Delay, il vostro effetto più versatile

[Vu-meter]

ATTENZIONE L'ARTICOLO NON E' NOSTRO . ALLA FINE DELL'ARTICOLO TROVATE IL LINK ALLA FONTE
( se avrò mai tempo, lo tradurrò in italiano in modo che rimanga anche per chi non mastica inglese )



Delay: Your Most Versatile Effect
April 4, 2013
By Daniel Brooks

Few effects, if any, have the power to transform your guitar's sound, and the way you play it, as completely as a good delay. Most pedals color your guitar's signal to enhance its tone, to add a little texture, or even give it a new voice. Delay lets you play with time itself. It copies each note you play and repeats it back to you. Whether you use an old tape echo or some other magnetic delay, an all analog bucket brigade device or a digital delay, each gives you the controls to set the amount of time between repeats, the number of repeats, and their volume relative to the original signal. Depending on your settings, even the most basic delay can be used to create at least half a dozen different, otherwise impossible effects. It is such a versatile tool, the inspired guitarist willing to take the next leap into the creative unknown might find an even more innovative use. I look forward to hearing it, or maybe even discovering it. For now, there is quite a bit that we do know about using your delay.



Setting the Tempo


Before we get started, there are a few practical issues worth noting. Except for some rack mounted effects and a few high-end pedals, most delays do not have any indicator to display your exact delay time. It is a cost prohibitive feature that would raise the price of an otherwise affordable effect. Delay-loving guitarists find it such an engaging and rewarding effect that they quickly develop a feel for the Time control, and many pedals now have a Tap Tempo feature that lets you set your time with a few rhythmic taps on a footswitch. There is also no indicator for feedback, or the number of repeats your delay will give you. This is a much more fluid and intuitive setting, however, and you would probably find it unnecessary far too quickly to make it worth adding to any pedal. Finally, delay tends to draw more power than most effects and can drain a new battery before you're finished with your first set. It is always a good idea to use a power supply or a 9vDC converter to keep your delay running all night.







Now, let's look at all that we do know about using your delay.



Double Echo




The shortest delay times can create the impression of multiple guitars for a more fortified sound. Adjust your feedback control all the way counterclockwise for a single repeat, your effects level control for unison (the same volume as the unaffected signal) and set your delay time for 20 to 50 milliseconds. Since sound travels, on average, just a little over one foot per millisecond, a repeat time this short will imitate the effect of having another guitar in the same room playing in perfect unison. At these rates, and given the frequencies of most notes on a guitar, you not only get a doubling effect, but some naturally occurring phase and chorus effects. This is a result of the delayed signal beginning within a few vibrations of your original signal, creating interference patterns between your string's vibration and the delayed effect. Try it, and decide for yourself whether it's interesting or just freaky. If it's not to your liking, adjust the delay time up to 50 to 80 milliseconds to lessen the initial phase effect and still get a repeat that happens quickly enough to reinforce your sound without sounding like an echo.



Slapback




On the other hand, sometimes that quick echo is just the perfect effect. Slapback echo recreates the organic delay between the record and playback heads on the old tape recorders. It was discovered, loved and used to give that distinctive sound to countless country and rockabilly records. Keep your feedback at minimum for a single repeat, drop your delay's volume to about half, and set your time for 80-140 milliseconds. You'll notice a slight separation between the guitar's sound and the delayed repeat, just enough to give it that warm, intimate bounce.



Simulated Reverb



You can use your delay for reverb. For years, I played through an old, 50 watt Marshall head. The sound was glorious, especially in big rooms, but with no on-board reverb, it was as dry as a bone in our rehearsal space. To soften up the sound a bit, and give it added dimension, I learned how to use my old Boss DD-3 digital delay as a reverb pedal. I still prefer it over the spring reverb that came standard in the "new" amp I bought more than 20 years ago. To get this effect, set your feedback level for 3 to 5 repeats, your effect level to about half, and your delay time between 100-200 milliseconds. You can certainly use any delay and at a higher delay time, as much as 500 milliseconds. David Gilmour used his Binson Echorec to this purpose on "Time" and created an iconic sound in the process.



