this is a very noobie question concerning delay pedals, but i just have to ask. some delay pedals like boss dd3 has dials like E lvl, F lvl, D time; while some have other dials like mix, blend, repeat, intensity, repeat rate. i m kinda confuse by all these different names. it appears to me that different manufacturer calls different settings differently, making me confuse. so i was hoping that some softie can help a noobie like me to understand them more clearly by explaining wht all these terms mean. thanks.
confuse abt delay pedals
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PatheinRaindropMoe
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3 of the most basic parameters of delay are
1) Mix
2) Repeats
3) delay time
For 1), some different brand delay use blend, effect level, etc to call it. What it does is as what the name is, to vary the "delay effect" in relation to your main signal, according the the setting of this parameter
Its like a percentage divider, to divide how much your instrument signal get to be delayed and mix with your original signal
For 2), some other maker might use intensity, effect level etc to call it. Its basically for you to vary the amout of repeat for your delay effect.
As you shud already know or have heard, a delay effect caused a repeat of what your play on the instrument. For example, when you play a note, lets call it "A". Delay effect will processed this "A" note and make it ring out in repeatitive "A" note, till it fade.
With this parameter you can vary your "A" note to have it in having only 1 repeat or continous repeat of it, according to where you set it.
For extra info, this repeat control can give an effect call "self oscillation"(anyone who uses delay for textural content most prolly will know this/must know this). As you set your repeat to maximum, this delay effect will start to get louder and more out of control, due to the delayed signal, feeding back to the input and getting more delayed, over and over again.
Some delay cant get this thou, basically with repeats at maximum, your signal just keep going on and on without getting back to the input.
For 3), some maker use rate to call it. Its for setting the "time interval" of your "delay signal" .
basically, setting this time will set a fixed interval between the note you played and its repeated notes.
For example, lets play the same note again, "A"
When its being processed by the delay and having repeats at 3x, you will hear the following
A-----A-----A-----A
Biggest A is the note you play, smaller A are repeated notes. Time/rate is the ----- in between notes. Its for you to set how long/short between the repeated notes.
When you adjust time/rate, you will see/hear the following
A----------A----------A----------A
or
A---A---A---A
1) Mix
2) Repeats
3) delay time
For 1), some different brand delay use blend, effect level, etc to call it. What it does is as what the name is, to vary the "delay effect" in relation to your main signal, according the the setting of this parameter
Its like a percentage divider, to divide how much your instrument signal get to be delayed and mix with your original signal
For 2), some other maker might use intensity, effect level etc to call it. Its basically for you to vary the amout of repeat for your delay effect.
As you shud already know or have heard, a delay effect caused a repeat of what your play on the instrument. For example, when you play a note, lets call it "A". Delay effect will processed this "A" note and make it ring out in repeatitive "A" note, till it fade.
With this parameter you can vary your "A" note to have it in having only 1 repeat or continous repeat of it, according to where you set it.
For extra info, this repeat control can give an effect call "self oscillation"(anyone who uses delay for textural content most prolly will know this/must know this). As you set your repeat to maximum, this delay effect will start to get louder and more out of control, due to the delayed signal, feeding back to the input and getting more delayed, over and over again.
Some delay cant get this thou, basically with repeats at maximum, your signal just keep going on and on without getting back to the input.
For 3), some maker use rate to call it. Its for setting the "time interval" of your "delay signal" .
basically, setting this time will set a fixed interval between the note you played and its repeated notes.
For example, lets play the same note again, "A"
When its being processed by the delay and having repeats at 3x, you will hear the following
A-----A-----A-----A
Biggest A is the note you play, smaller A are repeated notes. Time/rate is the ----- in between notes. Its for you to set how long/short between the repeated notes.
When you adjust time/rate, you will see/hear the following
A----------A----------A----------A
or
A---A---A---A
first of all, thanks peeps for the info.
ok, just to make sure, the (3) delay time is to adjust the length of time for whateva number of repeats to play? so for example, if u set the delay time to 1.5s, with 5 repeats, then each repeat will last aprox 300ms, is that right? then is there a control to adjust the length of each delay signal?
ok, just to make sure, the (3) delay time is to adjust the length of time for whateva number of repeats to play? so for example, if u set the delay time to 1.5s, with 5 repeats, then each repeat will last aprox 300ms, is that right? then is there a control to adjust the length of each delay signal?
