Reverb is the reflection of a sound wave that can be difficult to distinguish from the original sound. It occurs in groups and can change over time. Good acoustics enhance reverb, while poor acoustics can distort sound. Reverb can be built into music and used to create sustained notes. Echoes are similar but have a time delay.
A reverb is a reflection of a sound wave that reaches the listener’s ear so quickly that they have difficulty distinguishing between the reverb and the original sound. Reverberations also usually occur in groups, and over time, the nature of the sound can change as the sound wave degrades. One of the best examples of reverb can be experienced while singing in the shower; after one stops singing, the sound can still be heard as the sound waves echo around the shower and are gradually absorbed.
People experience reverb nearly every time they hear a sound, even though they may not be aware of it. Sound waves rarely travel in a straight line to the listener’s ear from the origin. Instead, they bounce. In a room, for example, someone standing directly in front of a loudspeaker will hear sound from a loudspeaker, but will also experience reverberations as sound waves traveling at different angles bounce around the room, reflecting off walls, furniture, and other people.
In a space that is said to have “good acoustics,” the space has been carefully designed to bring out the best reverb qualities without highlighting some of the worst. Spaces with poor acoustics have spatial layouts and designs that tend to make sound muddy and weak, or that amplify sound. Both sound distortions can be uncomfortable or painful to the ear, making the space unsuitable for musical performances and sometimes unpleasant for occasional use, such as in an art gallery where sound collects and amplifies, making the openings extremely loud art galleries with loud overlapping chatter.
Some reverbs are also built into the music. Recording studios are specifically designed to create the ideal level of reverb and devices can be fitted to instruments to change the level of ‘reverb’ as it is known. Reverb can be used to create the effect of a sustained note or sound when the original sound is actually quite short, or to play with a sound as the wave degrades.
Echoes are not the same thing as reverbs, although the two concepts are very similar. Echoes are also reflected, but people experience a significant time delay when they hear an echo, experiencing the original sound, a break, and then an echo. The echoes can occur multiple times as the sound travels through a space and reflects, but they do not blend together to fool the listener’s ear into thinking that a single sustained sound is occurring.
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