The Bionic Sustain Re-synthesizer output can be used by itself or as the source input to a reverb section with two, separate digital reverb engines. Each of the two reverbs will work either as traditional AllPass dual mono mode digital reverbs or in Ray Trace or Ray Trace HD modes that I found to have more depth of field and to sound wider.

Zynaptiq uses advanced "ray-tracing modeling" techniques to approximate the 16,000 different paths an audio signal would take to get to the listener from two virtual speakers in a room--but without computing all the reflections. Called a "reflectionless" reverb, this reverb's decay and frequency responses are linear--which does not happen in nature.

A wet/dry mix of the BSR and reverb sections is processed through the Harmonic Contour Filter that removes certain pitched components of the reverb tail that could (potentially) clash with the input signal.

And this is the beauty and uniqueness of this reverb plug-in: you can apply long and beautiful reverberation for additional perceived depth, harmonic richness, and also allow smooth tails without obscuring the musicality of the source. Adaptiverb continuously follows the input audio and conformed its reverb tail to the tonality of the input according to user-defined parameter settings, a set of notes selectable on the GUI or via MIDI keyboard input.

David Gamson Comments On Adaptiverb  "I found Adaptiverb excels at making lush pads and soundscapes. I was working on a new song and I used a sparse repetitive melody and Adaptiverb to create a sound somewhere between a sustaining pad and a super-long reverb. On the Fine Tune page of the GUI, I used the keyboard in the Harmonic Contour Filter to setup three snapshots for each of the song's chords and then programmed them to change with the harmonic movement of the song's chords in support of the melody. I liked being able to adjust the HCF control to force (if necessary) Adaptiverb to suppress dissimilar or dissonant components other than the notes in my selected chord(s). Next I used Adaptiverb as a send/return effect for a vocal to create a beautiful pad/reverb effect that also stepped through the chords of the song. I also experimented with automating the Richness control that can introduce harmonics at specified intervals. I was able to add either a harmonic and/or an octave above making a beautiful and shimmery reverb sound. I can't think of any other way to create this effect. I also got unique results by just routing different sounds to Adaptiverb and playing them like a soft synth. I used the Live mode (zero-latency mode) and sent a piano patch to the plug-in with the HCF control all the way to the left (minimum) and the HCF mode in Track (tracking) and created an interesting metallic reverse piano sound using a very short decay time via the Reverb Damp control. By 'playing' the Freeze button and the Reverb Source control, which crossfades between the circulating and frozen source signal and the frozen Bionic Sustain Re-synthesizer signal, I created a 'one-of-a-kind' keyboard texture. And all controls are programmable via MIDI so you can essentially 'record' all your wonderfully crazy and happy accidents!"

Mixing with Adaptiverb

I found using Adaptiverb in my song mixing excellent for any traditional reverberation effects. It has the familiar reverb controls such as: a Wet/Dry control, up to 1,000.00ms of pre-delay plus a high-pass filter up to 1kHz. Whereas before with extra long reverbs, I would have to automate sends and return levels very carefully to avoid messy clashes at the bar line of every chord change--now it's a whole new game!

I tried Adaptiverb on a double-tracked acoustic guitar part that played arpeggios throughout the entire song. Normally for a basic tracking part, I would just use a short plate or small room for adding ambience to this dry recording. But with Adaptiverb I was able to change the entire feel of the song with a sustaining reverb that tracked every chord change exactly.

I arrived at about a 50/50 (wet/dry) blend of the original guitar signal and Adaptiverb and it sounded very much like a wide instrument pad. I increased the plug-in's Input Air control to add sparkle to the guitar's sound (as input source) so that the high frequencies sustained longer. I also automated the Interval setting to +12 (octave up) for an added lift only in the choruses.

I've found my new "go-to" long reverb engine! Adaptiverb sounds great for reverb vocal effects and creating pad sounds from ordinary sounding tracking instruments. I'm just getting going using it and find new applications with every Pro Tools 12 HDX session I open here.