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DIY "IKEA Hack" Plate Reverb. Sub $100.

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  • Опубликовано: 15 авг 2024
  • Watch Leo make a surprisingly good-sounding and "playable" plate reverb using an IKEA shelf and some basic electronics. It's a quick build that costs less than $100 in parts!
    NOTE: This is a super-hacky prototype I made quickly as a proof-of-concept. It sounds nice, but there are several things that I will improve as time goes on, so keep an eye out for that (I'll post updates here).
    Here are the parts I used. In case anyone is wondering, I am not endorsed or compensated by IKEA (or anyone else).
    IKEA Bror Legs ($16): www.ikea.com/u...
    IKEA Bror Shelves -- you need two of these ($17 x 2):
    www.ikea.com/u...
    A transducer (there are many options; here is what I used):
    www.electrokit...
    Two piezo pickups (again, many options; here is what I used):
    www.electrokit...
    There is a lot more research I would like to do with the selection of transducer and pickups (and probably a lot of other things). If you build one of these or have made your own plate reverb in the past, please feel free to share your valuable wisdom in the comments!
    If you enjoy these videos please consider supporting this channel on Patreon! Even a $1 a month goes a long way :)
    www.patreon.com/leomakes

Комментарии • 581

  • @RogerSullivanNOLA
    @RogerSullivanNOLA 5 лет назад +575

    What are your reverb settings? Two towels and a box.

  • @fishypaw
    @fishypaw 5 лет назад +215

    Not only a cool project to do but teaches what plate reverb is, more or less. Nice one.

  • @kickpublishing
    @kickpublishing 4 года назад +86

    The beauty of this video is that if there's a nuclear holocaust and we need to rebuild society we at least now know how to recreate Motown - and that's no bad thing

    • @comradekirilov3483
      @comradekirilov3483 4 года назад

      Lol

    • @lh485208
      @lh485208 3 года назад +1

      Lol whelp...

    • @AndreasDelleske
      @AndreasDelleske 3 года назад

      Only that everything will be noisy from the radiation..

    • @trendingverge
      @trendingverge 2 года назад

      @@AndreasDelleske ever heard of a Radiation blanket.

    • @cleverhardy5230
      @cleverhardy5230 2 года назад

      @@trendingverge None of that will matter. There won't be electricity that we have relied on, and the music we make might as well be given to aliens as post-war generations will die of radiation exposure.

  • @stephenbaldassarre2289
    @stephenbaldassarre2289 5 лет назад +62

    I built a plate a few years ago. It will sound a little better if you use 26AWG sheet metal and suspend it with wire. It should be under tension and have a fair amount of distance between the sheet and the shelf below it. You may need to cut down the corners to make room for the suspension. Great experiment. Thanks for sharing! BTW, if you want to play with your current hardware more, sand off the paint, use longer spacers and use only three, placed randomly. Patterns are your enemy in acoustics.

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад +23

      You're absolutely right about using 3 spacers in random orientation to avoid regular patterns and acoustic nodes in the plate. That's a brilliant thought and I can't believe I didn't think of that. Your other observations are on point too.

    • @stephenbaldassarre2289
      @stephenbaldassarre2289 5 лет назад +18

      @@LeoMakes Heh, I get lucky sometimes. I actually had a client ask if he could buy my plate off of me. Mine was 26AWG 3'X5' suspended in a wooden frame. I put a styrene board in the frame to act as a damper with a pull-string to control the spacing. I used piezo pickups at first but got quieter operation with a couple omni condensers later. Any way, keep experimenting. I would love to see what your final version is like!

    • @stephenbaldassarre2289
      @stephenbaldassarre2289 5 лет назад +13

      BTW, your video inspired a huge discussion within the AMPEX E-mail group!

