Waves Abbey Road Reverb Plates | No stone unturned review

[@DJmallninja]

Woody, you are my hero and your passion for music production is my spirit animal. Lifetime subscriber earned.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

much appreciated!

[@musicalmike9735]

Fascinating video. Sometimes people just flick the effect on in a demonstration video with ideal settings rather than play around with it first or show it in isolation. It's more useful seeing someone experiment with a plug-in in much the same way I would if I had it in front of me. Even if it's got its quirks, it sounds like the plug-in is a good deal, even if its just kept in reserve. These days I prefer plate reverb to other types on guitar. Shows how tastes can change. Maybe it's a case of "it's not the 80s/90s anymore". I remember reading about a member of Pearl Jam saying he'd love to be able to take the reverb off the mix of Ten now. In fact, I didn't think I'd ever use reverb again on guitar until I started experimenting with plate emulations. Incidentally, that multitrack sounds interesting. Thanks for the link. I'll sign up for the thingy and download it myself in a moment. When I first started recording, as a teenager, I had a recorder but there was no way I could afford digital reverb. However, I'd heard about Chess Studios using a tiled bathroom for reverb. So, what I did is I cleared out the fitted wardrobe at the side of my bedroom and put my little practice amp on one side with a microphone hanging down from above. This was for recording the guitar, I never got as far as using it as a send/return loop for other tracks. Obviously, it worked as an isolation chamber as well to an extent, handy when you live with your mum. I seem to remember it sounded quite good for certain things and better than a completely dry room sound. Back in those days, (about 1994) you were desperate for even basic effects. Recently I got a little Zoom multifx with dozens of high quality effects for 45 pounds.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

thanks for the thoughtful comment, btw don't sign up, the tracks are also downloadable here for educational purposes: www.cambridge-mt.com/ms-mtk.htm That's a great story about your studio bathroom and the wardrobe!

[@machiwoomiapoo]

Sounds great! I love Roland's SRV-2000 and the Boss RV-5 reverb units, but now I have the eventide Space which is sublime. That Abbey Road reverb is pretty sweet! Great video. Keep up the great work. Take care, Sam.

[@machine3865]

I build a plate reverb with a road sign and 2 piezo mic ones.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

respect! i have the coolest viewers :)

[@nihonam]

show us

[@machine3865]

just for you : kzbin.info/www/bejne/iYW2fWuod86JbpI

[@Byronic19134]

@@machine3865 Boss!

[@machine3865]

@@Byronic19134 Ha ha ha. ;)

[@Byronic19134]

I do notice the hiss I think its def a function of having it 100% wet. Try using the drive and analog knobs theyll provide saturation to mask it and dampening should help. But most reverbs will do this at extreme settings using a desser afterwards helps plus a notch cut eq in the 2k to 5k range

[@WoodyPianoShack]

thanks for the comment and the tips vincent!

[@XavierRadix]

Wow Woody, great video! I really am enjoying the sound of this plugin.. I will have to try it out soon, since I love plate reverbs. Yes, I do indeed here a little bit of distortion on the sibilance. But I think that adds a bit of character to the reverb, plus you'll never really notice it in a full mix. You can probably remove this by adding an EQ before the reverb, and remove a bit of the top-end of the frequency spectrum, around the 9k/10k hz. Adding a EQ after the reverb, or tweaking the EQ on the reverb plugin itself, won't really help because it's the input that the reverb is getting, that's making the sibilance distort.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

hi xavier, I think your suggested workaround might help, thanks! actually, i did hear the distortion in the full mix which I why I started isolating the separate tracks and poking around, that's when I had the idea to make a video about it. :)

[@deepfriedcarplips5497]

Great episode, Woody! The vocal definitely has an unpleasant metallic sizzle. The drums sound amazing, though. Very interesting VST!

[@WoodyPianoShack]

i wasn't really hearing a sizzle, more like clipping, even though my levels were ok.

[@mikerimi3092]

Tnx 4 tips Woody

[@echofoxxtrot52]

I did hear the distortion on the sibilence, which to me, sounded like a characteristic of the algorithm. TBH, I liked the tracks better without the reverb altogether...call me weird. Of the two reverbs, I liked the Valhalla sound better. Thanks, so much for this video. The background was very enlightening!

