Welcome back to another Dojo. Tighten your belts, because this time we’re going back to literally ancient fundamentals, a tribute to the primordial physical spectre, the OG of all effects: reverb. I’m not talking about presets, brand/model names, or “this is what so-and-so uses.” (I’ve written about that already in my two-part article, “Reverb Therapy”). I’m talking about what reverb actually is, and how you can use its properties to make better recordings.
Reverb is something that we know intimately. It’s a physical property of life on this planet, but not so for outer space. Think about the luscious, reverb-drenched sounds of ion canons being fired toward other spacecraft in any sci-fi battle movie—that’s the “fi” part of sci-fi.
So, how does reverb occur on Earth? Well, we need a medium to carry sound, and the denser the better! For comparison, Earth’s atmosphere has roughly 100 million atoms per centimeter, while the atmosphere of outer space often contains only 1 to 10 particles per cubic meter. This is why in the vacuum (void) of outer space you don’t get reverberation. It’s just too sparse.
Back on Earth, at 68 degrees Fahrenheit, sound travels at approximately 1,126 ft. per second in air. But in water, it’s four times faster. I know what you’re thinking: “I was told there would be no math.” Worry not.
Sound is itself a pressure wave that requires particles to collide and transfer energy, passing vibration along in much the same way that water transfers rings of concentric waves when you drop a stone in a still pond. However, in air, those sound waves bounce off varying degrees of dense objects, intermingle, and further reflect at different times with decreasing levels of energy in four dimensions (length, width, height, and time) and create reverb. All physical spaces have reverb unless: A) you’re outdoors in an open field, or B) you’re in an anechoic chamber.
At its core, I define reverb (when using it as an effect) as a controlled explosion of sound reflections based on a static position. Once reverb begins, there are three main properties to focus on—RT60, density, and diffusion. Having a firm grasp on these three will help you make better use of your reverbs, regardless of whether they’re analog or digital.
Let’s break down the core parameters—not as knobs on a plugin, but as decisions you’re making whether you realize it or not.
RT60 is the big one. It tells you how long it takes for the reverb to decay by 60 dB (basically, how long it takes for the reverb to die out completely into relative silence). Put simply, RT60 = reverb time.
“At its core, I define reverb as a controlled explosion of sound reflections based on a static position.”
Diffusion and density are where things start to get interesting. They reveal the true timbral characteristics of the reverb. For example, a simple 2.5-second reverb time is not enough information for us to tell what kind of reverb it is. We just have the RT60, but the diffusion and density characteristics will let us know if it’s a plate, spring, hallway, stairwell, concert hall, digital version, or a hybrid of any of these. Obviously not all reverbs, particularly analog ones, offer an easy way to control these parameters. But digital reverbs can, with aplomb.
Let’s separate them cleanly first.
Diffusion refers to how quickly individual reflections lose their identity.
When a sound first hits a space, you don’t get a smooth wash—you get discrete echoes bouncing around. This includes the early reflections (pre verb). When the brain can no longer detect early reflections arriving individually, reverb starts (RT60). Diffusion controls how fast those echoes smear into a continuous field.
With low diffusion you can hear the hard surfaces of the “space.” The reflections feel grainy or even metallic. In extreme cases, you’ll hear little “pings” or fluttering artifacts. With high diffusion, the reflections blend together almost immediately. You don’t perceive individual echoes—you perceive a smooth tail. This is what most people think of as a “lush” or “silky” reverb.
Density is different. Density is about how many reflections exist within a given slice of time. Think of it as population.
Low density yields fewer reflections, so the space feels sparse. The tail feels thin, sometimes hollow. With high density, there are many reflections packed closely together. The tail feels thick, full, continuous.
So density is about how populated the reverberant field is over time.
Have fun playing with these parameters, and until next time, namaste.
Bill Sumner conquered tuning and neck-dive issues on his Epiphone Kat in a most dramatic way—by using a Hipshot’s Lowpro and Headless Bridge to situate the tuners on the body.
I’d wanted a hollow or semi-hollow guitar for some time, drawn to the tonal differences relative to solid bodies. A Gibson ES-335 or Epiphone Casino had been on my radar for years, but the 16" body width always gave me pause. The Epiphone Kat, at only 14" wide, made the difference. I also considered the ES-339, but the Kat simply looked better.
Right out of the box, my brand-new Epiphone Kat semi-hollow was absolutely beautiful, very well made, played nicely, and sounded excellent, with surprisingly good pickups. Unfortunately, there were negatives. It was longer than any of my other guitars and felt clumsy to me as a result. The extra length combined with the Grover tuners to induce neck dive. The Kat was heavier than I expected for a semi-hollow. Lastly, it didn’t stay in tune very well. As with any imperfect online purchase, I faced the hassle of returning it, tolerating it, or fixing it.
