Reverse echo


Reverse reverb, also known as backwards reverb, or sometimes erroneously as reverse echo, is a sound effect created as the result of recording a reverberated signal of an audio recording played backwards. The original recording is then played forwards accompanied by the recording of the reverberated signal which now precedes the original signal. The process produces a swelling effect preceding and during playback.

Development

Guitarist and producer Jimmy Page claims to have invented the effect, stating that he originally developed the method when recording the single "Ten Little Indians" with The Yardbirds in 1967. He later used it on a number of Led Zeppelin tracks, including "You Shook Me", "Whole Lotta Love", and their cover of "When the Levee Breaks". In an interview he gave to Guitar World magazine in 1993, Page explained:
Despite Page's claims, an earlier example of the effect can distinctly be heard towards the end of the 1966 Lee Mallory single "That's the Way It's Gonna Be", produced by Curt Boettcher.

Usage in music

of Led Zeppelin used this effect in the bridge of "Whole Lotta Love".
Reverse reverb is commonly used in shoegaze, particularly by such bands as My Bloody Valentine and Spacemen 3.
It is also often used as a lead-in to vocal passages in hardstyle music, and various forms of EDM and pop music. The reverse reverb is applied to the first word or syllable of the vocal for a build-up effect or other-worldly sound.

Use in other media

Reverse reverb has been used in filmmaking and television production for an otherworldly effect on voices, especially in horror movies.