Message 24/32
Date: 26-Mar-03 @ 12:06 PM -
RE: Delay
Ok Doezer, you can get these dub effects using software, but i'm gonna go on about doing it purely HW, as it's just so much more fun, and you're basically playing your mixer like an instrument, real-time. Not too sure what you already know, so sorry if I sound condescending. Righto, all you need is a mixer, a delay unit, a sound source, and a load of cables. I'll talk about the feedback delay first, so forget the siren thing i mentioned for now.
First, connect your sound source to the mixer, in the normal way. Next, you want to hook up your delay unit. Best to keep it mono for now, as it's more simple. You want to connect an Aux Send (it might be called an "effects send" on your mixer) from your mixer to the input on your delay. So look round the back of your mixer for the Aux Send sockets, and connect number 1 socket to the input on yer delay. So now you turn up your Aux 1 knob on your sound source channel. What's happenning is some of the signal going through your sound source channel is being fed to your delay unit, while the rest is just going through your mixer normally. You can't hear the dealy yet, as we haven't returned it's sounds back to the desk yet. Now normally you'd return your effects back to the desk using the special Aux return (maybe effects return) inputs, but we're gonna return the dealy to it's own channel. So you connect a cable from the output on your delay to any input channel on your desk. So now when you play your sound source, some of the sound goes straight out of your desk uneffected (dry), while some goes to the delay, back to the desk and out (wet). Make sure the mix bit on your delay unit is set to wet, as we're balancing our wet and dry signals in the mixer, not in the delay unit.
So far, all you've don is connected your effects to your mixer, in a fairly standard way, whether you want to do feedbacks, or not. So get your sound source playing, and hear the delay. Now for the fun bit... turn down the feed back level on you're delay unit (tho not right down). turn up the aux1 nob a bit on the effects channel. As you turn it up you'll hear when the feedback catches... as soon as it catches, back it off a bit, to avoid distortion and blowing up your speakers. You'll have to ride the level on that delay channel and the aux1 nob, so it doesn't start distorting. Now you're sending your delayed signal back to the delay, in a loop. You can turn down the sound source channel, and you'll still hear the delay, as the sound is just looping from delay to mixer to delay. It's also good to mess with the EQ on that delay channel... I usually cut all the bass, and bring down the tops a bit, but play around. This will give more dynamic to the delay, as the sound is getting thinned by the eq each time it goes round the loop.
So say i'm running a vocal track as my sound source. I'd have the aux1 nob on that channel turned down to start with. If the vocal said " dance tech", i'd quickly flip that aux1 nob on the vocal channel up and back down on the "tech" bit, then quickly bring up the aux1 nob on the delay channel. You'd hear "dance tech tech tech tech", with the tech bit caught in the feedback loop, and as you mess with the eq, it'd get more messed up. Also mess with the feedback nob on your effects unit. With jsut one delay (low setting) you can get quite a clean loop going, whereas things get mushy more easily with a higher setting. But then with a low setting, you've got to be quicker getting to your aux1 nob on the delay channel. Anyway, have a play... that's basically it.
The siren thing is set up the same as the delay, but with no effects unit... just run a cable straight from your aux send back to it's own channel, and turn up the aux nob a bit till it feeds back... messing with the eg will change the tone. Then you can turn up the aux nob that'll send the siren to the delay, and feed that back and... Mad Proffessor stylee.
Shit, i written a lot. Concise i aint. Anyway, it's not as complicated as i've made it sound, and once you understand whats going on, it's so much fun delaying a bit of this, a bit of that and gennerally just mashin stuff up!
Al