Sounds & Samples

The new UVI Plate reverb plugin represents an altogether different take on artificial ambience. It’s dedicated to recreating the sound of a much earlier form of ‘fake’ reverb – a suspended metal plate connected to transducers and pickups. The most famous examples were those created by German manufacturer EMT, from the ’50s on. Although these older units were the primary focus of UVI’s research, the resulting plugin permits a vast amount of tweaking – and lets you explore the virtual creation of plates in materials, and with dimensions, almost impossible to create in the real world. Using physical modelling it’s now possible to go from authentic, vintage-sounding, plates to weird, resonant lo-fi tails. The editing possibilities are wide ranging, though if you don’t know your Anisotropy from your Tension and Friction, there are plenty of presets to get you started.

Plate reverbs have their own identifiable sonic signature, which can be captured in a relatively static fashion with convolution technology or approximated in algorithmic designs. However, the UVI Plate plugin blurs things by using modelling technology which calculates and generates a new ‘plate’ each time a parameter is altered. This makes for a more wideranging, and interesting, sonic tool. In fact, at€129 euros, it’s a steal. For those needing extra convincing there is a 15-day trial version available. Bruce Aisher uvi.net