Lexicon MX500 Owner's Manual page 29

Effects Descriptions
MX500
Gated Reverb -
Mono In/Stereo Out
Gated reverb is created by feeding a reverb, such as a metal plate, through a gate
device. Decay Time is set to instant, while Hold Time varies duration and sound. The
Gated reverb provides a fairly constant sound with no decay until the reverb is cut off
abruptly. This program works well on percussion — particularly on snare and toms;
be sure to experiment with other sound sources as well.
Reverse Reverb -
Mono In/Stereo Out
Reverse reverb works in the opposite fashion from normal reverb. Whereas a normal
reverb has the loudest series of reflections heard first that then become quieter over
time, the Reverse reverb has the softest reflections (essentially the tail of the reverb)
heard first, and then grows louder over time until they abruptly cut off.
Ambience Reverb -
Stereo
Ambience is used to simulate the effect of a small or medium sized room without
noticeable decay. It is often used for voice, guitar or percussion.
Studio Reverb -
Stereo
Much like Room reverb, Studio produces an excellent simulation of smaller, well-
controlled acoustic spaces, characteristic of the main performance areas in recording
studios. Studio is also useful with dialog and voiceover applications as well as indi-
vidual instrument and electric guitar tracks.
Arena Reverb -
Stereo
Arena reverb emulates a huge physical space such as an indoor sports venue or
stadium. The characteristics of Arena reverb are long secondary reflection times and
a reduced amount of high frequency content. Arena is a mostly mid- and low-fre-
quency dominant reverb, and is an ideal selection for "special effect" type applications
that require extremely long reverb times. It is not a good choice for a very busy mix,
since it can reduce intelligibility.
Spring Reverb -
Mono In/Stereo Out
A Spring reverb is created by a pair of piezoelectric crystals—one acting as a speaker
and the other acting as a microphone—connected by a simple set of springs. The
characteristic 'boing' of a spring is an important component of many classic rock and
rockabilly guitar sounds.
Reverb Controls
Pre Delay
Creates an additional time delay between the source signal and the onset of reverbera-
tion. This control is not intended to precisely mimic the time delays in natural spaces,
as the build-up of reverberation is gradual, and the initial time gap is usually relatively
short. For the most natural effect, the Pre Delay values should be set in the range of
10-25 milliseconds. However, if a mix is very busy or overly cluttered, increasing the
Pre Delay time may help clarify it, and set each instrument apart from each other.
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