Using Delay in Modern Music

There is over an hour’s worth of delay here. Overkill? In one way, yes. But in another way, a way I like to call the right way, it is not overkill at all. How can the best thing that ever happened to us (namely, delay) be overkill? (And by ‘us’, I of course mean ‘humanity’.) But I’ve been getting asked to do this post for about a year now…(we’ll just call it an ‘annual’ post…that makes no sense contextually, but it makes me feel better for being so tardy on this, and I like what makes me feel better)…so perhaps I recorded so much of it because I was sub-consciously trying to make amends for taking so long to get these out. Or maybe I was just self-indulgently adoring the afore-mentioned best thing to ever happen to the species. Any species. Yep, that’s the one.

So here is the 6 Part, 10 piece video series, Using Delay in Modern Music.

Clean Tone

Prairiewood Les Paul (Wolfetone Dr. Vintage pickups) in all 3 pickup positions, including coil-tapped at times–>

Loop-Master bypass box (various overdrives are engaged through this)–>

Loop-Master bypass box (various delays and effects are engaged through this)–>

Matchless HC30 (first video only is a Holland AC30)–>

65 Amps birch cab (Celestion Blue & Celestion G12H-30)

Delay Players

–Damage Control Timeline (2)

–Diamond Memory Lane

–Arion SAD-1

Other Players

At various times in the videos, other sounds are made by:

–Hartman Germanium Fuzz

–Hermida Mosferatu (12 volts)

–Paul Cochrane Tim (12 volts)

–Subdecay Quasar phaser

–Dr. Scientist Tremolessence

–George Dennis active volume pedal

–a door opening and closing, my email telling me someone loved me, and probably some things vibrating in the little apartment office I record these in

And Using Delay in Modern Music:

Video 1: Analog Delay

The different uses for a normal, 250-300 millisecond analog delay. Arion SAD-1 is responsible for all the sounds you hear. And…sadness…this is the very last demo the Holland had a part in. I recorded this one video all the way back in April, and then for some reason just got back around to finishing this project now. So goodbye, sweet Holland.

Video 2a & 2b: Untimed Digital Delay

The different uses for a normal digital delay, without tap tempo, and without multiple settings. A Damage Control Timeline is responsible for all the sounds you hear, and another Damage Control Timeline is responsible for the looping.

Video 3a, 3b, & 3c: Timed Multi-Setting Digital Delay

Apologies…the most self-indulgent…or…uh…Edge-indulgent (I like to think of The Edge as myself at times) of the videos. These ones display the different uses for a multi-setting digital delay that has the ability to be timed on the fly (has tap tempo).

Video 4a & 4b: Using Delays In Conjunction with Each Other & with Other Effects

The ways in which delays can be cascaded into each other and into other effects.

Video 5: Demo of Cascading Delays.

Ya, what the title said.

Video 6: Demo of Ambient Looping Delays

Aye.

And there you have it. Lots and lots of delay. Like I said in the last video I talk in, this isn’t even close to the depth of what delay can do. But hopefully it’s a start to sparking your own creativity to using this as a great tool to augment your sound, mind, tone, and technique. Sure, I joke about loving delay a lot, and most of it is true, but in all seriousness this is a tool. One that can help your mind and hands create sonic textures that you otherwise couldn’t. But the point is to be creating with it, sometimes to let it create with you, but always for the sake of the music as a whole.

And apologies to those of you who requested this last month, and six months ago, and last year, to which I always responded, ‘Oh ya! They’ll be out next week.’ I’m sorry I’m a liar.

Delay. (Interchangeable with ’splendid’.)
Karl.

P.S.