Reverser combines a dynamically responsive reverse engine with a delay and reverb to create ambient spaces. The delay and reverb can also be disabled (or used individually), allowing for the patch to simply be used to process the input in reverse, and the reversed audio can be pitched an octave up or an octave down.

Reverser uses an onset detector and an envelope follower to listen for the beginning _and_ end of a note, allowing it to track quickly and (fairly) precisely. It should be noted: although there are a bunch of redundancies and safeguards built into the patch, an occasional missed note is possible, and depending on the order a long note might be cut off by a series of subsequent shorter notes. It mostly works pretty well, but not perfectly.

The signal path first passes through the reverse engine (powered by a lot of loopers), then into the delay, before hitting the reverb. This means the delay, with its feedback off, can act as a pre-delay for the reverb, or, if the reverb is not employed, can be used to delay the onset of a reversed note.

Developing this “engine” has given me a lot of ideas; don’t be surprised if you see some more specialized variations on this theme.

The dry signal is stereo throughout; the wet signal is summed to mono as it is reversed, before passing through a mono delay, and finally reaching the output mix through a stereo reverb lite module. The dynamic elements are taken from the left input.

A special thanks to my patrons on Patreon for their support: Rob Flax, Stepan Grammatik, brockstar, Mats Unnerholm, D Sing, Will Scott, drew batchelor, Miguel, Steve Bragg, Joab Eastley, Tomi Kokki, Mitch Lantz, Ben Norland, Daniel Morris, and Roman Jakobej!

If you would like to support my work on ZOIA, please visit patreon.com/chmjacques

Controls:

Left stompswitch, momentary — tap tempo for the delay

Middle stompswitch, latching — octave up

Right stompswitch, latching — octave down

** Note, when both stompswitches are active, they offset one another and no pitch shift occurs.

Front page:

Yellow controls at the top govern the delay:

Delay mix — wet/dry (reverse) mix for the delay

Delay feedback — to use the delay as a pre-delay for the reverb, set the mix to 100% and the feedback to 0%

Additionally, there are rate/depth controls for the delay’s modulation. By default there is some subtle modulation. The controls have been starred, if you would like to adjust them.

Magenta controls in the middle govern the reverb:

Reverb mix — wet/dry (reverse delay) mix for the reverb; when the reverb mix is 100%, you may have to adjust the mix for the patch, or the output, as this can create a drop in volume

Reverb decay — decay control for the reverb

Adjacent to the reverb controls are two white lights, on either side. When the light on the left is lit, the middle stompswitch, controlling the octave up pitch shifting is active; when the light on the right is lit, the right stompswitch, controlling the octave down pitch shifting is actve.

An aqua control at the bottom of the page controls the overall wet/dry mix for the patch. If you want to just hear reversed audio, turn the delay and reverb controls all the way down, and the master mix to 100%.

Sound clip: