Hi, new to the bass game and have been out here trying to learn as much as I can!! With that being said, what is a delay pedal? What could I do with it? Can it be connected to a computer to assist me in achieving a certain tone?
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What is a delay pedal??
- Thread starter AbalISR200
- Start date
On bass a delay pedal is often used to make 'swell' sounds. Use a volume control/pedal in front of the delay to remove the attack of a plucked note and you can get a kind of bowed sound. Especially nice with some drive in front of the delay.
Here is a little more information that also compares, and contrasts delay with reverb.
Reverb vs Delay Guitar Effects Pedals: What's the Difference? - Pro Sound HQ.
Reverb vs Delay Guitar Effects Pedals: What's the Difference? - Pro Sound HQ.
I never realised there was a Dr Who middle 8 hidden in the intro!
A delay pedal is when a vendor announces a pedal and then spends nearly a year getting it to market.....
Delay, AKA echo, repeats what you play and you adjust how many repeats, the timing of the repeats and the volume of the repeats. Some fancier models can also modulate the repeats, simulate old tape echo units, etc.
I never use delay except when I do swells with a volume pedal (which I do on a couple songs live), and in that case I use delay with many repeats along with reverb.
I never use delay except when I do swells with a volume pedal (which I do on a couple songs live), and in that case I use delay with many repeats along with reverb.
If you're new to bass, I personally would put learning about and experimenting with delay effects very far down your list of priorities. Working on technique, timing, feel, music theory, working with other musicians, and "basic" tone shaping (i.e. using only your hands and the knobs on your bass and amp) will be far more impactful focus areas early in your journey.
If you're new to bass and new to effects, I'd suggest that there are other effects more useful to the average bassist than delay is. A phaser, an envelope filter, an octave pedal, and/or some sort of overdrive or distortion - these are all used with bass much more commonly than delay.
There are YouTube demos of most effect types with bass.
(Delay is fun, but...in practice I only ever use my delay pedal with electric guitar, not with bass.)
A delay pedal repeats what you are playing. It's more for 6 strings guitar, rarely used with basses.
I use a warble tape style echo to emulate chorus on bass because I like it more. I use the T120 delay that way quite often. Lo-fi goodness.
Justin from Tool uses delay on everything! (this is not him playing but it's easier to hear/see the delay here.)
A delay pedal repeats what you are playing.
A delay pedal repeats what you are playing.
A delay pedal repeats what you are playing.
A delay pedal repeats what you are playing.
A delay pedal repeats what you are playing.
A delay pedal repeats what you are playing.
A delay pedal repeats what you are playing.
A delay pedal repeats what you are playing.
A delay pedal repeats what you are playing.
A delay pedal repeats what you are playing.
A delay pedal repeats what you are playing.
Self-oscillating delays have interesting possibilities but also carry the risk of damaging speakers if you get to careless. I made my Yamaha AD-10 Analog Delay self-oscillate one time and at low volume I remember my bass sounding similar to those synth-like instrumentals you hear in movie scenes that are serious or suspenseful just from stringing together single notes on the e string
Even less practical than using delay effects on bass but it keeps things interesting.
Even less practical than using delay effects on bass but it keeps things interesting.
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