RECORDING JULY 2000

BY ALEX CASE

PA RT 13

Part 1 of our look at having audio wait around a bit before hitting your ears

The DelayThe DelayPart 1 of our look at having audio

wait around a bit before hitting your ears

Fi rst some mu s i c . Hum or singalong with me the tune

‘ C o m fo r t ab ly Numb’ from The Wall byPink Floy d . You know the first line:

Hello (Hello...hello...hello). Is therea ny b o dy in there ?

This is a classic use of a long delay.The dre a my, d i s t u r b e d , out of mindstate of our friend Pink is enhancedby (the entire , brilliant ro ck and ro l la r ra n g e m e n t , including) this re p e a t-i n g , g e n t ly fading ech o.

H ow ’s it done? Perhaps the sim-plest way is to use a post fader auxsend from the vocal to the delay,w h i ch is returned on a separa t efader (see Fi g u re 1a). This sends thevo i c e , with all its compression ande q u a l i z a t i o n , to the delay. We havefull control of the return from thed e l ay as it is on its own fa d e r.

We l l , a l m o s t . Pa t ching it up thisway would add a delay to the entirevocal perfo r m a n c e , not just the wo rd‘ h e l l o.’ So we resort to an automatedsend as shown in Fi g u re 1b. N ow weh ave a fader and cut button dedicat-ed to the control of the send into thed e l ay, not just the re t u r n .

This echo send remains cut mostof the song. You briefly open it upfor the wo rd ‘ h e l l o,’ and pre s t o —that single wo rd starts to ech o.Put this into automation andyou’ll get the perfectly tailore dd e l ay eve ry time.

Fi g u re 1 explains what’s going onat the console. H ow do you set upthe delay unit itself? Most delay sh ave ava i l able the controls shown inFi g u re 2: input and/or output leve l ,d e l ay time, and re g e n e ration contro l .

Input/output levels are self-ex p l a n a t o ry. D e l ay time can be fixedor va r i able—using the three modula-tion controls (ra t e , depth andshape)—as we’ll see in later ex a m-p l e s . The Regeneration contro l ,sometimes called the feedback con-t ro l , sends the output of the delayb a ck into itself. That is, a delaye dsignal can be further delayed by run-ning it back through the delay again.This is how the delay is made torepeat more than once, as happensto the wo rd ‘ h e l l o.’

As we’ll see throughout this andn ext month’s article, the simple con-t rols of Fi g u re 2 empower the delayto become a fa n t a s t i c a l ly dive rse sig-nal pro c e s s o r. In the case of the longd e l ay used by Pink Floy d , we need toset the delay time to the appro p r i a t elength of time and add enough re g e n-e ration to make the echo repeat af ew times. The other controls on thed e l ay are n ’t necessary here .

How long is long?99.9% of the time these ech o e s

should be set to a time that make smusical sense. That is, d o n ’t just pick

a random delay time, dial in a mu s i-cal delay time instead. Should itrepeat with a quarter note rhy t h m ,an 8th note, a triplet,...?

One way to do this is simply by lis-t e n i n g . Ty p i c a l ly, we use the snare to‘tune’ a delay—to set a musical delayt i m e . E ven if you plan to add delayto the vo c a l , the piano, or the guitar,it is usually easiest to use the snarefor setting the delay time bothbecause it is a rhythm instrumentand because it hits so often. So mu chof pop music has a back beat—thes n a re falling re g u l a rly on beat twoand beat fo u r.

Send the snare to the delay andlisten to the ech o. Starting with along delay time of about 250 mil-l i s e c o n d s , adjust the delay time untilit falls onto a mu s i c a l ly re l eva n tb e a t . This can be mighty confusing.It may help at first to pan the snareoff to one side and the delay re t u r nto the other.

I t ’s pretty jarring to hear a delayfall at a non-musical time interva l .But when you adjust it into the timeof the mu s i c , you’ll instantly feel it.It is easiest to find a quarter noted e l ay, but with practice and concen-t ra t i o n , you can dial in triplet anddotted rhythms too.

Sometimes we c a l c u l ate a delaytime instead. H ow is this calculated?Bear with me here , as some equations

RECORDING JULY 2000

a re about to appear. If you know thetempo of the song (we’ll call it T) inbeats per minute (BPM) and you wa n tto calculate the length of a quarternote delay in milliseconds (Q), do thefo l l ow i n g :- First convert beats per minute into minutes per beat bytaking the re c i p ro c a l :

T beats per minute becomes 1/T minutes per beat.- Then convert from minutes to milliseconds:

1/T minutes per beat x 60 seconds per minute x 1,000 milliseconds per second.

- The length of time of a quarter note in milliseconds perbeat is:

Q = (60 x 1,000)/T = 60,000/TFor example, we know a song with 60 beats per minuteticks like a watch, with a quarter note occurring exactlyonce per second. Let’s try using the equation.

T = 60:Q = 60,000/T = 60,000/60

= 1,000 msec (one second) per quarter noteDouble the tempo to 120 bpm.

T = 120:Q = 60,000/T = 60,000/120

= 500 msec (half a second) per quarter noteI use milliseconds because that is

the measurement most delay unitsex p e c t . K n owing the quarter noted e l ay makes it easy to then calculatethe time value of an 8th note, a 16thn o t e , dotted or triplet va l u e s , e t c .

Some newer delay dev i c e s , l i ke theTC D-Two rev i ewed elsew h e re in thisi s s u e , let you display delay times ineither milliseconds or bpm dire c t ly,but remember that you need to knowb e fo re you look at a bpm value if thed e l ay is calculating a quarter note orsome other length.

In the ‘ C o m fo r t ab ly Numb’ ex a m-ple ab ove , t h ey cleve rly use a dotted8th note delay. It is worth tra n s c r i b-ing it for some production insight.The tune is dre a my and lazy int e m p o, m oving at about 64 bpm. Th et wo syllables of ‘hello’ are sung as16th notes.

To appreciate the perfection inPink Floy d ’s dotted 8th note delayt i m e , l e t ’s consider two other, m o reo bvious choices: a quarter note delayor an 8th note delay (consult Table 1).

The quarter note delay stro n g lye m p h a s i zes the time of the song; it’so rd e rly and pers i s t e n t . Sing it toyo u rself as a quarter note delay :Hello x x hello x x hello. . . . Th i swould make it seem like Pink isbeing nagged or pushed aro u n d .S i n gthe 8th note delay and you find therepeats fall one after the other, w i t hno rest in between the wo rds: hellohello hello hello hello. This is justplain annoy i n g .

The delay time they chose has theeffect of inserting a 16th note rest inb e t ween each repeat of the wo rd .Hello is sung on the dow n b e a t .

The echo never again falls on ad own beat. Fi rst it anticipates beatt wo by a 16th note, then it falls onthe “ a n d ” of beat two. It then falls a16th after beat thre e . Fi n a l ly, it dis-a p p e a rs as the next line is sung.

This timing scheme determinesthat ‘hello’ won’t fall on a beat againuntil beat four, by which time thenext line has begun and ‘hello’ is nolonger audibly repeating. It’s reallya pattern of three in a song built onfour. This guarantees it a dreamy,disorienting feeling. It remains trueto the overall ‘numb’ feeling of ourhero Pink, keeping an uncertain, dis-connected feel to the story told.

