The spring reverb was an essential part of almost all albums produced before the age of digital processing. With a sound that doesn’t sound at all like a reallife reverberation, it has made its way into the music production halloffame just because of its peculiar character. There is really no reverb that sounds like a spring reverb, and if you want to get a vintage vibe on your production, that’s about the only way to go.
The Spring Reverb plugin can for example be used as an insert effect together with the Brown amp from Vintage Amp Room in order to get a really bluesy sound, or as a send effect on vocal tracks to get that vintage vibe. The Springs and Tension parameters let you morph between a typical guitar amp reverb and a smoother studio reverb, thus making the Spring Reverb plugin a very versatile tool in your studio rack.
As with all our products, Spring Reverb is the result of exhaustive research. It was developed after nearly a year’s analysis of the mathematics and mechanics of spring reverbs. New simulation techniques had to be developed in order to simulate the springy characteristics of the reverb, and we’re proud to say that we found what makes a spring sound springy. The user interface was designed to be as simple as possible, with a small set of parameters that make a difference. The Tension and Springs parameters are additions that we didn’t find on any real reverb, but that we just couldn’t live without.
The Spring Reverb has the following controls: Mix, Springs, Tension, Shake, Bass, and Treble. The following pages will give you a brief description of all the controls.
- Mix (Dry/Wet)
- Bass
- Treble
- Springs
- Tension
- Shake!
Mix: Controls the balance between the reverb and the direct signal. Outputs only the original signal when set to DRY, and only the reverb effect when set to WET.
Set this control to blend the wanted amount of reverb with the dry signal. Make sure that you set Mix fully clockwise on WET every time you use Spring Reverb as a send effect.
Springs: Controls the number of springs in use. There are three sets of springs in the reverb unit and you can choose how many of the sets you would like to use.
Set the control to ONE for a more pronounced springy sound and to THREE for a smoother sound.
Together with the Tension slider, this control is an excellent tool to change the overall character of the reverb.
With Springs set to TWO and Tension in the leftmost position, you will get a typical Accutronics® Type 4 sound, as used in many American guitar amps.
Shake: BOOOM! Since we don’t want you to smack your computer to get that thunderous springs- being- shaken sound, Spring Reverb features a slider that can be used to accomplish the same thing safely. Fully automatable of course.
Be aware that when the slider is moved to a position other than halfway between far left and right, the reverb will go “spoing”, so storing presets with this knob set to something other than in the middle, it will produce a (perhaps unwanted) noise when the preset is loaded. For this and other reasons, when the slider is adjusted in the GUI it will spring (ha!) back to the middle when the mouse button is released. This does not work when the parameter is being controlled by a MIDI surface or other controller.
The Bass and Treble controls do not affect the sound of the shake effect, since they are applied before the signal goes into the reverb tank.
For the most violent shake effect: set Tension to the left and Springs on three before you use the Shake parameter.
Tension: Tunes up or down the tension off all three springs. Adjusting the Tension parameter will change the sound of the strings from slow and smooth (left) to quick and harsh (right). The idea behind this parameter is that you are able to get the sounds from many different reverb tanks by just changing the tension and the number of springs. A cheap guitar reverb tank will usually have a high tension and two springs, while a more expensive reverb tank might have three springs and a lower tension.
Bass and Treble: Controls equalization of the wet signal. In general you would need to lower the Treble if you use the reverb on percussive sounds, while too much Bass will make the reverb sound very dark and take up a lot of energy in the mix.
There are a couple rules of thumb to achieving the sound you desire with Spring Reverb.
Mix
Mix is without doubt the setting that will have the biggest impact on the overall sound you achieve and probably the one that is hardest to master.
First of all, when used as an insert effect, the Mix knob will typically be set between 0 and 20%. It is easy to drench your recording with a reverb that is as characteristic as Spring Reverb.
When used as a send effect, the Mix knob should be set to 100%, but the send/return volumes of your DAW should be kept low. Easy does it!
Controlling the Character
In terms of character, Spring Reverb goes from vintage grit, full of character, to semismooth, still with character but toned down.
The grittier sounds are for example great with electric guitars, electric pianos, and vocals. Setting the Springs knob low and Treble high will bring out the spring characteristic, producing more pronounced echoes. Then Bass can be used to shape the overall frequency characteristic and Tension to control the length of time it takes for the reverb to stop ringing.
For more percussive sounds, such as drums or a full mix, the character will probably need a bit of toning down. Bring the Springs knob all the way up to let the echoes of the three springs intermingle and create a more solid reverb tail. Then reduce Treble to decrease the metallic character and finally do final tweaks with Tension and Bass.
Using Spring Reverb with Vintage Amp Room
Spring Reverb is an excellent companion to the Brown amp in Vintage Amp Room. In the real amplifier, the spring reverb is placed in between the preamp and power amp. With the Spring Reverb plugin, you can use it both as an insert before Vintage Amp Room and as an insert after Amp Room and get very different results.
Placing Spring Reverb before Vintage Amp Room
If you place Spring Reverb before Vintage Amp Room, the reverb effect will be distorted in the same way as the guitar signal, and you will usually need to lower the Mix knob and use a bit less Treble than if you place it after the plugin. This placement will often make the reverb sound more authentic, although it is a bit harder to dial in.
Placing Spring Reverb after the Vintage Amp Room
This is the “normal” way to use Spring Reverb. All presets have been tailored to suit this use. Just place Spring Reverb (preset: “GUITAR DIRTY”) after Vintage Amp Room (preset: “BROWN BLUES”) and you’ll get the most authentic blues sound available from a plug-in. Don’t forget to use a beaten up ol’ guitar with single coil mics.
Chorus-y Effect
It is very easy to get a very special chorus effect if you automate the Tension knob. Since many hosts (such as Cubase and Pro Tools) have the ability to write in automation curves that are sinusoidal or triangleshaped, it is very easy to get an unique sounding chorus effect from Spring Reverb.
A whole range of added control can be accessed with Extended Features. Please see the separate "Extended Features" manual for more information.
Peter Möller – Research and mathematical modeling
Torkel Svensson – Research and mechanical analysis
Oscar Öberg – Modeling and implementation
Torsten Gatu – Framework programming
Niklas Odelholm – Framework programming and graphic design
Arvid Rosén – Framework programming
Ulf Ekelöf – 3D rendering and graphics