{ "schemaVersion": "v1", "slug": "what-is-reverb-and-delay", "title": "What is reverb and delay?", "kind": "solo", "listenUrl": "https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lovemusicmore/episodes/What-is-reverb-and-delay-e1bb696", "publishedAt": "2026-10-14", "source": { "provider": "whisper", "model": "faster-whisper:base", "normalizedSchema": "v1", "transcribedAt": "2026-06-09T10:50:07.359Z" }, "paragraphs": [ { "startSec": 0, "endSec": 24, "text": "We'll go back to music 101.In this episode, I want to talk about the last component of recording engineering.We already talked about the first and second major domains, now we're going to get tothe third.To recap, the first one is frequency.That's like the pitch that you play and all of the other pitches that come from that fundamental.Like we talked about before, no single pitch exists in a vacuum." }, { "startSec": 24, "endSec": 49.12, "text": "There are always, unless it's like computer generated, if you're playing an A note on aviolin or on a guitar, or even the frequencies that I'm emitting right now through my voice,there is more than one single frequency happening at any given time.There's a high, there's a middle, and there's a low.And you can shift all of those, so that's frequencies.We can manipulate those." }, { "startSec": 49.12, "endSec": 79.92, "text": "Next, we talked about amplitude dynamics, the loudness and softness of music.We can manipulate those.Finally, the last thing to talk about is time.All music exists within the plane of time.It is a linear art, something that isn't flattened.And so, because of that, we can manipulate this in a bunch of different ways.Primarily, I can move stuff around." }, { "startSec": 79.92, "endSec": 106.72, "text": "So say that you play your drum beat, and you're a little bit behind or ahead of where thebeat should be, in Pro Tools, I can grab it and put it where I want it to be.Left or right, ahead and time, or behind and time, relative to the rest of the music.But more interestingly than that, we can also affect the space in which the instrumentinhabits through something called reverb." }, { "startSec": 106.72, "endSec": 135.8, "text": "And what reverb is using a series of time delays to create the artificial impressionof space.And so you might have heard of reverb and delay.In reality, they're the same thing.They're just manifestations of the same thing in slightly different ways.So for example, if you are standing in a long hotel hallway, you'll notice that yourvoice sounds different than if you're standing outside." }, { "startSec": 135.8, "endSec": 162.68, "text": "Or if you're standing in a small room or in a bathroom, a tiled room, all of the differentreflections that are coming from your voice come back to your ears at a different rateand with different frequencies either hyped or cut.And so basically, this sense of place is what this sense of time is.So you have the time that's the relative time, the groove between the different instruments." }, { "startSec": 162.68, "endSec": 181.28, "text": "And we talked about that a little bit in that rhythm section.And then you also have the time in terms of like reverb, delay, and space, the locationof sound.And this is something that I just kind of want to talk like, you know, philosophicallyabout before I get into actual examples of what reverb sounds like, these different spaces." }, { "startSec": 181.28, "endSec": 208.32, "text": "My concept of, and it's not just mine, a lot of people share this, but my concept of mixingand creating audio in the digital space is that if you put on your headphones, I'm goingto take your brain, I can take your ears on a journey and I'm going to put you intodifferent spaces so that you can experience not just the changes in the song like from" }, { "startSec": 208.32, "endSec": 232.08, "text": "a lyrical perspective, but also in terms of the size and scope and scale of the arrangement.And so if it's something that I want to get to you like really intimately, maybe I'llhave the microphone really close to the singer's mouth and there will be no reverb.It'll be like they're whispering in your ear.But then you get to a moment where it's, it's like more existential or it's a dream," }, { "startSec": 232.08, "endSec": 257.46, "text": "or it's, you know, the lyrics are reflecting something that's like, you know, I'm floatingon the water, you know, waiting through a dream or whatever.And like in that sense, I want to put you in a bigger space or in a more esoteric, likeotherworldly space.And that brings me to some of the components of what we're actually manipulating with reverband delay.So let's make this more tangible." }, { "startSec": 257.46, "endSec": 286.18, "text": "In order to serve that goal that I have of taking your brain and moving it to a bunchof different locations, depending on a song, depending on the song section, whatever,we start with delay.So let's just do this with my voice.This is going to be what's called a quarter note delay, that 120 beats from it.So law, check, check, here you go, you get it." }, { "startSec": 286.18, "endSec": 308.46, "text": "So