Taking the basic shimmer effect first, this is best set up as a send effect, as this allows you to use different processing to the dry part of the sound, such as a more conventional reverb and/or delay. But you can also set up your own variation on the shimmer effect using plug‑ins that most of us already have. An inexpensive software option is the excellent Valhalla Shimmer plug‑in.

Numerous reverb pedals now include a shimmer effect, but those that do it well don't come cheap. Guitar players often combine this effect with a slow fade-in to the note, which can be achieved using a volume pedal, a little finger wrapped around the guitar's volume knob, or a dedicated slow-attack pedal, such as the EHX Attack Decay that we reviewed in SOS July 2019 ( ). One of the staples of ambient music is the so-called shimmer reverb effect, in which each note is followed by a reverberant wash of sound an octave higher than the original. But I have to acknowledge how thoroughly Eno saturated I am.For more instant gratification, you could try a commercial plug‑in such as Valhalla Shimmer!Ĭreating your own shimmer reverb effects is easy, and gives you plenty of creative control. Obviously, ValhallaShimmer can get sounds well beyond the Eno / Lanois axis. My goal was to get a sound that was reminiscent of the larger processes used (several boxes, including reverb, pitch shifting, and modulated delays, with feedback applied), instead of a single component of those processes. It is worth noting that the algorithm isn't particularly close to any of the specific algorithms in the boxes Eno or Lanois used. ValhallaShimmer was pretty strongly Eno influenced. It was very helpful in getting my daughters to sleep at a young age. I've listened to a LOT of Eno/Budd over the years, I have to admit. I tried explaining to someone what it was that distinguished this from a reverb with a long tail and I couldn't put it into words.Īctually, I don't want anyone else to know about this. I ran a Fender Rhodes patch through Shimmer and freaked. I've tried so many combinations of reverbs and delays trying to get that sound. Koranek wrote:There is a kind of lush piano sound that Eno/Budd created several years ago.

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