Guest Contribution by  Elizabeth McClanahan, Assistant Mixer at Heard City 

EMT 140 Plate Reverb

The majority of today’s common reverb plugins contain plate reverb settings, the designs of which are primarily based upon the popular Elektromesstechnik (EMT) 140 model plate. Upon its introduction in 1957, the EMT 140 Reverberation Unit quickly garnered popularity, providing a smoother substitute to spring reverb systems, as well as proving more space conscious and malleable than reverb chambers. While the EMT 140 presented a more practical alternative to other reverbs of its era, the advent of digital units created similar convenience advantages in an even more accessible package.

The 1957 production of the EMT plate marked a significant change in recording history, simplifying the process of affecting recorded sound while providing the engineer with a more versatile and customizable interface. Much like today’s convolution reverbs simultaneously provide convenience and complex control to reverb manipulation, the original EMT 140 plate established a consequential alternative to both spring reverbs and chambers.

Despite its roughly 600 pound weight, the EMT 140 plate provided a smaller solution to large echo rooms. Additionally, a remote controlled damping pad system allowed the engineer to adjust the reverb time, offering substantially more control than possible with a traditional chamber. The sheet metal plate is suspended from its frame by springs, a transducer mounted at the center of the plate drives movement, and returns consist of pickups mounted on the plate. While the 140 was originally available only in mono, EMT released a stereo model in 1961.

Though more convenient than its predecessors, the EMT 140 plate still required substantial storage space, and EMT’s own foray into digital reverb, most successfully with the EMT 250 in 1976, illustrated growing demand for easily controlled and versatile multi-effects units. Such early digital systems, including the ubiquitous Lexicon 480L, contained plate programs loosely based upon the original EMT 140. However, the sonic qualities of the 140 plate have been more accurately reproduced with modern modeling and convolution reverb plugins.

Like with any emulator plugins, the selection of gear from which to gather measurements greatly affects the outcome, and ultimately success, of any digital recreation. Those familiar with the EMT 140 plates will undoubtedly form opinions based on the individual plates with which they are familiar. Like any other classic gear, including the popular 1176 and LA2A, age, maintenance, and modifications factor into the sonic character of an individual piece of equipment. For this reason, Universal Audio based its EMT 140 plugin on several different plates from The Plant Studios, and Audio Ease provides impulse responses from multiple EMT plates housed in renowned recording facilities.

For designers and engineers seeking to add the sound of the EMT 140 plate to their collection, the Altiverb plate 140 impulse responses and the UAD EMT 140 modeling plugin offer the convenience and versatility of modern signal processing with the sonic personality of EMT’s original 140 reverberation unit.

 

 

Elizabeth McClanahan, Assistant Mixer

 

References

Eargle, John. Handbook of Recording Engineering: Fourth Edition. Norwell: Kluwer

Academic Publishers, 2003. Print.

“EMT 140 Classic Plate Reverberator Plugin.” UA Reverbs. Universal Audio, n.d. Web.

2 Dec. 2012.

 

 About Heard City:

Heard City is a boutique audio post-production company located in New York’s Flatiron district servicing the advertising, motion picture and television industries.