The result is a pre-calculated cre-ation of the desired emotional effect.And it’s a catchy hook—a real PinkF l oyd signature . ( Th ey ’ ve used thist r i ck befo re , to devastating effect:‘Us And Them’ from Dark Side Of Th eM o o n , ‘ D ogs’ fro m A n i m a l s. . . . . )

Figure 1a) Constant Send - Use an Aux Send (literally an Echo Send) or Spare Track Bus to send the Vocal to the Delay

Table 1: evaluating the musical timing of delays

1 e & a 2 e & a 3 e & a the beat

Hel lo sung word

x x x x hel - lo quarter note delay

x x hel - lo 8th note delay

x x x hel - lo dotted 8th note delay

x x x hel - lo x hel - lo x hel - lo with regeneration

Hel lo x hel - lo x hel - lo x hel - lo net effect

RECORDING JULY 2000

Long delayI t ’s a funny idea, a dding an echo to

a singer, p i a n o, g u i t a r, or whateve r. I td o e s n ’t seem to have any motiva t i o nbased on re a l i t y. The only way tohear an echo on the vocal of a songis to go to a terrible ve nue (like anice hockey rink or the Gra n dC a nyon) and listen to mu s i c .

The sound of an echo across thee n t i re mix is in fact not a pleasantex p e r i e n c e . It is messy and distinctlyn o n - mu s i c a l .

The echoes we find in pop mu s i ctend to be used with more re s t ra i n t .In some cases the echo is added to asingle tra ck , not the whole mix. A n di t ’s mixed in fa i n t ly so as to bealmost inaudible.

In other cases the delay is add e do n ly to key wo rd s , p h ra s e s , or lick s .

SupportIf a constant echo is to be added to

an entire tra ck , the echo needs to bemixed in almost subliminally, n e a rlyh i dden by the other sounds in them i x . A soft echo underneath the leadvocal can give it added richness ands u p p o r t . This appro a ch can stre n g t h-en your singer, e s p e c i a l ly when them e l o dy heads into falsetto territory.P u l s i n g , subliminal echoes feeding along reverb can create a soft and del-icate sonic foundation under thevocal of a ballad.

Then there ’s the vulnerable ro ckand roll singer in front of his mate’sM a rshall stack . After the last ch o r u sthe singer natura l ly wishes to scre a m“ Ye a a a a a a a a a h ! ” and hold it for acouple of bars . It isn’t easy to ove r-come the guitarist’s wall of sound.Help the singer out by pumping somein-tempo delays into the scre a m .

The best “ Ye a a a a a a a a a h ! ” eve rre c o rded in the history of ro ck androll (and I have this from a re l i ab l es o u rce) is Roger Daltrey ’s in “ Wo n ’tGet Fooled A g a i n ” by The Wh o. Th es c ream occurs right after the re -i n t roduction when those cool key-b o a rds come back in, and rightb e fo re the line “Meet the new boss.The same as the old boss.”

This scream is a real ro ck and ro l lc l a s s i c . Listen care f u l ly (especially atthe end of the scream) and yo u ’ l lhear a set of delayed screams under-n e a t h . I t ’s Roger Daltrey, o n ly more

so: it’s half a dozen Roger Daltrey s .This makes quite a statement.

You can do this too. All you need isR oger and a long delay with somere g e n e ra t i o n .

SlapA staple of ’50s ro ck is sometimes

part of a contempora ry mix: slap-b a ck ech o. You never heard Elviswithout it. Solo John Lennon there-fo re often had it. And guitarists play-ing the blues tend to like it.

Start with a single audible ech os o m ew h e re between 90 ms and 200m s . On a vocal you’ll instantly add adistinct re t ro feeling to the sound. O nguitar it starts to feel more live , l i keyou are in the smoky bar yo u rs e l f.

B e fo re the days of digital audio acommon appro a ch to creating this

sort of effect was to use a spare ana-l og tape machine as a generator ofd e l ay. During mixdown the mach i n eremains in re c o rd . Signal is sentf rom the console to the input of thetape machine in ex a c t ly the sameway yo u ’d send signal to any othereffects unit: using an echo send ors p a re tra ck bus.

That signal is re c o rded at the tapem a ch i n e , and milliseconds later it isp l ayed back . That is, though the tapem a chine is re c o rd i n g , it remains inrepro mode so that the output of thetape machine is what it sees at thep l ay b a ck head.

