Chapter 10: Using Effects
ANDROMEDA A6 REFERENCE MANUAL 219
The Shape parameter controls how the reflections fade out over time. Different
shapes will dictate the shape of the room and the intensity of the attack. The Early
Reflection shapes are diagramed below:
These shapes range from 0, which fades immediately and is good for small rooms, to
2, which builds and then falls to approximate a hall, to 4, which builds up slowly for
a long “bloom” reverb. These shapes can then be scaled using the Spread parameter,
explained below, to better emulate various spaces.
The ELevel parameter controls how loud the early reflections will be compared to the
reverb’s “body”. The Spread parameter scales how close the reflections are to each
other. If Spread is set for 500ms, the last reflection will be 500ms away from the first
and the room will seem larger. Use Spread in conjunction with Shape to define the
character of your reverberant spaces.
Depth
The Depth parameter makes the reverb sound wider and deeper. At 0%, the reverb
sounds like its coming from the speakers and slightly behind. At settings of 60% and
above, the reverb sounds like it’s around you and farther behind the speakers. Use a
low setting for better mono or surround encoding compatibility and higher values
for a huge stereo sound.
Width (Stereo Room only)
This setting simulates the distance between two microphones in a stereo room. When
set to 100%, you get two mono rooms. When set to 0%, you get a mono in, stereo out
room. When set anywhere between these values, a sound which starts on one side
reverberates there then bleeds over to the other side.
Swirl
This parameter is very useful for adding randomness to the decay of a reverb when
set to a low value. When set to a high value, it creates a more dramatic chorusing
effect as the reverb decays.
TIME and DIRECTION (Nonlinear only)
Gating is the process which abruptly cuts off the reverb’s decay for a more “choppy”
sound. This effect was very popular on drums in the ‘80s because it makes them
sound HUGE. It is achieved by dropping the level of the signal very rapidly after the
initial attack making a short, sharp sound. The Nonlinear configuration is
permanently in a gated mode, with the TIME parameter in place of the more typical
DECAY time; other reverbs may be gated using the GATE parameter (typically on
the last parameter page).
The DIR parameter (soft knob 1 of the PARAM2 page) can be set to FORWARD or
REVERSE. In Forward, it's a classic gated sound; in Reverse, it's reversed as if the
reverb were coming from a backwards tape of the input. The Hold Time determines