[@WoodyPianoShack]

I agree, those tracks were so well performed and recorded, they sounded pretty great as they were. I need to play some ambient synth pads through the undamped plate setting.

[@labarone8910]

Excellent video Woody and it is with sincere regret that after listening to it I have to accept I will never be a recording engineer because quite truthfully, I found most of the Waves plate examples to be harsh on my ears (except perhaps, the drums) and the vocal was in keeping with that perception. The Valhalla reverb on the other hand, sounded 'sweeter' in the vocals in my humble opinion. Thanks for the review, more like this please. I always wondered if today's bedroom turntablists actually understood the origin of the term 'plate reverb' and now, thanks to you, they can.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

thanks for sharing your opinion! you know I never understood what a plate reverb actually was, even though i've been using that setting for decades on synths and effects. For some reason I assumed the plates were circular. perhaps some are...

[@eddie341]

Sure makes the piano sound heavenly 😇

[@kryme]

Hey Woody! First of all let me thank you for your videos, always a great pleasure to watch and very informative! For the sibilance issue you could try a DeEsser plugin, there's also one by waves called "DeEsser" ;) and it's also on sale right at this moment :). One last question: what are the demo tracks you used for this demo? I kinda like it :). Thanks and keep up the good work!

[@WoodyPianoShack]

thx for the advice, links in the description

[@demofactory]

Hi Woody. Thanks for the great documentary-tutorial-review of the Abbey Road Plates!!! I was wondering: do you need an I-loc to install Waves plug ins into Reaper?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

no no, you just need to install waves central software to manage licenses, it's quite convenient.

[@demofactory]

Thanks for the info. I've been wanting to explore Waves' inventory of plug ins for a long time... especially, since they've been having sales and dropping prices. Take care, and happy holidays friend!!!

[@kariciu32]

Have you tried running the project at a higher sample rate?

[@MacXpert74]

I was wondering if the distortion was not simply coming from pushing the signal to hard. The 'analog' VU meters were fully in the Red throughout most of it. Taken that the analog nature of the original equipment is modeled, peaking it like that might cause a mild overdrive/distortion in the signal. And as said by others, a de-esser should take care of the sibilance.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

ignore the VU meters, they are calibrated at -18 db, meaning when the VU meter shows 0, there is still 18 db of headroom. It's a bit deceptive, but irrelevant. the important thing to watch is the meters in the plugin, and although the signal is hot, it's below clipping. But I wondered the same as you, repeated the test off camera using peak levels around -20db, same issue. thanks for the suggestion!

[@MacXpert74]

Ah, okay that makes sense. I guess it's just the character of the beast then.

[@Grinder-one]

Woody, you're far too wet ! :P I know you're being extreme for demo reasons but, reverb really has to be applied sparingly at all times. Think of the Wet/Dry control as a long corridor between the vocal booth and the echo chamber.....a 50% mix will place the user half way along this corridore....not good. The sibilance probably is in the original recording and is being amplified by the plate and a de-esser should be considered or do what I do, use a very narrow band of 'ReaEQ' with high gain and search out the offending frequency, before pulling the gain down to -20 etc. A great video as always Woody, thanks for uploading.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

thanks for the suggestion! i'll try putting a de-esser before the verb, yeah, I really wanted you to hear the verb, but I think synths would sound quite nice with high mix of this verb, something else to try.

[@Byronic19134]

I disagree completely. I like my verbs soaking wet just drenched and dripping of lush early reflections

[@JayTheLane]

If you go wetter it's going to sound that way bro this is a very good analogue modeller hence the tone etc. Nice track by the way Woody 👍🏻

[@marstudios7879]

Can you please make a tutorial using Trueverb from Waves plugin. Thank you. Great tutorial.

[@WoodyPianoShack]

thanks for the request, i'm not sure if I want to do another reverb review tho...

[@ginises83]

Good demo , good reverb software .... personally i use Vahallashimmer

[@SeleniumGlow]

Great video Woody. For the "sh" sounds becoming unpleasant, that can be capped or toned down with a desser filter as far as I know.

[@Byronic19134]

First off thanks for actually showing the power of this verb and putting the settings dripping wet. Nothing worse then somebody demoing a reverb at like 15% wet like...just stop. Its not a mixing demo its a reverb one. And 2 I been looking for a reverb that is as lush as the Eventide 2016 thats cheaper and I think i found it i love these plates.

