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Even before all the plug-ins, pedals, plates, and springs we enjoy today, reverb has always been the secret sauce that makes music sound better. From ancient amphitheaters to Renaissance cathedrals and modern concert halls, acoustical reflections have shaped the way we enjoy music for millennia.
But about 100 years ago, something changed. Right around the time that optical and magnetic recording were invented, engineers began experimenting with ways to generate artificial reverb to enhance recordings. Reverb technology evolved slowly at first, starting with simple electro-mechanical devices, then advanced rapidly alongside technological breakthroughs like integrated circuits, computers, and spatial audio.
Today, we’re exploring the history of music’s most popular effect, from the earliest reverb prototypes to classic vintage units and innovative new plug-ins.
The earliest attempts to generate non-acoustical reverb involved transmitting audio signals through metal springs with transducers at both ends. Beginning in the 1930s and continuing to this day, what started as industrial research would turn out to become a defining sound of music.
Bell Labs creates an experimental spring reverberator
The first documented artificial reverb device dates back to Bell Labs’ research on telephone line transmission delay. Bell engineers used metal springs as a small-scale testbed to study the way waves traveled through long telephone lines, using oil to dampen reflections as waves traveled through the springs.
Hammond Organ Company introduces the first reverb effect for music
Laurens Hammond, inventor of the tonewheel organ popularized by jazz, gospel, and rock music, took advantage of Bell’s research and implemented spring reverberators in his early home organ products. These early Hammond reverbs featured two long springs suspended vertically in oil-filled tubes, whose decay time could be adjusted by varying the oil level. Later models would incorporate a more practical “necklace” reverb featuring springs of varying lengths suspended in a U-shape similar to a necklace.
General Electric patents the first echo chamber prototype
A patent credited to GE Engineer William D. Phelps describes a primitive version of what we would now call an echo chamber: a wooden box with a speaker mounted on one side and a microphone on the other. Signals fed into the speaker reverberated around the enclosure, introducing reflections and altering the tone, and the resulting sound was picked up by the microphone to be recorded.
Bill Putnam becomes the first to use an echo chamber in recorded music
The first time the world heard an echo chamber was on the song “Peg o’ My Heart” by the Harmonicats, produced by Bill Putnam of Universal Recording. Putnam re-amped and recorded tracks in a bathroom at his Chicago studio, marking the first use of artificial reverb on a record.
Echo chambers become a staple of recording studios
After Bill Putnam introduced the world to the magic of echo chambers, all the big studios began rushing to build their own. Capitol Records hired Les Paul to help design the trapezoid-shaped chambers in the building’s foundation, Sunset Sound built similar chambers in the studio originally designed for recording Disney soundtracks, Gold Star Studios built a chamber that would later be used by Phil Spector to create his trademark “Wall of Sound,” and even the attic at Motown’s Hitsville USA was used as a chamber.
The following decades saw many advancements in reverb technology, including EMT’s famous plate reverbs, Fender’s iconic reverb amps, and the legendary Roland Space Echo delay/reverb units. This golden age of reverb gave us some of the “wettest” music ever made, including surf rock, dub, and psychedelia.
EMT introduces Model 140 plate reverb
The next major reverb innovation arrived when German company Elektromesstechnik (EMT) developed the EMT 140: the world’s first plate reverb. Instead of sending vibrations through a spring, the EMT 140 featured a magnetic coil driver attached to a nearly eight-foot sheet of steel suspended so it could resonate freely. Another transducer (or two, on the stereo version) picked up the reverberated signal in stereo, and an adjustable damper altered the decay time up to a maximum of about four and a half seconds. The EMT 140 made reverb accessible to studios without chambers, and this classic effect is still coveted by vintage aficionados and replicated in countless plug-ins.
Ampeg introduces the first guitar amp with built-in reverb
Launched in May of 1961, the Ampeg R‑12‑R Reverberocket was the first combo amp to include an onboard spring reverb tank, giving guitarists easy access to reverb for the first time.
Fender introduces standalone spring reverb unit
The uninspiringly named Fender Reverb Unit housed a dual-spring tank with Dwell, Tone, and Mixer controls and a tube amplification stage. Though not as convenient as the Reverberocket, the Fender Reverb Unit had the flexibility advantage, as it could be used with amps, PA systems, or as an insert effect in the studio.
Fender introduces Vibroverb and Twin Reverb combo amps
Fender quickly followed up with its own reverb amps: first the Vibroverb and then the Twin Reverb. The Fender Twin Reverb became especially popular, being used by artists as diverse as Stevie Ray Vaughan and Radiohead.
AKG introduces BX20 dual spring reverb
Featuring two fully independent spring reverb tanks suspended in one enclosure, the AKG BX20 remains one of the most unique electromechanical reverb devices ever made. Tank A was voiced slightly warmer and Tank B slightly brighter, and they could be used in series or parallel, giving engineers more options than ever. Some models even included a remote control unit for adjusting reverb from the console.
Roland combines echo and reverb in the RE-200
Before it evolved into the iconic Space Echo, the original Roland RE-200 was the first tape delay unit to include built-in reverb, taking the already psychedelic sound of tape echo to new heights of trippiness.
Analog reverb will always have a special sound, but as soon as digital audio emerged, someone was destined to make a digital reverb. While the earliest units sounded pretty rough around the edges compared to their analog counterparts, the technology matured quickly and delivered sounds that no hardware reverb could produce.
EMT introduces the first digital reverb
The revolutionary EMT 250 was the first reverb device to generate artificial reflections using only ones and zeroes. Powered by a 12-bit/24 kHz processor, the EMT offered not only reverb but also delay, phaser, chorus, echo, and “space” effects. Parameters were adjusted by physical levers, including reverb decay times ranging from 0.6 to 4.5 seconds.
