string reverb

[theblackpeacock]

hey guys, first post!

i want to make a string reverb using piezo transducers and microphones.  Has anyone here encountered problems with feedback or anything else when using one of these live w/ amplification?  should i soundproof it?

thx

[Mark Hammer]

String or spring? 

[Pushtone]

The only problem is that it runs out of beer halfway through the set.   

[roknjohn]

I'll bet the delay time gets longer as the night goes on!   

[sshrugg]

Pushtone - are you messing with us? 

Is that a joke pic or was it really on the site?  If so, who's rig?  That's a really neat off the wall kind of idea.

[Pushtone]

Yes, its a real rig on guitargeek.com

Band: Orange Sunshine

Player: Ryan


Great site. Too bad it hasn't been updated since 2004
Got to get me one of his t-shirts with the charactered pedals.




About the post.....

Why would you use piezeo AND microphones. Wouldn't it be a choice of one or the other.
The beer keg would use a mic but springs would need the piezeo transducer.

FYI - GGG has a schematic for a spring reverb drive circuit.

[sshrugg]

Too bad it hasn't been updated since 2004

Is that why nothing seems to get added?  We should petition to have it turned into a kinda wiki site.  The good people here could kick butt at that kind of thing

By the way, Pea%^&*.  I'm sorry for hijacking your post.  We'll get right back on topic...
I intend on using a piezo transducer in a kalimba I'm making.  If I finish the woodwork in a reasonable amount of time, I can answer your questions better.  I know that my acoustic guitars don't have a lot of feedback trouble with some careful preamp settings, and I've seen tutorials on building these reverb units that don't use much in the way of soundproofing.

[theblackpeacock]

that seems to be the answer I'm getting but once it gets down to it i guess I have to do it myself.

where was that drive circuit?  I was planning on just using a step up transformer.  Kinda getto but it works.

[Pushtone]

where was that drive circuit? 

Worth a look; General Guitar Gadgets Center Stage Reverb page.

.

[soulsonic]

I'm really confused. I've never heard of a "string" reverb, can someone please enlighten me?

[sshrugg]

I'm really confused. I've never heard of a "string" reverb, can someone please enlighten me?

I assumed pea%^&* meant "spring"

[soulsonic]

Well, is he talking about making a reverb tank from scratch? That's kinda sounds like to me. I've seen people make their own plates, but I haven't seen a spring made from scratch - I kinda don't see the point in that since they are cheap enough to get (unlike a plate). Now, building a spring reverb circuit from a prefab tank, like an Accutronics or a Belton; that's a different thing altogether..... You don't even need a specialized driver circuit.... you can run one from a low-powered amp with an attenuator - that's how they are in a Hammond. That's all the driver is anyway; a small amp.

[brett]

Hi
some sTrings and sPrings do fairly much the same thing.  A bass guitar string under low tension might make a good reverb string.  Hmmmm.....   Reverb like this, maybe.....

Transducer/sender        Strings        Transducer/receiver
XXXXXXX---------------------------------------XXXXXX

The transducers could be speakers, preferably at about 45 degrees to the line of the string, so that the waves would propagate in two dimensions (along the string and perpendicular to the string).  This makes use of the different time constants in each dimension.

just my 2c worth.

[soulsonic]

I have NEVER heard of this before. Can anyone please direct me to a link or a site or anything? Is this "string" reverb concept a REAL thing, or just something people are messing around with?

[Fp-www.Tonepad.com]

This could be a start:
http://www.electronicpeasant.com/projects/springs/springs.html

Actually, no, but there ARE some websites showing how to make a spring reverb tank from scratch... Now, using a string... don't think so.

[soulsonic]

Thanks. That's an interesting site. A DIY spring might be worth it if you want something unusual....
I'm convinced now that this whole idea of using a string is just a bunch of baloney.

[Paul Perry (Frostwave)]

A metal string - what we scientists call a "wire" (joke!) - could be used for reverberation, if it was long enough.
In fact, there is some ambient music that consists of long wires being excited.
But for more normal applications, the problem is that a straight wire has very sharply defined resonances. And takes up too much room (because, the vibration travelling down a wire is much faster than the case of a spring).
Of course, if you had ENOUGH strings, you might get something interesting. Hence the approach of hanging a mic inside a semi-acoustic and letting the dry signal excite the body.

incidentally, the original reference to piezo AND a mic, might be that they are using a high power piezo element (from a piezo tweeter) to couple to the metal of the keg, & hanging a normal mic inside the space. Just a guess.

[SeanCostello]

String Reverb: Use 12 strings, tuned in semitones, covering the lowest 12 notes you plan on playing, or notes lower than that (just make sure you cover an octave). Excite the strings somehow (magnetic, mechanical), and use a pickup to listen to the results. Similar to what is done with pianos in some avant-garde things. Or a sitar, for that matter.

If you wanted to get really fancy, you could attach all the strings together at one or more nodes, to couple the modes together. Might work, might sound horrible.

Sean Costello

[soulsonic]

I get what you're talking about, but I wouldn't call that a reverb. I'd call it something like an "electromagnetic drone chamber", if he'd just called it something like that in the first place I would have understood what he meant. The use of the term "reverb" is a misnomer in this case because it's not creating the illusion of a large space, it's creating incidental tones.

[sshrugg]

Stick the chamber in your amp cab and let the speaker shake it up : D

I don't think I'm going near this one.