Thought you knew reverb? Eventide’s unique new plug‑in might just make you think again...

Available in two versions, Lite and Pro, Eventide’s Temperance takes reverb plug‑in design in a new direction, not only allowing its simulations to emulate realistic spaces as you might expect, but also to function almost as part of an active, musical instrument. Traditional reverbs replicate how sound diffuses in air and bounces off walls, either by capturing IRs, or with synthetic reverb algorithms based on FIR filters (multi‑tapped delays), using a mixture of comb and all‑pass filters to recirculate the sound. By contrast, Temperance operates in what Eventide call “the modal domain”, where each space is represented by a very large number of differently tuned resonators. Eventide describe the process as the resonators behaving rather like tuning forks, each one tuned to a specific frequency. This suggests some parallels with Zynaptiq’s Adaptiverb, which creates the reverb tail using a large number of oscillators whose respective levels are influenced by the spectrum of the incoming sound.

Temperance Tour

All the controls present in the Lite version of Temperance are also present in the Pro version, so I’ll start off by describing the Lite version — at the time of writing this one is available for free — and then move on to the added extras of the Pro version. This plug‑in exhibits very low latency and combines the natural sound of modal modelling with intuitive controls that enable the user to easily explore its creative potential. Fifteen factory presets, including five tutorials, are included.

When an audio signal is fed into the plug‑in, it excites the resonant modes, just as it would in a real space, and each mode has its own resonant frequency, decay time, amplitude and phase. This is what creates the familiar wash of reverberation. But within Temperance, each resonator can be individually manipulated in real time — and to make possible musical treatments that stray well away from natural reverb, Eventide have tied this in with the 12‑note chromatic scale.

The large Temper knob determines how strongly the plug‑in emphasises or suppresses resonant modes corresponding to musical notes set on the chromatic scale, and the user can click on notes to turn them on or off. Set midway, the reverb behaves like a conventional space creating a smooth, natural‑sounding reverb tail. Turning the knob clockwise increases the strength of resonances corresponding to the selected notes displayed around the control, allowing those frequencies to create a reverb that sounds like it’s in harmony with the input signal. Turning it anticlockwise de‑emphasises the chosen notes, allowing the others to come through more strongly.

At the bottom of the GUI are range sliders, a pair of which define the high‑ and low‑cut filter corner frequencies, while the other pair set the upper and lower frequencies affected by the Temper control. To help visualise what’s happening, the display shows the reverb energy around a one‑octave circle showing how the energy level moves in response to the input. There’s a further display within the filter section at the bottom of the window that shows spectral details of the reverb.

All the familiar reverb adjustment parameters are present: Mix, Decay, Size, and up to two seconds of Pre‑Delay. There’s also a choice of Bright Room, Large Studio or Synthetic Space. Bright Room derives from Eventide’s well‑known SP2016 algorithm, whereas Large Studio is modelled after an impulse response provided by acoustician Dr Ralph Kessler. Synthetic Space is a purely in‑house design. Finally on the control front, there’s an output level adjuster.

As Temperance Lite allows the reverb tail to respond musically, it can be tuned to the key of a song, which can reduce or remove dissonant overtones, and there’s a tuning adjustment to adapt to pitches other than the standard A=440Hz. At more extreme settings, the reverb tail can sound like an evolving pad or an ambient haze, in which only specific intervals ‘hang on’.

Getting Heavy

Temperance Pro, of course, does all of the above but more besides. It comes with 29 different reverb types, encompassing a range of sizes plus some synthetic options, and it has an input level control with an associated Dry Kill switch, as well as an output level control with a Dual Mono mode button below. Dual Mono mode applies the same processing separately to both channels, and can help maintain a strong stereo image, especially at lower Density settings. The maximum pre‑delay time is two seconds, which is the same as the Lite version. Note selection can be handled manually (as with the Lite version), but there’s also the option to enter by Interval, Scale, Chord or Mode.

There’s a built‑in sequencer of up to 64 bars, and the user can enter up to eight different chords to the sequencer steps.

Interestingly, there’s a built‑in sequencer of up to 64 bars, and the user can enter up to eight different chords to the sequencer steps. Furthermore, notes can be actioned from a MIDI input, and each MIDI octave can be repeated (using the Octave Repeat button) so the Temper resonators will respond correctly, regardless of the octave in which you’re playing. If you like the sound of something less ‘correct’, the Pro version also has a frequency offset control that affects all the resonator pitches, and this has a range of ±500Hz — you can use this to make things very angsty, in an almost ring‑modulator kind of way, if you want to.

Whereas the Lite version has no option for making separate adjustments to the early and late reflections, Temperance Pro allows the user to balance the early and late reflections, and gives you the option of applying the Tempering process only to the early reflections, just the late reflections, or to both. The Density control adjusts the number of resonant modes, allowing for less natural‑sounding effects when lowering the density, and the filter slopes can be switched between 12 and 36 dB/octave. Note Width allows the note resonances to be narrowed, much in the same way as increasing the Q of a filter.

Sound Judgement

So Temperance works differently from other reverbs, and there’s an incredible amount of control if you want it. But what does this actually sound like? The straightforward reverbs exhibit a smooth, natural character, so you shouldn’t write this off as a plug‑in that’s only to be used for new effects. In fact, adding just a hint of Temperance set to the key of your song can really enhance the reverb in a very subtle and natural‑sounding way. But when you push it further, the reverb tail rings out with a really distinctive chordal structure, and only the selected notes really pop out. The effect becomes even more evident if you utilise the sequencer to step through different chord note combinations. Narrow the Note Width to tighten up the resonators, and the reverb can take on an almost steel drum or wind chime sort of character. Most of the effects are nicely subtle, and seem to work in a very musical way, but with the Pro version there’s lots more scope for pushing the boundaries if that’s what you prefer. Temperance is a great example of character meeting creativity, and I’m always happy to see a product that breaks new ground like this.