Raum: If you don’t have this reverb in your plugin bank yet, you’ve probably already seen it in one of the YouTube tutorials, in a friend’s studio or just by browsing the web. This reverb is unique. Let’s take a closer look at what makes it authentic.
Raum is a reverb plugin released by Native Instruments in 2019. The plugin was free during the first few months and is now available for 49$. A very low price for the sound-quality of this tool.
Raum is announced by its manufacturer as a high fidelity creative reverb made for creative people like us, sound engineers, musicians, singers,… In addition to being an extremely creative tool, the sound result is amazingly good.
In this article, we won’t dive into the “classic” parameters that we find on all reverb plugins. That wouldn’t be helpful. What we’re gonna do is to analyze the parameters that you can find only in the Raum reverb and that make this tool one of the greatest and most creative plugins of the market.
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Three modes, 3 game-changers
Three modes are available in this reverb. All of them are extremely different from each other.
1. Airy
You can consider this mode as the “basic” one. You’ll find everything you need to build your sound. From the smallest rooms to biggest halls, all the “classic” types of reverbs are available with this Airy mode. Whatever you choose as preset, each of them sounds warm, big, bright and wide.
Use this mode if… you’d like to put your source in a certain bright space, staying sober.
2. Grounded
“Grounded”, sounds weird, right ? What is that mode exactly ?
As you can see on the picture (to the left, in orange), this Grounded mode uses the delay principle to build a reverb that tends to sound like a room. The pre-delay is generally pretty long which allows the user to give a really special depth to the treated source.
Use this mode if… you want to put your audio source in an “obvious” room, a small space that your listeners will directly identify.
3. Cosmic
The word “cosmic” speaks by itself. With this mode, you can expect huge spaces and really special and uncommon sound results.
Use this mode if… you want your source to sit in a weird / uncommon space. If you want to get creative, that’s the mode you should go for!
Whatever you choose, each mode has something special to deliver to its users. The sound result is completely uncommon and you will never find any reverb plugins that could potentially get close from that really special reverb.
ℹ️ Do you really know how to use reverb on vocals? This article should interest you: How To Use Reverb On Vocals – The Pro Guide
The 3 special parameters
That’s a fact, Raum is a really special reverb! And we’re gonna see now that 3 really cool parameters help to get even more creative with this tool…
1. Feedback
Did you see that weird knob to the left of the plugin ? Why is there a “feedback” parameter with a reverb ? Well, it’s probably the greatest feature of this reverb.
This really nice knob will actually allow you to re-feed your reverb with a sort of overtone that depends on the pre-delay you choose.
- If you choose a short pre-delay, you’ll hear a really sharp and high overtone, like a glassy edge in the high-end range.
- If you choose a longer pre-delay, it will sound like a weird robotic sound. It generally creates really uncommon spaces that only Raum is able to create.
This knob is an amazing open-door to creativity… But it is not finished!
2. Pre-delay
Have you already used a reverb with which you can adjust the pre-delay on the tempo ? Probably not, but Raum has this crazy feature!
In fact, you can choose to have a pre-delay in milliseconds (which are the classic values) but you can also choose to use them in notes (1/8th, 1/4th, etc,..). That means that you can adapt the pre-delay exactly on the grid and that you can create some movements directly in the plugin.
Think about how creative you can be playing with the pre-delay and the feedback! Simply limitless!
3. Freeze button
You see this snowflake on the right of the reverb knob ? Just click it! And you’ll hear the beautiful effect of infinity… We let you discover it!
ℹ️ Being able to blend delay and reverb with vocals is essential! Here’s where you should have more information about it: How To Blend Reverb And Delay With Rap Vocals
In conclusion
Whether you’re a sound engineer, a producer or a musician, Raum is a reverb plugin you have to have in your pocket! Because it is not only a reverb, but also a beautiful tool that allows you to push the limits of your creativity. Tweak, try and enjoy the process, and you’ll probably bring your songs to another dimension.
If you have any question about Raum or anything in the field of music mixing, please contact me, I’m always very happy to help!
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