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Digital Delay Line

Published: 2016-10-12

A digital delay line is something we have probably touched since Reason version 1. Yeah, it is that old. However a delay effect by itself never gets old, so I thought it would be fun to grab an old device like the DDL-1 Digital Delay Line by the knobs and throw some new ideas and twists against it while we are covering this simplistic effect.

What is a digital delay

Examining the audio output of a DDL-Digital Delay

Lets start with explaining the basic concept of a delay effect. A delay is an effect where the in coming audio is being repeated over time (steps or milliseconds). In most cases the effect is combined with sliding down the volume while the effect progresses over time (feedback amount). There are however different types of modulations that could take place over a delay over left and right. Modulation is something you can find in the delay of Thor (Reason 4) and The Echo of Reason 6.

As you can see in this picture the original note sounds as loudest as it can be. While every following note, processed by the digital delay, will eventually sound softer. The settings of the Feedback amount was set to 50 in this example, while the dry/wet setting was set to 56.

Insert and Send effects

Something I have covered in the mixing guide is the difference between a send and insert effect. When regarding to the delay, its often being used as a send effect (attached to the mixer). In this case the setting of Dry/Wet should be set to Wet (since a send effect usually keeps the dry signal intact). However as an insert effect you can do some more stuff with something simplistic as just a delay.

Download: Reason 4 Example file Simple Delay

In this example file I am using the Digital Delay as an insert effect. The sound is processed after the initial instrument using serial audio processing.

A simple comparison

ddl-1 digital delay in reason

Lets do the simple comparison approach on how much difference a simple thing as a delay can have... I will start off with a simple 48 bar loop which I have created in just 5 minutes time (it's that simplistic). And I am not paying too much time into sound design here since I want this to sound as flat as I can. So.. the only thing I have been using is a couple of scream 4 units to add some distortion levels or tape distortion just to auto gain the sounds here and there.

Download: Reason 4 Example file without any delays

Delay and using send effects

In the mixer 14:2 we have a section where we can change the send effect amount (marked with number 1). In this example file we are using 7 different channels (marked with the number 2). In this example i will use the mixer 14:2 to blend the digital delays. However, if you would be using record or reason 6 it would make sense to use the SSL mixer for setting up the delay send effects.

Delay and using send effects

As you might see right here, I have added 4 different delays. One on step 2, one on step 3, one on step 6 and one on step 5. Each delay also has its own unique panning setting, which means that the first one goes more to the right side, while the second one goes more to the left (this results more or less as a ping-pong effect when using them both).

Now with that setup, we can start adjusting the Auxiliary knobs on the Mixer 14:2 to adjust the amount of delay we want to have. The more the aux setting value is, the more the effect will be present.

 

Download: Reason 4 Example file with digital delay as send effect

When you would listen to this example file, and compare it later on with the previous one you might notice a few things:
- the sound sounds more alive compared to the original
- it moves more over left and right (makes it more interesting to listen to it rather then something that is dead center all the time)
- it sounds fuller in the overall mix since there's just more stuff going on at the same time

And this is done with something as simple as a Digital Delay effect. Some people may say "it is lame to use delays", however, I might add that delays have been a technique which was even used inside Amiga Mod files... think about that!

DDL-1 Digital Delay Line in full Detail

ddl-1 digital delay half rack device in reason

Lets spill the beans about the the digital delay line in full detail shall we. On the front of the DDL 1 digital delay line you have the following settings from left to right:

1. Bypass / On / Off.
Bypass turns the effect off but still processes the audio signal to the next device.
On turns the digital delay on
Off turns off the out going audio, including every device that is attached to the digital delay

2. The amount of steps / milliseconds the delay kicks in
3. Unit, can be set to MS (Milliseconds) or Steps
4. Step length, use step lengths on note lengths (1/16th notes) or triplets
5. Feedback, the amount of times the delay has to kick in before the delay dies out
6. Panning left till right (have it set to 0 to have the delay centered)
7. Dry/Wet setting. As a send effect use it on wet, as an insert effect it can be anything (depends on the flavor or setup)

On the rear you have 2 CV input jacks. One for panning, and the other for feedback.
Second you have 4 audio jacks. Two for inputs, the other two for outputs

I could go in full detail about every setting inside the digital delay. However I think it is very self explanatory when looking at this device combined with the things I have just posted in this article.

Common usages on Digital Delay

I think it would make more sense to write down the best practices when it comes to a personal usage of this unit. I could add that you would probably find a digital delay in every song I have ever created. There are multiple setups I common use and I would like to share these moments.

