Reverb

For this lesson, let’s switch to a crisper sound effect with more attack: “Door Close.wav”
This is far too “canned”, too “clean”; let’s add some natural ambience to this sound effect.

• 1. Start by cleaning only the top of the sound effect
  2. Select the entire wave [Cmd + A]

  3. Use the Reverb tool from the Effects menu … Effects > Reverb > Reverb …
     There are other Reverb options here. Each one has its own has different features. “Reverb …” is the simplest, but is still very powerful.
     Be sure to play around with the other reverbs, their presets, and parameters.
     

  4. Select the preset “Room Ambience” and press OK
     While this selection might sound like a lot of reverb over your headphones, it will seem like less reverb when played over a speaker system.
     Often times you’ll want to design “over the top” in your headphones so that it will be heard when played on a speaker system.
     Or better yet, if the opportunity allows, make some of these choices in the actual space over the actual speakers.
     

  5. You should notice that when you play the file, it’s much louder than it was before. In fact, you’ll see on your level meter that the sound “clipped”, or was too loud and lost information. Any time a sound clips, the level meter will leave the peak red. You can simply click on the red part to acknowledge the clipping and make it disappear.
     
  6. Let’s fix the clipping by hitting Undo
  7. The clipping happened because Reverb adds noise to the original sound, so let’s lower the amplification by -6dB
     
  8. Now repeat the Reverb you applied earlier
  9. Now when you play the file, you should notice a second problem. The sound stops abruptly! This is because reverberation “rings out” through the space. Let’s undo the Reverb again, and fix this problem.
  10. You can fix the abrupt stop by adding silence to the end of the file, this will give space at the end of the audio file for the reverb to continue it’s echo. Honestly, I would tell you that any time you apply reverb, you should always allow silence at the end of your selection (whether that’s the full file or a partial selection).
  11. So go to the end of the file and generate 3 seconds of silence.
  12. Repeat the Reverb you applied earlier
  13. Play the file, this sounds much better

Now compare the two versions by using Undo [Cmd + Z] and Redo [Cmd + Shift + Z]