With the move away from analogue technologies, and specifically tape delays, we arguably left something behind when we went digital. That something is the sound of magnetic tape. Apart from the physical noise of the tape whirring within the machine itself, tape brings a degree of distortion and saturation to proceedings, which we generally tend to like as a sound colour. Thankfully, software companies appreciate this, and many tape delay-style plugins are available, either as an included component within your DAW, or as a thirdparty freebie or purchase. The chances are, any delay which makes use of the word ‘tape’ in its name or description, will make use of some form of saturation or distortion effect. The aforementioned Echoboy, from Soundtoys, is a fine example, as it is equipped with a number of saturation colours, mirrored from vintage machines. Of course, you do not have to make use of this element, but we think that once you’ve found it, you’ll probably want to use it, because it sounds so good.
Delays are relatively uncomplicated, or at least that’s the way it should appear, but there is equally plenty of diversity when it comes to delay types, and timbral colour. Let’s start by highlighting some of the delay options, with an indication of where you might want to use them.
Of course, there are no hard and fast rules with delays in the software domain, and you can use any delay, anywhere you like, freely. The key thing to remember is whether it does what you want it to do, and sounds as you would like it to sound. If it doesn’t, you can be very sure that like London buses, another delay will be just around the corner.
Going straight