Delay "Fattens" Sound

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 27 Apr 2004 2:22 pm

I've read where some folks use a little delay to "fatten" their sound. How do you achieve this? Can you tell me, in milliseconds, what your settings are? Do you "regen", or just use one repeat? What's a good all-round setting to use, without having to worry about tapping in different times to fit the song? I tend to use something in the 200 to 300 ms range, one repeat. Very subtle in the mix. I also use some plate reverb.

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Lee, from South Texas
Down On The Rio Grande

Bob Knight · Post by **Bob Knight** » 27 Apr 2004 3:27 pm

340ms, 1 1/2 repeats.

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Bob Knight
Sergeant at Arms NTSGA
WWW.NTSGA.COM

Alan Kirk · Post by **Alan Kirk** » 27 Apr 2004 3:31 pm

Lee,

"Fattening" with delay usually means adding a bit, to taste, to make the sound a little bigger. The human ear starts hearing the delay at about 30 miliseconds (the lowest setting on an old Eventide Harmonizer). For basic fattening, without actually hearing a doubling, you'd want to stick to between 30-60 miliseconds, I would think. As you add more delay, you risk ending up in muddy waters, especially as the tempo gets quicker.

It sounds like you're approaching it from a musical point of view: "subtle in the mix." Add regen to taste.

I really don't think there is "one setting fits all" when it comes to delay. It depends on the tune, on the band, on the acoustic environment, etc. Just keep experimenting.

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Bob Knight · Post by **Bob Knight** » 27 Apr 2004 3:49 pm

I DON'T KNOW, I was just guessing.

<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Bob Knight on 27 April 2004 at 04:52 PM.]</p></FONT>

Tom Mortensen · Post by **Tom Mortensen** » 27 Apr 2004 5:06 pm

This might add to your choices.

Delay Settings

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tombleu.com

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 27 Apr 2004 5:35 pm

One important factor on delay is to have the ability to darken the tone of the echo. If you can shave off the treble of the repeats, then you can get away with more and louder repeats creating a thicker stronger effect without it being obvious. The old tape echos did this by themselves. Many of the newer digital delays will offer this feature too.

I read somewhere that 133ms is the delay that many of us associate with the classic rockabilly delays. It was based on tape speed and the gap between the heads. Or was it 113ms? When you get much longer than that, tempo becomes an issue. Proper delay timing on the longer echoes can make the difference between an obvious effect and a natural almost invisible bigness to the sound. I often like to time my delays to 1/8th note triplets in a given song.

Brad Sarno

Larry Behm · Post by **Larry Behm** » 27 Apr 2004 6:21 pm

I use 300 ms with one repeat at about 17% mix. For me this is cleaner than a ton of reverb, I run my plate reverb at 20% on fast songs and 75% on slow.

Larry Behm

C Dixon · Post by **C Dixon** » 27 Apr 2004 6:43 pm

I agree with Larry on this one.

carl

Bill Carpenter · Post by **Bill Carpenter** » 28 Apr 2004 8:34 pm

try a 27 - 30 millisecond delay with 1 repeat before your reverb. That oughta fatten it up for ya.

Tony Palmer · Post by **Tony Palmer** » 29 Apr 2004 2:10 am

Do you think the "fattened" sound travels beyond the stage?
I could see if a steel player was playing unaccompanied by a band, like in church, but doesn't the sound of a fully amplified band cover up or destroy any delay sound-fattening effect?

Len Amaral · Post by **Len Amaral** » 29 Apr 2004 4:59 am

An interesting delay effect is to have a few millisecond delay with 100% mix with one repeat with little or no reverb. It sounds cool on fast songs.

Brad Sarno · Post by **Brad Sarno** » 29 Apr 2004 12:24 pm

Mooney in Dallas had tons of delay. Sounded great! I'm guessing that it was around 220-280ms. Real wet, and it carried out into the room.

Brad Sarno

Tony Prior · Post by **Tony Prior** » 29 Apr 2004 2:27 pm

I too am with Larry.. approx 280ms..1 repeat, approx 20% level.. very minimal reverb .

On my home recording projects I use this delay with an Early Ref Reverb..really stands out on the track..
good luck

t

Jeff Hogsten · Post by **Jeff Hogsten** » 29 Apr 2004 5:11 pm

it can be good but it can muddy it up if your not in a good room, someplaces you have getting out in a room with out any, you can sit your sound the same for every place you play and it just depends on how much time you have for a sound check, just as you have to adjust your tone you have to asjust the delay for different rooms Jeff