Gated reverb

Gated reverb is an audio processing technique that is applied to recordings of drums (or live sound reinforcement of drums in a PA system) to make the drums sound powerful and "punchy," while keeping the overall mix clean and transparent-sounding. The gated reverb effect, which was most popular in the 1980s, is made using a combination of strong reverb and a noise gate.

Unlike many reverberation or delay effects, the gated reverb effect does not try to emulate any kind of reverb that occurs in nature.

History

The gated reverb effect became highly popular as part of the strongly syncopated sound of 1980s pop, rock and funk. Two early and prominent uses of the effect were associated with Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins and Hugh Padgham: first in the production of the third Peter Gabriel solo album (with drumming on a few tracks by Collins and engineering by Padgham), notably the opening track "Intruder", and half a year later on Collins' hit single "In the Air Tonight", produced by Collins and Padgham.

Phil Collins

Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO (born 30 January 1951), is an English singer, songwriter, musician, producer, actor and author. He is best known as the drummer and lead singer in the rock band Genesis and as a solo artist. Between 1983 and 1990, Collins scored three UK and seven US number-one singles in his solo career. When his work with Genesis, his work with other artists, as well as his solo career is totalled, Collins had more US top 40 singles than any other artist during the 1980s.

Born and raised in London, Collins played drums from the age of five and completed drama school training, which secured him various roles as a child actor. He then pursued a music career, joining Genesis in 1970 as their drummer and becoming lead singer in 1975 following the departure of Peter Gabriel. Collins began a solo career in the 1980s, initially inspired by his marital breakdown and love of soul music, releasing a series of successful albums, including Face Value (1981), No Jacket Required (1985) and ...But Seriously (1989). His most successful singles include "In the Air Tonight", "Against All Odds", "Sussudio" and "Another Day in Paradise", becoming "one of the most successful pop and adult contemporary singers of the '80s and beyond". He also became known for a distinctive gated reverb drum sound on many of his recordings. After leaving Genesis in 1996, Collins pursued various solo projects before a return in 2006 for the Turn It On Again Tour. In 2011, he retired to focus on his family life, but continued to write songs. He announced his return to the music industry in 2015.

Reverberation

Reverberation, in psychoacoustics and acoustics, is the persistence of sound after a sound is produced. A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing a large number of reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is absorbed by the surfaces of objects in the space – which could include furniture, people, and air. This is most noticeable when the sound source stops but the reflections continue, decreasing in amplitude, until they reach zero amplitude.

Reverberation is frequency dependent: the length of the decay, or reverberation time, receives special consideration in the architectural design of spaces which need to have specific reverberation times to achieve optimum performance for their intended activity. In comparison to a distinct echo that is a minimum of 50 to 100 ms after the initial sound, reverberation is the occurrence of reflections that arrive in less than approximately 50 ms. As time passes, the amplitude of the reflections is reduced until it is reduced to zero. Reverberation is not limited to indoor spaces as it exists in forests and other outdoor environments where reflection exists.