What reverbs were used in the 1990's?

[seancostello]

I was just listening to some 1996 Squarepusher ("Theme From Ernest Borgnine"), and was really impressed by the reverb sound. Slow attack, modulated decay, sounds great on an SH-101:



I had presumed that this was an Alesis of some sort, as the Alesis verbs (in particular, the Midiverb II and Quadraverb) were very popular with other Warp artists such as Autechre and Aphex Twin, and they were low price. However, I'm not sure if this is what was being used.

A few other candidates for reasonably affordable reverbs in the mid-90's timeframe:

- Lexicon LXP series. Good sound, but no modulation.
- Lexicon PCM70. Really nice sound, has modulation in the Concert Hall algorithm. Probably more expensive than the LXPs at the time (they certainly are pricier than the LXPs nowadays).
- Ensoniq DP/2, DP/4. Good sound, less "refined" than LXP, but modulated reverbs. Hall algorithms probably based on reverse engineered 224XL Concert Hall algorithm.
- Eventide H3000. I have no experience with any Eventides, so I'm not sure what the reverbs sound like on that box. The DSP4000 came out in 1996, so it would be a bit too early for the first Squarepusher album.

Are there any other candidates I am missing for commonly used reverbs in 1990's Warp music? What do people think is being used in the above track? I am working under the presumption that the Lexicon 224XL and 480L were not in the price range to fit in the average musician's bedroom. To put things in perspective, an SH101 was about $200 during the same time frame, an Octave Cat sold for $300, and many of the other analog tools used by musicians of the era were reasonably affordable, so it would make sense that the signal processing being used was not from the highest price ranges.

[soundxplorer]

It sounds kind of gritty to me. Cool sound, but not ultra smooth.
I haven't used enough of the racks mentioned to tell one reverb from the other but I would add the Yamaha SPX90 as another possible candidate.

[CfNorENa]

Originally Posted by seancostello

Ensoniq DP/2, DP/4. Good sound, less "refined" than LXP, but modulated reverbs. Hall algorithms probably based on reverse engineered 224XL Concert Hall algorithm

I'm sure someone else will have an answer for you, but I was wondering if you (or anyone) could shed a little more light on this. I've read versions of this (i.e, DP/4 verbs derived from high-end Lex verbs), but I'm wondering if there's some story behind it. Did some Lex engineers migrate to Ensoniq?

[masstronaut]

Re: Squarepusher - can you see anything in this?

DnB 1996 (LolaDaMusica) part1: Squarepusher - YouTube

Oh hey I was at that Big Chill... when it nearly all blew away.

[rockmanrock]

Could be something really low-end like a Zoom or ART. Muziq used an ART Multiverb LT on the classic Tango N'Vectif. All the gear you listed (even the LXP) was pretty expensive here in the UK.

[masstronaut]

I think you can see where the grit comes from anyway.

[seancostello]

Originally Posted by CfNorENa

I'm sure someone else will have an answer for you, but I was wondering if you (or anyone) could shed a little more light on this. I've read versions of this (i.e, DP/4 verbs derived from high-end Lex verbs), but I'm wondering if there's some story behind it. Did some Lex engineers migrate to Ensoniq?

https://ccrma.stanford.edu/~dattorro/Griesinger.jpg

Jon Dattorro worked at Lexicon in the 1980's, and then moved on to Ensoniq. The story I heard, from another Ensoniq employee at the time, is that the 224XL was reverse engineered at Lexicon, and the algorithms used in the DP/4, DP/2, and products of that generation. The algorithms that Dattorro has published look similar to Lexicon algorithms circa 1984.

I should clarify the above: The Ensoniq engineer, and the Griesinger letter, both refer to the 224. However, the algorithm Dattorro published in the September 1997 JAES doesn't look like anything in the original 224, but does bear a resemblance to algorithms that were introduced in the 224XL.

[xanax]

i'd say midiverb ii or quadra... this guy really nails it on a 202 with a midiverb i which is the most lo-fi of the verb series, i'd grab one if it werent for those horrible rca jacks and the flippy psu, anyways check it out @ 1mn25:



compare on the 101 with a random reverb:

[Shufaroots]

in a interview i read somewhere he was talking about using a eventide "somthing" , wich he would do "dsp programming" (im pretty sure it was called a harmonizer or somthing and to be honest i dont even know what that is, i just remebered it when you mentioned eventide in your post) on , dunno if its relevant , il check if i cant find that interview somewhere..

[seancostello]

Originally Posted by Shufaroots

in a interview i read somewhere he was talking about using a eventide "somthing" , wich he would do "dsp programming" (im pretty sure it was called a harmonizer or somthing and to be honest i dont even know what that is, i just remebered it when you mentioned eventide in your post) on , dunno if its relevant , il check if i cant find that interview somewhere..

