Free VST - 3 Reverbs To Check Out

Reverbs are a must for just about any songwriter, beat maker, music maker. It's true they can be over used at times, but they are such a common tool that I wanted to take a moment to talk about three very good and free reverb VST effects.

Reverb is short for "Reverberation" which basically means the effect of sound bouncing off of surfaces and reflecting back into the listener's ear. It can be used to make dramatic effects like spooky ghost talking or subtler effects like making a performance sound like it's in a small room.

Most of us have heard reverb if we ever sign or make a loud sound in the bathroom. Since bathrooms tend to have a lot of hard surfaces like tile, the sound in this room really bounces around.

First up we have a freeware reverb called SIR1. SIR1 is a reverb device that works with "impulse-responses" (IR). These are data files that contain information about real world environments. For example, you could download an IR recording made at the Hollywood Bowl and use it in SIR1 to get an accurate reverb as if you were playing at the Hollywood Bowl!

Generally, this type of reverb may introduce a delay into your mix, so you will need a host that can compensate for it. This is by far the best sounding type of reverb that exists today. There is a commercial SIR2 that offers zero-latency and more features.

Second on the list is an oldie but a goodie. Often thought to be one of the best all-time free reverbs on the market, we have Ambience. Technically this would be called donation ware since you are free to pay what you think it's worth, whenever you want. If has a nag screen, but otherwise functions perfectly even if you choose not to donate.

Finally, we get to RoomMachine 844. It's a room simulator. This is a very useful reverb for things like drums and vocals where you don't want a long reverb tail, but do want to give the sounds that little extra "oomph" to make it stand out. The room simul;ations sounds very natural. Many people I know use this exclusively for vocals because it does such a great job.

There you go... Three different, useful and free reverbs for you to add to your collection. Have fun!

Audio Production Tips - Fixing Samples

Those of you using programs that can play back WAV samples like FL Studio may have run into the problem where som WAV files play back in loop mode or pitched to a certain key when used in the pattern but sound perfect when previewed.

This is caused by cue points, tempo and root note information being stored in the sample. It is ignored by the previewer but used in the sample player.

There are a few ways of correcting the problem. First you can disable the various settings in the FL channel properties that use these cue points, tempo and root note data.

Here is a video from Warbeats that shows how it's done:




the second way is to run a program to remove the points and resave the sample without them. This would be very useful if you find that a drum kit you are using has a lot of these embedded points.

Enter the freeware Wave File Stripper. A free program from Optostudio to remove these unwanted cue points and markers. Simply drag audio files onto the GUI for processing and continue working.

To make a great program even better, you can donate to the developer and he'll send a proceed of that money to the relief effort in Haiti. How great is that!

Download WFS from Optostudio