[@shoominati23]

The were huge units physically, like you wouldn't want one in a house. But they came out with a smaller, digital unit in about 1978. But if you ever get the chance to hear a real one in action, do it, it makes the most brilliant ethereal sound from a guitar. The EMT 250 and 251, although solid state, are still just as good as the old physical plate reverbs in my opinion.. Don't expect much change from $10000 US though.. Those plugins don't do it justice unfoirtunately.

[@UPPERKELLER]

Do you know what dry wet means?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

only for the weather forecast ;)

[@UPPERKELLER]

@@WoodyPianoShack thats what i thought😁😁😁😁

[@FrancisMaxino]

Plate reverb should only be lightly applied if at all. Personally I have never liked the metallic and 'enclosed' nature of 'plate' style reverbs.The 'sibilance' you refer to is due to the fact that the combined reverb and dry mix appear to be clipping way into the red off the scale according to the vu level that I can see. Other than that if you don't like the 'hissiness' of the s's just take down the really high tops a little bit in your global EQ for the vocals...

[@WoodyPianoShack]

thanks for pointing that out francis, actually the vu meter is calibrated to read 0 at -18db, misleading but still plenty of headroom before any clipping occurs. i'll try your eq suggestion, cheers.

[@cresshead]

sounds ok not really for me though..i'd be looking for a yamaha spx90 VST for some early reflection and gate reverb for my 80's sound!

[@TCKe]

All old gear has disadvantages that why we moved away from using it in the first place. People tend to forget that and glorify old stuff, it's has usually more character than modern gear but that's all... and many times I prefer the feel and sonic quality of its defects

[@tarungmusic]

Awesome video!!! I've been listening to lots of music recorded at the iconic studios and I enjoyed this video!! How about trying a Pink Floyd song in the next keyboard demo?? Perhaps in an arranger demo?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

thx for the request!

[@ViperKillerWannabe]

Yeah I'd really like to hear you try the keyboard part of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond."

[@maduroholdings]

Sounds nice on the whole mix and the piano and guitar individually Didn’t like the drums and thought the vocal was a little washed

[@call_me_stan5887]

Oh... that's the example of where too much is just too much ;) But I think it was to show the difference BIG TIME, right?

[@WoodyPianoShack]

i want you to really hear the effect of course! :)

[@wizards001]

Why in the F do these feedback? And is there an off switch other than turning it off

[@funkmachine6420]

Really enjoyed this video, liking the branching out into different studio topics. But I will say that this has got to be the worst reverb plugin I've ever heard haha! Everything sounded better without it!

[@StefanoPapaleo-TS]

Have you tried the filters? You have a 4.5 K high cut in the Valhalla, that is why you don't hear sizzling. Try filtering out the high frequencies either with the buil-in filter or with a De-esser. And keep your levels cold:)) Always EQ your verb. Some pro tips from Owsinski and Pensado: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmevaqKFeaaabMk

[@WoodyPianoShack]

thx stefano for the tips! i deliberately put the high cut into valhalla to match with the quite dull sound of the plates. i could de-ess or eq the vocals before feeding into the plates plugin but I think it should handle a clean and nicely recorded vocal track without modification.

[@StefanoPapaleo-TS]

You're welcome. Find the offending frequencies (a dya you have nothing better to do) and try to find/recreate other sounds/vocals in that range and compare the different reverbs with as smiliar settings as possible, play around and draw your conclusions. It is a nice song. Ready for Paris? Cheerio!

[@blue.sunset]

Reverb too bad. The best reverbs are those that don´t sound metallic but rather natural. I don´t like metal reverbs.

[@ronnyb5890]

omg terrible reverb plugin, it sounds destorted, even when the distorsion dials are zero, i use nektar 2 for voice, fruity reeverb 2, oracle and 2 free ones, ambience and epicverb works realy good these ones, no need for others

[@JayTheLane]

I get you but if you go super wet you will get breakup.

[@nichttuntun3364]

What do you expect from that technique? To sound like a real cathedrale reverberation? Such tools are amazing for sound-design and secret weapons in the mix. There is nothing better for mixing with distortion and saturation. Listening to them out of context does make no sense. The plugin sounds awesome (yet "terrible" on its own) to me. So to say awesomely terrible good :) Have fun.