Reason: Delaying Tactics

Build sophisticated multi-tap and modulated delay treatments using Reason’s flexible devices.

Robin Bigwood

When it comes to effects processing, Reason and Record’s ‘closed’ design, which doesn’t admit any third-party plug-ins, can leave them looking a little short in a few areas. I pick my words carefully here, though, as often there’s phenomenal flexibility if you only know where to look, or how to achieve it. So with that in mind, let’s look at an area in which the Propellerhead applications can initially appear a touch undercooked: delays.

You want a simple delay/echo effect on a device? Easy: with only the DDL1 Digital Delay Line to choose from, just select the device, create the delay, then use its relatively few controls to adjust the effect. The Unit button switches between absolute delay times in milliseconds and tempo-locked effects specified in numbers of steps. The step length is either a 16th note or an eighth-note triplet, which covers all bases. The Feedback control effectively sets how many echoes you get, and the only unexpected parameter is Pan, which steers the delayed signal (but not the dry signal) left or right in the stereo field, assuming you’re using a stereo output.

So far, so simple. The trouble is that there aren’t any obvious ways to go further and produce multi-tap or ping-pong effects, use filtering (which could allow old-school ‘analogue’ and ‘tape’ style delays), or create richly modulated effects. But they’re all achievable, and here’s how.

Multi-tap Delays

...

What's my Sub PIN?
If you have a print subscription but have not yet activated your eSub online access, please inform us and email your name/address details to:

subscribe@soundonsound.com

SOS staff will verify your subscription status, activate your online access and notify you of our actions.