How to sample a room and use it as a reverb - Impulse Response Tutorial

In this video I'm turning my kid's room into a reverb I can use in any convolution reverb. This is a quick DIY method that can produce surprisingly good results. I've done this with just an iphone to record with a handclap as the impulse and used it in music projects.
I'm using a Zoom H5 with standard XY condenser mics.
I'm testing different impulse sources and positions, and different mic positions/distances.
Please take note of my mistakes to achieve even better results.
Download the final impulse responses here:
www.dropbox.com/s/vshg2hnzt8i...
This video was sponsored by Skillshare
Free trial of Skillshare: reaperblog.net/skillshare
Thanks for watching!
Subscribe and hit that LIKE button!
Visit The REAPER Blog for many more tips, tricks and tutorials.
reaperblog.net
/ reaperblog
/ thereaperblog
/ reaperblogcommunity
/ thereaperblog

[@TheREAPERBlog]

The first 500 people who click the link will get 2 free months of Skillshare Premium: skl.sh/thereaperblog13

[@AudioReplica2023]

Have you ever worked for Sykes enterprises? You look like someone I worked with before.

[@Ndecline]

Clicketty

[@viridianloom]

You've shared a lot of wisdom throughout the years so I want to return the favor, earplugs my dude

[@DonBernhard]

My first thought, too, after his first comment about how much it hurt.

[@DanUpdegraff]

Closed back headphones can work as an earplug substitute. No need to hook them up, just put them on. ;)

[@SeppieBos]

@@DanUpdegraff the combination of both can really give your ears some rest at loud activities such as festivals without having to leave

[@GASH_one]

Thank you for letting your mistakes in the video, so we don't do the same! This was super helpful!

[@stephenbreitling2327]

excellent video! i never thought about trying this myself at all! probably i won‘t get all the new universal reverb sound this way, but for some unconventional sound effects, this might be a creative way to go to.

[@ryanpeplinski1884]

One of the coolest videos, I’ve seen in a while. Thanks for making.

[@chrismeyers7487]

Wow, this is pure gold! Thank you for this. Probably one of the most valuable tutorials out there. We owe you some drinks for this

[@landongeorge5257]

Thank you so much! Been trying to figure out how to do this for months and you laid it out so well!

[@cazloty25]

great video as always! makes me want to make my own IR's again...

[@TonyBullard]

I think a good demonstration for a use for these impulses would be well recording dialogue. When doing ADR for movies, you often have to take pristine studio audio and make it sound like it was recorded in the street, or a kids bedroom. I think some of your close mic audio running through one of those impulses would have benn pretty interesting for most.

[@ackermaninteractive]

Awesome tutorial - thank you so much!

[@vzm4663]

Super informative and interesting video! I'ma try making my own soon 👏

[@blsemetan7232]

I learned a lot from this video.... Thanks!!!

[@ErikOrchestralTutorials]

Cool, didn't know you could do that! Thanks for sharing

[@angryvaginasfromspace7718]

Dat thumbnail, while being absolutely real and resonable, destroyed me. Good job.

[@mjklein]

Wow, standing waves are very prominent. Cool study, Jon.

[@cmd_f5]

Nice. I remember making IR's several years ago of this little set of laptop speakers. Why? Just something to do and wanted to see how authentic I could get it. Some info that may or may not be useful for capturing speakers: try a sine spike from 10 to 20000 hz instead of the pink noise or whatnot then going into a convolver. You get more brightness that way, perhaps even brrighter than the OG source which could be a problem. Anyway, I hipassed at 100hz to get rid of any unwanted lows and it worked pretty well. I think convolutions have to be one of the coolest finds and creative tools I use. Guitar cabinets, adding warmth to a synth track, sky's the limit. I hope eventually we can get acoustic rattle tech that allows you to capture resonance points and the sound of, say, a speaker cab with a buzzing screw or something. Talk about acoustic simulation madness fun! Cheers man. Take care of those ears, transients all day is no fun lol. Thx for all the great content!

[@jeembojones4194]

>waking up late at night >going thru corridor to the toilet >passing parents room >4:16

[@JackMenhorn]

fantastic stuff

[@dustfs]

impressive! never thought about using an impulse in that way! always thought the click is the only option!

[@BlindLibrary]

Oh no, the Heaven is literally the limit.

[@TadDoylemusic]

You are killing me. Haha! Pure comedy. Thanks for this.

[@teomage978]

sound good thanks

[@PedroGerardo]

I remember some years ago i went into a big local council hall with a speaker and my portable recording equipment capturing that big room. I got kicked as soon i did the first sweep eheheh! Nice one john, people show know this stuff.

[@BlindLibrary]

Scaredy bureaucrats afraid of what software can do... #Sensorship

[@kleinebre]

My understanding is that to exactly replicate the sound of the room for a convolution reverb, you'd essentially need a peak impulse of no more than a sample long. In this instance the belt snap would probably be closest to that. Of course often it is not about achieving a perfect simulation of the room, but to achieve the result that best serves the creative process.