PatheinRaindropMoe
New member
the time/rate is for the empty space in between the played notes and the first repeated notes and subsequence repeated notes, it doesnt affect the sound duration/length of the repeated notes itself
if you set a delay to 1.5s and 5 repeats, the space in between each repeats is at 1.5s. It doesnt divide between the repeats.
and if you set the delay time to 385ms(regardless of how many repeats, bet it one or 10), the "space" between the played note and repeated note will be 385ms.
most delay pedal(in pedal format) dont have that control to adjust the length of each delay signal. I have came across some that does that thou. Akai headrush has a 2nd mode that does something like that, but the control to vary the sound is pretty limited(only one knob)
Another 2 that has something like that is yamaha magicstomp and ud stomp. The delay patches for the magicstomp has something similar and can be further tweaked to get those irregular/rhythmic delayed notes, speeding up/slowing down delayed notes etc.
The ultimate wud be the ud stomp. Inside the pedal got 8 individual delays which you can reconfigure to to have it in parallel, series, some in parallel, some in series etc and you can individually adjust the delay time of each delay. Bad thing is yamaha discontinued this.
if you set a delay to 1.5s and 5 repeats, the space in between each repeats is at 1.5s. It doesnt divide between the repeats.
and if you set the delay time to 385ms(regardless of how many repeats, bet it one or 10), the "space" between the played note and repeated note will be 385ms.
most delay pedal(in pedal format) dont have that control to adjust the length of each delay signal. I have came across some that does that thou. Akai headrush has a 2nd mode that does something like that, but the control to vary the sound is pretty limited(only one knob)
Another 2 that has something like that is yamaha magicstomp and ud stomp. The delay patches for the magicstomp has something similar and can be further tweaked to get those irregular/rhythmic delayed notes, speeding up/slowing down delayed notes etc.
The ultimate wud be the ud stomp. Inside the pedal got 8 individual delays which you can reconfigure to to have it in parallel, series, some in parallel, some in series etc and you can individually adjust the delay time of each delay. Bad thing is yamaha discontinued this.
PatheinRaindropMoe
New member
yup, the echo shud be the mix knob
mix is ratio. A ratio of your dry signal(geetar signal without effect processing) together with your wet signal(geetar signal with delay effect processing)
as you turn the knob, you are varying the ratio of your dry(un-delayed signal) and wet signal(delayed signal)
mix is ratio. A ratio of your dry signal(geetar signal without effect processing) together with your wet signal(geetar signal with delay effect processing)
as you turn the knob, you are varying the ratio of your dry(un-delayed signal) and wet signal(delayed signal)
r there any other place where i can find good info regarding delay pedals and their applications. they seem to have unlimited sonic potentials, but i dont seem to know how to fully utilise them. saded...
i found a few websites such as a study on u2's edge delay effect. but i wanna more more more.
i found a few websites such as a study on u2's edge delay effect. but i wanna more more more.
PatheinRaindropMoe
New member
heh, it might be hard to find info on other usage of delay extensively other than the u2 style.
If anyone who found a special use of delay for their needs, most prolly it can be a signature sound for them and thus less info be available on how to use it.
Anyway, if you wanna know how to use/play with delay, theres no other better way than sitting down with the delay over long period of time and concentrate on what the delay pedal can give you and you reacting to it, to find how to use it uniquiely.
Some people use delay not for the obvious sound of delaying, but just slightly thickening of the overall sound. Example can be found in those shred solo, chuggah chuggah geetarers kinda.
Some use it for texture(provide sound of lonliness, reminiscing feel for postrock bands etc), , flowery add on(like the "running/chasing around" riff of u2 style").
self oscillation is basically hard to control, it just get outta hand. Some use it to provide sound texture in the more chaotic part of a song. If you turn the time/rate knob of the delay while its in oscillation, you can vary the pitch of the sound. If you can control this pitch to be in tune with the melody, you can create something outta it.
As mentioned earlier, its hard to control, but if i wanna make it useful, try going in parallel set up.
