This thread is talking mostly about specific delays, how they sound and how they are used, but I would be really interested to hear how others are using delays as a part of their composition processes?
Using delays is a major part of how I patch and write sequences, being tied in with my approaches to gate patterns and melodies. I mostly write pretty simple patterns that through clocked delays at different divisions create really interesting rhythmic and harmonic interplay, the complexity of which has something of a psychoacoustic effect. In this way, the way I use delays are much more than just an effect, but are a central element of composition.
For example, in this video I made last night, using the CV out from Morphagene into the Zone input on Mimeophon, with both skew and ping-pong modes activated, Mimeophon clocked to the master, and Morphagene clocked to the gate out on Mimeophon, a percussive sound triggered from a straight division of the master clock through the shifting delay zones/divisions creates a complex rhythm that sounds quite similar to a drum circle/tribal drums, with rolls as it moves into smaller zones, and really interesting overlaps in higher zones. I also used a Roland RE-201 Space Echo carefully tuned to the clock give another layer of rhythm on top of the others.
Sounds like this (jump to about 5:30 for the effect I’m talking about):
In another example, I used two oscillators playing really simple melodies that have some root note shifts (kria alt note page) after a number of bars, then ran them through either side of a DLD, each clocked to play a polyrhythm against the master clock. The delays create a sense of very complex sequencing and harmonic movement, when really the sequence was quite the opposite:
These kinds of tricks are central to the way I compose with modular, so I’m really interested if others are using delays in similar ways? Would love to hear some examples!
