Delay

In the desktop app. Delay is a device of the desktop app, arriving in its beta; the web studio does not have it. The examples on this page are made with a reference version of the effect, applied to sound from the studio’s engine: they show what each control does, and the device itself may differ a little in character.

What it is for

A delay repeats the sound a moment later: an echo. Set to the tempo of the song, the repeats fall on the beat and become part of the rhythm, filling the gaps between notes and making a simple line sound larger. A short, quiet delay also gives a sound some space without the wash of a reverb.

Reach for it when a part is dry and exposed, when a line has gaps that want filling, or when a reverb would blur things. See Echo and reverberation are the room.

Time

How long after the sound each repeat comes. It is chosen as a note length, from 1/32 to 1/2, with dotted and triplet lengths in between, so it follows the tempo: change the tempo and the repeats stay on the beat. There is no time in milliseconds to set. A dotted eighth against a line of eighth notes is the classic rhythmic echo. Short times thicken the sound; long ones are heard as separate echoes answering the line.

Feedback

How much of each repeat is sent round again. Low, and there is one echo. Higher, and each echo makes another, quieter one, so the repeats trail off slowly. Near the top the repeats barely fade, which fills everything; turn it up with care.

Mix

How loud the repeats are against the sound itself. A delay is usually felt more than heard: start low, and stop when you would miss it if it were gone.

Tone

How dark each repeat is. Dark repeats sit behind the sound and stay out of its way, as echoes in a real room do. Bright repeats are as present as the original and work as rhythm.

Side to side

A switch. On, the repeats alternate between left and right, so the echo bounces from side to side while the sound itself stays in the middle. Use headphones.