I know that Squarepusher used an Eventide DSP4000, and later an Oroville, but both of those came out too late for the "Feed Me Weird Things" album. The Midiverb/MC-202 example up above sounds VERY close, so I wouldn't be surprised if it is an Alesis reverb. Which would imply that a LOT of music that I like uses Alesis reverbs. Which means that I need to hook up my Midiverb II and Quadraverb to the sound interfaces, run some impulses through there, and see how they tick.

[audioconsult]

In the 90´s any reverb available at that time was in use. But what the op describes was probably a lexicon..a 224

lexicon was the big name in the 90´s for reverbs.. used everywhere.
Was a big before but only avaiabel in the highend department, not any studio had one.. But by the 90´s their first generation models had reached the secondhand market on the one side and consumer models was available on the other side.

[audioconsult]

Originally Posted by Shufaroots

in a interview i read somewhere he was talking about using a eventide "somthing" ,

ups i forgot.. eventide h3000 was very popular too..thats right,,any studio had one.. never liked them so much but warm with a lot of modulation would fit the footprint.

[audioconsult]

Originally Posted by seancostello

I am working under the presumption that the Lexicon 224XL and 480L were not in the price range to fit in the average musician's bedroom.

at that time squarepusher was no avarage bedroom musican.. the lable might well payed studiotime for a final mix.. and some former expensive stuff was getting cheaper already..

could be also 2 reverbs send into each other

[masstronaut]

I have a Microverb 4 that someone left with me and I was pleased to discover it has that sound that's familiar from a lot of mid 90s stuff. So I'm prepared to believe it's an Alesis on the track.

And look at the vid. He hadn't sold many records and wasn't at all well known at the time that album was made.

[FRANZ KAFKA]

Originally Posted by xanax

i'd say midiverb ii or quadra... this guy really nails it on a 202 with a midiverb i which is the most lo-fi of the verb series, i'd grab one if it werent for those horrible rca jacks and the flippy psu, anyways check it out @ 1mn25:



compare on the 101 with a random reverb:

Man the Midiverb does some really freaky stuff. You're cheating yourself! ; if you really wanted you could replace them with 1/4 inch.

[seancostello]

Originally Posted by audioconsult

at that time squarepusher was no avarage bedroom musican.. the lable might well payed studiotime for a final mix.. and some former expensive stuff was getting cheaper already..

The Dutch interview linked above shows him at his home studio, and it seems like the effects are printed straight onto the 8 track for the song he was working with.

[seancostello]

Originally Posted by FRANZ KAFKA

Man the Midiverb does some really freaky stuff. You're cheating yourself! ; if you really wanted you could replace them with 1/4 inch.

It really does! I gotta see if my Midiverb II comes close. I paid $39 for it at a local shop.

I've been thinking about the freakiness of the old Alesis stuff. Part of this is probably due to the algorithms themselves, but part of it is undoubtedly linked to the lack of headroom internally. The Midiverb manual cautions against running too much input into the longer reverbs, which implies that this results in clipping. Too much of this is hideous, but a little can result in some cool sounds within the "nodes" of a reverb. Hmmm.....

[xanax]

Yea i know the I is nice, my friend uses one with a x0xb0x and gets really trippy results, but its a fragile unit always in need of repair... I'm also curious to know how the II compares, as it is cheaper/easier to find and has 1/4 inch standard etc..

[Catabolic]

Don't forget the Digitech stuff. Popular with those on a budget and a pretty decent reverb for the time. Still have one and like it for an old-school vibe.

Digitech Studio Quad

[acreil]

It's not visible in any of the interviews or photos that I've seen. It could be a Microverb.

Note also that it's recorded in mono.

I hear a lot of spring reverb on that album too (possibly a guitar amp?). But you can tell from the clicky attacks in the first few seconds that this one is digital.

[jackdamery]

Yamaha SPX-90. Fairly decent sounding late 80s reverb used in early 90s records on Creation records. Also features 'Reverse Reverb' as used by My Bloody Valentine.

[audioconsult]

Originally Posted by acreil

It's not visible in any of the interviews or photos that I've seen. It could be a Microverb.

true... the microverb had one very dominant spacy reverb..

[philait]

It's probably Talking about Stuff thats too recent but there is a great interview in SoundonSound from last year.
Squarepusher (It should be on the Freely available bit of the site by now!)

[raymondwave]

Yamaha REV500 is from the 90's, but not sure which year specifically. I got that sometime early 2000 after getting used to the great reverb of Yamaha 01V mixer which I read was derived from REV500.

[razorblade]

Others were the Yamaha Rev 7, Korg DRV2000 and the Roland SRV2000.