    • @robertgodhard3248
      @robertgodhard3248 Год назад +4

      Built 4×8' in wooden frame years ago.
      Suspended from ceiling.EQ'send/
      returns,in a another room,as they
      (as u know)will pick-up ambient
      sounds.
      Thing sounded great,EQ send .
      frequencies that were "harsh",EQ
      return(and plate)shaped overall
      sound.Much tweaking to dial it
      all in.
      An engineer said that if the plate
      was isolated and properly suspended
      in airtight enclosure,and pumped
      out w/vacuum pump(obviously not
      a complete vacuum) that it wouldn't
      pick up any ambient sound,as sound
      can't travel through vacuum.
      The plate,heavy guage sheet metal,
      is now the floor in bed of old truck!
      I've fooled around w/smaller and
      thinner sheet steel w/good results.
      However plate needs to be under
      more tension that thicker steel.
      Using 2×4' thin guage (28-32g)
      suspended w/Multiple stiff springs,
      (at least 8)in oak frame sound really
      good.I need to install nylon grommets
      into plate to eliminate minor "buzz"
      from metal to metal contact.
      Then suspend that apparatus
      in an enclosure and pump it
      down to "near"vacuum.
      That being said,I've used some
      softer steel that sounds even
      better that the harder stuff.
      Then my friend suggested that
      since being in a near vacuum
      enclosure,why not 2,or 3,or MORE
      units in same box!Wow -good advice
      again,as u can't have to many
      reverbs!
      Don't have the spare cash to do
      this now,and don't have space
      for a studio either,so it goes
      on back burner for now.
      I use good 4"speaker,carefully cut
      out dust cap,glue in hollow cardboard
      tube(fits in cavity behind dust cap).
      Then trim to just touch plate,and
      glue using urethane sealant.
      Pick-ups?Acoustic instrument
      Pick-ups work great for this.
      2×4 frame covered w/osb
      plywood seals unit up pretty good,
      although heavy,this also adds support
      to framework.Spings?short heavy
      springs w/hooked ends,2 on each
      corner,90 degree apart.Use eyebolts
      not screws as they will pull out.
      Suspend unit in another frame or
      from ceiling.This makes the unit
      Level,which is important.
      After hanging unit w/plywood on
      backside,then install speaker/tube
      on face of middle section of front
      plywood(front is in 3 sections).
      I've found that point of attachment
      of tube to plate to be 2-4" off center,to
      be ideal.
      Transducers in line w/each other at both ends of plate 4 to 6" from edge also ideal,as you don't want them
      to be out of phase.
      Cut the lows(100 and below)
      Cut the highs (3k and above)
      going to the plate as a good
      starting point.A cheap graphic
      or similar w/any old amp to
      drive plate is fine.
      Since transducers(pick-ups)
      are high-z, I soldered 1/4"
      Jack to them and plug into low-z
      transformers,and then to
      balanced Mic cables,then
      into mixing desk using
      EQ on board to make
      final tweaks.
      A drill and $200.00 bucks and
      you will have a Quality sounding
      plate reverb that can deliver
      astounding sound.
      If you want to "dampen"it(shorten
      decay) Install a t-nut on front panel w/
      long bolt(1/4" diameter or so) attached
      to 3×3"or so cube of soft foam rubber.
      Use urethane sealant(calk) to fasten
      to end of bolt.Then simply adjust
      to shorten decay.Place this
      apparatus on either left or right
      panel so contact w/plate is 4"
      or so from a corner.This is not
      critical,but u want it close to
      the edge,not anywhere in Middle
      area.It will barely contact surface
      to dramatically shorten decay.
      This set-up will give 3 seconds
      or more decay,so this little
      thumb screw deal works
      great.
      After dust cap is trimmed off
      speaker then get appropriate
      diameter tube(hobbie supplies)
      Steel can be had from various
      suppliers,such as McMaster Carr,
      or sheet metal shop.Springs
      from M Carr or the like.Small
      flat "L brackets for corners
      at hardware store.Fasten
      one on each corner w/ thin
      rubber,or sealant under them
      to prevent "rattles".The springs
      hook into these,after mounted
      w/small bolts to plate and drilled.
      As mentioned,nylon grommets
      are highly recommended.Springs
      can be hooked right into plate, but
      Will tear metal after time,as we're
      talking about 50lb or more of
      spring tension(tension it takes
      to expand springs,and there will
      be over 400lb's pull on plate.
      Get steel,springs,eye bolts,washers,
      brackets first,then make frame,etc.
      An alternative is to use 8 small
      turnbuckels,and high grade ones.
      That's what I used on my first
      plate,and worked great,though
      8 heavy coil springs are better
      and contribute to a better
      sound.The original plates
      we're hung in steel frames
      as they (most of them)had
      so much tension they would
      have collapsed a wood frame.
      I prefer wood frames/springs as
      they contribute to a smooth sound .
      The original plates were "tuned"
      (like an instrument!) to the users
      preference,and also very expensive.
      I felt it necessary to give these
      guidelines which yours truly
      learned from many,many hours
      of trial and error.
      An if I get into the right situation
      again,several of these units will
      be quickly put together and put
      into service.
      The sound to my ears surpasses
      their digital counterparts.
      They sound great on vocals,
      stringed instruments,etc,but
      really shine on percussion
      stuff.
      Analog tape and gear and
      good mic's can't be beat in my
      opinion.Digital stuff is best
      for mix-down and mastering.
      Analog tape has a natural compression
      when driven(and distortion!)and like
      plates,tube limiters and such cannot
      be equalled with algorithms
      and unlimited tracks.

    • @nainportekel6431
      @nainportekel6431 Месяц назад

      @@robertgodhard3248 Tyvm for all those very sharp technical tips on the REAL thing (the ikea funny thing is nice too and easy, tho).
      Very interesting, keeping it all, if one of those days...
      Just one thing : wouldn't it be better to NOT enter xformer directly from piezo ? I've seen other designs doing so but ... Wouldn't it be better to first plug piezo (very short wires) to very hi-z ( 2M, 5M or even more) FET buffer ? This is usualy the way it's done for acoustic instruments, isn't it ?
      Piezo are so weak and prone to noise catching...

  • @TheMirolab
    @TheMirolab 5 лет назад +49

    You actually already own the ideal piezo preamp... right there in your rack! The Great River preamp's Hi-Z input is a JFET buffered DI that feeds its input transformer. The input impedance is 1 MEG, and it's ideal for passive piezo pickups. I put piezo pickups in all kinds of things and it sounds great. I have long thought of building a plate similar to what you did. I'm glad to hear that it works so well. You should also play with the location of the plate support knobs. It will change the vibrational nodes of the plate. Great video!

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад +18

      Good eye! I got that MP2-NV maybe 10-12 years ago straight from the man himself, Dan Kennedy at Great River Electronics. It is glorious. Magnificent, even. It most certainly would work for me but I'm trying to do this project with lower-cost options that the average home gamer might have or can build. Good recommendation, though!

    • @sleepintheheat
      @sleepintheheat 5 лет назад +1

      What would happen if you put rubber pads under the plate support knobs to further isolate the plate from the chassis? I would also put it on wheels so that you can wheel it around the studio to modulate the effect if you so wish?

    • @willb3698
      @willb3698 5 лет назад

      1 Meg is not "ideal for Piezo's". It is too low.

  • @josephyarzebinski9585
    @josephyarzebinski9585 5 лет назад +125

    I’d like to hear what it would sound like to run a 2x speed signal through the plate reverb. Then, of course, you’d slow the recording back down. It would probably sound like a much bigger plate, but who knows.

    • @javiceres
      @javiceres 5 лет назад +7

      Joseph Yarzebinski That’s a really creative idea!!
      Thanks for giving me some hope un the human race :-)

    • @ianbaxter8299
      @ianbaxter8299 5 лет назад +8

      Back in the 70s , a firm of architects used something like that to deduce the sound of real concert halls from using quite small models. Of course doing it whilst hitting your plate/spring with a small screwdriver gives rise to the whole gamut of Star Wars blaster sounds!

    • @jorgepeterbarton
      @jorgepeterbarton 5 лет назад +2

      i think so. My impulse reverb has that option for sounding longer and works well (add a hipass though)

    • @Kryptonice34
      @Kryptonice34 5 лет назад +1

      @@ianbaxter8299 unrelated, but if you take a metal slinky, and put the ends over yours ears and shake it it sounds just like the star wars blasters.

