BeeVerb Manual

BeeVerb is a graph-led multiband reverb and delay processor. It divides the input into active frequency regions, creates a dry and wet path inside each region, runs the wet path through a selected reverb or delay algorithm, gates that wet return from a detector, and mixes the result back with the dry band before the bands recombine.

BeeVerb is first a routing instrument. A band defines where the source is split. An algorithm defines the wet-return character. A detector opens the wet return. Gate controls set how firmly the return closes. Mix controls set how much wet signal returns to the recombined output.

Source basis: BeeVerb project Manual.md, Features.md, docs/parameter-map.md, docs/product-plan.md, and docs/reverb-algorithm-references.md. External references in this manual support general reverb, delay, filter, metering, and documentation vocabulary. They do not override the local product contract.

Notation

Band means an audible crossover region in BeeVerb. Path means the focused Stereo path, or the Mid or Side path when the focused band is in M/S mode. Gate Open is the detector level that opens the wet return. Gate Range is the maximum attenuation applied to the wet return while closed. Bloom is the rise timing of the wet return. Decay is the recovery and tail timing used by the focused wet path. Mix is the band wet-return blend, not compressor makeup gain.

The focused envelope has three views. Gate is the wet-return gate timing view. Reverb is the default wet lifecycle view. Early is the enlarged pre-tail editor for the selected algorithm's topology stage. PRE, SHAPE, BLOOM, DENS, and DECAY are envelope handles, not separate audio channels. Stage labels such as ER, DIFF, AMB, INPUT, DISP, RISE, REPEAT, FDN, MESH, and TAPS name the algorithm-specific pre-tail event field shown in the envelope.

Feature Inventory

BeeVerb contains these public capabilities:

One to twelve active reverb bands with ordered crossovers, crossover slope chips, split and remove operations, focused band selection, and narrow-band inspector state.
Per-band Stereo or M/S operation with independent Mid and Side path parameters.
Per-band bypass, solo, algorithm selection, filter character, resonance and corner-shift state where supported by the shared band surface.
Reverb algorithms: Room, Hall, Plate, Chamber, Spring, Bloom, Ambience, Schroeder Cloud, Moorer Chamber, Dattorro Plate, FDN Hall, Waveguide Mesh, and Velvet Room.
Delay algorithms: Tape Echo, Ping-Pong, Diffusion Echo, and Swarm Delay.
Wet-return gate controls: Gate Open, Gate Range, Gate Hysteresis, Bloom, Hold, Decay, Width, and Damping.
Detector routing from Self, another active internal band, or the host External sidechain when the host provides one.
External sidechain splitting through the same active crossover layout used by the audio bands.
Advanced tabs for Verb, Delay, Gate, Tail, and Mod controls.
Verb controls for Shape, Density, Input Diffusion, Early Reflections, Bloom Scale, Pre-delay, and Freeze.
Delay controls for Delay Type, Delay Time, Repeat Decay, Feedback Trim, Delay Spread, Delay Diffuse, and Delay Tone.
Gate controls for detector mode, gate window, stereo link, and external blend.
Tail controls for Decay Scale, Tail Hold, Wet Tone, Bloom Response, Tail Response, and Freeze on reverb algorithms. Delay algorithms and fixed delay products instead show Feedback Trim, Delay Tone, Density Response, Feedback Response, and Freeze.
Mod controls for Tail Motion and Motion Rate.
Focused envelope selector with Gate, Reverb, and Early views. Gate edits wet-return timing. Reverb edits pre-delay, topology stage, shape, bloom, density, and decay. Early opens the selected topology stage on a larger surface.
Descriptor-backed topology-stage drawing for early reflections, diffusion seeds, spring contacts, bloom waves, mesh scattering, FDN lines, velvet taps, and delay repeats.
Graph activity trace that reads wet-return activity rather than compressor gain reduction.
FFT visualizer, Hi-Res 1/12-octave de-mixed filter-bank view, spectrogram background, analyzer hold, bin and overlap controls, visual smoothing, brightness, peak hold, tilt, centroid, and coarse band-energy telemetry.
Full-height right-side IN, OUT, and GR meter rail outside the graph, with the shared right-edge chevron for opening and closing the rail.
Delta monitor for hearing input minus processed output.
Shared preset drawer with search, row selection, load, save, rename, update, delete, tags, and VST3-compatible user preset files.
Stable host parameter IDs, normalized preset restore, and recall compatibility with the shared graph surface.
Split-topology sibling contracts for BeeRoom, BeeHall, BeePlate, BeeChamber, BeeSpring, BeeBloom, BeeAmbience, BeeTapeEcho, BeePingPong, BeeDiffusionEcho, BeeSwarmDelay, BeeSchroederCloud, BeeMoorerChamber, BeeDattorroPlate, BeeFDNHall, BeeWaveguideMesh, and BeeVelvetRoom where those builds are present: fixed topology products using the BeeVerb gate, reverb envelope, preset drawer, and focused path behavior without BeeVerb's multiband-only algorithm picker or crossover editing.
Deliberate omissions: no BeePressor Auto/Apply capture process, no ADAA editor control, and no Custom transfer editor.

BeeVerb joins three technical tasks: place the source in frequency regions, choose the artificial space or delay for each region, and control when the wet return is heard. The manual follows that order through signal path, detector path, algorithm tables, and research references.

Gain and tail safety

Reverb can mask the dry source even when meters show conservative peak levels. Set band Mix and global Mix after the gate and tail behavior are correct. Leave enough post-roll when printing long tails or Freeze states, because the effect can continue audibly after source audio stops.

Scope and Terminology

BeeVerb is not a compressor, although it inherits a stable graph surface that was also used by dynamics products. The user-facing labels are reverb labels. Threshold is presented as Gate Open, ratio as Gate Range, knee as Gate Hysteresis, attack as Bloom, release as Decay, attack shape as Width, release shape as Damping, and makeup as band Mix. This mapping is a compatibility layer for host state and automation; it is not an instruction to think of the product as a compressor.

