reverb

noun

re·​verb ˈrē-ˌvərb  ri-ˈvərb 

plural reverbs

1

: an electronically produced echo effect in live and recorded music

The new record is shrouded in damp clouds of reverb, with faint impressions of its jangling guitars sneaking through like the sun behind an overcast sky.

—Jude Noel

[Lykke] Li's vocals are soaked in reverb, guitars and drums echoing in the background, turning the song into a dark, emotional plea from a heartbroken lover.

—Shaina Pearlman

The audience will hear the orchestra acoustically and the effects pedals through the amplification system. Those effects will include vibrato, distortions, pitch and timbral modulations, echoes and reverbs.

—Kerry Clawson

a reverb effect/sound

2

: something (such as a device, a feature, or a software application) for producing reverb

Thankfully, Vox added a built-in reverb into the amp …

—Alexander Briones

—usually used before another noun

analog/digital reverb units

adjusted the reverb settings

When you buy a reverb pedal, there's almost always a knob that lets you select the type of reverb that you want.

—Michael Pierce and Giulio Chiarenza

Examples of reverb in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Daykin South side food trucks The soundtrack to most city parks includes the ping of a bouncing basketball, the tinny reverb of a faraway stereo or the sizzle of a grill fired up for sausages. —Journal Sentinel, 23 May 2024

This 1973 album — cut with Scratch’s house band the Upsetters, some of whom would later join Bob Marley’s Wailers — is one of the finest examples of the genre’s embryonic years, featuring tracks drenched in reverb and skitchy percussion. —Vulture Editors, Vulture, 20 Apr. 2024

But La Luz, formed in Seattle in 2012, streaked their reverb with brown acid from the start. —Evan Haga, SPIN, 24 May 2024

The top two Pro Tools versions also include Space, which offers an array of beautiful-sounding convolution reverbs, complete with multiple photos of the actual room that was used for recording each impulse response file. —PCMAG, 1 May 2024

Word History

Etymology

short for reverberation

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing reverb

• reverb pedal