    • @kjell159
      @kjell159 4 года назад

      @@javiceres *species

  • @Katzekaze
    @Katzekaze 5 лет назад +15

    4:28 oh...it's Ulrich's snare in St. Anger!

  • @dat_chip
    @dat_chip 5 лет назад +18

    The result is really pleasing to listen to, especially on the synths. It really sounds kind of "physical". I'd love to hear it on saxophone or someone singing.

    • @jorgepeterbarton
      @jorgepeterbarton 5 лет назад

      synths and drums are a lot more forgiving for lofi reverbs

  • @MakeSomething
    @MakeSomething 5 лет назад +7

    This was so cool to watch! As a DIY'r, CNC'r and musician this spoke to me on many levels. Looking forward to more!

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад

      Your channel and craftsmanship are incredible. Thank you!

  • @sansaratech
    @sansaratech 4 года назад +5

    Reminds me of when I was a kid and I used to sing in front of the wall heater in the bathroom. The electric one with the spring coils.

  • @RemyRAD
    @RemyRAD 5 лет назад +16

    Damn. Ya beat me, to the punch. Bravo!
    I'm a studio owner. I've had a pair of EMT plate reverbs over the years. And boy oh boy, do I miss them. No digital anything can compare.
    And so it had been my intention. To take a metal double frame bed frame. Weld it, solid. Add some, reinforcement braces. The piezoelectric buzzers are all right. Though I think a, Barcus Barry or a, FRAP, Might be more advantageous?
    And then a, 4 x 6 foot piece of, stainless steel sheet metal. Double reinforced at each one of the corners. Let it get me the extended reverb time and greater density that I desire.
    One other thing you missed. Is that, on the driver side. A rather large treble boost a.k.a. preemphasis of the high frequencies is added. Which, frequently kicks up this, sizzling sound. Which some people love. Like myself. Others hate it. Some scorn it. I embrace it and love it. It's definitely the audible clue. You got a real plate reverb.
    The problems EMT had, manufacturing their, 140 series plate reverb's. Was twofold. One is that of their, cold rolled steel. Having about a, 60% rejection ratio. I know. That's almost unbelievable. And if the Germans can't make decent, cold rolled sheet metal steel? Who the hell can? Which is one of the arguments for, stainless steel.
    Conversely. The cold rolled steel. When you opened up the EMT plate to properly tension it. Everyone found this horrible sticky stuff. All over the sheet metal on both sides. So nasty, sticky that it was. Many technicians cleaned it off. And that's a big whoops. As that was covered in, kneetsfoot, oil. To keep the cold rolled steel from rusting like an old car. And some were destroyed in that fashion. While others still sounded great. If they were lucky?
    Reverb time was varied with, basically, rigid fiberglass ceiling tiles. Glued,, to a backing. Suspended with, levers. That moved the ceiling tiles closer to or away from the plate. To vary the reverb time. Never making contact with the physical plate. And was truly an amazing invention created by Dr. Kuhl, in 1958. It changed the world. As today. All digitally synthesized reverbs. All try to imitate the plate. And really none can compare. Until you spend between $5000 and $15,000.
    So this was a great project you presented! I'm in love with you LOL. I mean a better sounding reverb than a, digital gizmo for $100. That's absolutely brilliant! And is quite usable sounding. I'm just spoiled having had the real things. So, I have to have a big one. Yes I am one of those kinds of girls. But that definitely is one great bargain!
    Mx. Remy Ann David
    TheTruckStudio.com

    • @hoboroadie
      @hoboroadie 5 лет назад +1

      Thanks for the tip. I was thinking carbon steel would ring better than stainless but that rust would bodge up the reverberations, neets foot oil it is! Also knowing they used acoustic tile on the dampening- I've been trying to engineer how to keep a felt piece from touching the plate and rigid tile is a fabulous solution. Looking to start assembly in the near future. 😸

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад +2

      Very interesting observations--thanks for that. I didn't know about the oil coating on the plate, but it does make sense. It's incredible how quickly uncoated, ungalvanized, or otherwise unprocessed steel starts to rust. Part of the reason I went with the "tabletop" form factor was that I didn't have a good solution to the "ceiling tiles suspended with levers" thing that I would otherwise need to build. Plus it's fun to physically dampen the plate with your hands. But it is something I want to look into as a next step.
      Thanks for watching!

    • @TheStarBlack
      @TheStarBlack 5 лет назад +1

      Dude what punctuation language are you using?! Cos it sure ain't English!

  • @craigjones2195
    @craigjones2195 5 лет назад +2

    I've wanted someone to do a video exactly like this for a while. I really needed a good recommendation for the output transducer and the amp build instructions. I'll find amp builds somewhere, but everything about this video was super helpful. Thank you.

  • @seanhornibrook
    @seanhornibrook 5 лет назад +2

    Awesome - I'm totally building one of these. From my experiments with piezos - the bigger the better. The larger surface will pick up lower frequencies, which you can roll off in post if you want. Also - get some thin foam rubber and make little squares to put in the corners - try to float it off the frame instead of the lower shelf basically.
    Man and you could have multiple plates -- one with springs stretched across or sympathetic resonating strings or something... yeah I'm a make one of these.

  • @Catandbeats
    @Catandbeats 5 лет назад +8

    immediately subscribed. This is absolutely brilliant. When you get around updating everything and optimise it an all in package of electronics would be amazing to straight up buy

  • @77advanced
    @77advanced 5 лет назад +174

    Nice! Your channel is like look mum no computer on sedative))

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад +26

      Ha! I love that guy's channel (and his experiments) but I have no idea how he gets that much energy.

    • @DivKid
      @DivKid 5 лет назад +4

      haha

    • @SeattleScotty
      @SeattleScotty 5 лет назад +9

      @@LeoMakes I get tired of channels with too much energy lol. Your magic snap is wonderful as well!

