Use your tiled bathroom as a Reverb Chamber

Chamber Reverb Enthusiast Challenge #1

Starting with your own multitrack session, find one or more appropriate tracks and use your mix on your reverb chamber.

Production Possibilities for Your Reverb Chamber

1. Timbre

Audition different tracks and focus on the spectral qualities of your chamber. Try to identify frequency pockets of added emphasis and frequency ranges where the decaying sound is deficient. Choose a track that would benefit from that tonal quality. Your chamber’s timbre extends and refines the timbre of the tracks you send to it.

2. Depth / Distance

Balance your mix and find a particularly crowded portion of the tune. It is common, for example, that there are more tracks playing in the chorus than in the verses. It is common for the center or your image to get crowded with vocals, guitars, keys, kick, snare, bass and more. Choose a track that might benefit from the sonic illusion of being pushed back, away from the listener. It is unlikely you’d want to do that to the lead vocal, kick, snare or bass. But perhaps a supporting track (background vocals, guitar, keys, hand percussion, etc.) could be coaxed back and out of the conflict zone.

Listen carefully and add a touch of your chamber reverb to this track. Raise and lower the level until you find the balance between too dry and too close, versus too wet and too washy. With the right touch of reverb, you might be able to put an illusion of distance between the track and your listener.

3. Width

Similar to the Depth/Distance approach above, you might find a track that would benefit from a perceptual widening of the image. Spreading a track out a bit gives you a way to make the track easier to hear in a crowded mix without having to turn it up. The width makes the track more substantial, and offers an opportunity for contrast versus the other tracks.

4. Glow / Shimmer / Halo / other special ‘decorative’ effect

Lastly, the unique character of your chamber might simply offer a strong, attention-getting bit of decoration to a track in need of a special effect.

Deliverables

After you’ve applied your chamber reverb to elements of your mix, submit a single compressed .zip file containing all of the audio files and the single pdf document described below. Use file name: Enthusiast1_UserName.zip where UserName is the user name you created when you registered to become a ChamberReverbChallenge subscriber.

  1. Print your final mix with your chamber reverb applied to at least one track.
    • .WAV file at your native resolution (24 bit / 48kHz preferred for web sharing here)
    • file name: En1_UserName_Mix.wav
      • En1 stands for Chamber Enthusiast Challenge #1
      • UserName is the user name you created when you registered to become a ChamberReverbChallenge subscriber.
      • Mix identifies this file as your full mix.
      • e.g., En1_NTesla_Mix.wav
  2. Print a 4- to 8-bar phrase of the soloed track without your chamber reverb.
    • WAV file at your native resolution (24 bit / 48kHz preferred for web sharing here)
    • file name: En1_UserName_Instrument_Dry.wav
    • Instrument is the type of instrument or the track name used for your chamber reverb example.
    • e.g., En1_NTesla_Kazoo_Dry.wav
  3. Print the same 4- to 8-bar phrase of soloed track with your reverb.
    • WAV file at your native resolution (24 bit / 48kHz preferred for web sharing here)
    • file name: En1_UserName_Instrument_Wet.wav
    • Instrument is the type of instrument or the track name used for your chamber reverb example.
    • e.g., En1_NTesla_Kazoo_Wet.wav
  4. (optional) If you applied your chamber reverb to other tracks, you may provide each of them as additional 4- to 8-bar examples, with and without your reverb following the naming convention used above.
  5. Document your chamber in a single PDF document (file name: En1_NTesla_ChamberDoc.pdf) containing the following.
    1. Photos
      1. Chamber: One image showing the best view of the entire chamber.
      2. Speaker: One image showing the placement of and nearby architecture around the loudspeaker(s)
      3. Microphone: One image showing the placement of and nearby architecture around the microphone(s)
      4. (optional) Chamber Selfie: One image of you in your chamber.
    2. Signal path: provide a summary gear list in order of signal flow from audio source, through chamber, back to your session.
      1. DAW/Mixer Output; Converter Out; Power Amp In; Loudspeaker; Microphone (indicate any switch settings if appropriate such as pick-up pattern, pad, and rolloff); Microphone Preamplifier; Converter; Session/Mixer Input.
      2. e.g., Pro Tools Bus 17 Out; Apogee DA16 Out #3 Out; Hafler P1000 In; Yamaha NS10; Shure KSM141 (cardioid, with pad, no rolloff); API 312 Microphone Preamplifier #2; Apogee AD16 In #3; Pro Tools Input #11.
      3. Include settings for any added effects on the send to your chamber, such as delay and equalization.
Submit