ABSTRACT

This chapter introduces several different algorithms for creating artificial, digital reverberation (reverb). These effects create many delayed repetitions of an input signal to simulate reflections in an acoustic space. The possible algorithms for creating artificial reverb are only limited by an engineer's creativity. Rather than creating artificial reverberation by using convolution with a measured impulse response, algorithmic reverb is based more on the concept of creating successively repeating delays using feedback. A common processing block used in algorithmic reverb is the modulated delay. Compared to convolution reverb, there are advantages to using algorithmic reverb. For some styles of music, the sound of algorithmic reverb has become an essential part of the genre's asthetic. When algorithmic reverbs were originally developed, computers were not able to perform convolution fast enough to make it practical in many situations. This motivated the creation of computationally efficient approaches for simulating reverb.