BeeVerb's first topology layer is the multiband split. It decides which part of the source can feed each independent reverb or delay return. The second topology layer is the wet algorithm. It decides whether the focused band behaves like a room, hall, plate, chamber, spring, bloom wash, ambience, delay, FDN, mesh, or velvet-noise space. The third topology layer is the wet-return gate. It decides when that return appears, how far it closes, and how it avoids chatter. The fourth layer is monitoring and visual diagnosis. It shows spectrum, activity, meters, and Delta without redefining the audio path.

Band count is part of the audio topology. Reducing band count removes active split regions from the audible graph, even if compatible stored state remains available for future recall. Crossover frequency and slope describe where adjacent wet paths begin and end. Gate Open and Mix describe what happens inside a focused region after the split has already been made.

The word algorithm means the chosen wet-return structure and character. Room, Hall, Plate, and Chamber name practical studio categories. Schroeder Cloud, Moorer Chamber, Dattorro Plate, FDN Hall, Waveguide Mesh, and Velvet Room name technical families grounded in artificial reverberation literature. Tape Echo, Ping-Pong, Diffusion Echo, and Swarm Delay are delay-family algorithms inside the same band and gate system.

Ownership sequence

Band placement changes what feeds a space. Algorithm selection changes the character of that space. Gate controls change when it is heard. Mix controls change how much of it returns. Procedures use that ownership order before moving into interaction rules, algorithm tables, and gate tables.

System Description

The input is trimmed globally, split by active crossovers, and routed into parallel dry and wet paths for each active band. The wet path enters the selected reverb or delay algorithm, then passes through wet-return gating. The gated wet return is blended with the band dry path by band Mix. All bands recombine, global Mix is applied, output trim is applied, and telemetry is published to meters, graph activity, analyzer, and preset state.

Figure 1. BeeVerb audio path.

Input trim Crossover split Band dry path Band wet algorithm Wet gate Band Mix Recombine Global Mix and output

The detector path is separate from the wet algorithm. Self keying measures the focused band. Internal keying measures another active band. External keying measures the host sidechain input when the host has enabled it. External sidechain material is split through the same crossover layout, so a focused high band reads the corresponding high external split rather than an unrelated full-band detector.

Figure 2. Wet-return detector routing.

SelfFocused band source -> detector -> focused wet gate

Internal keySelected internal band -> detector -> focused wet gate

ExternalHost sidechain -> crossover split -> detector -> focused wet gate

M/S mode gives the focused band separate Mid and Side wet paths. The Mid path can use a different algorithm, gate, decay, damping, filter, and mix from the Side path. This is useful when center ambience must stay short and stable while side ambience carries width, or when low-frequency ambience should remain mostly centered.

Figure 3. Focused band M/S ownership.

Focused band M/S encode Mid algorithm, gate, timing, mix Side algorithm, gate, timing, mix M/S decode

The activity graph is not gain reduction. It reads wet-return intensity after reverb shaping and gating. A high activity trace means the reverb return is active. A low trace means little or no wet signal is emitted. This matters because a closed gate can leave the dry source untouched while the activity view falls toward rest.

Figure 4. Wet-return gate, detector listen, and Delta.

Key: Self, Internal, or External Gate detector and SC EQ Detector listen Gate Open, Range, Hysteresis Wet algorithm and Mix Delta or normal output

SC EQ belongs to the wet-return detector path. It changes which source or key energy opens the return. It does not directly equalize the dry band or the recombined output. Detector listen auditions the gate input after routing and detector EQ. Delta auditions the difference between dry input and processed output, which can include gate action, wet algorithm tone, band Mix, and global Mix.

Control Surface

The main graph owns continuous spatial decisions: band focus, crossover placement, slope chips, split/remove controls, Gate Open, Gate Range, Hysteresis where visible, band Mix, activity display, analyzer layers, and focused band identity. The graph should be used to answer where the wet return belongs and when it opens.

The focused drawer owns detailed state for the selected band and path: algorithm, filter, gate, timing, envelope shape, path routing, and Verb, Delay, Gate, Tail, or Mod controls. In Stereo mode it edits the stereo path. In M/S mode it edits the selected Mid or Side path.

The envelope editor keeps the timing model visible. The upper-right selector switches among Gate, Reverb, and Early. Gate preserves the shared gate-envelope editor for wet-return attack, hold, release, and shape ticks. Reverb shows the wet lifecycle in order: PRE, topology stage, SHAPE, BLOOM, DENS, and DECAY. Early opens the selected topology stage on its own larger surface with algorithm-specific control names. The preview is an editable topology/timing view, not a runtime impulse capture.

The Advanced panel contains five tabs. Verb handles density, diffusion, early reflections, pre-delay, bloom scaling, and Freeze. Delay handles Delay Time, Feedback Trim, Delay Spread, Delay Diffuse, and Delay Tone for delay-family algorithms. Gate handles detector averaging, window, stereo link, and external blend. Tail handles Decay Scale, Tail Hold, Wet Tone, response curves, and Freeze for reverb algorithms. On delay algorithms and fixed delay products, Tail instead shows Feedback Trim, Delay Tone, Density Response, Feedback Response, and Freeze. Mod handles slow motion and motion rate in the wet tail.

Tail Hold keeps more energy in a reverb tail and biases the room-size/damping mapping toward a longer sustain. Delay Tail mode does not show Tail Hold or Decay Scale; use Repeat Decay for the main repeat length and Feedback Trim for repeat-strength trim.

The visualizer drawer is editor analysis. FFT and Hi-Res views help place bands and read source energy. Analyzer Hold freezes the display; it is different from gate Hold. Bin, overlap, attack, release, smoothing, and brightness change display behavior, not reverb decay. The right-side meter rail is also display state. It reports input, output, and activity-style meter information outside the graph; it does not add lower-corner meter bars or per-band current-value strips to the graph.

Table 1 defines the inherited control-language mapping. It is necessary because BeeVerb keeps host-compatible parameter identifiers while exposing reverb-specific meaning to the user.

