So I've heard that the AMS RMX 16 reverb was used on some of my favorite mid- to late-80's recordings to get those bright reverb tones and especially those gated snare reverb tones that I'm so guiltily enamored with. Example:
The AMS RMX 16 is extremely rare and expensive. Anyone know alternative reverbs from the same era or immediately following eras that can achieve a similar effect? Any in-the-box plugins that attempt to emulate this?
Please, no disparaging comments on how cheesy and tasteless 80's R&B and gated reverbs are. I already know that half the planet hates this era and its production techniques. Many thanks!
Any effect processor (hardware or software) that has gated reverb algorithm (also called "non-linear") will do it -
alternatively, you can use a drum machine or drum sample that already has it built-in . One more method is to take a drum sample, apply long reverb, and chop its tail in your DAW / editor
And if you want to do it old school... use a reverb and a gate!
Yeah, no need to over think it... Get a nice, big hall reverb setting with good sounding early reflections, and gate the tail off it. You will have to dial in the right threshold on the gate, a job that's made easier with a good drummer in control of dynamics.
So I've heard that the AMS RMX 16 reverb was used on some of my favorite mid- to late-80's recordings to get those bright reverb tones and especially those gated snare reverb tones that I'm so guiltily enamored with. Example:
The AMS RMX 16 is extremely rare and expensive. Anyone know alternative reverbs from the same era or immediately following eras that can achieve a similar effect? Any in-the-box plugins that attempt to emulate this?
Please, no disparaging comments on how cheesy and tasteless 80's R&B and gated reverbs are. I already know that half the planet hates this era and its production techniques. Many thanks!
are you sure thatr is a ams in this recording? sounds more like a roland srv 2000 to me
are you sure thatr is a ams in this recording? sounds more like a roland srv 2000 to me
I'm not 100% that's what is heard on this song in particular, but David Frank of The System has written that Chris Lord Alge used an AMS on some of The System's recordings. Might not be on this particular System track. That's the second time I've heard a reference to the SRV 2000! Already bidding on one
I'm not 100% that's what is heard on this song in particular, but David Frank of The System has written that Chris Lord Alge used an AMS on some of The System's recordings. Might not be on this particular System track. That's the second time I've heard a reference to the SRV 2000! Already bidding on one
wont regret it.. for the sounds it can do still a great sounding unit.
The snare on this song is from Led Zeppelin "When the Levee Breaks". Sounds like most of the ambience is from the original recording. There's probably also some digital reverb on it, but it's more subtle.
Led Zeppelin don't get the credit for being New Jack Swing pioneers, but I think there's just a racial element at play there unfortunately.
The snare on this song is from Led Zeppelin "When the Levee Breaks". Sounds like most of the ambience is from the original recording. There's probably also some digital reverb on it, but it's more subtle.
Led Zeppelin don't get the credit for being New Jack Swing pioneers, but I think there's just a racial element at play there unfortunately.
Wow, thanks for identifying the sample! Hmm... good to know that the reverb on the snare is mostly natural. Not sure about the strength of the racial element. My bet would be that sample library compilers in the time before rigorous copyright law were less than fastidious in giving credit to their sources, like whoever surreptitiously recorded the famous ORCH5 preset on the Fairlight, which was taken from Stravinsky's Firebird then made into an electro funk motif. I just don't think people knew where the sounds came from. My guess would be that David Frank (a white guy, lol) probably just found this snare sample in a popular library and ran with it.
The snare on this song is from Led Zeppelin "When the Levee Breaks". Sounds like most of the ambience is from the original recording. There's probably also some digital reverb on it, but it's more subtle.
Led Zeppelin don't get the credit for being New Jack Swing pioneers, but I think there's just a racial element at play there unfortunately.
Roland SRV2000. Still kicking myself for selling that a couple of years ago.
It was made for dialing in a gated reverb. great control on the front panel, and with some secret button pushes it could be truned into a digital delay.
i\ll try to dig out some old stuff that features it
like whoever surreptitiously recorded the famous ORCH5 preset on the Fairlight.
