What is Delay?

Delay is an effect originally caused by caves, later by tape, and now by fancy tiny foot computers. Let's start with echo, echo is emulating old tape machines of yesteryear with flutter and other quarks that just make the sound interesting more than anything else! I love Echo and if you are looking for a killer Echo try the Outlaw Quick Draw. It's great, affordable, and small! Next in the evolution of delay we have the bucket brigade chip set developed by Sangster and K Teer in 1969. The best part of the Bucket brigade style delay is that every repeat gets more lofiy and muffled. I really like this classic delay sound as a texture for rhythm parts or even on atmospheric sounds! Before we leave the 60’s I want to talk about reverse delay, the sound of psychedelic rock in my opinion. Reverse is odd, instead of taking your signal and repeating the delay reverse delays flips everything effects like the Danelectro Back Talk are essential for having a different and unique sound! After bucket brigade and reverse we go into the world of the Boss DD2 and the sound of digital delay becomes accessible to the everyday player. Digital Delay has been around since the 70’s, but the guy who really took off with it was of course The Edge of U2. The odd delay sounds come from the mind of Brian Eno and others; sounds like shimmer, octave, and modulating delays. The Last little bit of this delay timeline is the oddball multi delay something like the Line 6 DL4. Multi delays are built for people with commitment issues, tone chasers, and people looking for the odd. Closing thoughts, delay is cool so grab a delay pedal and go to town!