How viable is the bathroom as a musical space? Is it a useful model for audio engineers who look for unique ways to affect parts of a song? Are tile-and-tub reverbs capable of colouring a voice? * Before we go any further, let me be clear on what reverb actually is. ‘Reverberation” occurs when a sound is reflected so many times that no single discontinuous repeat of the source sound is heard. Or, as Peter Doyle states, “when the reflective surfaces are too near the listener to allow the subjective aural separation between the source and its reflection (as in, say, a tiled bathroom)”. 3 Doyle also says that reverberation does much to define what we perceive as timbre, volume and sound colouration, and it largely determines our perception of directionality and nearness. The amount of reverb is directly related to the size of the room; bigger means more space for sound to bounce, therefore a longer lasting resonance. In a live setting, this is typically something that is to be avoided, as it is hard to control the length and intensity of a naturally reverberated note without electronic means. However, the digital reverbs that are in use these days have all kinds of knobs and buttons to replicate the sound of, ironically, a naturally reverberant hall. In the case of the bathroom, reverb and the attraction to make music in it, is a by-product of the unique characteristics of the tiled floors and walls, the porcelain or fibreglas tub, the shower curtain and drywall ceiling, all of which combine to create both a place to get clean and a nice little vocal booth. As if that weren’t enough impetus to experiment musically, the humidity and moisture in the air during a shower (unless its a cold one) help to loosen and keep vocal chords and larynx muscles warm which makes it easier to sing for a while 4 and to reach certain notes or pitch. No wonder we all feel a little more inclined to belt out a tune; the air is primed for it. * The vocal sounds that are produced (at least when I’m singing in the shower, and definitely NOT in terms of quality) remind me of melodies on old records that I grew up with and grew into learning about later on in pursuit of musical knowledge and exposure. I became a lifelong fan of Sam Cooke from an early age as my father held him in high regard and had most of his records. One of my favourites since childhood, ‘Win Your Love For Me’, recorded in 1958, is an example of how reverb as an effect has an effect on a vocal performance. If you listen to the background singers, they give a true sense of being in the ‘background’. Before this, most engineers achieved this effect by literally positioning the singers away from the microphone (called ‘off-miking’) to create that sense of depth and distance. But by the 1950’s, engineers had developed instruments to replicate natural reverbs and echoes and were using
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Sam Cooke,‘Win Your Love For Me’
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