Many newer digital delays—including the
Eventide TimeFactor (left), Boss DD- 7 (shown
on p. 140), and Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler (right)
—also feature built-in looping functionality.
Sometimes there might be a very slight
lag before the effect is actually activated
after you step on the pedal. We’re talking milliseconds here, but you might
feel it and may have to adjust the timing of your stomps accordingly.
If the maximum looping time available on your delay device is too short
for some of your more ambitious looping applications, there are still good
uses for it. For example, if you only had
enough delay time to have one harmony
or drone note sound, you could leave
it on for infinite feedback and practice
playing and hearing scales or patterns
against the fixed tonal center. You could
also use it to loop a note that you could
tune the rest of your strings to if you
don’t have a tuner (at least you’d be in
tune with yourself!). These may not
be performance-critical uses, but they
could certainly be helpful in your development as a musician.
Adventure Awaits …
Awaits … Awaits
Although we’ve explored its most common uses, there are still many more
sounds and textures that can be created
with a delay pedal—in fact, the possibilities are nearly endless. And whether
you arm yourself with a basic echo box
or one of the newer units with a bunch
of bells and whistles, learning to see
and use the effect in a fresh new way—
just as the Edge and Eddie Van Halen
did—could make you the next sonic
innovator whose sonic weapon is the
delectable delay.
