DELAY

Delay

Repeat of a sound that occurs after the original signal.

Initially analogue delays would record the sound onto tape or use a bucket brigade chip to create a time delay.

Nowadays, delay units capture a sound digitally and replay, storing the original sound in memory and making the delay straightforward to manipulate.

Analogue Delays

• Tape Delay

• Bucket Brigade Delay

• Slapback Delay

Analogue Delay - Tape Delay

• The Echoplex was on of the first portable delay units. It recorded the original sound onto magnetic tape and then played it back.

• The delay time could be changed by moving the position of the playback head. Some tape delay units changed the delay time by altering the speed of the tape.

• Feedback is created by adding some of the output signal into the input. This gives the number of repeats

• The delay lost some of the high-frequency content of the original, giving a ‘warm’ sound. Many modern digital delay effects try to emulate this analogue warmth.

• Tape would gradually degrade, and eventually need replacing

• Roland Space Echo (RE-201) and the Watkins Copycat were two other famous tape delay units.

Analogue Delay - Bucket Brigade Delay

• Later analogue delays used bucket brigade chips to store the original sound

• Each stage ‘hands’s the signal off to the next stage, much as in an old-school firefighter ‘bucket brigade’.

• Signal is held in each capacitor (bucket) briefly and then moved on to the next virtual ‘holding place’. This has the effect of delaying the signal in time with a clock

• These chips were much more convenient and reliable than tape, but were noise - The longer the delay, the more noise.

Analogue Delay - Slapback Delay

• Originally an analogue delay with a single repeat after approximately 80-200ms.

• An almost percussive effect, and the repeat is generally at a fairly high level so as to be noticeable

• Heard on many rock ‘n’ roll recordings of the 50s and was used to thicken vocals and electric guitars.

Digital Delays

• Stores the original sound in memory. Since it is stored digitally, it is more straightforward to manipulate.

• Digital delays make synchronising the delay to the main tempo of a DAW easy, and most plug-ins will allow you to select a note value for a delay time. Commonly used in dance music

• U2’s guitarist, The Edge, often uses tempo-synced delay to create his guitar textures

Digital Delay Types

• Multi-tap delay

• Ping pong / Stereo delay

• Doubling effects

Digital Delays - Multi-Tap Delay

Allows the user to set several different delay times in one effect (e.g. repeats at 200, 300 & 450ms). Essentially it is several delay units in one.

Digital Delays - Ping Pong / Stereo Delay

• A stereo or ‘ping pong’ delay unit gives the option to pan the delayed sound, either in relation to itself or the original signal.

• Sometimes a multi-tap delay unit may pan each ‘tap’ in a different direction, and allow you to adjust other parameters associated with the volume and filtering

Digital Delays - Doubling Effect

• Delay can be heard as a discrete echo if the delay time is set somewhere around 40-50ms or more

• If it is set at about 40ms or less, it has a doubling effect - It thickens the signal, sounding like two simultaneous versions of the original.

• Delay can also be used to create a wider stereo image, if one of the steer channels is delayed by a short delay time, the part or instrument can seem wider.

Benefits of Delay Plug-ins

• Easy to automate and control with MIDI

• Possible to sync delay time to DAW global tempo

• Accurate control of delay time in milliseconds

• Possible to store, share and download presets

• No issues with maintenance (compared to tape-based analogue delays)