How do you use delay?

[stevejamsecono]

So this is something I've always kind of tussled with as a guitar player. I've always enjoyed delayed sounds in recordings (on big guitar solos, slapback on 50s style stuff, rhythmic delay usage) but have struggled with integrating it into my playing in a way that's satisfying. Now generally when this has happened with other effects (flanger, phaser, tremolo, compression, etc.) I've just jettisoned them assuming that they weren't for me. In this case though, I really do want to crack this one because I'd like to take better advantage of delay as a tool in my trio. Right now I have a DOD Rubberneck that I've been using and I mostly use it for genre slapback on one song, and then a tighter one one some of my lead lines to add a bit more clattering around. It sounds great, but something still isn't hitting me right.

So what do you use, and how do you use it?

[rumfoord]

I think I know what you mean. I love delay too.

I love a big huge washy cloudy atmosphere. Lately I get this with an analog delay and digital hall reverb. This doesn't seem all that ambitious as far as delay goes, so I'd love to use delay in ways that foreground the effect. I never write stuff like that. Maybe it's because I never write with the delay. Maybe you're like me and just sitting down with the delay (in probably any setting as long as it's on) and trying to write a song with that particular combination of instrument would help.

[parry]

Delay/Reverb addict here.

Has the tap function on the Rubberneck not opened up uses for you? When i started using the DD7 with tap, i went from a lover of delay, to full-blown junkie. To the point where I worried I was becoming the Edge, hahaha
Also... what about mix levels? Are you experimenting with having softer repeats, pushed (mixed) farther in to the background?

[Fuzzbuzz]

I feel like I could use any delay and make it work. My favorite delay is my Multivox MX-212 tape machine. But for practicality and touring purposes I stick with my Moog MF-104m or sometimes my Skreddy Echo. The skreddy is great for its simple layout, and sounds amazing for slapback.

Where and when I apply delay to a part or a song is a little more difficult to answer. My setup is one of 3 tube amps, all of them are always running reverb at about 5.... 8 on my Princeton Reverb. So that is sort of the base of my sound in general. I will say that I experiment ALOT!! When I am writing I will try every setting on a delay and with any combination of other effects to find something that works. It doesn’t always work. Rarely do I use it on an entire song but there are a few that I will. It’s mainly used to accent a chord progression on a verse or chorus so the song has some dynamic to it. Part of my experimentation process is to record my sessions so I can go back and pull out parts I might not have found interesting when I was playing them but sound incredible with a fresh set of ears. That’s really my key to finding what works, and/or being inspired to explore a creative window.

[popvulture]

Huge delay fan as well... I'd say that aside from just a good reverb of some kind, whether via amp or pedal, delay is probably the most necessary for my own personal playing style. That said, I don't know if I have a definitive recipe for how I use it, because as others have mentioned, there are just so many ways to use it.

If I had a general go-to, it'd probably be somewhere around the 300ms range with not too many repeats, just to kinda fill the space behind what I play. I also love more metallic, short delays... I don't use it in a rockabilly sort of way, but it's that same sort of tone. I like it for it's kinda clangy feel, and when you add to a dirty signal, it gets that really amazing classic rock sort of tone that's fun as hell to bust out sometimes. Really ends up sounding like a doubled lead. Also that claustrophobic Fripp-on-Bowie records sound. Ugh.

I also like how you can use it as a really subtle thing, which is something that I think isn't always the first inclination with delay. Matt Schofield doesn't really play the kind of music I'm drawn to, but he's a pretty amazing player and I was pretty impressed by his explanation of his use of a Mad Professor Deep Blue delay in a recent That Pedal Show ep. Definitely worth checking out if you're interested in seeing how adding just one short little repeat can really fill things out.

Personal faves:

Deluxe Memory Man – Really the be all, end all if you ask me. I've got a big box version (with adapter vs hard wired power) that really just blows everything else I own away.

Maxon AD9 – Perfect for so many things... short max time (300ms?) but really I don't think I'd need much more than that for most stuff I do. Particularly excels at short delay times... oy the slapback on it is so so good.

Chase Bliss Tonal Recall (Red Knob) – Gets pretty close to the DMM in a smaller package, plus capable of quite a lot more. Plus presets.

Fairfield Circuitry Meet Maude – Fantastically weird sounding, as are all of their offerings.

Montreal Assembly Count to Five – The one sort of non or "quasi-delay" of the bunch... I don't even know what I'd call it, but I use it almost exclusively in mode 1 as a sort of archaic tape delay type of thing. The really nice thing about it is that forward and reverse delays are switchable with a simple twist of the direction knob, and fwiw is really the only reverse delay that I've clicked with.

[d-rock]

I love analog delay and have had a few nice ones. Boss DM-3, Aqua Puss, Ibanez AD9, etc.

