# Reverb

**In the desktop app.** Reverb as a device on a track belongs to the desktop app, arriving in its beta; the web studio does not have it. The examples on this page are rendered by the studio's own reverb, the same one the device uses.

## What it is for {#reverb}

**Reverb** puts a sound in a room. A dry sound seems to be inside your head; with reverb it is somewhere, near or far, in a small space or a large one. It is also what makes separate tracks sound as if they were played together: put them in the same room and they belong to each other.

Reach for it when a sound is dry and flat, or when the parts of a song do not seem to share a space. Too much is the more common mistake: reverb pushes a sound back and blurs it, so the parts that should be close (bass, kick, a lead vocal) get little or none. See [Echo and reverberation are the room](/manual/sound-in-ten-ideas#space).

<AudioSet title="A few short notes" :examples="[['reverb-dry', 'Dry'], ['reverb-on', 'In a room']]" />

## Decay {#reverb-decay}

How long the room rings after the sound stops, in seconds. Under a second is a small room: it adds body and is hardly noticed. Two seconds is a hall. Longer is a cathedral, beautiful on a slow, sparse part and a blur on a busy one.

<AudioSet title="Decay" :examples="[['reverb-decay-short', 'Half a second: a small room'], ['reverb-decay-long', 'Five seconds: a very large space']]" />

## Pre-delay {#reverb-pre-delay}

A short gap between the sound and the start of the room. With none, the sound and its reverb arrive together and the sound seems far away. With a gap, the sound is heard clearly first and the room follows, so it stays close and clear while the space stays large.

<AudioSet title="Pre-delay" :examples="[['reverb-pre-delay-none', 'None: the sound is inside the room'], ['reverb-pre-delay-long', 'Long: the sound is in front of it']]" />

## Brightness {#reverb-brightness}

How much of the top end the room keeps. A dark room is warm and stays in the background. A bright room is airy and shiny, and more noticeable.

<AudioSet title="Brightness" :examples="[['reverb-brightness-dark', 'Dark'], ['reverb-brightness-bright', 'Bright']]" />

## Mix {#reverb-mix}

How much room there is against the sound itself. A little is enough for most parts: bring it up until you notice the reverb, then take it back a step.

<AudioSet title="Mix" :examples="[['reverb-mix-low', 'Low: a sense of space'], ['reverb-mix-high', 'High: far away']]" />