    • @greatmateworkshop9764
      @greatmateworkshop9764 5 лет назад +1

      Ahahah

    • @seanrimada8571
      @seanrimada8571 5 лет назад

      77advanced sedatives. fuk dat

  • @BeauStephenson
    @BeauStephenson 5 лет назад +1

    I keep seeing in the comments "you need to do this" "you need to make sure that" "it would be better if." Honestly, when it comes to cool effects, you don't have to do anything but what is available to you. The effect from this plate is really really cool on its own and is something I could totally see in a couple of mixes I'm working on right now.

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад +1

      Thanks for the kind words, Beau! I really don't mind the suggestions, though. I think it's kinda cool that people are engaging with the video so much. I was worried it was going to be crickets in the comments section... :)

  • @robertpierce4069
    @robertpierce4069 5 лет назад +1

    Been doing something similar to this for a few years, just using a vibration speaker and contact mics (as well as other mics) to pass sounds through a selection of household objects (tables, tins, boxes, bathtubs, etc). I wasn't specifically aiming to create reverb so much as add some timbral variation in a nicely hands-on kinda way,. For me any reverb is just a bonus! Top tip; try covering the 'plate' with dried lentils to add distortion.

  • @SlightlyNasty
    @SlightlyNasty 5 лет назад +10

    I did something very similar recently with one of those stamped-steel CD towers you used to see everywhere - put a contact driver on the bottom of the tower and piezos at the top, and built a little box with an LM380 driver circuit and a pair of simple piezo preamps (FET into TL072) to run it all. Because it's a column it has some pretty prominent resonances but it's very fun to incorporate into complicated pedal setups with feedback and so on. I should really do a little video about it at some point.

  • @davewebb3847
    @davewebb3847 4 месяца назад

    Very cool. As a fan of both reverb and Ikea, I must try this.

  • @desaturated6049
    @desaturated6049 4 года назад +1

    RUclips recommend me this and I dunno why. But this is one of the best recommendation hands down!

  • @howardanderson3061
    @howardanderson3061 5 лет назад

    Super cool, the DIY aspect of this Reverb is so creative....
    The fact that you now have a "real World" analogue reverb Brings life to digital sound.
    It sounds wonderful, very inspirational and I might just a stab at making one.
    Thanks for sharing

  • @urbsurbisf
    @urbsurbisf 5 лет назад +5

    Agreeing with the comments I'll just add that the googly eyes on the vacuum tube are also a nice touch :)
    Cheers

  • @royschwaben9646
    @royschwaben9646 5 лет назад +7

    Love the idea and dirty, hands on prototyping. Awesome.
    "real" studio plates are normally a stiffer oversized frame and the plate is tensioned tightly in at least eight places. Often has gussets welded on corners to improve strength since sheet is so thin. And, of course, the plate is bigger.
    All that may be overkill on a cheap fast project like this. Depends how much effort you wanna throw at it.
    But the tensioned in-line, free floating concept would affect how the plate shakes vs. resting on four corners. If you feel like experimenting.

    • @jupjuck
      @jupjuck 5 лет назад

      Tell us more detroitfunk!!

    • @royschwaben9646
      @royschwaben9646 5 лет назад

      I'm also curious on specs, because plates were patented by EMT before the label was created and all through its heyday.
      There's no way they bought a commercial unit smaller than this vid example. It didn't exist. The old EMT units are about as big as a sheet of plywood.
      So while I won't say you're *wrong*, I will say if they had a smaller unit then they built it themselves...much like this video guy. And that has a fair possibility of being right. Many studio of that era were built by hand one piece at a time, often by hacking up old radio or telephone equipment. If they needed something then they made it.
      Idk if that's true in this case. But maybe.

    • @royschwaben9646
      @royschwaben9646 5 лет назад

      To me those recordings definitely sound like a regular EMT.

  • @DivKid
    @DivKid 5 лет назад +64

    This is excellent! Loved it. Would love to see an update in the future as I imagine you'll be tweaking this a fair bit. Sounded great already almost resonator like, some EQ would be interesting to take that prominent hump out.

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад +3

      Thanks Ben! Yeah, I'll definitely be improving things and updating viewers when I am on to something good...

    • @dustincassidy
      @dustincassidy 5 лет назад +2

      DivKidVideo hey I like your appearances on Sonic Talk. Funny to see you here.

    • @userPrehistoricman
      @userPrehistoricman 5 лет назад

      Do real plate reverbs take out the resonance with EQ? I thought it was more of a mechanical thing

    • @jamesshultz3190
      @jamesshultz3190 5 лет назад +1

      As with any instrument, I would shelve off with eq, another cool trick is frequency dependent compression, whereas, a 1/3 octave equalizer is side chained into compressor, trigger source optional......

    • @joaocarvalho1424
      @joaocarvalho1424 3 года назад +1

      @@userPrehistoricman your question is legit! that is the main goal about audio. Acoustic problems = Acoustic solutions / Electrical problems =Electrical solutions. But sometimes companies tend to hide those problems by any means.

  • @CarlStreet
    @CarlStreet 5 лет назад +1

    Well paced, excellent scripting and explanatory images, great audio -- WELL DONE!

  • @frankwyatt1982
    @frankwyatt1982 4 года назад

    really a wonderful project leo. never realized a plate was that simple. it sounds fine and those freqs not wanted can always be eq'd away and manually damped to your desire. thanks a bunch.

  • @xNELVKALEN
    @xNELVKALEN 5 лет назад

    Sick! Looks a-lot more fun then just turning the Damp knob.

  • @seanrimada8571
    @seanrimada8571 5 лет назад

    This is Genius. Can’t think of all the possibilities for this device.

  • @jwstout007
    @jwstout007 5 лет назад

    This is the kind of audio mad sience-ery I enjoy! Yeusss!!! Keep up the great work!

  • @lucasweisman3046
    @lucasweisman3046 5 лет назад +2

    I was expecting this to sound very bad, but it actually sounded pretty good!