I'm a pretty rhythmic player and sing quite a bit. I was just using them for slapback and faux reverb. Other than that, I just kind of got in my way and lost in the mix. So I took them off and just raised my reverb level a touch. I'm much happier now.

So to answer your question...how do I use delay...I don't anymore.

[s_mcsleazy]

so i always have 2 delays on my board. here is how it sits right now

so the wee yellow delay is tape style and then it goes into my reverb, then my looper, then the vintage time machine. the time machine has a very dark and washy repeat sound so my idea is it catches everything and just adds atmosphere. i guess it's an ambient delay

[marqueemoon]

My always-on reverb is a plate pedal with predelay, so my reverb already has a bit of a slapback to it which is accentuated when playing percussive stuff.

Lately I’ve just been using my AD-80 for...basically more slap. There’s one song I rarely play that’s in 6/8 and I’ll set the delay to roughly match.

I have a DD-7 on my second board and reverse is fun, and I sometimes toy with using the tap, but honestly it doesn’t have much place in the music I play right now. I like my boring dark delay.

[Singlebladepickup]

I like a “long” slapback that’s almost no longer slapback. Like right at the edge. Adds so much depth.

[starflower]

Dark. Dark. Dark.

I use a certain digital delay with a very nice tape-style filter and light modulation (running a fairly shallow sine wave @ 1hz), for added warmth of tails in place of reverb, but just the same it can be adjusted for more digital-sounding echos. That said, if dedicated reverb is required then I've got everything I usually need either with a Digitech RV-7 or the incredibly lush Shift Line A+ Astronaut V.2 in "Skynet" mode.

In my recordings, I'll go a similar route for repeats with the excellent Vahalla UberMod plugin, which is both affordable and great sounding for darker repeats.

[jorri]

I have a couple of delays and i use them in about every way possible.

Some are better at certain tasks than others. Something like an electro harmonix hazarai, strymon timeline or something is good for big ambient things, clear repeats that give a sort of micro-looping dub effect and unusual stuff like that. Analogue style delays (and maybe some like the boss dd3) are good for your standard 'always on' type sounds, like a slapback, or getting a big sound with distortion without it turning to mush. But listening in isolation, sometimes i wonder why, since a digital delay can sound great but somehow just not quite work with 'standard' delay uses whilst maintaining such clarity (which conversely is better with analogue delays that are less clear- ffor some reason, probably eating up less frequency when running with overdrives. I should mention i have some before drives as well, with low gain stuff that means more clarity (as the repeats aren't clipped) and with fuzzes: less (so much distortion and clipping that it begins to sound like notes are just smeared and sustained because they clip any signal approaching them)

[zhivago]

I'm a set and forget guy.

I have three delays on my board...one is set for more of a reverb effect, one is longer and wetter, and one is even longer with modulation.

They cover all the bases for me

[andy]

I try to use it like Les Paul would use echo. Now if I could only play like him or Mary!

[Unicorn Warrior]

My deluxe Memory boy is almost always on..set to a short delay trail, but tap tempo'd in. Then, if I'm feeling more ambitious I'll kick on the time factor.l for longer repeat stuff.

Also, my eventide space has a delay setting in it. I never tap tempo it, but it always just sounds good so I leave it alone in the particular setting I use with it

[Shadoweclipse13]

Deluxe Memory Man – Really the be all, end all if you ask me. I've got a big box version (with adapter vs hard wired power) that really just blows everything else I own away.

Ever try the Jam Pedals Delay Llama? Hearing it in demos, I always thought of it as a modern clone of the DMM, but I don't see them locally almost ever.

I'm like Yannis, I usually have 3 delays, and all set for a little bit different things. I love running a short delay into a longer delay. Sounds epic. My main delay, and the one I could use if I had no other and be perfectly happy, is a Caroline Kilobyte. I found that I like analog-voiced, digital delays the best, and that's the one that helped me learn that. I use it all over the place time wise, from short to longer delays. I also use the Havoc switch as a sort of feedback oscillator (think the feedback from the intro of Pink Floyd's Sorrow).

As for the writing, my delay is usually on, especially while writing. Sometimes I'll write a piece that rhythmically uses delays for the riff (a la The Edge), sometimes for a solo or just to beef up, and sometimes just to make noise. I wish I had something more helpful, but most of the time, when I'm playing a piece, it usually feels right or wrong whether it needs delay, or if I'd like delay. I don't really have a set thing for using pedals, just whatever sounds cool when I'm playing. Delay usually does sound cool.

If you're unsure of what you might like, I would highly recommend something of a tape delay/echo variety. Tape-sounding delays almost always sound epic. Especially for slapback/shorter delays. Might want to try a Catalinbread Belle Epoch or Echorec.