Almost immediately, my imagination went to work: It’s too bad Epiphone didn’t make a headless version of this guitar, I thought. That would solve all four problems I faced. That led to design questions—how does one convert a conventional guitar to headless, without doing major wood work like routing on that beautiful body?
My partner in exploring the feasibility and execution of this project was Las Vegas luthier and guitar tech Von Schroeder. He confirmed that my headless scheme was technically viable. But actually beheading a brand-new guitar would be a first for him. In the end, I decided it was worth a try.
Our unusual design approach was to keep the existing bridge and nut rather than replacing them. I placed a Hipshot Lowpro headpiece just above the nut to lock the strings, and a Hipshot Headless Bridge replaced the tailpiece. This effectively created a tailpiece with tuners. The final result was a perfectly balanced guitar that’s a delight to play, stays in tune, and is exactly one pound lighter than the original.
Hot on the heels of their 12th studio record, Into Oblivion, American metal giants Lamb of God tore off across the continent on a tour that took them to Nashville’s Municipal Auditorium. That’s where PG’s Chris Kies reunited with Mark Morton, the band’s lead guitarist and one of the genre’s most influential riffers. In this new Rig Rundown, Morton walked us through the trusty tools he’s taken out on the road this spring. Tune in to the video for our interview with Morton, and scroll down for some key rig highlights.
This is one of Morton’s own, a Gibson Mark Morton Les Paul Modern. It’s got a gorgeous satin quilt top, slim taper neck, locking tuners, and custom pickups designed by Jim DeCola—at the moment, they’re only available in these LPs.
Morton strings his guitars with signature packs of Stringjoys. For drop D, he uses .0095-.050; for drop C#, .010–.052; and for drop C, .012–.054.
Custom Crusher
This 2022 Gibson Custom Shop ’60 Les Paul has seen plenty of playing time onstage.
Morton’s Mesas
<p>Morton blends Mesa/Boogie Mark V and Badlander amp heads. The Badlander is favored for its low-end response, while the Mark V brings out mid-range frequencies. They run to Mesa/Boogie 4x12 cabinets equipped with Vintage 30 speakers. An ISP Decimator Pro Rack G keeps out unwanted noise.</p>
Mark Morton’s Pedal Rig
<p>Onstage, Morton keeps only a TC Electronic PolyTune 3 and a Dunlop wah pedal. Backstage is where most of the magic happens. On one rack shelf sits a Neural QuadCortex used for switching, while another hosts a Maxon OD808 Overdrive, MXR Stereo Chorus, MXR Carbon Copy Deluxe, <a href="https://www.premierguitar.com/tag/boss?utm_source=website&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=Smartlinks">Boss</a> NS-2, and an Ebtech Hum Eliminator.</p>
Three icons whose individual legacies helped define hip-hop, rock and social consciousness across decades have formed a new power-group called FREEDOM. Darryl "DMC" McDaniels (Run-DMC), DJ Johnny Juice (turntablist, Public Enemy) and Brian Hardgroove (Public Enemy, Fine ArtsMilitia) form FREEDOM, a band created to bridge genres and generations, blending raw hip-hop energy, rock power and messages of resilience and unity that reflect belief in the transformative power of music. The legendary Darryl "DMC"McDaniels, whose pioneering influence on hip-hop culture is well documented in music history, alongside the virtuosic DJ Johnny Juice, known for his intricate production work with Public Enemy and the multi-instrumentalist and producer Brian Hardgroove, celebrated for his tenure with the same iconic group will debut their powerful new single, a track that serves as a sonic manifesto for unity and social consciousness.
The single blends hard-hitting beats with poignant lyrics. The band aims to inspire millions to move beyond passive listening and engage in tangible actions emphasizing that together true freedom exists.
The band's first single, I’m On Your Side is set to release Friday, May 15, 2026 through Worldwide Entertainment Group, The Orchard (a division of SONY LLC) and JRB Innovations. I'm On Your Side is a powerful song and music video performed by FREEDOM. The song is an anthem for today's uncertain times. A rallying cry for those who refuse to stay silent in the face of corruption, chaos and freedom collapsing. With a contagious rhythm and impassioned lyrics, the song captures efforts to reclaim one's own voice where truth and democracy are under attack. It's a message of promise that calls for involvement with the band promising that freedom will keep ringing through the power of music. The song will remind fans that the fight for freedom is deeply personal, rooted in courage, empathy, hope and through the original lyrical and musical explosion by FREEDOM - "DMC," Juice and Hardgroove.
