ADVANCED RECORDING PRIMER

CHAPTER 3 - PART 7,  BY ROBERT DENNIS

USING LONG DELAY EFFECTS

Long time delays are those that are 60 ms and more.  
1.  With long delay, the ear will hear the delay as an echo of the direct sound.  Adding delay creates what is known as a "slap" echo 
2.  When feedback is added, the result is a repeating echo.
Slap Echo 
Adding a single repeat causes a "slap" of the instruments sound - a sound that is often heard naturally at stadiums.   It will give a distinct "live" quality to vocals.  Generally delay times between 150 and 300 ms. are used.   
Repeated Echo  
Adding feedback to a delay will generate repeated echoes.  Usually slightly longer delay times (between 200 and 400 ms) are used for this effect.  How long  the repeating lasts depends on the amount of feedback.  Somewhere around 50% feedback the length of the repeat can be made to be forever.  Very high feedback values (above 50%) can result in a feedback howl. 
Timed Repeats
Slap or repeated echoes contribute to the "thickness" of the sound but can both get annoying as well as start to cover up syllables of a vocal line.  Timing the echoes to the tempo of the tune can allow more repeating echo to be used, or a higher percentage of slap echo, without annoyance.  
In most music, the steady even pulse of the music (called the "beat") has a quarter-note value. At different tempos, the time of a beat will change. The chart in Figure 4-14 (next page) shows the time of one beat and 1/4 beat at different tempos. Using these delay times in the slap and space echo effects reduces the irritation factor. One could also divide or multiple these times by 2, 4, or 8 and get the same effect. To determine the tempo one finds the "beat" and counts for one minute.
When you adjust the delay time to be the time value of 1/8th note, 1/4 notes. 1/2 note or a whole note, the repeats blend into the music more but the "thickening" quality of the delay remains in tact.  You can use the following chart to determine delay time values:

DELAY TEMPO CHART IN MILLISECONDS

BPM

1 Beat (ms)

1/4 Beat (ms)

60

1000.0

250.0

61

983.6

245.9

62

967.7

241.9

63

952.4

238.1

64

937.5

234.4

65

923.1

230.8

66

909.1

227.3

67

895.5

223.9

68

882.4

220.6

69

869.6

217.4

70

857.1

214.3

71

845.1

211.3

72

833.3

208.3

73

821.9

205.5

74

810.8

202.7

75

800.0

200.0

76

789.5

197.4

77

779.2

194.8

78

769.2

192.3

79

759.5

189.9

80

750.0

187.5

81

740.7

185.2

82

731.7

182.9

83

722.9

180.7

84

714.3

178.6

BPM

1 Beat (ms)

1/4 Beat (ms)

85

705.9

176.5

86

697.7

174.4

87

689.7

172.4

88

681.8

170.5

89

674.2

168.5

90

666.7

166.7

91

659.3

164.8

92

652.2

163.0

93

645.2

161.3

94

638.3

159.6

95

631.6

157.9

96

625.0

156.3

97

618.6

154.6

98

612.2

153.1

99

606.1

151.5

100

600.0

150.0

101

594.1

148.5

102

588.2

147.1

103

582.5

145.6

104

576.9

144.2

105

571.4

142.9

106

566.0

141.5

107

560.7

140.2

108

555.6

138.9

109

550.5

137.6

BPM

1 Beat (ms)

1/4 Beat (ms)

110

545.5

136.4

111

540.5

135.1

112

535.7

133.9

113

531.0

132.7

114

526.3

131.6

115

521.7

130.4

116

517.2

129.3

117

512.8

128.2

118

508.5

127.1

119

504.2

126.1

120

500.0

125.0

121

495.9

124.0

122

491.8

123.0

123

487.8

122.0

124

483.9

121.0

125

480.0

120.0

126

476.2

119.0

127

472.4

118.1

128

468.8

117.2

129

465.1

116.3

130

461.5

115.4

131

458.0

114.5

132

454.5

113.6

Divide 1 beat by 2 for 1/2 beat 

Divide 1/4 beat by 2 for 1/8 beat 

Copyright 2001, Robert Dennis, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED