Have you ever considered creatively modulating the volume of your reverb?
Who among us is gonna say no to a new possibility in our music making world. Cableguys popular plugin ShaperBox 3 is growing. And this new addition comes a little left of field. The ReverbShaper module allows you to get the reverb on your track to pump with the rhythm of the music.
ReverbShaper gives you access to over 120 different reverb algorithms, all of which sound fabulous, so even without the ability to ‘shape’ the reverb, you’re getting a lot of cool sounds packed in here.
If you’re familiar with ShaperBox 3 or any of Cableguys other ‘Shaper’ plugins then you’ll be right at home with the automation box at the bottom of the GUI.
Different drawing tools allow for quick efficient mapping of the reverb volume modulation. And of course, you also have access to the presets to quickly whip up some automation, or really jump in the deep end and hit the randomise button to get some even weirder and more wonderful rhythms.
One of the best things about the ReverbShaper plugin is its ability to be used as both a creative tool and as a utility reverb. You’re given a frequency band selector to apply reverb only to particular frequencies (or you can even set up multiple bands, each with their own reverb modulation shape).
One thing I really loved about ReverbShaper is the ability to set up gates and ducking really easily. I’m a sucker for a bit of a gated reverb plate but it’s always a little bit of a pain getting the gate set up right.
Here you just have a slider which does a lot of the sorting out for you. I do wish a little that the decay time could be tempo linked but honestly it’s still easier than using stock gate plugins.
Enabling the envelope section and having a fiddle with the threshold, attack and release settings can get your reverb ducking out of the way really easily, without needing to mess around with sidechaining compressors on buses.
It’s a really clever addition. Once again it would have been nice to see the attack and release time be able to be tempo synced but it’s not a deal breaker.
Everytime I open up a Cableguys plugin I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I like it. As a general rule the kind of creative multi effects plugins that they make are not really up my alley.
Because typically I’m just doing traditional, more technical mixing of rock and pop tracks, and not a whole lot of creative production, I like my plugins to be quick and simple.
But Cableguys always manages to strike a really excellent balance between being a deep dive into a world of interesting and crazy sounds whilst still remaining approachable and giving you access to some easy vibes.
It would be a tall order to talk through everything this plugin has to offer. It’s definitely worth checking out cableguys own quick intro video to Reverb Shaper here if you’re interested to see and hear even more of the nerdy stuff:
You can pick up ReverbShaper now for 39 USD as a standalone, or grab ShaperBox 3 and get it along with all their other ‘shaper’ plugins. Both are available on the Cableguys website.