it's basically like the echo, echo, echo, sense of yelling into a canyon or intoa cave or, you know, an elevator shaft, whatever, those kind of spaces that have a lot of reverberation.But this, that's a pretty simple perspective.It's called the delay because it is literally taking the exact audio that is coming intoit and then delaying it a little bit later." }, { "startSec": 308.46, "endSec": 331.74, "text": "One of the things that I was doing though, is it is a delay with something called feedback.What feedback is, is it's looping back in, it's a feedback loop.And so when I say, you know, echo, the echo hits one wall of the cave, and then it bouncesback and hits another wall of the cave and bounces back to the other wall of the caveand hits it." }, { "startSec": 331.74, "endSec": 359.22, "text": "So that's a feedback loop where your original input that you're sending into the cave isnot just dying after one slap of a wall.It's coming back and it's coming back again, it's coming back again, and it slowly fadesoff into the distance.And so that's the reason why when I say, echo, you hear it decay, that's through feedbackversus if I say echo without any feedback, it'll sound like this, echo, you feel me?" }, { "startSec": 359.22, "endSec": 384.9, "text": "All right, next up let's talk about reverb.So reverb is using what we just did with delay and multiplying it by a lot of surfaces,say.So instead of it being that one echo that bounces, bounces, bounces, bounces, they giveit like a million echoes, bouncing all across the surface of a wall.So you're not really hearing the individual delays, you're instead hearing them all at" }, { "startSec": 384.9, "endSec": 405.74, "text": "once and it creates the impression of being in a room.So you hear this mic, it's fairly dead, I am actually in a room, not like a sound-treatedroom, just a normal room.So you'll probably still hear a little bit of what is called reverb, reverberation, thesound moving in and out and about the space and then coming back into the microphone.But let me make it a little bit more dramatic." }, { "startSec": 405.74, "endSec": 431.26, "text": "I'm going to put myself in Wembley Stadium.Hello, Wembley Stadium.Hello, Cleveland.You know, that kind of thing.So apparently it's actually called Wembley Arena, I just saw that in the plug, it's notactually a stadium, I guess.But you know, I'm not British, so that's okay.But do you hear the difference, like, it's just so much more dense, and I know that'slike a pretty extreme example." }, { "startSec": 431.26, "endSec": 456.14, "text": "So let me flip it around, let me just put myself into what would be called a small room.Here I am in a small room, I'm going to snap, and go bra, bra, so you can hear the acousticsof the space.So let's talk a little bit deeper about what's actually going on.So you're able to control a variety of different parameters, which means like the differentoutcomes that you're looking for from a reverb or a delay." }, { "startSec": 456.14, "endSec": 482.26, "text": "We already talked about feedback, so that's one of the main parameters for delays.Something else that you have, you can actually do something called pre-delay, which delaysthe reverb sound after the initial input.So that can create some clarity, like Lana Del Rey's vocals do this a lot where the vocalwill sound very crisp and clear, and then there will be this explosion of reverb following" }, { "startSec": 482.26, "endSec": 503.94, "text": "the vocal, and so that's using something called pre-delay, you can also adjust the lengthof time that the reverb cascades into caves, as well as the wetness and dryness.What wetness and dryness means is like how much of the original input, what I'm actuallydoing right now, is coming out versus how much of the reverb.If you have the wetness cranked all the way up, which I all was basically what I was doing" }, { "startSec": 503.94, "endSec": 529.74, "text": "for the Wembley Stadium, it's pretty overwhelming, it's just swimming and reverb.And then for this small room, I was about like 20% room, so you could get a little bitmore of this initial dry signal, the kind that you're hearing right now blended in withthe reverb.So it sounds a little bit more natural and pleasant because you can actually make outwhat the speaker in this case is saying." }, { "startSec": 529.74, "endSec": 557.78, "text": "Okay, let's talk about one more thing with delay.I want to talk about spatial audio and kind of what you've been hearing from Dolby andApple and kind of how that plays into something that way, way back, the stereo channel rightand left ear.So originally everything was mono straight up and down the middle, which means that everyspeaker was playing the same exact thing." }, { "startSec": 557.78, "endSec": 580.54, "text": "And then eventually, we split it up so you could have stereo signals, you could have aright channel and a left channel reflecting your ears.So that allows us to get a lot deeper in terms of the sense of space, because your earsdon't fundamentally hear the same thing in any given location, and that's kind of thegeneral concept of