Reverberator

Reverberator 

a device used to artificially create the effect of reverberation, which is utilized chiefly in program production in radio and wired broadcasting, in the production of the sound accompaniment for television programs, and during sound recording.

An electric signal that carries the sound information is fed to the input of a reverberator. The reverberator adds this original signal to a series of electric signals having decreasing amplitudes, which carry the same information but are delayed with respect to the original signal. Reverberation time is determined by the desired sound characteristics; usually it is within the range 0.8–1.5 sec to 5–8 sec. The output signal from a reverberator passes to the sound-reproducing or sound-recording device. As a rule, the sound produced by a reverberator is close in quality to the natural sound.

The most common types of reverberators are magnetic, sheet, and spring reverberators. In a magnetic reverberator a series of delayed impulses is created by means of a ring-shaped medium that moves at a constant speed; the input signal is recorded on this medium, which can be a magnetic drum or magnetic tape glued into a ring. In a sheet reverberator the element in which the signals are delayed is a freely suspended steel sheet; flexural oscillations are produced within the sheet and reflected from its edges. In a spring reverberator the element that delays the signal consists of one or more spiral springs in which torsional oscillations are produced.

Ambiophones are special magnetic reverberators that are used to improve the acoustics of various enclosures. In enclosures where sound is rapidly absorbed, the reflection of sound from ceilings and walls can be simulated electroacoustically by ambiophones, which also create close to optimum listening conditions.

REFERENCES

Dreizen, I. G. Sistemy elektronnogo upravleniia akustikoi zalov i radioveshchatel’nykh studii. Moscow, 1967.
Koziurenko, Iu. I. Iskusstvennaia reverberalsiia. Moscow, 1970.

N. T. MOLODAIA and L. Z. PAPERNOV