The dispersion of frequencies within a plate reverb plays a critical role in its sound. It is a major reason why a plate reverb sounds so distinctive, in particular with respect to the way it affects transients. A plate’s whip like onset is especially audible with percussive material, and is very well suited to guitars and vocals bestowing a unique and very desirable acoustic signature to the reverb.

This happens because sound travels through a metal plate at different speeds depending on its frequency. Similar in effect to a prism spatially splitting light into different colours, a plate temporally disperses sound by delaying different frequencies by different amounts. Low frequencies travel relatively slowly through the metal so are delayed more than the high frequencies.

Simulating the delay’s rate of change with frequency is crucial to achieving a convincing plate dispersion tone. In a real plate dispersion is largely determined by its dimensions and pick-up positions, but other factors including the construction material, tension, mounting factors and so on all make a difference. The amount of simulated dispersion for each plate in Lustrous Plates is all controllable via a single ‘frequency dispersion’ parameter for quick and powerful results.