  • @typeer
    @typeer 5 лет назад

    i never 100% understood how a plate reverb worked until this. ty ty

  • @daccrowell4776
    @daccrowell4776 5 лет назад +3

    I suppose I'm one of those few people with an actual plate (PTI Ecoplate II) in their at-home studio. I love the sound, though...on higher-pitched sounds with rapid transients (snares, toms, electronic percussion, blips and such) is where it really comes alive. But a couple of things came to mind watching this video that you might try. First of all, the Ecoplate (and most stereo plates) has a different configuration of transducer and pickups. Instead of the config shown, try this: place the transducer at one end of the rectangle, equidistant from the three edges of the plate. Then mount the pickups in a similar way at the other end, with the stereo pair an equal distance apart from their distances to the edges on that end in sort of an equal-sided trapezoidal configuration to the corners. What this does is it treats the plate as a 'room', with the 'player' at one end and the two ears of the 'listener' at the other. In fact, that's actually what's going on inside the plate; the edges of the plate act like walls in a room, allowing for a two-dimensional version of a space with very reflective walls, and the sound goes through the early and late reflections as it rebounds around within the edges. It'll have a much better stereo image this way, a longer undamped time, and will give you a lot more flexibility in time variation via mechanical damping.
    Another thing to keep in mind is that the 'plate' doesn't have to be flat. The Siemens studio for electronic music in Munich used steel mesh suspended inside a cabinet, but the mesh was coiled into a spiral which allowed a much larger amount of reverberant media to fit into a compact space. You can see this thing (the studio is now in the Deutsches Museum in Munich) at www.electricalaudio.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=28005 alongside some pics of other electronic studio gear of the 1950s and 60s from the same studio.
    One final thing you might also find interesting is this book: www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415996090/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0 Nicolas Collins was a student of Alvin Lucier's at Wesleyan, currently the chair of the sound department at the Chicago Art Institute. Both Lucier and Collins focussed heavily on electromechanical systems in music, and this book, Handmade Electronic Music: The Art of Hardware Hacking, is a great idea-book for all sorts of electroacoustic tinkering.

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад +1

      Fantastic tips and great book recommendation. I had never heard of the Siemens studio reverb before and it was very cool to read about it.
      I had to record some Lucier (and Helmut Lachenmann) pieces when I was in college and--at the time--the music made me want to punch the nearest contemporary/modern composer in the face. But as the years went by, I started to hate the music less and even appreciate it bits of it. It's weird and subversive. These days, I actually find myself enjoying some of those more "challenging" pieces of music, but only in small doses.
      Thanks for watching!

    • @daccrowell4776
      @daccrowell4776 5 лет назад

      @@LeoMakes Can't blame you for wanting to do some 'five finger critique' on typical academic composers of that time. I suppose that growing up in Nashville tempered out a lot of the serialist wonk in my case, even though I did go through that same sort of thing. But my profs could see the handwriting on the wall and knew that the whole "New Tonality" thing was under way, so I got to experiment with both the academic wonk style and the post-modern (for lack of a better term) directions and see which worked better. And recalling Nashville, that brings up another truly wild reverb technique...
      Way back in the 1980s, Treasure Island Recorders had an adjustable _chamber_. Yep...you could change the T60 times in a free space! How this worked was really amazing: they'd taken a small room-sized space, lined that with glazed tile...in fact, you'd mistake it for a largish shower if it wasn't for the strange presence of a waterproof transducer and two hydrophones. These would dangle under the surface of the water, the level of which could be raised and lowered to adjust the time needed from a second-ish up to several seconds. The T60 response curve was really smooth, too; water can transfer sonic energy more effectively than air, and coupled with the faster speed of sound in water, this made for a chamber that could rival even the famous Capitol Studios chambers. Plus, the frequency response of both the transducer and hydrophones fell off greatly below about 200-300 Hz, which kept the boomier bass signals out by design. Might make for another interesting DIY reverb project later on!

  • @emmanueldubecq6848
    @emmanueldubecq6848 5 лет назад +2

    There may be less distortion if the transducer is stuck or clipped to the plate.
    You could also try a pre-emphasis filter before the plate and post-emphasis after to see how it sounds. It can be done in the DAW. I suggest to lower the lows and boost the highs with shelf filters, and the opposite after the reverb.

  • @copheart
    @copheart 4 года назад +5

    Awesome stuff Leo. I work for Tape Op magazine and saw this featured last year but I didn't remember to watch it until now.

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  4 года назад

      I love Tape Op! Both the magazine and podcast are amazing. It's an honor for me to be mentioned there!

  • @marcotronic
    @marcotronic 5 лет назад +8

    Awesome :) I never really knew how a plate reverb works! :)

  • @joachimekermann8267
    @joachimekermann8267 5 лет назад +23

    Wow, how cool is that? We need some IRs :D

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад +5

      Hey Joachim! I've captured them from this plate. I'll make them for the updated plate (which I'm working on now) and post them all so people can compare them.

  • @michaelcaplin8969
    @michaelcaplin8969 9 дней назад

    I mean, if you actually got a plate that sounds good, I bet this would sound just as nice as the nicest EMT 140's around. I've heard one being tapped by a finger in real life, and the sound of just that acoustic finger tap in the room with it not hooked up was BEAUTIFUL. Very full and complex. So if you can find a much bigger plate that sounds something like the real plates they used back in the day (should be possible to make or at least find cheaply), you should be getting the exact same sound, even though you wouldn't be able to tune it the way you did the old ones, unless you built a little mechanical system for that, or even did it manually.

  • @KarlSimonOscarFrisk
    @KarlSimonOscarFrisk 5 лет назад

    THIS IS AMAZING! I've been wanting to to this for so long, but I've never realized it was this simple! Thanks IKEA, and thank you Leo!

