Free "Alright Now" solo reverb?

Dave Locher

New member
Just heard "Alright Now" on the radio and realized the solo, which I have always liked, seems pretty wet with reverb.

Anyone hip on studio recording tech circa 1970 who might know what they probably used for that reverb sound OR how to cop something similar in this day and age?
 
Free "Alright Now" solo reverb?

Free "Alright Now" solo reverb?

First guess would be the room the amp was in with a far away mic. Second guess would be an EMT Plate high in the mix. Third guess would be a reverb room in the studio with a speaker at one end and a mic on the other run through an effects send on the channel.

This day and age you can get an EMT Plate as a plug in, and even the Abbey Road reverb room as a plug in.
 
Re: Free "Alright Now" solo reverb?

That just sounds like a big room to me. What a great sound, though!
 
Re: Free "Alright Now" solo reverb?

Definitely sounds like a big room, which is interesting because the rhythm sound is very dry. If it was added in the studio at that time it was most likely plate reverb, VH1 is a great example of plate.
 
Re: Free "Alright Now" solo reverb?

Yeah, the contrast between the rhythm and the solo is great.
So would a generic "room" reverb pedal setting get into that ballpark?
 
Re: Free "Alright Now" solo reverb?

cool tune and such kids when they recorded it. not sure about what pedal to get with that sound specifically but there are lots of tweakable reverb pedals out there
 
Re: Free "Alright Now" solo reverb?

Yeah, the contrast between the rhythm and the solo is great.
So would a generic "room" reverb pedal setting get into that ballpark?

Just about any of these should get there, working with your amp tone controls to manage the color/darkness (in the order I'd recommend):

Strymon BlueSky / Big Sky. (I own the BlueSky - will get that sound with very little tweaking)

I don't own these, but from the demos I can tell you can get there (these are either based on an EMT 140 Plate reverb, or have a setting based on it)
Caitlinbread Talisman
TC Electronic Skysurfer
Walrus Audio Slo Multi Texture Reverb
Keeley Omniverb
Foxgear Rainbow Reverb

(The Keeley here is the Abbey Road Reverb Room)
Keely Abbey Chamber Verb
TC Electronic Hall of Fame
EHX Oceans 11
Fender Marine Layer
 
Re: Free "Alright Now" solo reverb?

I think just a bit of distance miking though maybe a small amount of plate thrown in but the tail isn't that long, it was common to do room mics in the 70s, if recording you'd be better either using far miked cab IRs (if not micing a cab) or adding a studio/room impulse and turning it up a fair amount. Everything else in the song is super dry so thats why it sticks out, if you put that solo in with a more modern wet drum mix you, the solo would possibly get lost in the mix and live any guitar cab is going to have more natural reverb then that in a big room.
 
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