Want to play your reverb like an instrument? Temperance Lite, the world’s first “musical reverb” plugin by Eventide gives you ultimate control over every note

Eventide Audio has launched Temperance Lite, a groundbreaking plugin that introduces what it calls the world’s first “musical reverb”.

Unlike traditional algorithmic or convolution reverbs, Temperance Lite lets you control reverb resonances using the familiar 12-note chromatic scale. Users can choose which notes bloom or fade within a space, giving them unprecedented tonal control over reverb.

Temperance Lite employs modal reverb technology, a decades-old concept previously impossible to run in real time due to computational demands. Now, using modern processing power, the plugin gives each frequency its own “tuning fork,” from deep 20 Hz rumbles to shimmering 20 kHz highs. Users can adjust the loudness and decay of each note, effectively shaping the musical character of a space.

Key features include the Temper Knob, which emphasises or de-emphasises specific notes, and three world-class spaces:

• Bright Room – based on the SP2016 reverb, ideal for vocals, instruments, and drums.
• Large Studio – recreated with input from acoustics pioneer Dr. Ralph Kessler.
• Synthetic Space – entirely in-house, showing off the creative potential of modal reverb.

The NoteScape Visualiser provides a real-time display of sustained and decaying notes, visually mapping the musicality of the reverb. The plugin also comes with 15 factory presets including 5 Tutorial presets to get you started, along with range sliders to isolate specific frequency bands.

“I’ve been dreaming of a musical reverb for 40 years,” says Eventide engineer Tony Agnello. “In 1985, I met Isaak Vigdorchik, who believed that Cremona violins’ plates were sanded to ring out at the 12 notes of the musical scale. Isaak said, ‘Anthony, the notes are in the wood!’ Years earlier I had developed the SP2016’s reverb algorithms and, with reverb still on my mind, I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if the notes were in the room?’ But that would require modeling a room in exquisite detail and the processing power required might never be attainable.”

“Now the processing power is at hand,” Agnello adds. “Eventide’s passionate and brilliant developers have made my dream come true. Now, for the first time, any space, real or imagined, can be crafted with the artist’s musical intent.”

Temperance Lite is free to download from Eventide Audio until December 31, 2025, and is compatible with 64-bit AAX, AU, and VST3 on macOS 10.14+ and Windows 10+, requiring at least an SSE 4.2 processor on Windows.

Learn more at Eventide Audio.