PLease explain "impulse"

[Outlaws]

I am going to download one to try it out, but I don't grasp how they are different from a plug in or at least a preset for a plug in. How are they made? It sounds like those on noisevault are made from actual equipment? Like, "I made this from my Lexicon/Roland Space Echo/LA-2A/etc". Is this like video game emulators? But some of the stuff is from analog gear, so it can't be that, but what?

 

[ocnor]

Reverb impulse files are created by recording short, sharp sounds in real spaces or through a reverb/effects unit. The recorded 'reverberance' is an acoustic fingerprint of the real space. It's similar to sampling an acoustic instrument and playing the samples back using a midi keyboard.

 

[Outlaws]

So then how does that work when used on a recorded track? Is it just data for an existing plugin (say a reverb) to use?

 

[dgatwood]

So then how does that work when used on a recorded track? Is it just data for an existing plugin (say a reverb) to use?

Yeah. You need a convolution reverb plug-in to do anything with it.

 

[Outlaws]

Yeah. You need a convolution reverb plug-in to do anything with it.

I see. That is starting to make sense. Reaper has a plug in I can use them in.

 

[solaris1982]

Yes, ReaVerb will do the trick.

www.noisevault.com has some good impulses too, if you're interested.