Table 1. Inherited control names and BeeVerb meaning.
Shared parameter family	BeeVerb label	Meaning	Operational consequence
Threshold	Gate Open	Detector level where the wet return opens.	Lower values open more often; higher values require stronger source or key signal.
Ratio	Gate Range	Maximum attenuation while the wet return is closed.	0 dB leaves the return effectively open; large values create obvious gated ambience.
Knee	Gate Hysteresis	Separation between opening and closing behavior.	More hysteresis reduces chatter near the open level.
Attack	Bloom	Wet-return rise time after opening.	Short bloom feels immediate; long bloom swells into the source.
Hold	Hold	Time the wet gate remains open after detector release begins.	Prevents short gaps from chopping the tail.
Release	Decay	Tail and gate recovery time.	Short decay clears space; long decay sustains ambience.
Attack shape	Width	Shape of the rise and width bias.	Changes how the return spreads as it blooms.
Release shape	Damping	Shape of recovery and high-frequency loss.	Higher damping darkens or calms tail behavior depending on algorithm.
Makeup	Mix	Band wet-return blend.	Sets how much gated wet signal returns to the recombined output.

Interaction Rules

Click a band to focus it. Drag crossovers to change the split between adjacent bands. Drag slope chips to change crossover slope. Split a band when a frequency region needs a different algorithm, gate, or mix. Remove a band when two adjacent regions do not need independent space.

Drag Gate Open vertically to change the opening threshold. Drag the range handle or chip to set Gate Range. Increase Gate Hysteresis when the return opens and closes repeatedly around one level. Use Hold before using longer Decay if the problem is a gate that closes between syllables or drum hits.

Choose the algorithm before making small gate decisions. A Plate often tolerates a firmer gate because its density fills quickly. A Hall may need more careful Bloom and Decay. A Swarm Delay may require Delay Tone, Repeat Decay, and Feedback Trim decisions before Gate Range can be judged.

Use Self keying when the same band should open its own reverb. Use internal keying when one part of the spectrum should open another band's space. Use External keying when another track should drive the wet return. External sidechain depends on host routing; if the host supplies no usable sidechain, BeeVerb falls back safely.

Use M/S mode when the middle and sides need different ambience. Keep low-frequency reverb mostly Mid when the side return makes the mix unstable. Use a shorter or darker Mid algorithm when the dry center must remain intelligible, and a wider Side algorithm only when width supports the arrangement.

Use Delta only as an inspection mode. Delta reveals what BeeVerb adds or removes relative to the input, but the final level and balance decision must be made from the normal output.

Use the envelope selector by task. Use Gate when the problem is opening, closing, chatter, or held silence. Use Reverb when the problem is pre-delay, topology-stage length, density, bloom, or tail time. Use Early when the first arrivals or pre-tail texture are wrong: a room feels too close, a hall entrance is too scattered, a spring is too splashy, or a bloom entrance is too broad.

Example: cross-keyed high shimmer

Focus a high band and choose Bloom, Plate, FDN Hall, or Velvet Room. Set Key to a mid vocal band or to External if a vocal sidechain is available. Lower Gate Open until the vocal phrase opens the high wet return. Set Gate Range high enough that consonants and cymbal spill do not leave constant shimmer. Add Bloom and a little pre-delay so the high return follows the phrase without covering articulation.

Processing Reference

Artificial reverberation is a controlled pattern of early reflections, diffusion, feedback, filtering, delay, and modulation. BeeVerb exposes this through product categories rather than requiring the user to build a tank. Room, Hall, Plate, Chamber, Spring, Bloom, and Ambience are practical musical labels. Schroeder Cloud, Moorer Chamber, Dattorro Plate, FDN Hall, Waveguide Mesh, and Velvet Room point to technical families.

The gate is applied to the wet return. It is not applied to the source dry path. This distinguishes BeeVerb from a conventional gate placed before or after a reverb send. A pre-reverb gate decides what enters the reverb. A post-reverb gate chops the combined reverb return. BeeVerb gates each band's wet return inside the band topology, so dry sound, wet algorithm, and gate movement remain independently controllable.

Pre-delay affects clarity by separating dry attacks from the start of the wet field. Diffusion reduces the audibility of discrete echoes by spreading energy over time. Early reflections establish apparent boundary and room-size cues. Density changes how quickly a tail becomes continuous. Damping and Wet Tone change spectral decay. Motion reduces static ringing or adds audible modulation depending on amount and rate.

Delay-family algorithms behave differently from reverb-family algorithms. Tape Echo and Ping-Pong preserve clearer repeat identity. Diffusion Echo blurs repeats. Swarm Delay turns clustered repeats into texture. Gate and Mix settings that work for a dense Hall can feel too exposed on a delay algorithm because individual repeats remain easier to hear.

Filter character and band placement still matter. A low band with long Decay can mask kick and bass. A high band with bright Wet Tone can exaggerate sibilance or cymbals. A mid band with too much Density can crowd vocals and guitars. Use crossovers first, then algorithm, then Gate Open and Mix, then Tail controls.

The Reverb envelope stage labels are generated from the selected algorithm's topology descriptor. The drawing is not a recorded impulse response. It is a descriptor-backed projection of timing, gain, polarity, lane placement, and feedback/repeat events for a pulse-like input. That makes it useful for editing relative topology structure, but final decay level and spectral balance still require listening to the output and checking the meters.

Table 2 describes algorithm families. The source column provides general research context; it does not assert that BeeVerb duplicates any paper verbatim.