[@DonBernhard]

I did this a couple of years ago in my spacious church. I'm a church musician, so I'm very familiar with the sound of the church. It was very easy to create the reverb file in REAPER and it turned out to be quite authentic to the real room. I used a hand clap then. I may try again with a balloon pop.

[@BlindLibrary]

Say a bigger balloon?

[@tubegeek]

I'm here to learn how to do EXACTLY that!

[@golbeatspro]

Very cool 😊😊😊

[@raindogred]

Pretty cool to know.

[@VanessaFlores]

That belt transported me to my childhood 😬😬😬

[@MadrickIce]

Thank you, Jon's eardrums, for your noble sacrifice.

[@iandwyer6658]

Great vid. Hope to embellish on this for my DSP project. Wouldnt shaping the frequency response with an eq as an ideal rectangle 0 to 22.5khz, or your max, provide that you have a true impulse response given the fourier of an impulse? Im not sure if artifically modifying this would work, but it may be an idea to try to clean it up

[@therealchayd]

I've found that a single spark from a high voltage generator (like the type used in stun-guns) creates what is potentially a good impulse source in it being a sharp and loud (90dB-ish) crack. Just need to find a nice reverb-y space to try it out in.

[@TheREAPERBlog]

Interesting. I think that might interfere with the mic or recorder since high voltage arcing puts out a lot of radio interference. Let me know how it goes!

[@AudioBoi1]

use "recenter" by Boom Library to get perfect centered image of any stereo stuff it works like magic

[@AceDeclan]

Why not just record in mono?

[@h.p.dominocus]

Awesome! Very helpful. I currently have access to an empty garage with extremely high ceilings next door to where I work. May as well try making use of it while I can.

[@TheREAPERBlog]

You can do it! And please share if you get something good :)

[@h.p.dominocus]

@@TheREAPERBlog Thanks.Thinking of posting the entire process even if i fail. Will let you know how it goes.

[@AceDeclan]

The frequency response of the transient will be what the mic picks up on. For truly accurate impulse response, you need a perfectly ‘flat’ impulse sound.

[@DebeshSuvat]

If you combined the first hand clap IR with the first balloon IR and merge with one or two choice transients you can make a unique sounding kick.

[@rist98]

I wonder if the balloon managed to compress the mic. It seems like it might have. Sometimes you defo can get the mic to compress before it electrically goes into clipping. Not exactly certain how, but I have managed to do that when I used a close condencer to record a snare mic. (yes, I did refer to the specs of the mic, but I guess I may have misjudged the snare loudness at that distance)

[@Hello-pl2qe]

I think there was a sws action, normalize to a specified amount, or something like that

[@Brono25]

Is there anywhere you can download impulse responses of various rooms?

[@jaloyang8277]

How much monitor level did you set in the microphone , did you set a limiter? I also wanna try to record some impulse response. As I known, the X-Y microphone of H5 is a condenser microphone. I'm scared of destroying that X-Y.

[@rune288]

Hi John, So I have some outboard gear setup and audio is all passing through as it should, however, I am still getting latency through the reainsert plugin? Any idea what is causing this? I have pushed the ping button and it is coming back as zero latency. Please Help

[@NightPaddle]

Some years ago, there was a selling event in a local music store, and my brother accidentally popped a balloon in the acoustic guitar test room. There were a bunch of acoustic guitars hanging on the wall and they all kind of amplified this popping balloon. Watching this video, I wonder how this room would work for an IR.

[@BlindLibrary]

Keeping in mind that the IR will amplify what's prominent and drop out what's not needed, depending on which guitar it was closest to? That one would have a fair presence in the impulse. If you do something like this again, try to be in the center of the room where hopefully no guitars are) when popping the balloon. Corners or sides give off awkward reflections that may hurt the recording (cause you to hear something you didn't want to hear). HTH?

[@hellopsp180]

I love how you have a Pusheen in your bedroom :D

[@Tomix098]

So what impulse source will be the best? Im thinking of flat studio monitor with a some kind of short sample of pink noise. If someone tried it, please tell how short that would be, what makes a job

[@djabthrash]

18:43 if you're dealing with a large number of files to rename, and whose name should be related to the markers in your session, i suggest everyone to use scripts that create regions for each item (whose name will be based on the marker name preceding each item). I do that when i export drum samples that i cut myself, and it saves me a ton of time.

[@user-tw9pq6ti3h]

djabthrash Brilliant idea, thank you for sharing!

[@djabthrash]

@@user-tw9pq6ti3h My pleasure.

[@Joseph-ot8rc]

Where can I find these scripts?

[@djabthrash]

@@Joseph-ot8rc Reaper actions' menu, and also look out for Reapack and SWS packages

[@WerIstWieJesus]

I think that you need to compare the emittet signal and the recorded signal with some calculation to find the true characteristics of a room. But I may be wrong.