Dotted Eighth




One of my favorite uses for a delay is the creation of complex, interwoven arpeggios using repeats timed a dotted eight note behind the guitar's signal. Think of the bass figure on Pink Floyd's "One Of These Days," The Edge's brilliant guitar on U2's "Bad" or "Where The Streets Have No Name," or Van Halen's "Cathedral." Obviously, there are as many settings for this effect as there are songs and guitarists who use it. I've found that it sounds best for the way I play when I set the level control to unity and the feedback to a repeat or two, or three. Because the repeats have to ring out in time with what you play for the effect to work at all, musically speaking, both the delay time and your timing are critical. Set the delay to the tempo of the song, and stick to that tempo. Let your drummer play to you. If your delay has a tap tempo feature, you can work with a more flexible rhythm section, but you have to be mindful and ready to adjust to those little variations. I have found that this use of my delay pedal is both beneficial and deleterious to my sense of time. Playing two, three, and four note repeating patterns interwoven with dotted eighth note repeats will develop your sense of timing to perfection, but it is such an intoxicating effect that it is too easy to lose all track of time.



Space is the New Frontier


One distinctive feature found only in all-analog, bucket brigade delays is self-oscillation, that almost cacophonous noise you can control for some truly spacey, science fiction sound effects. Jimi Hendrix used it on "1983 (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)," and more recently, Radiohead used it for great dramatic effect to end "Karma Police." If you have an analog delay, set the feedback control all the way clockwise for "infinite" repeats to create a feedback loop. Cycle the delay control to the longest time possible then the shortest and back again. Cool, isn't it? I would buy a pedal that did only that and nothing else.

Finally, consider your delay's place in your signal chain. Because it softens your guitar's attack by spreading it out over time, a delayed signal will lose clarity as it gets processed through fuzz and overdrive pedals, so put your dirt boxes before your delay. I've found that delay and reverb sound best when they are the last effects in the signal train. For the same reason, if your amp has an effects loop, you might find it's a good idea to make it the permanent home of your delay and your reverb, before your power tubes launch your sound out into the room. Of course, you are free to experiment, let me know how it sounds!



FONTE >>


Vu

[Dorigo]

Interessante, da leggere con la dovuta attenzione.
Grazie Vu

Dorigo

[Son of Aleric]

Se vuoi lo posso fare io, ma mi servirebbe poi una verifica, perchè il mio inglese.....

[Vu-meter]

Se vuoi lo posso fare io, ma mi servirebbe poi una verifica, perchè il mio inglese.....

Se te la senti Son, sentiti liberissimo, anzi, ti ringraziamo tantissimo !! 

Io non ho molto tempo in questo periodo... 

Vu

[Son of Aleric]

Se te la senti Son, sentiti liberissimo, anzi, ti ringraziamo tantissimo !! 

Io non ho molto tempo in questo periodo... 

Vu

Io invece, per un po', mi sa che ne avrò parecchio.......  

[Tiziano66]

Why?

4Roses

[Son of Aleric]

Cassa integrazione fino a novembre  ........ speriamo almeno che la paghino , visto "l'andazzo Italia" dell'ultimo periodo.

[Tiziano66]

Orca...non lo sapevo! Scusa

4Roses

[Moreno Viola]

Tiene duro Son, verranno tempi migliori. Non può che essere così. 

[Son of Aleric]

Orca...non lo sapevo! Scusa

4Roses

E di che cosa? 

Tiene duro Son, verranno tempi migliori. Non può che essere così. 

Sempre! Da buon Fenderista sono come il "fil di ferro", mi piego ma non mi spezzo

[Dorigo]

Me lo auguro anch'io...spero arrivino tempi migliori per tutti.
Non ci resta che teenr duro e sperare!!!

Dorigo

[Vigilius]

Tiene duro Son, verranno tempi migliori. Non può che essere così. 

Finché comanda la Merkel andrà così! L'Europa è l'unico paese in doppia recessione perché è l'unico che ha scelto la via dell'austerity per uscire dalla prima, grazie Angela, gli altri sono già fuori.

[Vu-meter]

Tiene duro Son, verranno tempi migliori. Non può che essere così. 

Finché comanda la Merkel andrà così! L'Europa è l'unico paese in doppia recessione perché è l'unico che ha scelto la via dell'austerity per uscire dalla prima, grazie Angela, gli altri sono già fuori.

Il mondo sta cambiando ... Vigilius che interviene sulla crisi e non sull'argomento Delay ? 

[Vigilius]

L'editor è stata una tal delusione... Poi l'articolo è interessante, ma non è che abbia aggiunto argomenti che non conoscessi!

[Tiziano66]

È giá sparita la foga per l'editor?

4Roses