Tin Can Reverb

[WRGKMC]

Simple project for someone wanting to experiment recording with reverb.

 

I was just a young kid when I messed with building a tin can telephone. I once used a long piece of bare wire to connect the two cans instead of a string. The voice had a metallic reverb tone to it.

 

You could easily find a tin can large enough to house a speaker. One of those cookie cans might be ideal. You can cut a hole in the lid and mount the speaker to the lid pointing into the can, or even a horn driver used for a talk box would work well. You'd mount a long coiled spring between the two cans instead of a string, then mic the other can.

Then simply connect your amp to the speaker to get the can to resonate and pass the vibration to the other can which is miced to pickup the sound.

 

Alternative option would be to use a guitar pickup in the second can mounted close to the can diaphragm. The pickup would act the same way as it would placed under guitar strings. As the diaphragm moved, the pickup would generate a signal.

 

Take it a further step. Why use tin cans. Take a lightweight speaker and connect it to the center of a small speaker so the diaphragm makes the spring vibrate. On the other end of the spring, place the guitar pickup along the steel spring and it will pickup the vibration directly from the springs. This is all a spring reverb actually consists of, an inductive driver and an inductive pickup. It could be housed using a small amp to drive the speaker and the guitar pickup could be connected directly to the guitar amp.