As Fi g u re 3 show s , the signalgoes in, gets printed onto tape, t h etape makes its way from the re c o rdhead to the play b a ck head (takingtime to do so), and finally the sig-

Figure 1b) Automated Send - Uses two different Aux Sends or Track Buses. The SendChannel is a Console Strip dedicated to controlling exactly what is sent to the Delay.

RECORDING JULY 2000

nal is played back off tape andreturned to the console. The re s u l tis a tape delay.

The signal is delayed by theamount of time it takes the tape tot ravel from the re c o rd head to there p ro head. The actual delay timethen is a function of the speed of thetape and the particular model oftape machine you are using (whichdetermines the physical distanceb e t ween the two heads).

Want to lengthen the delay time?S l ow the tape machine dow n . Yo umight have two, m aybe three ch o i c e sof tape speed: 7 1/2, 1 5 , or 30 inch e sper second (lov i n g ly called ‘ i p s ’ ) .None of these delay times seemex a c t ly right? Maybe your tapem a chine has vari-speed that lets yo ufind tape speeds slightly faster ors l ower than the standard speeds list-ed ab ove .

C a n ’t make these delay times fitinto the rhythm of the song? Nop ro b . Go buy another analog 2-tra ckm a ch i n e , one with a different heada r rangement so that the delay timewill be differe n t .

Wait a second. A single tapem a ch i n e , w h i ch might cost seve ra lthousand dollars , is capable of just af ew different delay settings? Yu p. A3-speed tape machine used this wayis like a re a l ly ex p e n s ive effectsd evice with three pre s e t s . D ra g .

Tape delay was originally usedbecause it was one of the only ch o i c-

es at the time. To help out, m a nu fa c-t u re rs made tape delay s , w h i ch we retape machines with a loop of tapei n s i d e . The spacing between there c o rd and play b a ck heads wa sa d j u s t able to give you more flex i b i l i-ty in timing the delay.

Here in the year 2000 we havemore options. Life is good. We canbuy a digital delay that is easilyadjustable, wonderfully flexible,probably cheaper than a tapemachine, and it either fits in one ortwo rack spaces or exists convenient-ly in a pull-down menu on our DAW.

But if you have a spare tapem a chine that has perhaps been sit-ting unused ever since you made thei nvestment in a DAT mach i n e , yo u ’ vegot the opportunity to create tapes l a p. This can even be a cassetted e ck if it has a tape/monitor sw i t chto let you monitor the play b a ck headwhile you re c o rd .

Why bother? Some people are sim-p ly turned on by anything re t ro. Ta p ed e l ay is more tro u b l e , m o re ex p e n-s ive , and we know some great oldre c o rds used it. That is re a s o nenough for some engineers . I pers o n-a l ly am not into re t ro for re t ro ’s sake ;I take the trouble to use a tape delaywhen I want that ‘ s o u n d .’

An analog tape machine intro-duces its own subtle color to thes o u n d . M a i n ly, it tends to add a lowf re q u e n cy hump into the signal,depending on the tape mach i n e , t h e

tape speed, and how it is calibra t e d .If you push the level to the taped e l ay into the re d , you intro d u c ethat signature analog tape compre s-s i o n , and at hotter levels still, a n a l ogtape saturation distortion.

Tape delay becomes a more com-p l ex , ve ry rich effect now. It isn’t justa delay—it is a delay plus equalize rplus compressor plus distortiond ev i c e .

This can be darn difficult to simu-late digitally. I t ’s sometimes the per-fect bit of nuance to make a tra ckspecial within the mix.

EmphasisA dding a long delay to a key wo rd ,

as in the Pink Floyd ex a m p l e , is away to emphasize a particular wo rd .It can be obv i o u s , l i ke the ‘hello’ thatbegins the song. S i mulating a calland response type of ly r i c , the delayis often a hook that people singalong with.

