Echo effects can be a great tool to inspire creativity when working with simple loops. Let’s take a look...
-
While delay wasn’t a big feature of early minimal house and techno – due to the expense of hardware delay units – it’s become a key tool for producers. Since minimal music often has fewer elements and larger gaps between beats, delay can help to fill out the frequency spectrum and add extra depth to the sound. Delay is often used as an overt part of the rhythm, rather than adding a subtle effect. Below, we’ll use several delay types to transform a simple riff rhythm. Modulating these effects over time can add progression to your track.
1
We start with a virtual analogue lead sound. We program a simple single-bar pattern of just three notes with no changes in length or velocity – not a lot interesting going on here. Rather than try and spice things up on the piano roll, let’s use delay to generate a better riff.
2
By using a stereo delay device with a mono utility after it, we can use the left and right delays as two mono delay lines working together to add rhythmic interest. Timing offsets do the same. A dry/wet value of 40-50% makes the delay feel part of the original riff.
3
Or try a MIDI delay instead of an audio one. This duplicates the notes before they reach the synth, rather than delaying the audio. The Max for Live version lets us change pitch on each repeated MIDI note, for a result more like a basic arpeggiator.