It's all over my band's new record and it's found a permanent home on my acoustic pedal board so I can create massive soundscapes even when I'm playing solo. Just hit play, looking forward to the video and seeing what you make of it!
Splendid show yet again chaps, thank you! Nice mention of Russian Circles - another good reference point are Yawning Man and guitarist Gary Arce, his work is really fantastic, along with the great Mario Lalli and Bill Stinson. If you haven't yet heard - do so! Rock Formations LP is a good startpoint. Cheers!
Dan, I love when you do these Frankenstein boards. Halfway through it I was wondering if it would ever sound good but at the end it all came together. The modulation had so much more effect on the smoothing than I expected. Great vid, we’ll done mate :)
Yeah…the Empress Zoia. About halfway through the franken-board section, the light bulb over my head went off as I realized the appeal of the Zoia. Although I still might need Dan to build a Zoia patch out of discrete pedals for me to really understand it. 😂
More important things to say, but Psycho Killer is my favorite cover yet - especially the vocal!!! Dan: my brain melted halfway through, so thanks mate. Long overdue! Loved it!
if you wanted to reduce the kind of ringing sound you get at the end of the trail, you can also add a very subtle pitch modulation to one or more of the original delay reflections. the added randomness will make it sound more "cloudy" especially as those frequencies start to stack up at the end.
No, Mick, YOU WERE CORRECT -- it IS infinite. Infinitely many reflections within a finite period of time, infinitely extending out to the maximum decay time (i.e. an _infinite series that converges to a finite value_ ...). Fourier transforms and Taylor series, my mateys! Love these videos, thanks guys.
Great job Dan. It’s pretty hard to explain how a reverb works in the analogue world due to the shear number of delay lines needed especially when you start introducing diffusion to slur the repeats. This is great starting point for those who want to know more.
I see those Chase Bliss pedals and want one. Then I remember they are worth more all my pedals and amp combined... I play them vicariously through you guys. :)
Ah nice one as always chaps! I could hear my old Marshall JFX-1 rack unit in amongst those sounds. It had a wonderful long hall reverb that sounded particularly good with a nylon string guitar. Of course I've since sold it.... Doh!
I've never heard someone relate delay and reverb to real sounds from physic objects as well as Dan did here. Pro: now I know what those things 'should' sound like Con: now I know when things do not sound as they 'should'
For an example of reverbs and distortion fun see part 2 of The Lost Loss. At about 10 minutes (yes I did say 10) it starts sounding like Sigur Ros being chased down stairs by bears. That was a lot of fun. All of my drives, delays and reverbs with a cello bow in one ear and then the same without the bow but picked with an octave up at the front in the other ear.
I think I extincted the JHS Space Commander in Europe by buying the only one I could find; in Bratislava, which is quite some distance from me. The verb is spectacular. I used to be in a choir and sang in some really big spaces. It has that slapback from the back wall and then that ambient thing that took me back to those days. And it has chorus and boost. Absolutely great job, Josh and team.
You know that moment when inspiration grabs you? Just had it regarding the Mercury7. I've heard you guys use it before, but today it poked my brain in just the right spot. Gotta get one. Thanks for all you do, it's always appreciated even when I can't figure out how to use it.
A thing I really wanted you to go into, but frankly would be another half video, is how freakingly clever "Dynamic regeneration" infinite reverbs work!!!! Think OBNE Daylight, but also many ambient digital ones. So, to create an infinite reverb, in today's Franken model, you would set the level to the regeneration sum stage to almost 100%. The problem with that is, the more notes you feed into the regeneration loop, the more everything turns into a brown mush. There are two strategies out of that. First, is to not accept new input to the regeneration loop while it is infinite. This is how Hold foot switches work. When you press it, the regeneration gets infinite but what you play over it does not get summed in. That would be like the sum mix being controlled by an expression pedal. The second strategy, the dynamic one, totally blows my mind! It works like a sidechain in a compressor or ducking delay. The sum mix is set to infinite, but when it senses new input it ducks. Because of that, when new notes come in, the older feedback loop gets a chance to fade out and get out of the way. Then, as soon as you stop playing, the ducking goes away and the notes that just got in get their turn to get infinitely repeated! I recreated all that in a helix patch, Franken style a month ago, and it still can't get over the revelation I got!
Excellent video as always, gents. Might be a thought to add a card at 20:56 to link to The Ultimate DIY Delay Pedal video. Saves the viewers the work. Trust me, it'll get you more watch time.
Love the shout out to Sunn O))). If you had a B-standard guitar and wall-to-wall Sunn O))) Model T full stacks roaring at around 1000 dB....then the 2 of you could indeed approach the tone of Soma and The Lord. Side note: why can't any amp modeling brand (Fractal) invest a minute of time to include a Model T and/or Beta Lead emulation? But nope...need 800 indistinguishable 60's fender amp varieties and Plexi amps etc, I guess.
Waatched you guys so much, and have been elevated in my knowledge to a great degree. My impression is the this is hard subject matter in that you are taking one specific effect, articulating a multitude of possibilities in each variation and then showing a final product based on those variables. I can only say well done. I get it, and now understand that as much as I want it to, that top notch Wampler Reflection pedal is not going to get me where I need to be by itself. Appreciate you both. Cheers.
So in a digital reverb remember how this stuff works. An algorithm becomes an array of coefficients, these are multiplied and summed by an array of samples for each delay line and then summed together to create the output. That math discovered by LaPlace & Fourier back in 1820 was the ground work for all digital filtering. Back then the array length or what we call TAPS was infinite and the samples and coefficients were really large. But in reality we sample at either 24 or 32bits and the signal to noise ratio for a pedal is probably good to maybe 16-17bits (just over 100dB). A DSP will be doing a ton of calculations with TAP lengths that are much shorter and coefficients (these are all less than 1) that are probably not fractional to make the ALU or math unit in the processor work to it's advantage. It would be interesting to use a bunch of bit buckets and try and make an analog reverb work. Thanks guys, watched this twice! Gordon
I thought I wanted a Chas’s Bliss reverb, now I want the Frankenstein board! Thanks D&M for such a great episode and going into the depths of reverberation.
Once upon a time I sold my Oceans 11 reverb, because "I really only use it for the shimmer setting." Not long after letting it go "because I have another pedal that can do if I need it," I realized I made a huge mistake. Shimmer reverbs can be icy, fractured, digital, choppy, etc. But the Oceans 11 algorithm I found to be very organic, musical, with its almost bow-like swells and natural ambience. For me, it's like having a synth keyboard or string section ready to accompany me. And it's not leaving my board again.
I recently got a Canyon because I needed a delay that had a reverb mode to save space ,and the Ethreal ,and the Dispatch master wouldn't fit in my case .I'm so happy with it .I will admit though I do love the DMM setting just as much.
A new episode of that pedal show and discovering Russian's Circles new 2022 album. What more can you wish for on a Saturday? I would not have taken you guys for listening to Sunn ((0)) and Russian Circles but here we are. Dan and Mick you gents are legends.
Definitely. FYI, you don't actually need the leading open-parentheses when referencing Sunn O))). It's mimicking the amp logo -- which of course as we know, is their thunderous amp of choice (and destruction).
![Huge Crazy Reverb For Guitar [What, Why & Understanding It So You Can Actually Use It]](/img/logo.svg){kind=logo}