That was Ensoniq with the Mirage Sampler, they (The Ensoniq Team took the Fairlight Library and coded it) they did not sample it w/ the Ensoniq Mirage 12 bit Sampler, though Ensoniq did make out that all the Mirage Sounds were like this, and that your DIY Samples would be as well, when in fact the Mirage needed special software to sample!....Still..... People bought this $900 Buck Sampler thinking all sounds would be the same, even the one's you sampled yourself....that was a HUGE RIP OFF!
In the 80s? Well there were two legendary machines for that.
AMS RMX16 and Roland SRV-2000.
Buy tip: The SRV-2000 is even today a nice reverb unit and totally underrated. It's very cheap today (around 300$), but when it came out it was a 2.500$ unit.
I generally use my dirt cheap Yamaha DMP11 for big 80's gated reverb, the symphonic effect is quite nice too, all the effects are SPX90-based i believe, married to an 8 channel mono mixer
I got mine for about £20 as it needed a battery change and the rehearsal studio i bought it from had no clue what to do with it, but i've seen some on ebay for £50-£70. It's a little grainy on some effects but definately 80's and it certainly looks the part! Now if i could just find a cheap TX816 to sit on top of it...
The AMS RMX 16 is extremely rare and expensive. Anyone know alternative reverbs from the same era or immediately following eras that can achieve a similar effect? Any in-the-box plugins that attempt to emulate this?
Well it's not rare at all, expensive yes. You are talking about the Non-lin algorithm so I would definitely recommend the Klark Teknik DN780 as an alternative.
The DN780 also has the Non-lin program and one called 'alive' which is similar but brighter.
As an owner of both machines, I actually think the DN780 sounds better(subjective I know)..but for the job you mention I certainly use it a lot more.
Well it's not rare at all, expensive yes. You are talking about the Non-lin algorithm so I would definitely recommend the Klark Teknik DN780 as an alternative.
The DN780 also has the Non-lin program and one called 'alive' which is similar but brighter. As an owner of both machines, I actually think the DN780 sounds better(subjective I know)..but for the job you mention I certainly use it a lot more.
Agreed, I pulled the trigger on a DN780 w/Remote v2.1 Software & Midi, though when I spoke to KT, they said no one fixed these old girls anymore, that using the front panel w/ o remote was cryptic and that only David Kulka might fix it.....So I got out of Klark Teknik Land quick as! Shame....as the Non Lin sounds great, though so does the Non Lin on a DSP-4000 Eventide!
I've had fun using a saturated snare going thru Eventide Omnipressor. The expander/gate function cuts the snare pretty nicely and Omnipressor itself adds some dirty saturation. Could put reverb before or after the omnipressor too.
Yeap......Omnipressor is a sheer bit of madness kit, if they remade those, they would be the next LA2A for sure.....no Idea what Eventide are doing save junky pedals...they used to be so much more, you can use VSIG and get an Omnipressor from a 4000/7000/7500/8000 etc.....not the real deal....though for an hour spent twisting Vsig, well worth it, the expansion/compression on low level (Making them high gain) signals is simply brilliant!
I worked with some albums, not as sound engineer but first as musician and later on as producer, during the heydays of the AMS RMX 16 before we could afford (and had the knowledge) to get our own studio. Remember it as a really nice reverb. And those huge gated snares, yes we made them of course
Have not made any gated reverbs for decades, I need to do that right now...
I generally use my dirt cheap Yamaha DMP11 for big 80's gated reverb, the symphonic effect is quite nice too, all the effects are SPX90-based i believe, married to an 8 channel mono mixer
I got mine for about £20 as it needed a battery change and the rehearsal studio i bought it from had no clue what to do with it, but i've seen some on ebay for £50-£70. It's a little grainy on some effects but definately 80's and it certainly looks the part! Now if i could just find a cheap TX816 to sit on top of it...
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