How To Use Delay

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Christopher_xo

Christopher_xo

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Hey music makers.

I've been wondering lately, how does a person use delay.
I don't normally use it, but would like to use it in the future.

A person can tune the delay from 10ms to whatever....how can a person do it so that it fits in with the tempo almost from the start.
 
Some delay plugs have a setting to match tempo to your project...anyway, that's all I got. I don't know much about delay and don't really use it. But I would also like to know what it's all about...
 
Christopher_xo said:
Hey music makers.

I've been wondering lately, how does a person use delay.
I don't normally use it, but would like to use it in the future.

A person can tune the delay from 10ms to whatever....how can a person do it so that it fits in with the tempo almost from the start.
Click to expand...

If you have a tap button, just tap the tempo with your finger.

If you don't, mute everything but the snare. Send the snare to your delay. Turn the delay time knob until the echo of the snare is right on the beat.

Easy.

No math.




Once you learn delay, it will probably become your most used effect aside from EQ and compression. When I want "space", I find delay much more useful than reverb. Delay is really easy to hide from obvious perception so it doesn't scream "tacky effect". It also doesn't hog nearly as much mix space as reverb.
 
exactly what everyone said above,...another trick you can use is "time stretch" or "quantizing"...on a D.A.W. or sampler
 
i use delay alot in magix 14 well mostly fa choruses but mine automatically flows wit tha tempo....never had a problem wit delay....
 
Christopher_xo said:
Hey music makers.

I've been wondering lately, how does a person use delay.
I don't normally use it, but would like to use it in the future.
A person can tune the delay from 10ms to whatever....how can a person do it so that it fits in with the tempo almost from the start.
Click to expand...


You have to experiment with delay times to get certain delay effects.

Shorter times... say 220ish(+ -) ms will be as a slapback or the Elvis effect as some like to call it.
Somewhere around 600(+ -) will give you a hole word at the end of of a vocal line like Pink Floyd.
Up around 1000(+ -) will give you whole phrases or short vocal lines in repeat like.... I want my MTV.
But you'll have to automate it up in the mix your self only at those times that you want it present during mix down for you don't want it on all the time during a song, well maybe for a psychedelic experience.:p:eek::p:eek::o:eek:
 
Let's do some really short stuff. :)
Delay of 1 - 30ms or so is within the Haas precedence effect range -the ear tends to hear it as part of the source. A single delay panned behind the source it thickens or blurs', panned off (or a pair of delays) it also spreads' image.
A source panned hard left and a single delay of just a half ms or so out to five or ten ms to the other side will cause the Haas pan effect -not necessarily used that much likely but related as the 'precedence effect; The ear follows the early arrival as the point of origin.
This is also the comb filtering range; as in 'phasers, flangers and such. Comb filtering, with delay (or in multiple mic interference) can be used as an intentional tone effect. It is strongest with a 50/50 mix with the source panned to the same point.

Out around 50 and up you're beginning to into depth effects, mono subtly tucked behind the source can be very effective to give depth, movement' ('slap territory 80 + ) w/o being noticeable as being affected'.

As far as your tempo-to-BPM delays- You know how a player can push the feel, or pull a song back in the pocket? So too echo.
 
Most of the time I use a delay effect to acheive an ADT effect on vocals.

Sometimes I use the delay to actually do a tempo based fade-out sort of thing, either on vocals or instruments.
 
I don't follow any rules...I rely on my ears to tell me whether it sounds good or not. I couldn't live without delay....
 
Chibi Nappa said:
Once you learn delay, it will probably become your most used effect aside from EQ and compression. When I want "space", I find delay much more useful than reverb. Delay is really easy to hide from obvious perception so it doesn't scream "tacky effect". It also doesn't hog nearly as much mix space as reverb.
Click to expand...
I couldn't agree more - I've only got one short mono reverb aux send, mostly for drum and vocal ambience, but five delays on three sends [sic!]. If I'm working on a 120BPM song, I'll have all the divisions between 1s and 62,5ms, and probably some triplet/dotted delay inserted on top of that. I definitely like the way the song pulses when you have the delays going much better than what reverb does, because even though you may push a sound backwards in the mix, it'll still contribute to the beat.
 
Chibi Nappa said:
No math.
Click to expand...

It's way faster with math, though. :D

To add a little more explanation to Glen's response (I find things "click" much better when I understand what the numbers represent), remember, that BPM is simply the number of quarter notes in each minute. 120 BPM = 120 quarter notes at that tempo will take up exactly one minute. Since delay is (digitally, anyway) most often measured in milliseconds, you need to do a conversion, the number of milliseconds in one minute divided by the number of quarter notes in one minute gives you the number of milliseconds per quarter note. Since there are 1,000 milliseconds in a second, and 60 seconds in a minute, dividing 60,000 (milliseconds per minute) by the BPM (quarter notes per minute) will give you milliseconds per quarter note.

For an 8th note delay, cut that number in half. For a half note, double it. Etc.

I'm a delay junkie myself. I'm almost incapable of playing a guitar solo without a light ambient delay on it, and I'm a huge Devin Townsend fan so I'm even kind of all about dousing rhythm guitars in timed delays. A hint, especially if you go this way - try routing the delay to its own bus, and then using a high pass to cut out a lot of the low end on the repeats. It'll give you a cleaner sound.

Also, delay can be pretty cool on vocals - see if you can find some Floater, there might be a few tunes on Youtube. Great stuff, "Sink" was a game changing album for me. :D
 
DrewPeterson7 said:
It's way faster with math, though. :D

Since delay is (digitally, anyway) most often measured in milliseconds, you need to do a conversion, the number of milliseconds in one minute divided by the number of quarter notes in one minute gives you the number of milliseconds per quarter note. Since there are 1,000 milliseconds in a second, and 60 seconds in a minute, dividing 60,000 (milliseconds per minute) by the BPM (quarter notes per minute) will give you milliseconds per quarter note.

For an 8th note delay, cut that number in half. For a half note, double it. Etc.
Click to expand...
Or, you could turn the knob until the delay is on-tempo.

No math. :D :p
 
This has been one of the most useful discussions I've ever seen here. Thanks for the 60,000/bpm = 1/4 note of delay. Very helpful.:)
 
I don't get what's so hard about a little math. In the time it takes to look up a chart or set up a test play through the delay, one could calculate the problem three times over. And that's not even counting the fact that between DAW PCs, cell phones, PDAs, smart phones and even good old fashioned calculators, we're surrounded by calculators these days.

To each their own, I guess.

Personally, I think the easiest is simply to memorize the answers for three or four typical BPMs. Once you know those, figuring out just about any BPM in-between is a couple of millisecond snap.

G.
 
no math

SouthSIDE Glen said:
..Personally, I think the easiest is simply to memorize the answers for three or four typical BPMs. Once you know those, figuring out just about any BPM in-between is a couple of millisecond snap.

G.
Click to expand...
Hah! I'll go one better. Know about what 70, 80, 90, 105, 200 - 400ishes sound like, turn the knob..
Although I do admit to fishing around at times, and the numbers game could help cut to the chase and I am rethinking the 'set a bunch up to tempo pre mix prep. Thank you. :D ..er DrewPeterson7'? :)
On the other hand if I'm fishing' often it's along the lines with 'what my pre concept was -was not if fact the ticket. So now I'm guessing maybe a bunch of what I use might not even want follow the numbers?

..and I simple must get the hell out of here and get on the stick.
 
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