I am just coming back from a friendâs place. I tried and liked a TC Echobrain delay pedal she had lying around on a shelf. She upgraded to a more complex pedal with many features soon after. So she sold me the Echobrain pedal for 35$.
I donât wanna buy more pedals for a while. I will practice and perform while using this pedal in the upcoming gigs.
She also let me have a small, unused makeshift pedalboard made of wood for free. It has enough space to mount my existing tuner and boost pedals, and also this new delay pedal on it. In fact I may mount one more pedal on it in the future, if needed. The space is on there for it.
I already have a 4-port power supply and patch cables . Our bassistâs dad is a skilled carpenter. I am thinking of requesting him to drill holes for me on the pedalboard, and use zip ties to mount my pedals on it.
My friend has used velcro to mount her pedals on a board, but I am kind of lazy and will prefer zip ties being used. Unless someone recommends me otherwise.
I would like to thank everyone who helped me out on this forum. It feels so good to communicate with experienced musicians from whom I can learn. I am fortunate to meet all of you, and I am happy to learn something new every day.
Youâre going to have to use your ears for this one, because those small/simple pedals does not allow you to dial in exact timings. But there are (usually) basically 3 different settings that all play together - delay time, feedback/repeats and mix.
Personal taste also comes into it when dialing in a slapback - some prefer a very short and quite pronounced effect, perhaps for country or âsurfâ music⌠I prefer a slightly longer delay time, dialed a bit more back in the mix.
For what itâs worth, I dial in my always-on slapback around 375ms delay time, quite low mix⌠and then dial the repeat setting until I hear 1 clear repeat, and perhaps the âshadowâ of a second one. The main goal is that itâll fatten up your tone, but you can still play chords etc without the delay sound taking over and muddying up the overall tone. Just experiment and find some setting you like
Hereâs a track where I stacked a couple of gain pedals and an analog delay into a digital delay. I got some synth and super shimmery tones out of it. Oceanside: Stacked and Delayed
Play with tone my friends!
The pedal I bought (TC Electronic echobrain) from a friend as mentioned in my post above, has a maximum delay time of 300 ms. I will try to set it up at slightly lesser than that, to avoid noise.
I am sorry. I have been away from this forum for a while. I had some health issues from which I am recovering.
But I tried using the recently acquired delay pedal in different scenarios:
Adjusted delay settings (while the place was almost empty) at a different bar where I recently started performing cover gigs before people walked in to order drinks.
Tweaked delay settings (while the place was filled with people) at a place where I had performed earlier, but after people walked in to order drinks.
Adjusted delay settings while performing with another guitarist.
Tweaked delay settings while performing with our band.
Adjusted delay settings while practicing at home.
I found out that all the above settings were different from one another. They depended on where I was playing, whether the place had some reverberation of its own, whether people inside had filled the place or not, if I was performing with another guitarist, whether I was practicing on my own or with a band. I had to keep the knobs turning and it was exhausting.
I am aware of my limitations. I admire those who can incorporate delays in their playing. A friend suggested buying a pedal with presets, so that I could toggle between 4-5 different settings instead of turning knobs.
Maybe I am overthinking. I guess I am clumsy when it comes to these things, and I canât afford to spend 200-300$ on such an advanced delay pedal. I have decided that I like hearing others who use delay pedals, but I am not skilled enough to use one. I am gonna keep my delay pedal (TC Echobrain) stored in my drawer for the time being.
I thank everyone for encouraging me to explore. Have a nice day.
A simple Physics thing is that people are bags of water that absorb sound.
I suspect that the bags of water in the room were absorbing a lot of the sound which made the delays (which are, normally, at a lower level than the main notes) harder to hear.
Reverb is a little more complicated because, as you say, the room has itâs own natural reverb and that will vary depending on how many bags of water are in the room absorbing reflections, so you may have to increase the reverb level a bit to get the same effect with more bags of water.
And, also, as your ears get used to an effect, you tend to change your perception of it, and therein is a tendency to want to tweak it whether itâs needed or not.
And, as for rehearsals and practice at hone, again you will have different rooms with different reverb characteristics.
If you are using reverb and delay as a simple effect, then, maybe you are overthinking a bit as it probably doesnât make that much difference to the audience.
If you are using delay as a part of the music, like The Edge does in a lot of U2 songs, then itâs obviously more important that it can be heard.
I just canât play live without some reverb on my vocal and guitar.
Though, if you are able to turn that off between songs, you wonât have that funky effect it has on a reggular speaking voice.
Iâm not a fa of delay an sich because itâs harder to blend with your normal, dry sound.
Itâs fun to experiment with the combination though, putting a bit of delay in front of a a bit of reverb or the other way around if you want.
Reverb is more of a âwooshâ, a wave, it blurs the edges of your sound, removes some of its cut but also some if itâs definition. A warm blanket of coziness
Delay is an echo, a clear and defined repetition which is harder to blend but easier to use in a musical and creative fashion, like the example of the The edge(U2) that was already given.
It can also bring something magial to any stirnged instrument, creating the impression of having 2 instruments playing at once.
On vocalq, it can be used to mask a bit of harshness but overuse makes you sound silly (just as an echo/delay)
I had to constantly tweak the mix knob of the delay pedal. I got tired of it, being the singer and guitarist in our trio. It made me difficult to focus on things.
For the time being, the only things on my pedalboard will be a tuner and a boost pedal.
I rarely use any effects but I put reverb and delay on a piece I uploaded on here recently. It has gone unnoticed so I concluded it makes no difference to the listener.
Most of my pedals are Boss which have large on and off buttons which I find easy to do with my foot. I have reverb built into some amps but have been toying with idea of getting a Boss reverb pedal too for those without.
Please donât feel this way. Sometimes itâs about luck. Keep trying, you will get the appreciation you deserve for putting in your efforts soon. Best wishes.
I had tried some pedals in a store earlier. I donât remember the brand names or the model details but some had both reverb and delay options in a single pedal. I have kind of given up on incorporating them in my rig, because I like to keep it simple and I would get tired of constantly tweaking knobs.
But if youâre inclined you will surely find a pedal which has delay, reverb or delay+reverb modes. Best wishes.
@audreyplays I kinda meant that the reverb and delay had been overlooked in my upload but the point works both ways I guess.
Iâve already got a Boss Delay so donât need to replicate that. My inspiration for the reverb comes from a Gary Moore demo video where heâs just playing through a small Orange Tiny Terror lunchbox amp and small cab and has one pedal atop. I think thatâs a Boss Reverb. I too have a TT. I have bigger amps that have reverb onboard but they are way too load for home use.
Maybe not overlooked but just an integral part of the recording. It sounded good to me but I wasnât trying to analyse what fx you were using I just listen. I have had my leg pulled many times at our open mic about the reverb I always use on acoustic and vocals, Funny but gradually some of those rib ticklers started dialling it in !
Just wanted to add, it could also be the way folks are listening. Listening via my tablet inbuilt speakers often hides a very subtle use of effects. I hear them much better via headphones, but often I have them in another room. But when I compare my listening experience, the quality over my headphones is way better and I notice much more than without.
Toby The truth of the matter is, if you can hear the reverb you are using to much. The number one mistake beginners do with reverb is add way to much. Makes it sound like youâre playing in a Metal Box. Reverb is like garlic, to much and it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Thereâs always the guy who says but I like lots of Reverb. Doesnât make you sound better, quite the opposite.
And always turn your reverb off when talking into a mic.
