Persistence of sound after it is produced

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reverberation</span>

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Reverberation

<p><b>Reverberation</b> (also known as <b>reverb</b>), in <a href="/en/Acoustics" title="Acoustics" class="wl">acoustics</a>, is a persistence of <a href="/en/Sound" title="Sound" class="wl">sound</a> after it is produced.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="#cite_note-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span> Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected. This causes numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is absorbed by the surfaces of objects in the space – which could include furniture, people, and air.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-2"><a href="#cite_note-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span> This is most noticeable when the sound source stops but the <a href="/en/Reflection_(physics)" title="Reflection (physics)" class="wl">reflections</a> continue, their <a href="/en/Amplitude" title="Amplitude" class="wl">amplitude</a> decreasing, until zero is reached.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Persistence of sound after it is produced</div>
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<div class="side-box-image"><figure class="mw-halign-center"><span><img loading="lazy" alt="Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg/50px-Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="160" data-file-height="160" data-file-type="drawing" height="50" width="50" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg/75px-Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg/100px-Gnome-mime-sound-openclipart.svg.png 2x"></span><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>
<div class="side-box-text plainlist"><div class="haudio">
<div class="listen-file-header"><a href="/en/File:Reverberation_effect.ogg" title="File:Reverberation effect.ogg" class="wl">Short sample of reverberation effect</a></div>
<div><span class="mw-default-audio-height"><span><div class='audio-player' title='Short sample of reverberation effect'><audio controls="" preload="none" height="32" width="232" resource="./File:Reverberation_effect.ogg"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Reverberation_effect.ogg" type="audio/ogg; codecs=&quot;vorbis&quot;" data-title="Original Ogg file (94 kbps)" data-shorttitle="Ogg source"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/a/a5/Reverberation_effect.ogg/Reverberation_effect.ogg.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" data-title="MP3" data-shorttitle="MP3"></audio></div></span></span></div>
<div class="description">Clean signal, followed by different versions of reverberation (with longer and longer decay times).</div></div></div></div>
<div class="side-box-abovebelow"><hr><i class="selfreference">Problems playing this file? See <a href="/en/Help:Media" title="Help:Media" class="wl">media help</a>.</i></div>
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<figure class="mw-default-audio-height"><span><div class='audio-player' title='C Chord With Reverb'><audio controls="" preload="none" height="32" width="384" resource="./File:C_Chord_With_Reverb.ogg"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/C_Chord_With_Reverb.ogg" type="audio/ogg; codecs=&quot;vorbis&quot;" data-title="Original Ogg file (197 kbps)" data-shorttitle="Ogg source"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/e/e7/C_Chord_With_Reverb.ogg/C_Chord_With_Reverb.ogg.mp3" type="audio/mpeg" data-title="MP3" data-shorttitle="MP3"></audio></div></span><figcaption>Reverb on a guitar</figcaption></figure>
<p>Reverberation is frequency dependent: the length of the decay, or reverberation time, receives special consideration in the architectural design of spaces which need to have specific reverberation times to achieve optimum performance for their intended activity.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-3"><a href="#cite_note-3" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 3;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[3]</span></a></span> In comparison to a distinct <a href="/en/Echo" title="Echo" class="wl">echo</a>, that is detectable at a minimum of 50 to 100<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="/en/Millisecond" title="Millisecond" class="wl">ms</a> after the previous sound, reverberation is the occurrence of reflections that arrive in a sequence of less than approximately 50 ms. As time passes, the amplitude of the reflections gradually reduces to non-noticeable levels. Reverberation is not limited to indoor spaces as it exists in forests and other outdoor environments where reflection exists.</p>

<p>Reverberation occurs naturally when a person sings, talks, or plays an instrument acoustically in a hall or performance space with sound-reflective surfaces.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-4"><a href="#cite_note-4" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 4;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[4]</span></a></span> Reverberation is applied artificially by using <a href="/en/Reverb_effect" title="Reverb effect" class="wl">reverb effects</a>, which simulate reverb through means including <a href="/en/Echo_chamber" title="Echo chamber" class="wl">echo chambers</a>, vibrations sent through metal, and digital processing.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-:0_5-0"><a href="#cite_note-:0-5" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 5;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[5]</span></a></span></p>

<p>Although reverberation can add naturalness to recorded sound by adding a sense of space, it can also reduce <a href="/en/Speech_intelligibility" title="Speech intelligibility" class="mw-redirect wl">speech intelligibility</a>, especially when noise is also present. People with hearing loss, including users of <a href="/en/Hearing_aids" title="Hearing aids" class="mw-redirect wl">hearing aids</a>, frequently report difficulty in understanding speech in reverberant, noisy situations. Reverberation is also a significant source of mistakes in automatic <a href="/en/Speech_recognition" title="Speech recognition" class="wl">speech recognition</a>.</p>

<p><i><a href="/en/Dereverberation" title="Dereverberation" class="wl">Dereverberation</a></i> is the process of reducing the level of reverberation in a sound or signal.</p>



Reverberation , in acoustics, is a persistence of sound after it is produced. This is most noticeable when the sound source stops but the reflections continue, their amplitude decreasing, until zero is reached. Reverberation is frequency dependent: the length of the decay, or reverberation time, receives special consideration in the architectural design of spaces which need to have specific reverberation times to achieve optimum performance for their intended activity. In comparison to a distinct echo, that is detectable at a minimum of 50 to 100 ms after the previous sound, reverberation is the occurrence of reflections that arrive in a sequence of less than approximately 50 ms. As time passes, the amplitude of the reflections gradually reduces to non-noticeable levels. Reverberation is not limited to indoor spaces as it exists in forests and other outdoor environments where reflection exists. Reverberation occurs naturally when a person sings, talks, or plays an instrument acoustically in a hall or performance space with sound-reflective surfaces. 