Delays, with a capital D

Hey all,

this is one of my favorite dynamics in music, delays are a beauty to use on guitars and pianos. Delays are an echo, or a series of controlled echoes using a timed beat for an instrument that can be generated from devices such as a pedal etc. For an electric guitar, it is used to enhance a dry sound to make it sound more fuller and and adds a little bit more 'uumph' into your sound, for pianos, it does pretty much the same thing but it is more seldom used, but it sounds good nonetheless... Most delays are set using a tap tempo, but if you just own a simple delay then study this:

I can set the time of my delay through:

Tempo of the song vs. the length of notes:

So in formula form that is: 60 / bpm x length of note

Length of note values:
Whole note = 4
Half note = 2
Quarter note = 1
Dotted eight note = 0.75
Eight note = 0.5

So if a song is in 100 bpm and I want to use a dotted eight note this gives me:

60 / 100 x 0.75 = 450ms

This is my usual delay setting, because I do not own a tap tempo which I can use to set the beat automatically, to set it manually, you may use the formula above, after getting the settings for each song from your drummer.... 

The lead guitarist in Hillsong, my role model in guitar, Nigel Hendroff, posted a quotation on his twitter page:

"I've found so many guitar parts from using the echo - it's limitless. The biggest difference between me and other players is that I don't use effects to color my parts. I create guitar parts using effects. They're a crucial element of what I do so I don't consider them a crutch... They're a part of the art."

When i started learning guitar, I hadn't a clue what effects were, but when I started listening to people like Nigel, I thought wow~ how good could he get?; able to reach all of his notes flawlessly, then I slowly came to learn about his pedalboard, and I first thought he was cheating... but then I learned that that is what it took to get good music to draw people into worship, and then I procured an electric guitar not too long ago, and now, I use my computer as an effects processor, as now I cannot afford an amp and now I'm actually booking a multi-effects processor to use at my church, and hopefully I get enough to pay for it soon...

Here now are some videos on how delays sounds and a few tutorials...

Nigel explains how the delay is essential for the song in this video...

Micheal Guy Chislett, another Hillsong guitarist, displays to us how delays drive certain songs.