spatial audio and also some of the coolest stuff with stereo." }, { "startSec": 580.54, "endSec": 602.34, "text": "So originally stereo was kind of used as like a special effect.Yeah, it's something they went, yeah, totally, I totally just put that in stereo.So you could hear it going, no, like a lot of like early Jimi Hendrix and stuff likethat.It was really playing with the stereo.Like, oh, I'm tripping out and I've got this thing, this helicopter flying side by side." }, { "startSec": 602.34, "endSec": 632.98, "text": "The newest iteration of this, well, I sometimes do think it's kind of cheesy too, is usingthat same concept, but considering the reflections off of your shoulders, the shape of your ear,and the way that your head blocks the input source from your opposing ear.So say, for example, if somebody clapped near your left ear or behind you, you're goingto hear different things in your left ear than you are your right ear." }, { "startSec": 632.98, "endSec": 654.66, "text": "And typically panning, which is what I'm talking about now, it's the word for it panning,panning from one side to the other between the stereo field, left and right.Has basically been more of a volume driven thing that's just, it's going to point it.So it's going to be, you know, 70% of the volume will be in your left ear and 30% ofthe volume will be in your right ear, 100% of the volume will be in your left ear and" }, { "startSec": 654.66, "endSec": 676.62, "text": "0% of the volume will be in your right ear.That's like typically how it's worked, using this spatial audio and this concept that isalso called binaural is trying to really replicate the three dimensions of a space andpart of the way that it's doing it is using these mathematical concepts to, you know,basically say, hey, if I snap in your left ear, you're going to hear a certain amount" }, { "startSec": 676.62, "endSec": 700.34, "text": "of it in your right ear, but it's going to be dampened in terms of frequency and in termsof compression by the shape of your head.And so it's trying to like really replicate what you actually experiencing in your day-to-daylife through complex mathematical equations.But yeah, basically the whole concept is like you might have heard these like binauralthings and if you haven't, look them up.They're pretty fun." }, { "startSec": 700.34, "endSec": 721.54, "text": "You put on headphones and then like somebody will cut your hair and you'll hear the scissorsgo behind your head and wrap around you, special effects wise.That's really pretty easy to do with special effects and with non-musical sources.The trick with music is that it reverberates in very unique ways.When you have a single input, like say in a video game, you have a gunshot or something" }, { "startSec": 721.54, "endSec": 742.86, "text": "like that, it's pretty easy to place where that is in the sound field.With music, it kind of spills everywhere and it's all around you.And so that's part of the reason why I sometimes think it's a little cheesy because findinga great musical concept for that needs to like really be thought out.Like sometimes I think if you have a tool and you just seek to use the tool rather than" }, { "startSec": 742.86, "endSec": 760.58, "text": "having a purpose to use the tool, like having the moment, it's like, oh, I should totallyuse this because that's the goal that I'm trying to serve rather than just kind of beinglike the Jimi Hendrix example is like, oh, I can, like I'm going to go across the soundfield.Still cool, you know, but that's like when it's like a little bit more like, you're" }, { "startSec": 760.58, "endSec": 783.58, "text": "not, what's the word, I'm trying not to hate on it because I still really like thoseJimi Hendrix records.Like it's something more, something less intentional about it, something a little bit more like,look at the toys I have.Which is still kind of fun, but I digress anyway, what I'm trying to say is as a music" }, { "startSec": 783.58, "endSec": 809.54, "text": "listener and as a music creator, I think the coolest stuff is what really immerses you.Like not the stuff that like is necessary, like look at these tricks.Like wow, how skilled they are with manipulating knobs.It's like more like I got so sucked into this in the same way a great film I use filmmakinga lot as an example for music making because again, it's a linear, it is a visual medium," }, { "startSec": 809.54, "endSec": 833.22, "text": "but it's, it has that time component, it has saturation and color and all these differentthings, which I'll get more into in the next podcast about mixing, which is mixing allthese concepts together.But specifically in that this kind of time sense, the best linear art forms draw youin and kind of distract you from the rest of the world and you get totally sucked intothat moment." }, { "startSec": 833.22, "endSec": 862.58, "text": "And I think that's what great music and great production and engineering specificallycan do for you is make it so that you stop hearing the recording techniques and you'reinstead just like swallowed by vibe in the same way that I like the