In this series of posts, I will describe all my ways to use the delay as inspiration to both me and you.
I will divide it into 3 sections - divided into 3 posts. A rhythmic section, a "fill-out" part, and finally a section on study tips, where delay can be used as a power that can create miracles in your mix. In this post, I will be talking about the delay as "fill-out" effect, which purpose is as previously stated to widen the perspective of the mix.
The empty mix:
Do you feel that you have a solid basesound on vocals, but that it feels like it's standing outside the mix? Or maybe you are rocking out a lead-guitar solo, but it just doesn't stand enough apart, no matter how you look at it? I've certainly thought this a few times or 10 in my life.
In this case, it's a very good idea to consider using delay. In very grandiose music - rock as pop, orchestral ballads, dance, metal and anything else punchy, delay is very often used to fill the vacuum left out.
Take a listen to the vocal track on one of your most powerful songs. Is there not a delay, reproducing the vocals, somewhere deep in the mix? Or what about your favorite guitar solo on any Iron Maiden album? It's to be found anywhere in my record collection at least.
And so to the heart of it. If you, like me, have been using delay on singers' vocal tracks, guitar solos or the like, but they seemed fill too much in the mix, you probably turned them down to where they are so far back in the mix one barely hear them. They appears to be filling out too much of the mix, because the reproduced audio signal is just as dry as the original one, just in a different volume. This is not the way to do it!
In all qualified Workstation software, you can work on aux buses, and now you need to involve just that.
This little guide will help you out with opening an aux bus up, to then followingly guide you through creating a clear, yet distant delay as you hear it in your favorite music.
In the attached pictures you can see a series of framed "boxes". I have framed them to highlight what is important to focus on. Since I did not have internet in the studio at the time I wrote this article, I produced all material for these guides elsewhere, and because of the lack of audio software at this location, I just installed a Cubase 4 LE, and found a couple of free plugins on the internet. It is not plugins I use ever at my serious work, and this just functions as examples of how a chain could be.
Open the project where you would like to fill the empty void with a delicious delay, which WON'T be dominating or annoying the mix.
As I mentioned earlier, there is labeled an "aux bus." While your whole mix is running through a master bus, which you can turn up or down on the master fader on your transport bar, there are also a lot of internal busses in your project; or at least you can create them. In this case, we must put up an effectbus.
I run with Cubase, and has also made this guide so that it fits Cubase. But I'll try to explain this as objectively as possible. If you are a regular Cubase user, find where to add new tracks to the project and select "FX Channel". This could arguably be called "Create Aux Bus", "Effects Bus", "Aux Channel" or something like that in all other DAW's, but here it is entitled FX Channel. From here, select your preferred delayplugin. I will be listing plugin recommendations in the end, in order to give you an idea of what to choose. As you can observe in the picture, I chose the plugin "KXDELAY2--p", which is a freeware delay plugin. There'll now be created an effect bus for the plugin KXDelay 2.
The smart thing is not just that you can assign a plugin several plugins on top of it, but also that it will save you a great amount of computer resources. Instead of having to put plugins on a track "insert" each time, and thus constantly increase the pressure on the CPU and RAM, you can now send your tracks through a plug-in bus, and by that have plenty of extra power to play with. There are also other benefits you'll learn about in practice.
Once you've done it, find the audio tracks you would like you to assign to the delay. As you can see on picture 1, you'll find "Send" between the various options you have on the audio track. It is through the "Send" you send the track's signal through a second channel. Choose to send the signal through the newly created channel "KXDELAY2--p", or what it will now be named among you. How much of the delayed signal that will go through is up to you. Here it is about finding the perfect balance. It should preferably not fill up too much. I usually run it up to about -7 dB as a maximum.
Now you are halfway. You have sent your audio signal through an effects bus, which you've also just created. In reality, you have already assigned delay to your signal. Try for yourself to play back your tracks! But that would also be just the same as just adding delay as a insert on the channel - and then all this hassle was for no matter!
Therefore, as the second picture suggests, find the FX Channel where you've put up the delay. Form your delay, so it fits you well. When you are satisfied with the delay, then it's time to be creative!
You have shaped your delay, now is the time to shape the sound of it. Here is what I usually do.
In order to make the delay not dominate the mix too much, I usually cut most of the bottom- and topfrequencies. Maybe not all of them, but that would not be a completely stupid idea. The freeware EQ I found had neither Low- or Hi-Shelf, Low- or Hi-cut, but only just traditional peak bands. I pulled both the bottom and top completely to a minimum. It must be so that you only get the mid-frequencies of your signal. That will make it audible, (mids make things stand strong), but distant (removing top also means making things feel more "distant"), and without mud (bottom frequencies tend to mud up the mix).
Then, to create the "space" and fill in your delay, all you need is a simple (and yet complex) thing - reverb. Add a reverb on to your delaychannel and adjust the wet / dry until there is a fine balance - I tend to think 50% is a good option.
You can play with this for an eternity, that is really the point of learning and finding your own way, but this is enough for your delay to stand clear in the mix, without dominating anything. It feels distant, and is serving as "fill-out" on your mix. Try this example on your lead guitar, or your lead or backing vocals!
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In each of these posts, I will include a plugin recommendation.
Here is my favorite Stereo Delay that you can use for just that.
Normally I am not a fan of Steinberg plugins. I always use plugins from other sources than Steinberg, yet I see myself never going away from a single plug from Steinberg. It is recommended for all its good transparent sound and absolute simplicity.
Steinberg Double Delay:
A Stereodelay plugin that was introduced with Cubase SX3. The simplest of the simple but yet with a completely transparent sound - and you can run hundreds of them without playing out the CPU. Normally one might wish for colored sounding delay, but the goal here is to color the sound with our own effects for full flexibility and individuality, so transparence is very important. I use this plugin as the first plugin in the chain of almost all delaychannels I have ever run.
Next time there will be recommendations to the slightly larger, serious and (therefore) expensive delayplugins.
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