A l t e r n a t ive ly, it can be more sub-t l e . A set of emphasizing delays hitskey wo rds throughout “ S y n ch ro n i c i t yI I ” on The Po l i c e ’s final albumS y n ch r o n i c i t y. The first line of eve rychorus ends with the wo rd ‘ away,’w h i ch get a little delay based boost.

Listen also to key end words in theverses: ‘face,’ ‘race,’ and, um, ‘crotch.’These are a quick dose of severalechoes, courtesy of the regenerationcontrol.

The Wa l l f l owe rs’ “One Headlight”on Bringing Down the Horseo f f e rs agreat example of re a l ly hiding thed e l ay s . Listen care f u l ly to the thirdve rse—the wo rds ‘turn’ and ‘ b u r n ’e a ch get a single subliminal dottedquarter note delay.

I t ’s not unusual to low pass filterthese sorts of delay s . R e m oving thehigh fre q u e n cy content from eachrepeat makes it sink deeper into them i x . Nice delay units provide yo uwith this filter as an option.

M o re ove r, t h e re is often the ab i l i-ty to double the delay time on out-b o a rd digital delays by pressing abutton labeled “ X 2 ,” m e a n i n g‘times two.’ This cuts the samplingrate in half. With half as many sam-ples to keep tra ck of, the amount oftime stored in a fixed amount ofm e m o ry effective ly doubles, h e n c ethe ‘times two’ lab e l .

Figure 2) Signal Flow Through a Typical Delay Unit

RECORDING JULY 2000

Halving the sample rate also low-e rs the upper fre q u e n cy capability ofthe digital dev i c e . You know this ifyou are fo l l owing the sampling ra t ewa rs: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 96 kHz andm o re . The key benefit of incre a s e dsampling rate is improved high fre-q u e n cy resolution (A ‘Nuts & Bolts’column dedicated to digital audio isfo r t h c o m i n g ) .

While sampling rates are cre e p i n gup on all our digital toys (especiallyDAWs and mu l t i t ra ck re c o rd e rs ) , wesometimes lower the sampling ra t eon our digital delay s . L ow pass fil-tering the delay is often a desirab l emix move .

GrooveB eyond support, s l a p, and empha-

s i s , we sometimes re a ch for delay tofill in part of the rhythm tra ck of as o n g . Reggae is famous for its clich ée ch o. Drum progra m m e rs have beenk n own to put in an 8th or quarternote delay across the entire gro ove .

Guitarists use delay too. U 2 ’s Th eEdge has made delay a permanentpart of his guitar rig. A classicexample is apparent from the ve ry

i n t roduction of U2’s “ Wide Awa ke ”on The Unforgettable Fi re. The quar-ter note triplet delay isn’t just ane f f e c t , i t ’s part of the riff.

The Edge has composed the delayelement into the song. Ditto for “ I nthe Name of Love ” f rom the samea l b u m . An echo isn’t just an echo anym o re , i t ’s a part of the tune.

Make it shortThe delays discussed ab ove are

all audible as ech o e s , repeats of ane a rlier musical phra s e . D e l ays aresometimes so short that they are n ’tp e rc e ived as ech o e s . That is, as thed e l ay time falls below about 50m i l l i s e c o n d s , the sound of thed e l ay is no longer an ech o. We stillhear the delay, but it takes on an ew persona as the delay time getsthis short.

N ext month we ex p l o re theseshorter time effects.

Alex Case wonders: why are flightd e l ays always long delays? RequestNuts & Bolts topics via case@re c o r d-i n g m a g . c o m .

Figure 3) Tape Delay - The Tape Machine is always rolling, In Record. The distance between the Record Head and the Playback Head as well

as the selected Tape Speed determine the Delay Time.

Excerpted from the July edition of RECORDING magazine.©2000 Music Maker Publications, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

5412 Idylwild Trail, Suite 100, Boulder, CO80301 Tel: (303) 516-9118 Fax: (303) 516-9119

For Subscription Information, call: 1-800-582-8326