Reverberation
Origin
Latin reverberatus, past participle of reverberare, from re- + verberare to lash, from verber rod
Definitions
transitive verb
intransitive verb
- 1a : to become driven back
- b : to become reflected
- 2: to continue in or as if in a series of echoes : resound <an historic event that still reverberates today>
Description
Reverberation is the persistence of sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed. A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound is produced in an enclosed space causing a large number of echoes to build up and then slowly decay as the sound is absorbed by the walls and air. This is most noticeable when the sound source stops but the reflections continue, decreasing in amplitude, until they can no longer be heard. The length of this sound decay, or reverberation time, receives special consideration in the architectural design of large chambers, which need to have specific reverberation times to achieve optimum performance for their intended activity. In comparison to a distinct echo that is 50 to 100ms after the initial sound, reverberation is many thousands of echoes that arrive in very quick succession (.01 – 1 ms between echoes). As time passes, the volume of the many echoes is reduced until the echoes cannot be heard at all.[1]
