Sessions: Delay

Think you know Delay? Think again!

Delay, like reverb, is one of those effects we take for granted as producers.The effect isn’t as subtle or elusive as compression, for example, and it can often be immediately noticeable when applied even in small amounts so we often feel it needs no real introduction. However, the somewhat simple nature belies a far more complex application for music production and mixing.

For this session, we unravel and explain the intricacies of employing delay to you. You will learn about the basic parameters that form the basis of all delay units before examining the importance of musical notation, the significance of delay timing in a mix, feedback uses, how to calculate the best delay times, the principles of echo, slapback, ADT, dynamic delay, filtered tails, tail processing, interference, comb filtering, chorusing, flanging, rhythmical delay taps and the uses of delayed frequency modulation to increase presence and dimensionality within a mix.

Throughout the tutorial you will see clear and easy to follow examples, showing why its such an influential effect and why a detailed understanding of delay will invariably change the sound of your music and mixing, making it appear cohesive, wider, bigger and exhibit a three-dimensional stage, all in all, producing a more professional mix.

In addition, for this tutorial, we will take you through the SoundToys Echoboy. This has become the industry standard delay unit of many professional so we know you will want to understand each parameter in detail and know how – through its wealth of modulation options – it has become one of the most creative and must have effects for the production of dance music.