Waves Audio has released the Abbey Road Reverb Plates plug-in.
Used most prominently by pioneering bands including the Beatles and Pink Floyd, Abbey Road Studios’ original four EMT 140 reverb plates were installed in 1957 to complement the fixed reverberation times of the studios’ echo chambers. With a variable reverb time of up to six seconds, these were tweaked by Abbey Road technical engineers.
To keep noise to a minimum, EMI's Central Research Laboratories designed unique hybrid solid-state drive amps for Plates A, B and C. Plate D remained fully valve-powered on both drive and output stages, allowing a versatile array of sonic characteristics, from warm and dark to lush and smooth.
In each of the original plates, the stereo reverb effect is created by suspending a large sheet of metal with tensioned springs attached to each corner. A transducer injects the metal sheet with audio energy, which is picked up by two contact mics fixed to the surface of the plate. The reverb time can then be adjusted by using an internal damper, and all of this is contained within a large wooden unit.
The Abbey Road plates have features on countless pop, rock, classical and film recordings over the years, and continue to be used in all kinds of audio production to the present day. Waves has created meticulous models of these unique units, including the harmonic distortion of both the drive and output amps as well as individual plate/damper behaviours.
More: www.waves.com
