Low End Candy has announced Preverb, offered as the first plug-in to realise reverse reverb in real time by putting a reverb swell before a sound instead of after it.
Reverse reverb – a reverb that swells in towards the sound instead of trailing after it – is an effect that has stood the test of time but for many years has required printing a reverb tail, reversing the audio and nudging it back into place before every drop. It is a staple of professional vocal and electronic music production, but the process is slow, destructive and almost impossible to tweak once it has been bounced.
‘I’ve reversed reverb tails by hand on hundreds of records – bouncing, flipping and lining them back up before the drop,’ says Low End Candy founder, Beau McLeod (aka Bohemyth). ‘It works, but it kills your flow. I built Preverb so that whole ritual disappears.’
Available as an AU and VST3 plug-in for all major DAWs on macOS and Windows, Preverb works on bass, drums, effects, risers, synths, transitions, vocals and full mixes. But because it reacts ahead of the transient, everything it creates stays in key and in time with the track as the user’s own audio – not a third-party sample.
Factory presets putting the available Hall, Room, Plate, Cathedral, Ambience and Spring Reverb Character to good use are available to help users quickly get going with Preverb, though they can create and save their own, making use of the one-click init and A/B Compare functionality. Further features include Pitch and Formant controls to shift the reverb’s pitch and formant independently – or link them for natural, chipmunk-free transposition – with dedicated controls for Length, Mix, Shape, Tone and Gap Additionally combining to ensure that the swell crests exactly as the sound hits.
Preverb is available to buy as a 64-bit AU or VST3 plug-in for macOS (10.13 or later), and Windows (10 or later) for US$49 one-time purchase, lifetime licence and instant download.