Hey guys, any tips on where in the chain to place the delay to get a good clean delay?
Thanks in advance!
They’re commonly put at the end, like reverb, for a clean stereo spread. However, they can sound really cool in front of amps too- it’s really worth experimenting with to see what you like.
If you put stereo delays in front of a cab, it’ll sum to mono, unless you pan the 2 mics in the cab block.
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The type of delay you select will also determine how “clean” it is. Analog and tape delays generally have a little more grit, signal decay in the repeats, or potentially warble in the case of tape delays, similar to the original devices they were modeled on. The digital delays tend to be “cleaner” with repeats that more faithfully, but not necessarily more “musically”, reflect their source signal.
It also helps to have a good level going to the delay block from the previous one. Not too low or high.
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Clean. From my experiences the most clean delay was coming always:
- live: from effects loop in the amp,
- studio: sends (so, also fx loop)
The delay I liked most - I was placing after overdrive/distortion and/or modulation and guitar amp/combo (for me it was the “warmest” sound). And - I was always using digital delays, as analog delays were somehow too muddy for me.
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