  • @CJGausvik
    @CJGausvik 3 года назад +1

    I like this project! I may have to build something similar. Thanks for doing this video!!!
    I immediately had a couple ideas on improvements...
    #1 on the mics, shield them as close to the mics as possible to get rid of that hum - if you HAVE to have any unshielded wire, twist them together (twisted pair reduces noise). You also might try adding a ground wire to the plate to shield one side - OR you could attach the mic between the plates (on the under-side of the plate), and ground both the plate and the frame to add additional shielding. It won't get it all, but it should get some/most...
    #2 I would take a sander to the surface of that "plate" to get rid of the finish. You may get better high frequency without that black finish - the down side to that is that it may rust or oxidize, so you may have to replace the heavy finish with a really light lacquer or gun oil.
    #3 Speaking of frequencies, a tone setting or graphic EQ on that driver amp may be a good thing as well.
    #4 You probably already know that placement of the driver affects the sound, move it around to find the "sweet spots" and mark them. (do the same with the mics)
    #5 because the drive is held in place by gravity, this type of set up need not be "ferrous" (iron or steel) - plates of different materials may be interesting to try - Aluminum, brass, or even plastic
    Again, this was a wonderful video and a great idea, thanks for the inspiration!!!

  • @elektro-peter1954
    @elektro-peter1954 5 лет назад +1

    About the hum problem: You could try using differential audio inputs for the piezzos. Use a shielded cable, and leave the shield unconnected at the plate side. Connect the piezzo to the two wires of the differential pair.That should cut down on the hum. I love this project - it's so simple and sounds amazing!

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад

      Good recommendation. I'll be trying this and a few other approaches to see what works best.

  • @RikMaxSpeed
    @RikMaxSpeed 5 лет назад +14

    Brilliant project. I wish there was a small piece of ready-made kit out there with a transducer and two piezo microphones that you could simply attach to any object! KickStarter anyone?

    • @SeattleScotty
      @SeattleScotty 5 лет назад

      I would guess you can find all of those things on an electronics supply website and order them all together.

    • @javiceres
      @javiceres 5 лет назад +3

      Rik MaxSpeed That’d be really nice. I’try with car hoods and big traffic signs to start with...

    • @Evildandalo
      @Evildandalo 5 лет назад

      Javig * I think you just gave me an idea for the stop sign in my yard

  • @DoYouKnowWhoKnew
    @DoYouKnowWhoKnew 5 лет назад

    First time in a long time youtube recommended something like this, was smiling throughout the entire thing! amazing vid! thank you!

  • @MMMM-sv1lk
    @MMMM-sv1lk 5 лет назад +1

    Great video... I would EQ the reverb signal, there seems to be a dominant frequency in there, around 1 or 2 K ... while it is a characteristic of most spring and plate reverbs to have such resonant peaks smothing it down could give a much smoother reverd. Well props to you well done...

  • @undefinednull
    @undefinednull 5 лет назад +5

    Wow Leo.. great idea! It sounds amazing!

  • @EmanuelFrias
    @EmanuelFrias 5 лет назад

    Wow.. That's such a fun and useful project! It's great to have your own adjustable and unique plate reverb. Thanks for sharing this with us!

  • @hannuback
    @hannuback 5 лет назад

    Nice! I'm getting so many ideas from this and reading the comments... I just remembered I have a small steel sheet in my basement storage, some old junk left behind by someone. I wasn't sure what to do with it, but it's still there, probably waiting to be turned into a reverb.

  • @JMLRecording
    @JMLRecording 5 лет назад +1

    coolest video on RUclips? Got my vote. Only way to improve this would be, use an angle grinder to cut the legs like a hot knife to butter bro. You can even round and clean the rough edges once you cut them and then spray them black with a nice paint like Belton Molotow craft paint. Other additional ideas for this project: You can also use aircraft paint stripper to get that black paint off the top plate so it can resonate properly. That Ikea paint is deadening the ability of the soundwaves to travel quite a bit. It will sound way better without that think coat of powedercoat on it and should be a very easy strip. You may need to lightly treat it to keep from flash rusting if its not stainless. thin coat of sprayable polyurethane or something is much better than hard paint. You can ALSO use an old snare dampener on the surface instead of a towel or whatever, with those old turn wheels to increase/decrease verb decay! I used to use EMT's at Electric Lady for years, this is an amazing hack. Thanks a ton man great vid! check out my similar stuff at www.CreativityNy.com

  • @MadsMJ
    @MadsMJ 4 года назад

    Leo! Great hack! Thanks for sharing both videos. I am a musician, learning about studio-technique and this is just great hands-on know-how that tastes like an instrument, much more than some software-solution.
    I know the shallow outlines of reverb and that the effects on mixers are digital imitations of the rooms and effects.
    I'm certainly going to check out what other videos you got! Thanks for the inspiration and energy!

  • @dantei.9661
    @dantei.9661 4 года назад

    Holy... o.O This just blew my mind! Incredible job, crazy levels of creativity and out-of-box thinking with this table. Instant subscribe and I'm waiting for more! This reverb actually sounds hella good if you ask me!

  • @fergadelics
    @fergadelics 5 лет назад

    Its refreshing to see things made outside the box and I learned’d a thing. Thank you.

    • @fergadelics
      @fergadelics 4 года назад

      user I guess it’s outside of my box. Or maybe I was making a dad joke at the time. That comment was a year ago and I don’t remember. Still, I have a soft spot respect for folks who do things the hard way. At least to me it’s the hard way and certainly more bulky than a plugin to have around. Like playing in a band with a guitarist who insisted on using his dresser-sized Leslie cabinet at shows. Ugh. Ha

  • @97Tommi
    @97Tommi 5 лет назад

    Love the video and idea 😀 Just a tip for the soldering part. You should cut the legs before you solder and have a pad or similar to avoid the components to fall off. This will make the solder better and last longer. If you cut them after that will make a shock in the solder and can give some cracks and it will eventually oxidize 😊

  • @beatchildproductions
    @beatchildproductions 5 лет назад

    You're tutorial video production quality is award worthy.

  • @XRD_Rob
    @XRD_Rob 5 лет назад +2

    I really love this. I have some old telephones that I've been thinking of making into a reverb. I was wondering about springs but this is a much better idea.

    • @SeattleScotty
      @SeattleScotty 5 лет назад

      How would you use telephones to make a reverb? Using the bells for the ringer?

