A BIT OF PLATE HISTORY

In the beginning studio engineers said

“Let there be reverb” and they listened, and it was good……

What classic element did many hits of the 60’s and 70’s have in common? Why the plate reverb of course! Actually our brief history lesson of plate verb dates back to the late 50’s with a German company by the name of EMT  “Elektromesstecknik”(wow try to pronounce that!). At this time studios were looking for a way to produce spatial effect without having to have dedicated chambers or rooms. The engineers from EMT  filled this need in 1957 by utilizing the physics of vibrating steel and its decay - hence the first patented plate reverb unit came to be. This revolutionary  technology took the music industry by storm. The EMT 140 reverb unit was introduced on the market and became not only the first plate reverb but also the most sought after verb to this date. After their patent expired competitors like Ecoplate, Stocktronics, and Lawson quickly came on the scene with more cost effective models (however these still ranged in the thousands back in the day!). After the 80’s ushered in the “electronic”sound, real plate verbs became replaced with smaller cheaper digital units and the original manufacturers of the plates became all but extinct. Finally with the 90’s came the software digital “plug-in” family of verb effects which have tried to emulate real plates. However, none of these electronic/digital generated verb units are able to fully capture the natural effect of the real plates.

While the original plates are still circulated in our day they can be quite a task to find in nice original working condition. Still though, real plate reverb could probably be described as the “Holy Grail” of reverb with its signature smooth and warm thick diffused sound with an open and natural complexity that the ear appreciates. No digital reproduction to date has been able to truly reproduce its character. Many studios obviously still use plates for these reasons however the originals have the negative drawback of enormous size and weight. For instance did you know an EMT 140 weighs about 600 pounds! Most of the original plates were made with wooden enclosures, dampening plates, motors, etc. all adding to the weight and price of these units. In addition many users of the original plates were not happy about the electronics hence many units were later retrofitted with updated electronic components). Fortunately for you, PLATE-SONICS  has taken these drawbacks out of the equation by simply providing you with the core mechanical and electronic components needed to achieve the expensive plate sound at an affordable cost.

HOW IT WORKS

The physics of it all…

So how exactly does a plate reverb work anyway? To explain this we will use our 3x6’ plate as an example (which also is the basis of an EMT 150).  For those unfamiliar with plate verbs the concept is quite simple. A thin gauge square piece of steel is suspended from a metal frame by the use of tension bolts. By applying the proper torque to the bolts and listening the steel is essentially “tuned” for smoothness and response. A driver (electrical transducer) is mounted to the center of the suspended plate. When a signal is applied to this transducer it vibrates the plate much like a “cone” on a speaker. As the sound vibrates the metal it then begins to decay through the plate. Two pickups are mounted on opposite ends of the plate and the decaying signal is then sent back out to your mixer. Mix, EQ, and Voila! You have a warm, natural sounding verb with a sweet metallic shimmer.

Of  course while the concept of a plate verb is relatively simple, creating a “good sounding” plate from scratch is much much harder than it looks. Fortunately for you we’ve done the hard part. All Plate-sonics plates are assembled by hand, fully tested and calibrated so you can have the warm reverb you need to get on with your music! We call our 3x6’ a stereo plate because of having a left and right output (1/4”). Therefore even though you may inject a mono signal such as a vocal through the driver (1/4”) a “stereo like” effect will be present at the output. This is because as the signal travels through the plate there are slight differences in tone and decay between the opposing pickups. If you pan these fully opposite at your mixer even a dry mono source will sound much larger than it really is. However even while this is the case, the best way to obtain true isolated stereo is to have two separate plates. Our plates can also be used in live applications using the driver or just by simply singing into the plate or placing a speaker(guitar amp,PA, drumset,etc.) in front of it. Also, be aware that these plates like all plates are highly sensitive to sound. So if you don’t plan on building an enclosure for your plate then keep it in a soundproof room or suspend it from the ceiling. In such a case it is most proper to send sound to the plate using the driver which is its true intended function.  Finally, just as the original manufacturers incorporated EQ in their system, we highly recommended using your mixer/EQ with our plates in order to tweak the sound you are going for or to create sounds you have never heard before.