The idea of "gated reverb"—a combination of noise gate and digital reverb—originally came about in the 1970s by accident, using the Solid State Logic SL4000 Talkback Mic channel and AMS RMX16 digital reverb units.
Later, musicians like Phil Collins and Bruce Springsteen used this studio trick to their advantage, thereby popularizing the new sound to the masses.
Today, Catalinbread is debuting its own modernized gated reverb effect, the CBX, that promises to recreate the magic of that original accident.
The premise of the effect is that a gate is a function of the signal strength, so when the signal level drops below your adjusted threshold, the reverb tail snaps shut. The CBX features an overdrivable preamp, adjustable reverb lag time, and a full wet-dry blend for a resulting always-on and expressive reverb.
The new CBX is available now on Reverb. Click the "shop now" button above, or get your own right here.