Table 2. Algorithm reference.
Algorithm	Family	Use for	Primary limits	Sources
Room	Early-reflection and late-field room model.	Short spaces, source placement, natural depth.	Can sound boxy if low-band mix or early reflections are too high.	Allen and Berkley, Vorlander
Hall	Dense late-field reverb.	Longer musical sustain and broad spatial tone.	Can mask rhythm and diction unless pre-delay and gating are tuned.	Valimaki et al., Smith
Plate	High-density plate-like tail.	Vocals, drums, and bright sustained ambience.	Can emphasize sibilance or cymbals when Wet Tone is bright.	Dattorro, DAFX
Chamber	Early reflections plus controlled late response.	Body, boundary cues, shorter acoustic room impression.	Can crowd the midrange when early reflections are too strong.	Moorer, Kuttruff
Spring	Spring-inspired resonant delay behavior.	Narrower, characterful, damped spatial effects.	Less suitable for transparent room placement.	DAFX, Smith PASP
Bloom	Diffusion-biased swell and steady-state wash.	Pads, transitions, wide slow ambience.	Can hide attacks unless Bloom and pre-delay are controlled.	Schroeder, Schlecht
Ambience	Short compact environmental return.	Dry-source depth without long audible tail.	Can disappear in dense mixes if Mix is too low or Gate Range too high.	Allen and Berkley, Vorlander
Tape Echo	Damped feedback delay.	Rhythmic repeats and colored echo bands.	Repeats remain exposed when Gate Range is shallow.	DAFX, JUCE DSP
Ping-Pong	Alternating stereo delay.	Wide call-and-response echoes.	Can destabilize image if low-band or side mix is high.	DAFX, WCAG 2.2
Diffusion Echo	Delay plus allpass-like diffusion.	Repeats that blur into ambience.	Can lose rhythmic identity at high diffusion.	Schroeder and Logan, DAFX
Swarm Delay	Clustered modulated delay.	Texture, movement, and band-limited echo clouds.	Can become busy if feedback and tail motion are high.	Jot and Chaigne, Schlecht and Habets
Schroeder Cloud	Multi-allpass diffusion cloud.	Dense early diffusion and compact cloud texture.	Can sound flat if density is high but damping is not shaped.	Schroeder, Schroeder and Logan
Moorer Chamber	Early reflection bank plus damped late field.	Chamber-like early boundary cues and controlled tail.	Early reflection level must be checked against dry articulation.	Moorer, Allen and Berkley
Dattorro Plate	Allpass diffusion plate family.	Stereo plate movement and dense musical decay.	Can over-brighten upper bands if damping is too low.	Dattorro, DAFX
FDN Hall	Feedback delay network hall texture.	Dense, stable late fields and broad halls.	Needs damping and motion checks on sustained material.	Schlecht and Habets, Schlecht thesis
Waveguide Mesh	Scattering or mesh-inspired network.	Compact, flutter-like, physically suggestive spaces.	Less neutral than conventional room or hall settings.	Van Duyne and Smith, De Sena et al.
Velvet Room	Sparse signed-tap and velvet-noise late texture.	Smooth late texture with low obvious echo density.	Can feel too grainy at unsuitable density or tone settings.	Fagerstrom et al., Valimaki et al.

Table 3 defines the focused envelope views. These views describe different parts of the same focused band/path rather than separate processors.

Table 3. Focused envelope views.
View	Primary handles	Use for	Limits
Gate	Attack, Hold, Release, attack shape, release shape.	Wet-return gate timing, chatter control, and close behavior.	Does not edit the algorithm's early-reflection or diffusion stage.
Reverb	`PRE`, topology stage, `SHAPE`, `BLOOM`, `DENS`, `DECAY`.	The full wet lifecycle from pre-delay through early topology, density, bloom, and tail length.	It is a descriptor projection, not a measured runtime impulse response.
Early	Algorithm-specific stage controls.	Large-surface editing of first arrivals, diffusion seeds, ambience events, input-stage spread, spring contacts, bloom waves, FDN lines, mesh scatter, velvet taps, or delay tap/repeat structure.	It edits the pre-tail stage, not global band Mix or detector routing.

The topology stage label in Reverb indicates which early structure feeds the tail. ER is used by Room, Chamber, and Moorer Chamber. DIFF is used by Hall and Schroeder Cloud. RISE is used by Bloom. AMB is used by Ambience. INPUT is used by Plate and Dattorro Plate. DISP is used by Spring. MESH is used by Waveguide Mesh. FDN is used by FDN Hall. TAPS is used by Velvet Room. REPEAT is used by Tape Echo, Ping-Pong, Diffusion Echo, and Swarm Delay.

Table 4 gives the Early editor vocabulary. The control names change so the same broad editing roles remain readable for each topology family.

Table 4. Early editor stage controls.
Stage	Algorithms	Level role	Texture role	Timing/count/width roles
`ER`	Room, Chamber, Moorer Chamber.	`Level` sets early-reflection tap level.	`Diffusion` softens the first taps.	`Timing`, `Taps`, and `Spread` redistribute, count, and widen the reflection events.
`DIFF`	Hall, Schroeder Cloud.	`Energy` sets the allpass seed field level.	`Smear` blurs the seed events.	`Cluster`, `Scatter`, and `Width` set timing distribution, seed count, and stereo separation.
`AMB`	Ambience.	`Presence` sets close-reflection strength.	`Air` softens the compact ambience field.	`Timing`, `Layers`, and `Width` set shimmer distribution, layer count, and stereo spread.
`INPUT`	Plate, Dattorro Plate.	`Input` sets the plate input-stage strength.	`Diffusion` smears the plate strikes.	`Shape`, `Taps`, and `Spread` set strike timing, event count, and stereo separation.
`DISP`	Spring.	`Drive` sets spring contact excitation.	`Dispersion` smears the contact packets.	`Position`, `Contacts`, and `Separation` set coil timing, event count, and stereo separation.
`RISE`	Bloom.	`Exposure` sets the rising early-field strength.	`Bleed` softens and spreads the field.	`Timing`, `Waves`, and `Separation` set rise distribution, wave count, and stereo spread.
`REPEAT`	Tape Echo, Ping-Pong, Diffusion Echo, Swarm Delay.	`Repeat Level` sets repeat-stage level before feedback.	`Delay Diffuse` smears delay reads and clustered repeats.	`Repeat Shape`, `Repeat Density`, and `Stereo Spread` set repeat timing, event complexity, and stereo delay-lane separation.
`FDN`	FDN Hall.	`Matrix` sets early FDN line-network injection.	`Scatter` diffuses delay-line entries.	`Delay`, `Lines`, and `Width` set line timing, event population, and stereo separation.
`MESH`	Waveguide Mesh.	`Level` sets mesh input level.	`Scatter` blurs propagation through the mesh.	`Shape`, `Nodes`, and `Spread` set loop contour, node population, and stereo spread.
`TAPS`	Velvet Room.	`Level` sets signed tap-cloud level.	`Diffusion` smears the velvet contacts.	`Shape`, `Taps`, and `Spread` set tap timing, contact count, and stereo lane separation.