  • @benniefitts
    @benniefitts 5 лет назад +2

    I'm super intrigued by the outside possibilities coming from this. What other materials could you use in place of the plate? What would a piano sound board feel like? Or an acoustic guitar? Or other weird stuff like a basketball or a glass container of some sort. The possibilities have me drooling

  • @charliemoody7168
    @charliemoody7168 4 года назад

    What a wonderful toy!! And *analog*, too. Thanks tons for this: I see there’s like two or three follow ups on this so I’m subscribing. Hopefully I’ll have time to build one of these and use it before I die, but the display of clarity and creativity is just terrific, all by itself

  • @stupendousmusic4190
    @stupendousmusic4190 5 лет назад +5

    I love plate reverbs. Looking forward to the refined or perfected version. You might have a product to sell.

  • @sjangcoenen1358
    @sjangcoenen1358 2 года назад

    living in a huge iron-like building ( I think it is alluminium) with a recording space down below.... I imagine how to make this a huge plate since I have 6 18" inch speakers... learned a lot about the 2 plates connection. I usually got my effect from resonating one plate. I will need another whole life for only mess around with this analogue plug-in. thanks for the
    godspeed push

  • @wokeupinapanic
    @wokeupinapanic 5 лет назад

    Found this video randomly and absolutely loved it. Definitely do more of these! I’d like to see how it evolves! And more importantly, I’d actually like to create this now, too

  • @FuzzboxRIP
    @FuzzboxRIP 5 лет назад

    This is so fun. Thousands of possibilities to further tweak this. Thumbs up

  • @freddysc
    @freddysc 5 лет назад +41

    Rise the plate so it sits at the top of the legs, stick the mics to the back of the plate, and you have a coffee table when not using the reverb :D

  • @boydskywalker
    @boydskywalker 5 лет назад +2

    This is a great project! I've been wanting to build a reverb of some type for a while, but spring seems a bit expensive for the quality of 'verb. Plate reverb emulations are my go-to anyway, and this one sounds fantastic!

  • @davidmeyer8756
    @davidmeyer8756 5 лет назад +2

    First time I've seen your channel. Very cool! Subscribed.

  • @Vildhjuggah
    @Vildhjuggah 5 лет назад

    Great video! Time to watch your other ones. This video may be kind of long to some people but it was thorough and well done! I look forward to videos continuing your experimentation with this reverb, and any new projects in the future!

  • @jasonschannel9526
    @jasonschannel9526 4 года назад

    As a sound guy, that's pretty cool. I'm more of a live sound tech than a recording engineer, but if I ever went into that side of sound, this would be a fun project to do.

  • @meademorgan6614
    @meademorgan6614 5 лет назад

    Yup, pretty cool. 😎 Those were some dope sounds too.

  • @BlackGhostAudio
    @BlackGhostAudio 5 лет назад

    This is so great. Easily the most refreshing video I've seen all week!

  • @portendinghonor496
    @portendinghonor496 5 лет назад

    I really like this project. Got me thinking about all kinds of things you could turn into a natural reverb. Excellent work! The open sound is a little much for me, but once you dampened it, it really dialed it in. Good stuff! L+S

  • @circlemover
    @circlemover 3 года назад

    innovative and fun...huge potential for development as you say...the original plug in reverb ahem.

  • @silvansky
    @silvansky 5 лет назад

    Great! I used my transducer to make DIY guitar sustainer, but now gonna try to make plate reverb as well.

  • @vincentmalcorps7614
    @vincentmalcorps7614 5 лет назад

    That is awesome!!
    I actually see a lot of possibilites:
    - try to put the transducer and piezos under the bottom plate (to have it to resonate) and place some material on it, like metal balls, gravel, metal & plastic chains ...
    - ... or try to make
    - try a vertical mounting with chains hanging really close to the resonator plate
    With an Arduino card, it could be easy to control servo motors linked to the chains...
    Really nice so fa, anyway!!

  • @Silentsouls
    @Silentsouls 5 лет назад

    What i heard is that placing the inducers not a at the half mark, but at 2/5 (in both directions) it will vibrate better making the volume on low and high piches more equal. The chanel "Tech Ingredients:" has an awesome video about this topic.

  • @oqsy
    @oqsy 5 лет назад

    All that extra leg length above the plates sure looks like a good spot for springs and another pair of transducers to turn it into a dual-purpose reverb unit! Spring, plate, or a little of both!

  • @devtank
    @devtank 5 лет назад

    I watched pt2 before this. This thing is amazing, even with the paint.

  • @stevieklaer9347
    @stevieklaer9347 5 лет назад +1

    Glad this was randomly suggested to me, super interesting video.

  • @MarkDantrol
    @MarkDantrol 5 лет назад

    If I had space in my studio I could try to build it. But I couldn't. Nice video pal

  • @CloudTwo1
    @CloudTwo1 2 года назад +1

    Excellent stuff thanks!
    also shout out to the googley eyes on your vacuum cleaner lol

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  2 года назад

      Thanks for watching!

  • @dillipphunbar7924
    @dillipphunbar7924 5 лет назад

    Good hack....works well....the interactive aspect looks/sounds like fun!

  • @scrimmerman
    @scrimmerman 5 лет назад

    This is great! Thanks for sharing. Looks like I'm taking a trip to IKEA this weekend!

  • @glenesis
    @glenesis 5 лет назад +1

    Nice work! Nice to meet you. Liked, subbed. I always wanted to do this with a great-sounding car door or something. That shelf sounds great! Of course, you could stick the entire rig in an isolation booth or an anechoic chamber, but that defeats the whole guerilla ethic behind the project. Great work here, sand a great demo! Thanks for sharing. The machining device looks fascinating too!

  • @Steve211Ucdhihifvshi
    @Steve211Ucdhihifvshi 5 лет назад

    despite the fact that i have ZERO, SERO need at all for something like this, i really want one now! hahaha What an awesome project, I really think its best for synth sounds, I mean it does add that more natural reverb drum sounds but yeah. You should try the same setup on different materials and surfaces. I think it would be interesting to isolate an actual tom tom drum and run the pickups etc on the skin of the drum and see what that sounds like.