[@didg9566]

Hi! Many thanks for your video really clear and honest, i have just a stupid question... Do you think it would be possible to remove the reverb of a room insead to add it on a dry record. The goal is to reduce acoustic room effects at listening position by this way.

[@sub-jec-tiv]

No this is not possible. What you’re imagining is using some kind of cancelation on a recording containing room reverberation, but that’s impossible.

[@BlindLibrary]

Hate to bum you here: No can do.

[@kryticaldepth5220]

What brand of diffuser is next to you ?.. Thx... Appreciate vids !!

[@TheREAPERBlog]

Acoustics First

[@NihilQuest]

After experimenting with baloons and claps I bought myself a starter revolver with ammunition rated at 102 db. Works much better, you really need this to be loud.

[@kleinebre]

The only trouble is getting rid of the bodies.

[@NihilQuest]

@@kleinebre starter = prop gun. It doesn't actually shoot bullets, just makes noises.

[@BlindLibrary]

@@kleinebre Let the bodies hit the floor?

[@Yanthungbemo]

I was wondering... I use a Focusrite Scarlett Solo which has two outputs: a headphones out on the front and 2 (L/R) outputs on the back which I connect to my speakers. Is there a way to let the metronome+music play through the headphones while the speakers play only the music?

[@TheREAPERBlog]

not on that interface.

[@Yanthungbemo]

@@TheREAPERBlog Oh ok. 😭 I thought the 2 outputs on the back and front accounted for two different output channels.

[@vishalsnayak]

How about using white noise as impulse? Would that give response for the entire frequency spectrum. Please reply...

[@TheREAPERBlog]

You'd need to set up a speaker system and computer for that and at that point there are other more accurate ways to do it. The point of this is to get it done with minimal equipment and effort so you can focus on creative uses. Fun and free

[@NMTCG]

Please dude look after your eardrums! the explosion of a balloon must be over 100dB loud! earplugs are essential for this especially so close! I feel for you :) great as always - one note: I don't think you should balance left/right as you are changing the sound of the room in the stereo field relative to the position. It can be interesting for effect but it wouldn't be a good representation of the room. Also the thing I noticed something the weirdest samples create amazing impulse response :) love your blog big support

[@TheREAPERBlog]

definitely next time. I forgot how loud balloons are

[@BlindLibrary]

Let's see, the Star Wars laser sounds were really just springs across a pickup coil, so imagine that per an IR?

[@KarlGrimmMusic]

Nothing to do with making the actual IR... But at 10:03 you zoomed in on the waveform. I noticed your waveform is shaded under the wave. Is there a setting that makes it do that?

[@TheREAPERBlog]

Preferences, appearance, peaks/waveforms Fill waveforms to zero line

[@KarlGrimmMusic]

Thanks!!! You’re the best! Super cool vid btw! Will definitely try to make some from weird places I travel in the future

[@dawsondavidable]

Thanks, Jon! This would work with a Mono mic, wouldn't it?

[@TheREAPERBlog]

yes, I've done it with an iphone out of necessity. You just won't get a stereo reverb in the end.

[@BlindLibrary]

It will; Only if you want center-channel (or single-channel) impulse responses?

[@Mirandess1]

You can duplicate that track, pan it left rigth and switch phase... it will be stereo?

[@BlindLibrary]

Random thought; if you record this as a true stereo file (yet still mono), in GoldWave (GW) I can choose just one channel to be edited. So on the left side I'll use the Warper preset from the Pan dialog. Now switch over to the right channel; same thing. If you did it right, the file now is definetely in stereo just from one mono recording.

[@barthvapour]

Very useful, but I don't understand what "glueing" is and it's not apparent what that step is or why it's there. I am definitely going to sample my kitchen.

[@TheREAPERBlog]

glue is usually used to merge split audio items into a new file. it can also be used on individual items to create a new file. just a quick way of rendering a sound that doesn't go through the mixer.

[@AceDeclan]

Why not record them in mono?

[@BlindLibrary]

They won't sound the same; They would only apply to the center channel of audio, forcing left and right sides to sound the exact same.

[@andrebeller]

Hahaha was "ow my freakin ears" a Simpsons reference?

[@BlindLibrary]

"Don't have a cow man."

[@travisgulley2652]

If you pop a balloon in a room that is super echoey will your neighbors call the police on you

[@BlindLibrary]

That all depends; if the neighbors do it in the first place. THere are a few places where noise ordinances are in effect, but I highly doubt a balloon pop will bother anyone (lest they thought it sounded like a gunshot).

[@suadcokljat1045]

Earplugs?

[@TheREAPERBlog]

definitely next time

[@DirkArnez]

Going to sample my toilet🤑🤑🤑🤑

[@UkuleleBobbyKemp]

Would it work if I used my girlfriend‘s bare backside? 👋 🍑. - (She has great tone BTW). 😅🤣. Ps. Great video my friend - thanks a lot 🙏🌺🎶

[@MindLightRelaxingMusic]

Thank you very much for this tutorial, awesome! :-)