Gate behavior should be judged from threshold, range, hysteresis, hold, and timing together. Table 5 separates these controls from algorithm character.

Table 5. Gate and timing reference.
Control	Technical meaning	Useful range of behavior	Failure mode
Gate Open	Detector level that opens the wet gate.	Lower for constant room, higher for hit- or phrase-triggered returns.	Too low leaves the return always active; too high prevents reverb from appearing.
Gate Range	Maximum attenuation when closed.	12-24 dB for natural control, 48 dB or more for obvious gated effects.	Too little range muddies quiet passages; too much range chops tails.
Gate Hysteresis	Open/close separation around Gate Open.	Increase for sustained material or noisy sources.	Too little chatters; too much may hold the return longer than intended.
Bloom	Wet-return rise time and width bias.	Short for drums and tight ambience, longer for pads and swells.	Too short can click or feel abrupt; too long can hide rhythmic intent.
Hold	Minimum open time after detector falls.	Useful for phrase gaps, drum decay, or delay repeats.	Too long keeps ambience open between unrelated events.
Decay	Return recovery and tail time.	Short for cleanup, longer for space and transitions.	Too short sounds cut off; too long masks the dry track.
Width	Rise curve and spatial width bias.	Use after Bloom is in the right range.	Extreme width can move the image or soften attacks.
Damping	Release curve and high-frequency tail behavior.	Increase to calm bright tails or reduce sibilant wash.	Too much damping can make a space dull or small.

Operating Procedures

Procedure: natural room from three bands

Set the band count to three.
Keep the low-band Mix low and choose Room, Chamber, or Ambience.
Set the mid band as the main room band. Choose Room or Chamber and tune Gate Open from the source body.
Use a short high-band ambience or plate only if the source needs air.
Set Gate Range around 12 to 24 dB before making it more extreme.
Tune Bloom and Decay while listening to the normal output, not Delta.
Use Delta briefly to confirm that the added space is not mostly low-frequency smear.

Procedure: gated snare plate

Split a mid/high band around the snare body and crack.
Choose Plate, Dattorro Plate, or Ambience.
Raise Mix until the return is obvious.
Lower Gate Open until snare hits open the return.
Set Gate Range to 48 dB or more for an obvious gated effect.
Add Hysteresis if the return chatters around ghost notes.
Use Hold to prevent the gate from closing before the useful plate body has sounded.
Shorten Decay if the tail covers the next hit.

Procedure: vocal shimmer keyed from the mid band

Use a mid band that follows vocal body as the detector key.
Focus a high band and choose Bloom, Hall, FDN Hall, or Velvet Room.
Set Key to the vocal mid band or to External if a vocal sidechain is routed from the host.
Set Mix low, then lower Gate Open until phrases open the high return.
Use pre-delay to keep consonants clear.
Increase Damping or darken Wet Tone if sibilance becomes too strong.
Use M/S mode when the high return should sit wider than the dry center.

Procedure: rhythmic delay band

Split the source so only the intended range enters the delay band.
Choose Tape Echo, Ping-Pong, Diffusion Echo, or Swarm Delay.
Open Advanced, then Delay.
Set Delay Time, Repeat Decay, and Feedback Trim before final Gate Range.
Use Delay Tone to move repeats behind the dry source.
Use Gate Open and Gate Range so repeats appear only on useful phrases or hits.
Use Delay Spread or Delay Diffuse when a plain repeat is too exposed.

Procedure: edit the early stage without changing the tail

Focus the band and path whose first arrivals are wrong.
Open the envelope selector and choose Early.
Identify the stage family. Current families are ER, DIFF, AMB, INPUT, DISP, RISE, REPEAT, FDN, MESH, and TAPS.
Adjust the level-style or amount control first, such as Level, Energy, Drive, Exposure, or the family-specific equivalent.
Adjust the texture control next, such as Diffusion, Smear, Dispersion, Bleed, or the family-specific equivalent.
Use timing, count, and width controls only after the stage level and texture are in range.
Return to Reverb to check how the early stage feeds BLOOM, DENS, and DECAY.

Procedure: check the right-side meter rail

Open the right rail with the small graph-edge chevron if it is closed.
Check IN before raising Mix or Wet Tone.
Check OUT after band Mix and global Mix are set.
Read the activity-style meter as wet-return movement, not as compressor gain reduction.
Close the rail when you need the recovered graph width for crossover or envelope work.

Procedure: M/S low-end protection

Focus the low band.
Set Mode to M/S.
Keep Side Mix low or use a shorter Side decay.
Use Mid for any necessary low room body.
Avoid long low-band Side Hall or Bloom settings unless the arrangement specifically needs unstable width.
Compare with mono or center-weighted monitoring if the host allows it.

Presets, State, and Host Behavior

BeeVerb presets store band count, crossovers, slopes, algorithms, mode, key, gate, timing, mix, Verb, Delay, Gate, Tail, and Mod controls, filter character, global mix/output, and compatible host-visible parameters. User presets are VST3-compatible preset files in the platform preset location. Factory presets cannot be deleted from the editor surface.

The preset drawer is shared with the rest of the product family. It is closed by default and opens from the upper-left drawer control. Search filters presets by name, source, and tags. Preset rows can be selected, loaded, saved, renamed, updated, deleted, and tagged according to whether the row is a factory or user preset. Factory presets are read-only; renaming a factory preset starts a user-preset clone path. If no preset is selected, the drawer selects the first visible taggable result where possible. Empty searches leave tag editing disabled because there is no preset target.

