History Flashcards
Spring reverb were used in
the 1930s-now (guitar amps)
It was simply just a spring with a transducer at each end to convert the electrical signal to a mechanical vibration and back. It gave a dark ominous metallic sound and was used predominantly in guitar amps as they were cheap to make and fun.
Reverb chambers were used in
the 1940-60s
They were were simply reflective rooms in the studio in which the sound engineer could send the sound through a speaker to be picked up on the other end of the room.
A plate reverb was used in
the 1950-60s.
This was a large physical suspended sheet of metal in a frame. The audio signal was fed through the sheet and the reverb time could be adjusted by dampening with felt pads. -
Digital reverb was used in
the 1970-90s
It was a physical unit (a slab on metal that could be inserted into the mix desk) it models a reverb to using a lot of delays that are mathematically calculated. Filtering was also applied to simulate natural reflection that would occur in a room. This gave us more freedom and control over the reverb.
Convolution reverb was used in
the 1990s-now
It is a digital reverb that reproduces a real reverb from a real space and was pioneered by Sony in the late 1990s. An example of this is the ‘space designer’ in logic.
The ‘Slapback echo’ was created in the
1950s
It was the first commercially used delay. Originally an analogue tape delay with a single repeat after 80-200ms. It is almost a precursive effect and the repeat is generally at a fairly high level.
The ‘Portable Analogue Tape Delay’ was created in the
1960s
It was a portable delay unit. That worked similar to the ‘slapback echo’ but used just one tape recorder.
This was significant as it allowed for ‘multi-tap echo’ (the same at the one used today)
The ‘bucket brigade’ delay was created in the
1970s
It worked with analogue ‘bucket brigade chips’ that stored the original sound. Each ‘chip’ would ‘pass’ the signal off to the next stage, like the old firefighter bucket brigade.
Didgital delay was created in the
1980s
It simply used software to repeat the original signal. This gave a lot more freedom, accessibility and a cleaner sound to the taps (repeats)
Valve (tube) amplifiers were created in the
1900s (first 10 years)
The valves in a valve guitar amplifier work by heating up a metal filament or cathode, which releases electrons into the surrounding vacuum.
‘solid state transistor’ amplifiers were created in
the 1960s
These transistors were cheaper, smaller and more reliable (as they wouldn’t explode)
Mono Recording Era
1930–1963