  • @SeattleScotty
    @SeattleScotty 5 лет назад

    What a great video! I would love to hear an electric guitar going through that reverb table! Very novel idea, very tempting to give it a try!

  • @theshaggyfreak
    @theshaggyfreak 5 лет назад +7

    Oh, I'm so building one of these! I've been looking at doing something like this for a while. I actually have a transducer that I've I've saved for this sort of thing too. This has some awesome sound design possibilities!

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад

      Go for it! And please share your results! I'm curious to see what other people come up with (especially with the choice of transducer, pickups, etc.)

    • @theshaggyfreak
      @theshaggyfreak 5 лет назад

      I found a transducer at an estate sale a few months ago that should work pretty well. I have an amp kit that's on the way and I'll have to test out how well it drives it. Here's a possibility for a preamp for the piezo. I used one to build a piezo microphone at one point and it works out pretty well. zeppelindesignlabs.com/product/cortado-balanced-piezo-contact-mic/

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад +3

      @@theshaggyfreak Oooo! I hadn't heard of Zeppelin Design Labs before. Their Cortado amp looks great! It's tempting to just get that and be done, but I have this half-baked notion of designing my own circuit with pickups and amp all in one place and then building/testing/vlogging it on camera. It might be a cool video series...

    • @theshaggyfreak
      @theshaggyfreak 5 лет назад +2

      @@LeoMakes Indeed! I kind of like these Cortado preamps because their phantom powered but I've only used it with a tin can mic so far. It's really good if you want that tinny old timey sort of sound. Another thing that I've done with piezos that has been interesting is using two connected to an XLR jack. I forget where I read about trying this. Say for instance you put one on top of our plate and one on the bottom. I did something like this as part of a DIY sprint reverb build at one point. Here's a couple of pictures, though, it may be hard to tell what's going on from them. www.dropbox.com/s/3chda3riuku4yl1/2018-11-20%2016.57.01.jpg?dl=0 , www.dropbox.com/s/nwxbc6i3491wu7m/2018-11-20%2016.57.10.jpg?dl=0

  • @studiodespenates
    @studiodespenates 5 лет назад +1

    Very nice try on this. Very simple and clever. Can I suggest you to try some cheap passive DI boxes between the piezos and your preamps? They would offer a better match of the impedances and I think reduce the hum. You might also reduce the length of your asymmetrical wires and box your amp to shield it, for the same purpose. Please make some follow-ups on that project.
    Anyway, thanks for sharing.

  • @mikei5104
    @mikei5104 5 лет назад

    That's a really cool idea! Loved it on the synth, no so much on drums, it was a bit resonant for my taste. I'm sure you'll find a great organic use for it once the project is done and you tackle to impedance issues etc.

  • @TheAquabears
    @TheAquabears 5 лет назад +1

    You'd get better resonance out of it by hanging the plate vertically, rather than laying it horizontally. Letting the plate dangle will allow it to ring the way a bell does. Having it supported at all four corners is creating a built-in dampening.

  • @hezron9536
    @hezron9536 5 лет назад

    Once again RUclips's algorithm shows me a fascinating video

  • @AsteroidKiller
    @AsteroidKiller 5 лет назад

    Awesome! I’m sold on this. Love to see updates on the pickups and transducer 🎶❤️👍

  • @PHELCAN
    @PHELCAN 2 года назад

    Damn that thing did some cool stuff to the synths

  • @Promocable
    @Promocable 5 лет назад

    youre super sympathetic and i think you channel has much potential. keep the good work up! :)

  • @MrPureBasic
    @MrPureBasic 5 лет назад +1

    Subscribed. A sound engineer with a CNC, you have my attention :)

  • @mephistovonfaust
    @mephistovonfaust 5 лет назад

    Awesome and I will probably build my own. I'm thinking about suspending the resonating plate with fishing strings. I think that would make the contact points as minimal as possible. What a great idea!

  • @ChannleTonyGuin10
    @ChannleTonyGuin10 5 лет назад

    The beat from 8:00 is amazing, i love it.

  • @GJOstudio
    @GJOstudio 5 лет назад +3

    Leo, the piezo’s do sound mostly like a notch-filter around 2k or so. There are a few types out there. To get rid of the hum problem I recommend make m balanced using two Piezo’s per pickup. Google will find the pinout

    • @stephenhookings1985
      @stephenhookings1985 5 лет назад

      Clamp the piezoelectric a little to change its frequency coupling

  • @Wizardofgosz
    @Wizardofgosz 5 лет назад

    Ohh! Hey! LeoMakes! What would be be really cool would be producing a stereo IR file of that for those times when we did want to use such an unusual sound.

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад +1

      Will do. A lot of people have asked, actually. Please stay tuned.

  • @iainhorrocks
    @iainhorrocks 5 лет назад

    Love it. Great tech knowledge & Awesome Omnisphere reverbs! Great video, Leo

    • @LeoMakes
      @LeoMakes  5 лет назад

      Thanks Iain. Great to see you here!

  • @craig7810
    @craig7810 5 лет назад

    Very cool build. You could experiment by putting some keys, grains of rice, screws or bits of cutlery on top of the plate to see how that affects the sound. Maybe give it some shimmer or sound terrible. Just a thought.

  • @hoboroadie
    @hoboroadie 5 лет назад

    Looks like Leo struck a chord with the RUclips community. a star is born.😹

  • @paulkielt9301
    @paulkielt9301 5 лет назад

    Amazing! Some may say "don't do this at home", but there something I'll try someday with my guitar amp.

  • @VCVRackIdeas
    @VCVRackIdeas 5 лет назад

    this sounds amazing with the synths! vst has you know pretty big sound. and this small table plate expand those sounds in the mix pretty well with expetimental spirit of course!

  • @WAMProducties
    @WAMProducties 5 лет назад

    thats awesome. You could totally make some really cool impulse responses out of that