Bass lines

I prefer to use digital delays on present bass lines. Those bass lines are usually defined by a saw or square and are usually pretty present on the ear (and I am not talking low sub tones here). Especially when a bass lines is short and picky, one could spice things up drastic with just a digital delay one or two. It works like a charm.

Something as followed: Reason 4 digital delays on basslines

digital delay line and basslines

The first 5 tracks are redrums (which isn't interesting in this case). The 6th one is a sub tone (subtractor with sine and triangle). The most important part is that the sub tone plays between every bass drum yet does not have any delays. This is done for a reason. Sub tones should be handled with care. Having them delayed might cause the sound to become too booming when they overlap (e.g. the same sound is played at the same time). This is something you really want to prevent in this case since the bass drum focuses on similar frequencies as the sub tone bass line.

However the 7th one gets interesting in this case. This one uses two delays with steps on 2 and 5. Even while 2 is not perfect in this case. In this setup the notes themselves are playing a 3 step sequence (every 3/16th note in a 8/16th sequence). This cycle gets repeated all over the whole time line (just for demo right). Anyhow, there is one moment that the steps of 2 bass tones would be 2/16th note and that happens when the next 8/16th cycle starts.

Digital Delay Sequencer

One shot hi-hats

Even while in most sequences you will play a hi hat like 'ra-ta-ta-ta'. However sometimes one could trick the 'ra-ta-ta-ta' on hi hats without having to fiddle around with velocity settings,

Velocity in redrum in reason

So you could manually edit some sequence like this. Works like a charm. Or you could use a setup as followed

Velocity in redrum in reason

Both have their advantages. If it comes to inputting the notes, the last one will be the lazy method. However sometimes a method as using delays works when it comes to the overall loudness being controlled automatic. Since the feedback determines the amount of drop level before the delay stops. So adjusting the feedback knob in this case would be easier then just editing velocity levels when stuff starts to get crowded. It is just an additional idea in case you never heard of both methods.

Download: Reason 4 digital delays on Hi hats

Moving pads

A lot of my own pads have the intention to slightly kick in (low attack), sweep like crazy on the filter frequency (lfo to filter) or have some tremolo setup. However by using something as a digitial delay line, it also creates a 3rd dimension to the sound: depth. By using a delay setup that goes from left to right it kind of makes you believe that the pad somewhat moves over left and right... while this is nothing but a magic act that is tricked with 2 times a ddl-1.

One release of the pad it also has the side effect of making the pad slightly die out over time (due to the feedback amount). This makes the sound subtle stop over time. Which also is in combination with a high release on the pad itself.

Download: Delay Moving Pads

Arpeggio

Digital Delay Line and the RPG 8 Arpeggiator in Reason

Arpeggio and delay is almost something like a must have. Especially if something is kind of floating in the background, the delay makes the arpeggio move more. Especially when the instrument itself is playing around with the filter frequency (or scream 4 which is changing the tone).

We could do this with a few steps:
- Create the instrument (I will pick the subtractor)
- Add one or two digital delays on the subtractor (when you use more then one delay, make sure the steps are different)
- Set the feedback pretty low (around 40)
- Set the setting more to dry of the digital delay line (approx 25)
- Have one pan to the left and the other panned to the right.
- Create the RPG8 (don't worry about the routings, the gate and notes are automaticly connected)
- Place some chords on the sequencer of the RPG 8
- Automate the Filter frequency

Download: Delayed Arpeggiator

Multi stepping filter

Now that I have covered most of the common things when it comes to using a digital delay, let us start using the digital delay in a non-conventional method. In other words let's be creative. The first setup I am going for is something I will call the multi stepping filter setup. The idea is as followed:

Filter Digital Delay Line

With a setup like this you'll have something as parallel processing, but with a different filter slot in between. This can add some accents on certain moments in time (by using the steps of the delay), or you could use a method like this to mimic the "filter envelope" of the Echo slightly.

Download: Stepping filters

Even while I am using multiple instances of low pass filters, one could choose to use different filter types instead, combined with a different stepping method something like the following:

Filter Delay

Download: Stepping Filters (mixed)

This concludes our first steps into what lies ahead in the world of delays. There is plenty more we can do with just delays. We'll start frying your rack in our next episode... better bring some eggs!

Published on Reason Experts
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Published on Reason Experts
Published: 2016-10-12

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