Anyone mastered the art of tap tempo delays?

Greetings Y'all!

I'm learning a couple dozen songs each month for our church and I'm hearing more and more stuff (ex-"Grace Like Rain") that appear to be using delays that are synched to the rhythm tracks.

I've tried it a bit and, let me tell you my friends, there is nothing quite as special as having a honker of a line repeated several times for the congregation!

If there are any of you our there that have really gotten comfortable with this, I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me the following:

1) What make/model of delay are you using?
2) What settings are you using for specific songs?

Maybe we can a thread going where we can detail how to nail specific tones. What do you, my fellow travelers, think?

Thanks for your time/Stan

I'm using a TC Electronics G•Major but do not have a tap tempo pedal. When we're doing tunes where I want the delay synched, I'll turn around and use the front panel tempo button. Works well enough and I don't need the functionality often enough to worry about cluttering up the floor with another button.

After 30 years, I have yet to master tapping my foot in time let alone a delay! I bought a digidelay thinking I would utilize the tap function for several songs we do. I've had it over a year and have yet to look at the manual! When you figure it out, please post a tutorial.

I use a Boss DD-5 along w/ the tap tempo switch. It is by far my favorite effect (not counting OD/distortion, which I use all the time anyway). Honestly I could get by with just my fulldrive 2 and dd5.

It is relatively simple to use. The last 4 settings (8-11) are strictly for tap tempo. When setting the tempo, you have to tap the switch at least 4 times to set the desired tempo (not 2 like many new pedals out there). The different settings 8-11 give a range of delays such as 1/4 note, 1/8 note, syncopated, etc. You really have to experiment with all 4 settings, they are all very useful, a lot of it depends on your playing. The beauty of it is that you don't have to play very much at all... the delay (when done in a correct rhythm along w/ the tempo) will sound very full and totally fill in the empty space. Many times when experimenting I will be playing somethine and then the light will totally go off in my head.... 'oh.... that's how so-and-so played that part!' Think Edge on 'Where the Streets Have No Name.'

I almost forgot, the two knobs that you will also use on this pedal are the echo level and feedback. These are pretty straightforward - the echo level just determines how loud you want the repeats to be and the feedback will set how long (or how many times) the echo happens.

The DD5 is also great in that when you disengage the pedal during a delay line, it will taper off normally and not just cut off - this allows it to be a much more seamless transition between lines.

I'm about to. Just bought a Boss Looper from a friend. I already have an Akai Headrush. As long as you are tapping 8th notes while you play it's not bad, but trying to tap 16th notes or triplet notes is very difficult.

amazing I found this post. I also am interested in delay sounds similar to u2. I only have an aanalog dod fx90 which does have a long enough delay. I am searching for a good cheap digital delay to play around with.


on this topic check out this site.

www.amnesta.net/edge_delay

I think Edge often used a dotted eighth timing on his delays (haven't read your linked article which probably covers this) and it's not likely that 'cheap' delays will have this feature. You'll need to do a little old school math to determine the correct setting for a given tempo.