Copy Preset, Load Preset, and Show in Browser are visible but disabled in the current BeeVerb product contract. BeeVerb does not yet expose public preset-link sharing. This is separate from ordinary factory and user preset recall inside the plugin.

BeeVerb preserves stable host parameter identifiers inherited from the shared graph surface. Some host automation lanes may therefore retain older technical names while the editor and manual show reverb labels. This is intentional. Recall safety matters more than renaming public IDs after sessions have been created.

The stable global parameter tree includes bypass, input, mix, output, band count, crossover frequency/slope values, and a hidden global.feedforwardAdaa compatibility flag. BeeVerb defaults that flag off and ignores it in the runtime DSP path. Band path parameters retain compatible names for threshold, ratio, attack, release, hold, attack shape, release shape, knee, makeup, stereo mode, detector source, algorithm selection, filter type, resonance, and filter-corner shifts. Side-path parameters use matching side-prefixed IDs for M/S operation. The visible editor language remains BeeVerb language even when a host exposes older parameter IDs.

Split-topology builds use the same BeeVerb language with a fixed product identity. Current fixed-topology products are BeeRoom, BeeHall, BeePlate, BeeChamber, BeeSpring, BeeBloom, BeeAmbience, BeeTapeEcho, BeePingPong, BeeDiffusionEcho, BeeSwarmDelay, BeeSchroederCloud, BeeMoorerChamber, BeeDattorroPlate, BeeFDNHall, BeeWaveguideMesh, and BeeVelvetRoom. These products keep the wet-return gate concept, focused Gate | Reverb | Early envelope, shared preset drawer, and Stereo/M/S focused path editing where supported. They do not expose BeeVerb's multiband-only algorithm picker, band split/remove controls, or crossover editing. The fixed topology is part of product identity and normalized state, not a preset choice.

The public preset viewer currently provides decoder examples for BeeComps, BeePressor, and BeeDyn. BeeVerb preset decoding is intentionally out of scope until the wet-return band state has a public browser preview contract.

BeeVerb reports no fixed processing latency in the current public contract. It also reports a finite 30-second host tail for normal reverb and delay renders. A host can still need extra post-roll for printed Freeze states or high-feedback delay settings. This is a musical tail issue, not fixed latency compensation.

No MIDI input or output is part of the current product contract. Host sidechain input is used for detector keying where the plugin format and host provide it. Matching surround operation follows the shared host channel limit where enabled by the build.

Editor-side visualizer settings such as analyzer Hold, Bin, overlap, smoothing, and brightness are display choices. They are not primary automatable sound parameters. Automate Gate Open, Mix, Decay, Pre-delay, Feedback Trim, Wet Tone, Tail Motion, and Freeze when the sound itself must move.

Troubleshooting

No reverb is audible:

Raise band Mix.
Check global Mix and output.
Confirm the focused band is on and not muted by solo state elsewhere.
Lower Gate Open.
Lower Gate Range if the wet gate is closing too far.
Confirm the selected algorithm is not effectively frozen at silence.

The reverb never closes:

Raise Gate Open.
Increase Gate Range.
Shorten Hold.
Shorten Decay.
Reduce external blend if the key signal is holding the gate open.

The wet return chatters:

Increase Gate Hysteresis.
Increase Hold.
Use RMS or EBU-style detector averaging.
Increase Gate Window.
Check detector listen to confirm the key is not dominated by noise or spill.

The tail is metallic:

Increase the algorithm's Early texture control: Diffusion, Smear, Dispersion, or Bleed where that stage exposes it.
Increase Density or DENS if the stage is too sparse.
Add a small amount of Tail Motion.
Darken Wet Tone or increase Damping.
Try Plate, Chamber, Bloom, or Velvet Room instead of a sparse setting.

The mix gets muddy:

Lower low-band Mix.
Shorten low-band Decay.
Increase low-band Gate Range.
Move the low/mid crossover upward.
Use a darker or shorter mid-band algorithm.

External keying does not work:

Confirm that the host has enabled BeeVerb's sidechain bus.
Confirm that audio reaches the sidechain input.
Set Key to External on the focused band.
Raise External Blend if the detector should follow the external key strongly.
If no external key is available, use Self or an internal band key.

The activity graph does not look like gain reduction:

Treat it as wet-return activity.
A high trace means the reverb return is active.
A low trace means little wet signal is emitted.
Use input/output meters and Delta for level and difference checks.

Research and References

Research synthesis begins with the distinction between early reflections, diffusion, and late reverberation. Early reflections provide boundary and placement cues. Diffusion turns discrete reflections into a smoother field. Late reverberation carries the perceived size, damping, density, and sustain of the space. BeeVerb exposes these concepts through algorithm selection, Early Refl, Input Diffusion, Density, Wet Tone, Tail Motion, and Decay rather than through raw delay-network construction.

The newer focused-envelope contract makes that research vocabulary visible without exposing raw implementation. Reverb shows the selected topology stage as an event projection before bloom and decay. Early separates level, texture, timing, count, and width roles so a room's first wall reflections, a hall's diffusion seeds, a spring's dispersion contacts, or a bloom field can be edited without treating every algorithm as the same tank.

Schroeder-style and Moorer-style work establishes the practical vocabulary of allpass diffusion, comb feedback, early reflection banks, and late fields. Dattorro-style plate design clarifies why dense allpass and modulated structures can produce musical plate behavior. FDN and waveguide references support the language of matrix feedback, echo density, mixing time, scattering, and mesh-like propagation. Velvet-noise references support sparse signed-tap late fields and noise-like tail construction.

The gate layer draws on general dynamics terminology for threshold, range, hysteresis, attack, release, detector averaging, sidechain keying, and stereo linking. BeeVerb changes the target: the detector controls the wet return rather than a compressor gain law. This is why the manual repeatedly separates dry path, wet algorithm, detector path, and band Mix.

