Sections - Tips & Tricks

Velcome to ze "Tips 'n' Tricks" bit - Here's a variety of tips from all areas of studio, midi & live work. The emphasis here is not just about tricks to get sounds, but also ideas to save money or time.

But surely YOU have soom real cool tips to share with your comrades in arms of the music world?! - Feel free to add your own money-saving or technique tips!

Check out some of the Tips below, or add your own & hey!... don't forget, there are plenty of FX-Tips in the Articles section too!

39 - VARIABLE TIME DELAY FX TIPS

From: kilo
Email: here
Date: 04-Apr-99

THESE FX CAN BE ONLY BE PERFORMED WITH A DELAY UNIT WITH KNOBS

SNARE HITZ-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-
Set the DELAY TIME to about 100ms (milliseconds=thousandths of a second) delay time, something short.
Then set the FEEDBACK to about 50-60% whatever decays right for you.
Tweak a send to the delay from the snare mixer channel....The sound should be kind of like it's in a metal bucket....
You can vary it by leaving the AUX SEND to the delay on the snare channel up, and varying each hit on the snare or every other hit, by adjusting the DELAY TIME, or leave the DELAY TIME short, and adjust the feedback....You know ?...Like with the snare on the third beat......1 - 2 - TWANG - 4.......1 -2- TWAAAAAAAAAAANG.....1 -2 - etc....

Next you can go to the modulation section on the delay, and set the MODULATION RATE to a low or almost zero setting, and the MODULATION DEPTH to something higher, maybe 40-50%...
The snare effect should wind UP....and DOWN....
Adjust the MODULATION RATE, to match the tempo of the track, or so that the rise and fall times how you want it to in the context of the track.....Check it out...

JUNGLE.!!!.....

You can play around, and add this FX to vocals or whatever......For the JUNGLE bit, let the vocal through at a medium feedback level, then turn the FEEDBACK control UP, at key phrases, or at the end of a chat line.....OR JUST GO MENTA-A-A-A-L........with the DELAY TIME, FEEDBACK, and the MODULATION controls.....AWOOAH...

ELECTRIC LADYLAND
This works if your delay has a HOLD button, which in effect is a 0.5 - 1 second sampler ( without editing features). Send a phrase from whatever sound channel you like, ( vocals are cool ) to the delay, and as you do, hit the hold button. You will have to get the timing right, but once you do, the sound will just go around and around and around, repeating like a loop.
Now....go to the DELAY TIME KNOB, and play with the control......If you captured a sound with the delay time at full, then you can only adjust the sound UP.....It will rise up in pitch, until it sounds like Mickey Mouse on acid...You can sweep the sound up and down in pitch....
If you set the delay to a short time, you can capture the sound and use the same control to make it swirl DOWN in pitch....This one sounds the coolest.....By adjusting the DELAY TIME....and the return fader from the delay, you can make the sound swirl around....then rise slowly up in pitch as it eventualy dissapears in volume...
If there are two people available, one can do the sweeps, and the other can pan and adjust the volume....This sounds great....

If you are working alone, and you want to produce multiple FX like the above, but also with pan and volume fades, or complicated echo FX, see the COMPLICATED DELAY FX PRODUCTION TIPS in the FX-RACK section