compression thing I wastalking about yesterday, not yesterday last week.That helps like take it from being a drum kit and a bassist to being one punch, one bigball of music." }, { "startSec": 862.58, "endSec": 886.5, "text": "And that helps at least for me to like suck me in and like stop thinking about, okay,that's what this guy's doing, that's what this person's doing, like it makes me insteadthink this is what it's all hitting me at once.And great space and great use of things like delays to pull your ear and use that soundfield between the left and your right and maybe throwing in some binaural reverb so you" }, { "startSec": 886.5, "endSec": 922.98, "text": "can feel the guitars lingering behind your head in a very cosmic kind of way. That's the stuff for me that is just like, I forgot that the rest of the world existedfor a moment because I was so drawn into the world that this producer engineer was creatingfor me.And I think that can really communicate a song's value in just a different deeper way, dependingon a song of course, but in a deeper way than just being in acoustic performance or seeingsomething live, you can add something." }, { "startSec": 922.98, "endSec": 945.82, "text": "As a recording engineer, there's one school of thought that you're just capturing thatwhich people go see live and there's something cool to that too.But I think that every part of the music creation and recording process should add value anddo it in its own unique way because this is a different medium than seeing something live." }, { "startSec": 945.82, "endSec": 969.3, "text": "It is the same way that like, I don't know, concert DVDs aren't just a single shot ofthe stage like from your seat, you know, like I'll just go to a concert for that.Give me something new.If it's going to be in virtual reality, give me something new, give me something that'slike unique to that platform that really adds value and so why am I doing this insteadof that?" }, { "startSec": 969.3, "endSec": 994.46, "text": "Why are you putting on headphones and listening to a record rather than listening to iton your speakers?Why are you being comfortable with like new music?Like what's the difference between listening to a record in 2021 or 2022 that was madethen using the tools that we have now, like this Binaural stuff?How do you like leverage that to say, hey, this sounds like the moment rather than itjust sounds like tricks?" }, { "startSec": 994.46, "endSec": 1017.5, "text": "It's like, no, this is what they couldn't have done back then.We're doing it now.Like we're adding another level of, like again, you're singing about swimming in the sea.You're going to be swimming in reverb, but in the modern, modern way, using Binaural,using really cool cascading sections that is really would have been hard to do on outboardgear in the 70s." }, { "startSec": 1017.5, "endSec": 1045.06, "text": "So you had to type in, you know, you only had 15 presets and that's it.Instead, like I can control any parameter you want.You want the reverb to like decay super, super fast and then suddenly come back.I got you.You want the reverb to only exist in one of your ears.I got you.You want the reverb to sound like as it grows in size, it decays and turns into an MP3 styledegradation." }, { "startSec": 1045.06, "endSec": 1071.7, "text": "Like, you know, I don't know if you've listened to those really poorly captured like mid 2000s,early 2000s, Napster or for me, it was more lime wire stuff is like, this barely soundslike music anymore because it's such a low quality MP3.That sounds like that's a sound that they couldn't have gotten back then.So I like to use that in my music every once in a while, you know, it's a sound of now." }, { "startSec": 1071.7, "endSec": 1094.82, "text": "The sound of an iPhone microphone, the voice notes, they didn't have that microphoneback now.We have that now.Like certain things that you can do, you can reach into your toolkit for in a like decidedway, like an intentional way that I think is really cool.And I think the reason why I talk about this with reverb is one, I think that the space" }, { "startSec": 1094.82, "endSec": 1116.3, "text": "that you're in determines so much and how those spaces are layered determines so muchin terms of the vibe and in terms of how it's hitting you and the genre and everythinglike that.But I also say this is a bridge to the next episode.We're going to talk philosophically about mixing and how we take those three different domains," }, { "startSec": 1116.3, "endSec": 1138.62, "text": "the frequency, the dynamics and the space, the time and mix them all together to make somethingtruly special, hopefully.So yeah, look forward to that episode.I think that'll be really fun.And I hope that this little romp through time was not a waste of time, and if you want" }, { "startSec": 1138.62, "endSec": 1152.42, "text": "to spend more time with me, go to www.scoobertdoobert.pizza, that's scoobertdoobert.pizza.You can waste all the time you want, you know, I will be.See you." } ], "correctionsApplied": [ { "id": "scoobert-url", "count": 2, "note": "Outro URL ASR typo" } ] }