GUI design and documentation references support the manual structure and graph language. Diataxis separates explanation, procedure, reference, and troubleshooting. Google and Microsoft style guidance support direct procedural writing. Cleveland and McGill, Tufte, Shneiderman, WCAG, and Apple HIG references support readable graph controls, visible state, and accessible interaction language. These references inform presentation; they do not define BeeVerb DSP.

Research Table 1. Research source map.
Topic	BeeVerb use	Sources
Documentation architecture	Separates explanation, procedure, reference, troubleshooting, glossary, and index.	Diataxis, Google style, Microsoft Learn style
Filter and EQ vocabulary	Defines frequency, Q, shelf, high-pass, low-pass, and filter terminology used by graph controls.	W3C Audio EQ Cookbook, Smith filters, JUCE DSP
Digital audio effects context	Places reverb, delay, modulation, filtering, and nonlinear terminology in a general DSP reference frame.	DAFX/Wiley, DAFX book page
Compressor and detector vocabulary	Supports threshold, attack, release, and detector terms when explaining gate behavior.	JUCE Compressor, Giannoulis, Massberg, and Reiss
Metering and loudness context	Supports level and averaging vocabulary for gate modes and meter interpretation.	ITU-R BS.1770, Smith PASP
GUI graph interaction	Supports graph readability, labels, controls, and accessibility constraints.	Apple HIG sliders, WCAG 2.2, Cleveland and McGill
Information display	Supports restrained graph and table presentation.	Shneiderman, Tufte
Parametric EQ cramping and decramping	Explains frequency-warping vocabulary used by adjacent filter-character discussion in shared graph products.	Orfanidis, Vicanek
Virtual analog filter design	Supports general filter topology terms used in shared band and detector surfaces.	Zavalishin, Stilson and Smith, Huovilainen
ADAA variants	Documents why BeeVerb omits ADAA controls while other nonlinear BeeAudio products may expose them.	ADAA variants, DAFX
Schroeder reverberation	Supports allpass and comb diffusion vocabulary for Schroeder Cloud and Bloom discussion.	Schroeder 1962, Schroeder and Logan
Room image method	Supports early reflection and room-boundary language.	Allen and Berkley, Vorlander
Room acoustics	Supports damping, density, and apparent space terminology.	Kuttruff, Smith artificial reverberation
Moorer chamber	Supports early reflection banks and damped late-field language.	Moorer, Allen and Berkley
Dattorro plate	Supports plate diffusion, allpass, and stereo motion terms.	Dattorro, DAFX
Delay networks	Supports feedback and delay-network language for hall and delay families.	Jot and Chaigne, Stautner and Puckette
FDN echo density	Supports echo density, mixing time, and matrix-feedback vocabulary.	Schlecht and Habets, Schlecht thesis
Waveguide mesh	Supports scattering, mesh, and propagation language.	Van Duyne and Smith, Savioja et al.
Scattering delay networks	Supports networked room simulation vocabulary.	De Sena et al., Atalay et al.
Waveguide and FDN relation	Supports connections between feedback networks and waveguide networks.	Smith and Rocchesso, Schlecht and Habets
Velvet-noise FDN	Supports sparse signed-tap and velvet tail language.	Fagerstrom et al., Valimaki et al.
Velvet-noise modeling	Supports sparse late-reverb and density discussion.	Karjalainen and Jarvelainen, Valimaki and Prawda
Multichannel velvet noise	Supports multichannel and interleaved tail vocabulary.	Prawda, Schlecht, and Valimaki, Meyer-Kahlen et al.
Velvet-noise perception	Supports density and pulse-distribution vocabulary.	Takanen et al., Karjalainen and Jarvelainen
Synthetic stereo reverberation	Supports M/S and stereo-field caution in reverb work.	Smith artificial reverberation, DAFX
Artificial reverberation survey	Supports the historical taxonomy used by algorithm rows.	Fifty Years of Artificial Reverberation, Smith artificial reverberation
Frequency-dependent allpass	Supports diffusion and damping language in algorithm controls.	Schlecht frequency-dependent allpass, Dattorro
Product documentation discipline	Keeps local product truth separate from general research vocabulary.	Diataxis, Google style, Microsoft Learn style

Endnotes

BeeVerb keeps host-stable parameter IDs while changing the visible language to reverb terminology. This is a compatibility decision, not a signal-flow equivalence between compression and reverb.
The activity graph should be read as wet-return intensity. It is not a compressor gain-reduction meter.
External sidechain behavior depends on host routing. If the host does not supply a sidechain, the product falls back safely.
Hi-Res, FFT, and spectrogram views are analysis displays. They do not change the reverb algorithm.
BeeVerb omits BeePressor Auto/Apply, ADAA, and custom transfer editing because those controls do not describe the primary wet-return topology.

Bibliography

M. R. Schroeder, Natural Sounding Artificial Reverberation, JAES, 1962.
M. R. Schroeder and B. F. Logan, Colorless Artificial Reverberation, IRE Transactions on Audio, 1961.
Jont B. Allen and David A. Berkley, Image Method for Efficiently Simulating Small-Room Acoustics, JASA, 1979.
Michael Vorlander, Auralization, Springer, 2008.
James A. Moorer, About This Reverberation Business, Computer Music Journal, 1979.
Jon Dattorro, Effect Design, Part 1, JAES, 1997.
Udo Zolzer, ed., DAFX: Digital Audio Effects, Wiley.
Julius O. Smith, Artificial Reverberation, Physical Audio Signal Processing.
Vesa Valimaki, Julian D. Parker, Lauri Savioja, Julius O. Smith, and Jonathan S. Abel, Fifty Years of Artificial Reverberation, IEEE TASLP, 2012.
Sebastian J. Schlecht and Emanuel A. P. Habets, Feedback Delay Networks: Echo Density and Mixing Time, IEEE/ACM TASLP, 2017.
Jon Fagerstrom, Benoit Alary, Sebastian J. Schlecht, and Vesa Valimaki, Velvet-Noise Feedback Delay Network, DAFx, 2020.
Diataxis, Documentation system.
Google, Developer documentation style guide.
Microsoft, Style quick start.

