Effects and Signal Processors - Delay

Adds copies of the signal distanced in time, creating an "echo-effect". At first this sound was generated using an analogue recorder and exploiting the distance between the reproduction head and the recording head. By sending the left channel output to the input of the right channel and vice versa, as well as manipulating the ribbon's speed, one obtained a versatile and, for its time, revolutionary effect. The digital era has very much simplified things. Nowadays this effect is very easy to create and there are now interesting innovations that digital technology have opened the doors to, like ping-pong delay (the sound-repetitions are alternately sent to the right and left channel) and multi-tap delay (the sound-repetitions repeat themselves with different time-intervals, creating a "dissolving effect"). In music, delay-time is often set over the beat-time. This way, the sound-repetitions move on time with the music, creating an effect which further fills up the sound. To calculate delay-time (in milliseconds) needed for a musical piece with n beats (bpm- beats per minute) we can use the following formula:

Delay-time (ms)= 60000 ms/bpm

The following is a sound to which a delay effect of two different kinds has been applied:

Table 7.2. Effetto delay 

Simple delay [Track 24] Delay with greater feedback [Track 25]