Effects Flashcards

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1
Q

On an effect, what does the wet/dry control do?

A

Controls the balance between the altered (wet) and unaltered (dry) signals

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2
Q

On an effect, what does the bypass do?

A

Switches the unit or plug-in on/off so you can compare the signal to its unaffected version

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3
Q

When does natural reverb occur?

A

When a sound reflects off its surrounding surfaces, creating a wash of overlapping echoes

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4
Q

What is reverberation?

A

A naturally occurring phenomenon that gives our brains lots of information about the space we are in

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5
Q

What helps to reduce most, but not all of the sound of a room?

A

Close miking

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6
Q

In regards to reverb, what is pre-delay time?

A

The gap between the sound and the onset of the early reflections and reverb tail

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7
Q

In regards to reverb, what does the pre-delay time help our brains to understand?

A

The size of the space

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8
Q

In regards to reverb, what is reverb time?

A

The amount of time taken for the reverb to decay to the point that we can no longer hear it

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9
Q

In regards to reverb, what are early reflections?

A

The first reflections that occur after the direct sound but before the reverb tail

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10
Q

In regards to reverb, what is the reverb tail?

A

The general wash of sound that occurs after the direct sound and early reflections

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11
Q

In regards to reverb, what does HF damping do?

A

Increases the perceived warmth of the space by absorbing more high frequencies

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12
Q

What is a live room?

A

A room that is chosen to act as a recording room because of its acoustic properties

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13
Q

How is plate reverb achieved?

A

By feeding an audio signal through a thin metal plate suspended in a frame

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14
Q

How can you adjust the reverb time of plate reverb?

A

By damping the vibrations using felt pads

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15
Q

In what decades was plate reverb used in many recordings?

A

1960s and 1970s

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16
Q

What was plate reverb most commonly used on?

A

Vocals and drum sounds

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17
Q

What is the difference between spring reverb and plate reverb?

A

Spring reverb uses a spring rather than a plate

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18
Q

Where is spring reverb still frequently used?

A

In guitar amps

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19
Q

In what decade was digital reverb first seen?

A

1980s

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20
Q

How does digital reverb model reverb?

A

By using lots of delays, which are mathematically calculated

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21
Q

What did digital reverbs enable users and manufacturers to do?

A

Store lots of presets

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22
Q

What happened in regards to digital reverbs as computer processors got faster in the 1990s?

A

Digital reverb was incorporated as software plug-ins

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23
Q

What does convolution reverb do?

A

Reproduces a real reverb from a real space

24
Q

What can you do to reverb on percussion sounds to prevent it from making a mix muddy?

A

Feed the reverb through a noise gate, to abruptly cut the tail off

25
Q

In regards to delay, what is the delay time?

A

The gap between each repeat

26
Q

In regards to delay, what does feedback do?

A

Feeds part of the delayed signal back into the input of the delay, increasing the number of repeats

27
Q

In regards to delay, what does pan do?

A

Changes the stereo position of the delayed signal

28
Q

In regards to delay, what does filter/EQ do?

A

Changes the frequency content of the delayed signal

29
Q

What do digital delays make easy?

A

Synchronising the delay to the main tempo of a DAW

30
Q

What does multi-tap delay allow the user to do?

A

Set several different delay times in one effect

31
Q

What does a stereo or ‘ping pong’ delay do?

A

Gives you the option to pan the delayed sound

32
Q

What can delay be heard as if the delay time is set somewhere around 40-50ms or more?

A

A discrete echo

33
Q

If a delay is set at about 40ms or less, what effect does it have on the sound?

A

A doubling effect

34
Q

How can delay be used to create a wider stereo image?

A

If one of the stereo channels is delayed by a short delay time, the part or instrument can seem wider

35
Q

What are the benefits of delay plug-ins?

A
  • Easy to automate and control with MIDI
  • Possible to sync delay time to DAW global tempo
  • Accurate control of delay time in milliseconds.
  • Possible to store, share and download presets
  • No issues with maintenance
36
Q

What do modulated delay effects rely on?

A

The periodic modulation of delay time

37
Q

With regards to modulated delay effects, what is used to control how much the wet signal is delayed by?

A

An LFO

38
Q

With regards to modulated delay effects, what is the rate?

A

The speed at which the modulation takes place

39
Q

With regards to modulated delay effects, what is the depth?

A

How wide the range of values for the delay time is

40
Q

With regards to modulated delay effects, what does feedback do?

A

Adds a percentage of the output back into the input

41
Q

How did the effect, chorus, originally get its name?

A

From the way it made one voice/instrument sound like a chorus of voices/intruments

42
Q

How does the chorus effect work?

A

It delays a copy of the original signal, playing the delayed version alongside the clean signal to give the effect of more than one instrument playing the same time

43
Q

For a subtle chorus effect, what is generally set quite low?

A

The depth

44
Q

If the depth and rate values of a chorus effect are set quite high, what is produced?

A

A dramatic ‘bubbling’ and ‘underwater’ effect

45
Q

On what tracks is the chorus effect often used?

A

Clean electric guitar, fretless bass and synth pad

46
Q

What effect does a flanger give?

A

A ‘swirling’ or ‘whooshing’ sound

47
Q

How can a flanger be used to create a subtle ‘shimmering’ effect?

A

By applying it to just the reverb or delay of an effected signal

48
Q

When is comb filtering created?

A

When a slight delayed version of a signal combines with the direct sound, causing destructive interference

49
Q

What can comb filtering result in?

A

An audibly thin sound

50
Q

What can comb filtering be used creatively for?

A

Creating a flange effect

51
Q

Describe the effect of a phaser?

A

Similar to flanging, but more subtle

52
Q

What can a phaser be used for?

A

Adding movement to distorted guitar parts

53
Q

What does ring modulation do?

A

Adds and subtracts two frequencies to produce two new frequencies

54
Q

What is ring modulation used for?

A

Creating ringing, metallic, or bell-like sounds as it’s very dissonant

55
Q

At subtler settings, what other effect is hard to distinguish ring modulation from?

A

Tremolo