Reference Tables

The following tables collect routine lookup information. Use them after the signal path and gate ownership are clear.

Table 6. Advanced tabs.
Tab	Controls	Use for	Do not use for
Verb	Reverb Shape, Density, topology texture and level controls, Bloom Scale, Pre-delay, Freeze.	Core room, early-stage injection, and tail character.	Detector routing.
Delay	Delay Type, Delay Time, Feedback Trim, Delay Spread, Delay Diffuse, Delay Tone.	Echo-family timing and repeat color.	Static EQ or dry-path filtering.
Gate	Gate Mode, Gate Window, Stereo Link, External Blend.	Detector measurement and wet gate behavior.	Changing the algorithm tail itself.
Tail	Reverb: Decay Scale, Tail Hold, Wet Tone, Bloom Response, Tail Response, Freeze. Delay: Feedback Trim, Delay Tone, Density Response, Feedback Response, Freeze.	Longer recovery, tone, feedback law, and sustained texture.	Solving a wrong crossover split.
Mod	Tail Motion, Motion Rate.	Reducing static ringing or adding motion.	Level matching.

Table 7. Monitoring and visualizer reference.
View	Reads	Use for	Limit
Input meter	Incoming signal level.	Input gain staging.	Does not show wet return level.
Output meter	Processed output after band and global mix.	Level matching and clipping avoidance.	Does not explain which band created the return.
Activity meter	Wet-return intensity in the graph and right rail.	Gate and tail diagnosis.	Not compressor gain reduction.
FFT visualizer	Input spectrum by FFT bins.	Crossover placement and source-energy reading.	Bin and overlap affect display, not DSP.
Hi-Res visualizer	121-band 1/12-octave filter-bank estimate.	Musically spaced source-energy view.	Not a higher-quality processing mode.
Spectrogram	Time-frequency display history.	Seeing where source energy enters and leaves.	Does not replace listening to the output.
Delta monitor	Input minus processed output.	Hearing the added or removed component.	Not the final monitoring state.

Table 8. Host and state behavior.
Area	Behavior	Operator consequence
Formats	AU, VST3, CLAP, and Standalone where enabled by the platform build.	Use the format supported by the host and installation target.
Sidechain	Optional host sidechain input for detector keying.	Enable the sidechain bus in the host before expecting External keying.
Latency	No fixed reported latency in the current product contract.	Long tails still need post-roll when printing.
MIDI	No MIDI input or output in the current contract.	Automate audio parameters from the host instead.
Preset files	Factory and user VST3-compatible preset state.	Factory presets are read-only; user presets can be saved and removed.
Compatibility IDs	Stable shared parameter identifiers with BeeVerb labels.	Old automation names may differ from the visible editor label.
Hidden ADAA flag	`global.feedforwardAdaa` is present for compatibility, defaults off, and is ignored by BeeVerb DSP.	Old sessions may contain the value, but it does not re-enable an ADAA surface.
Split products	`BeeRoom`, `BeeHall`, `BeePlate`, `BeeChamber`, `BeeSpring`, `BeeBloom`, `BeeAmbience`, `BeeTapeEcho`, `BeePingPong`, `BeeDiffusionEcho`, `BeeSwarmDelay`, `BeeSchroederCloud`, `BeeMoorerChamber`, `BeeDattorroPlate`, `BeeFDNHall`, `BeeWaveguideMesh`, and `BeeVelvetRoom` are fixed-topology sibling contracts where those builds are present.	Use fixed identity instead of expecting a BeeVerb algorithm picker or crossover editor.
Omitted controls	No Auto/Apply, ADAA editor, or Custom transfer editor.	Use manual band placement, algorithm choice, gate timing, and mix instead.

Glossary

Algorithm: The selected wet-return character or topology for the focused band and path.
Band Mix: The amount of gated wet signal blended back into the focused band before recombination.
Bloom: The rise timing of the wet return after the gate opens.
Decay: The recovery and tail-time control for the focused wet path.
Detector: The measured signal that decides when the wet return opens and closes.
External key: The host sidechain signal used as a detector source where the host supplies it.
Early view: The focused envelope view that edits the selected algorithm's pre-tail topology stage on a larger surface.
Gate Range: The maximum attenuation available when the wet gate is closed.
Reverb view: The focused envelope view that shows pre-delay, topology stage, shape, bloom, density, and decay for the focused wet path.
Split-topology product: A fixed BeeVerb-family product listed in Table 8 where the algorithm is product identity rather than a picker.
Topology stage: The algorithm-specific pre-tail event field shown by labels such as ER, DIFF, AMB, INPUT, DISP, RISE, REPEAT, FDN, MESH, and TAPS.
Hi-Res: A 1/12-octave filter-bank visualizer mode for source-energy reading.
Wet return: The reverb or delay output produced inside the focused band before it is mixed back with dry signal.

Index

Algorithm: Processing Reference and Table 2.
Fixed-topology products: BeeRoom, BeeHall, BeePlate, BeeChamber, BeeSpring, BeeBloom, BeeAmbience, BeeTapeEcho, BeePingPong, BeeDiffusionEcho, BeeSwarmDelay, BeeSchroederCloud, BeeMoorerChamber, BeeDattorroPlate, BeeFDNHall, BeeWaveguideMesh, and BeeVelvetRoom in Presets, State, and Host Behavior and Table 8.
Bloom: Control Surface, Table 1, Table 3, and Table 5.
Crossovers: System Description and Interaction Rules.
Delta: Operating Procedures and Table 7.
Early view: Control Surface, Processing Reference, and Table 3.
External key: System Description, Interaction Rules, Troubleshooting.
FDN Hall: Table 2 and Research and References.
Gate Open: Table 1 and Table 5.
Gate Range: Table 1 and Table 5.
Hi-Res: Control Surface and Table 7.
M/S: System Description and Interaction Rules.
Pre-delay: Processing Reference and Table 6.
Reverb view: Control Surface, Processing Reference, and Table 3.
Topology stage: Processing Reference and Table 4.
Velvet Room: Table 2 and Research and References.