For my setup, i have 2 parallel blenders which can blend signal together and controlled via foot. If i have a delay oscillating in the loop of my parallel blend pedals, i can play my guitar over this oscillation, making it playing one instrument, but having layer of sound going on at the same time simultaneously.
the above just a way of usage, theres more and if you are interested, either can listen to bands that uses lotsa delay and can be heard prominently or simply getting one and start finding your own sound thru it.
If anyone who found a special use of delay for their needs, most prolly it can be a signature sound for them and thus less info be available on how to use it.
Anyway, if you wanna know how to use/play with delay, theres no other better way than sitting down with the delay over long period of time and concentrate on what the delay pedal can give you and you reacting to it, to find how to use it uniquiely.
Some people use delay not for the obvious sound of delaying, but just slightly thickening of the overall sound. Example can be found in those shred solo, chuggah chuggah geetarers kinda.
Some use it for texture(provide sound of lonliness, reminiscing feel for postrock bands etc), , flowery add on(like the "running/chasing around" riff of u2 style").
self oscillation is basically hard to control, it just get outta hand. Some use it to provide sound texture in the more chaotic part of a song. If you turn the time/rate knob of the delay while its in oscillation, you can vary the pitch of the sound. If you can control this pitch to be in tune with the melody, you can create something outta it.
As mentioned earlier, its hard to control, but if i wanna make it useful, try going in parallel set up.
For my setup, i have 2 parallel blenders which can blend signal together and controlled via foot. If i have a delay oscillating in the loop of my parallel blend pedals, i can play my guitar over this oscillation, making it playing one instrument, but having layer of sound going on at the same time simultaneously.
the above just a way of usage, theres more and if you are interested, either can listen to bands that uses lotsa delay and can be heard prominently or simply getting one and start finding your own sound thru it.
Whitestrat
New member
Wah... you GOOD man... this is the simplest, best and most graphic explanation I've seen so far. Well done!!!:mrgreen:
yo, i think patheinraindropmoe is very helpful! thanks alot 
i begin to see yuor point of "theres no other better way than sitting down with the delay over long period of time and concentrate on what the delay pedal can give you and you reacting to it, to find how to use it uniquiely." yup, i have been trying it one whole day, and m glad that i m beginning to find more uses for the delay. but i still have probs with the self-oscillation thinggie. when u max the intensity, the self-oscillation appears at random. sometimes it is subtle, sometimes very loud. i varied the delay rate and i gotta something like the cricket or insect noise u hear when u go field camp.
i begin to see yuor point of "theres no other better way than sitting down with the delay over long period of time and concentrate on what the delay pedal can give you and you reacting to it, to find how to use it uniquiely." yup, i have been trying it one whole day, and m glad that i m beginning to find more uses for the delay. but i still have probs with the self-oscillation thinggie. when u max the intensity, the self-oscillation appears at random. sometimes it is subtle, sometimes very loud. i varied the delay rate and i gotta something like the cricket or insect noise u hear when u go field camp.
PatheinRaindropMoe
New member
heh, the fun thing is to control the oscillation and make it work for you, in the context of the music you are doing i guess.
have fun
have fun
Crawldaddy
New member
Hmm.
Nothing beats sitting down with the pedal in front of you and tweaking the knobs to see what results you get. However, in the first place you really should try looking at what other people do (in this context of delays, echoes etc) with their efx before making up your mind as to what you want to achieve eventually.
The worse thing that can happen is that the piece of gear sitting in front of you, at the end of the day, is not what you wanted at all. Wasting time, money etc.
Common mantra is: try before you buy. If you feel shy to try at the store, maybe borrow from friend, rent at jam studio etc to give it a go.
However, the above is not fool-proof. I've got 3 dirt pedals lying around doing nothing at home with very low re-sale value. If only such advice was given to me earlier...
Nothing beats sitting down with the pedal in front of you and tweaking the knobs to see what results you get. However, in the first place you really should try looking at what other people do (in this context of delays, echoes etc) with their efx before making up your mind as to what you want to achieve eventually.
The worse thing that can happen is that the piece of gear sitting in front of you, at the end of the day, is not what you wanted at all. Wasting time, money etc.
Common mantra is: try before you buy. If you feel shy to try at the store, maybe borrow from friend, rent at jam studio etc to give it a go.
However, the above is not fool-proof. I've got 3 dirt pedals lying around doing nothing at home with very low re-sale value. If only such advice was given to me earlier...
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