Composers and musicians have worked echo or reverb into their performances for most of history, but in 1947, a band called the Harmonicats released what may have been the first song to use an artificial echo chamber. By placing a microphone and loudspeaker in the bathroom, the group's producer created artificial reverb of the sort that would be used in everything from Dick Dale's surf rock to modern-day "transcendent" pop. Over at The Atlantic, William Weir has put together a short history of artificial reverb and echo (two overlapping but different concepts) as well as a few words on what the use of this trick means for music.