I'm On Your Side releases on all major DSPs and all music streaming services worldwide. The band has also created a campaign where fans can join their community and be part of their powerful message and platform. As part of the official launch an exclusive collection of merchandise will be available
The I'm On Your Side music video was filmed in New York in one day and directed by Simon Kinney of Synergy Group Productions (Pink, Metallica, Ed Sheeran) and co-directed for one additional day in Santa Fe by Zay Santos of Santa Fe Stockyards.
FREEDOM, a new musical force with iconic, historical vocals bridges the gap between rock, the foundational roots of hip-hop and modern social activism during a time when the world is polarized. I'm On Your Side is not merely a contagious new song and a call to arms in a sense for shared cultural experiences and beliefs and a reminder that icons like McDaniels, who set the stage for rap innovation and social consciousness through his legendary career along with Juice and Hardgroove, are unstoppable in creating a worldwide sensation called I'm On Your Side.
FREEDOM is represented by Worldwide Entertainment Group (NY), a multi-faceted Entertainment Company led by industry executive Dave Lory and a group of award-winning music industry decision makers focusing on all aspects of a musical artist's career path. (http//:wweg.com). Visit the website at freedomonyourside.com
Sennheiser has introduced the HD 480 PRO, its top-of-the-line closed-back headphones for studio and live environments.
The HD 480 PRO headphones are designed to eliminate the two most-cited pain points of closed-back headphones by delivering a tight, accurate bass reproduction and ensuring supreme comfort for use in recording, tracking, or monitoring in the studio, in live audio environments or on the move.
With closed-back headphones, a good reproduction of the low-end is usually difficult to achieve. “This is where the HD 480 PRO excel. Compared to other closed-back headphones, they are a lot tighter on the bass, their low-end is super-accurate and realistic,” notes Jimmy R. Landry, Category Market Manager, Music Industry at Sennheiser.
“Comfort is of paramount importance when headphones are a work tool,” adds Gunnar Dirks, Senior Product Manager for professional headphones. “Engineers often spend hours on end in their sessions. They need a lightweight, ergonomically designed pair of headphones to keep focus and concentration up. The HD 480 PRO eliminate any pressure points and fit every head precisely and comfortably – even if you’re wearing glasses.”
Whether used in the studio by producers, mixers, musicians, recording engineers, and creators, in live environments by FoH engineers and monitor engineers, or again on the move, the HD 480 PRO are an ideal choice for monitoring, producing, and recording, but also for mixing, which makes them Sennheiser’s most versatile professional headphones to date. Their offer accurate, uncolored frequency response and honest low-end ensure that the audio translates reliably to any listening situation from home speakers to automobile use and PA systems.
To enable the user to fully concentrate on the audio and hear all detail, the HD 480 PRO feature multiple stages of passive sound shielding, while comfortable ear pads with soft grooves for the temples of glasses ensure the precise seal that is required for good audio reproduction. A series of design measures – subsumed under the term “Vibration Attenuation System” – eliminate unwanted vibration, reflections and distortion, preserving the clarity of the signal. The ultralight voice coils of the HD 480 PRO ensure a remarkably authentic and dynamic reproduction.
Like its open-back counterpart, the HD 490 PRO, the HD 480 PRO benefit from several Sennheiser-patented features.
Special Axes Geometry: The mechanical design makes sure that the headphones optimally adapt to the head and maintain an equal contact pressure no matter what the shape of the user’s head. The listening experience is consistent across users.
Comfort zone for glasses: The ear pads do not press on the temples of glasses but rather have a soft zone, which ensures good sealing and high comfort at the same time.
Blocking of cable-borne noise: Near the earcup, the connection cable features a coiled part, which effectively decouples the HD 480 PRO from any structure-borne or handling noise, such as that transmitted when the cable hits the desk, for example.
To adapt to different set-ups, the detachable cable can be worn on the left or right side of the HD 480 PRO. This flexible cable routing is ideal for solo recording of instruments, for example, as it keeps the cable out of the way. To ensure accessibility, the left and right earcups are braille-marked. Engineered by Sennheiser’s experienced professional development team, the HD 480 PRO have been designed to last and deliver consistent results over time.
The open-back HD 490 PRO and closed-back HD 480 PRO are at the top of the 400 series of purpose-built professional audio headphones. So which one is best for which application? “Which model is the better choice for you really depends on how you work,” explains Gunnar Dirks. “The open HD 490 PRO will be ideal for mixing in quiet environments, while I would recommend the closed HD 480 PRO for applications where you need isolation, for example when you’re tracking vocals in the room, when monitoring or using them as an FoH reference, or simply when you’re working in the same space as others.”
The HD 480 PRO carries a street price of $399 and features recording earpads and a 9-foot coiled cable and is delivered complete with a carrying bag. If you need more advanced storage/protection, the HD 480 PRO Plus carries a $439 street price and comes with a travel case. For more information visit Sennheiser.com.