Lexicon 224 introduced
Not long after EMT introduced the world to digital reverb, the company behind the first digital delay (the Lexicon Gotham Delta T-101 from 1971) developed its own. Announced at the 1978 AES convention and officially released in 1979, the Lexicon 224 offered a more refined sound, eight preset algorithms to choose from, and a handy remote controller with six sliders for detailed parameter tweaking. Lexicon continued to improve its algorithms with the 224X and 224XL, convincing the music industry that digital reverb could sound just as lush as analog and even more realistic.
Peter Gabriel becomes the first artist to use gated reverb
Everyone knows gated reverb as the sound of the ‘80s, and it all started in a 1979 session for Peter Gabriel’s third solo album. While recording Phil Collins on the drums, engineer Hugh Padgham noticed that the SSL console’s Listen Mic Compressor would open after a snare hit but clamp down on the signal before the tail finished ringing out. Ever the innovator, Gabriel decided to recreate the effect for the song “Intruder,” released in 1980. Soon after that, Collins would use the same effect on “In The Air Tonight,” the song most people associate with over-the-top ‘80s drum sounds.
AMS introduces the RMX16 programmable digital reverb
Another early innovator in digital reverb was Advanced Music Systems (AMS), a British company that would later be merged with Neve to create AMS Neve. The iconic AMS RMX16 evolved from the DMX15R, an add-on to the AMS DMX 15-80S digital delay and the first digital reverb to use microprocessor technology. In 2020, AMS Neve brought this classic back in 500 Series format with all the original ‘80s algorithms and more (including Non-Lin 2, the digital version of the Peter Gabriel/Phil Collins gated reverb).
Eventide introduces the SP2016 modular digital reverb
In 1982, Eventide upped the ante again with the SP2016, a unique digital reverb processor featuring interchangeable ROM chips. Technically qualifying as the world’s first reverb plug-ins, these chips could be physically swapped out to load the unit with different algorithms.
Alesis makes digital reverb affordable
Alesis is widely known for making studio effects accessible for home recording with products like the 3630 compressor, famously used by Daft Punk, but it all started with reverb. With the original Alesis XT Reverb, and later the Midiverb, Microverb, and Quadraverb lines, Alesis brought reverb to the masses, artifacts and all.
BOSS introduces the first reverb guitar pedal
By the late ‘80s, DSP chips had finally gotten small enough that a reverb effect could be put into stompbox form. The BOSS RV-2 Digital Reverb featured six algorithms with adjustable decay time, wet/dry blend, pre-EQ, and stereo outputs, giving guitarists a palette of sounds that would have been unimaginable just a decade before.
TC Electronic introduces M3000 digital reverb with VSS
Multi-effects powerhouse TC Electronic had a major hit with the M3000, a standalone stereo reverb featuring Virtual Space Simulation (VSS) technology. VSS algorithms excelled at simulating realistic early reflections, making the M3000 a popular choice for post-production studios.
As digital audio began to take over the music industry, reverb technology became exponentially more advanced in a short period. Convolution reverb made it possible to turn any space into a virtual echo chamber, DSP modeling made legendary hardware accessible in plug-in form, and spatial audio technology gave rise to mind-blowing immersive reverb.
Sony introduces the first convolution reverb
The Sony DRE S777 Sampling Reverb introduced the concept of convolution reverb: the ability to sample the acoustics of a physical space and turn it into a digital reverb algorithm. The 2U rack unit featured a CD-ROM drive for loading samples, a memory card slot for saving and loading patches, and a faux wood front panel with chrome accents that screams late ‘90s.
Audio Ease introduces Altiverb convolution reverb plug-in
Altiverb brought convolution processing to the DAW world, becoming a favorite tool of post-production studios. With a variety of pre-loaded impulse responses and the ability to load your own, Altiverb made it easier than ever to reamp any sound through any room or speaker, all without taking your hand off the mouse.
Universal Audio introduces analog reverb modeling
Almost 50 years after Bill Putnam made reverb history with his bathroom echo chamber, his company released the UAD Plate 140, a highly authentic plug-in modeled from three vintage EMT 140s at The Plant Studios. Two years later, UAD released the first officially licensed analog reverb model, the UAD EMT 250.
ValhallaDSP founded
Founded by husband/wife duo Sean and Kristin Costello, ValhallaDSP changed the game by focusing on simple, high-quality plug-ins and straightforward pricing. Popular products like Valhalla Room, Valhalla Plate, Valhalla Vintage Verb, and Valhalla Supermassive are all available for a flat $50 with no bundles, no sales, and no upgrade fees.
Exponential Audio founded
Founded by former Lexicon algorithm designer Michael Carnes, Exponential Audio introduced advanced algorithmic reverbs that rivaled the realism of convolution while providing greater flexibility. Plug-ins such as PhoenixVerb, R2, and Stratus became so popular for post-production that Exponential Audio was eventually acquired by iZotope, which was in turn acquired by Native Instruments.
The latest advances in reverb include immersive plug-ins like Eventide Blackhole Immersive, iZotope Aurora, FabFilter Pro‑R 2, and Inspirata. Compatible with immersive formats like Dolby Atmos and Ambisonics, this new class of reverb offers a true spatial experience with potential for greater realism and creative options than ever.
Looking to the future, artificial intelligence is poised to become the next big innovation in reverb technology. Products like iZotope Neoverb are already using AI to generate completely custom reverb algorithms, and the same technology makes it possible to remove reverb from recordings with remarkably few artifacts. We can only guess at what comes next, but one thing’s for sure: even after a century of innovation, reverb never gets old.
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