Can’t afford a pricey plate reverb? Use some IKEA shelving and piezos and get something that sounds amazingly good in this simple DIY tutorial. Best of all – you can do it for under $100 in parts, and it’s not a complex build.

This is nearly a four-year-old project, but we’re in the midst of a pandemic, an economic downturn, and a parts shortage, plus – this just never gets old. Gearnews reminds us of this one (in German), and honestly – I need shelves. I need plate reverb. Good timing. Sold.

Here’s LeoMakes in action – scroll down for the updated design, as the sound improves:

IKEA BROR Legs (means “brother”?!)

Surface transducer (currently unavailable, maybe someone in comments can suggest a swap – fairly common part, and any should do)

He’s since iterated on the design, and even made some free downloadable impulse response files you can load into a convolution reverb (like the ones included in Ableton Live Suite), in case you want to avoid IKEA entirely. (It is, to be fair, a diabolical Swedish labyrinth of consumerist pain, with meatballs.)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3h28jv0wapjrwdh/AACD5J5584yx8-Bh53tKJxira

While you’re upgrading your life, LeoMake has built the perfect synth desk / studio, too – this within the past year.

And there’s more – a Eurorack case, a DIY binaural microphone for 3D recording (yep, those head-shaped things), a $10 mic from a paper cup,

Support the creator of the videos:

Oh, and I love that he has some general DIY tips:

PS, it’s not a music project per se, but while you’re DIYing – maybe make your own air filter, too (great against allergies, not just COVID, by the way – so a must for the studio):

How to build Corsi-Rosenthal Box to protect against COVID for under $100 [Seattle Times]

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