Why everything is a note value
A delay set to a note value lands its echoes on the beat, so they groove instead of smearing. If the tempo changes, synced times follow it. Fixed times don't, so the echoes drift off the grid.
| Note value | What it feels like |
|---|---|
| 1/4 | Clear, spacious echo. Good for throws on the last word of a line. |
| 1/8 | Tight and busy. Thickens rap vocals at a low level. |
| Dotted 1/8 | Bouncy, moves against the beat. The classic melodic vocal delay. |
| 1/8 triplet | Rolling, swung feel. Works on half-time and swung beats. |
| 1/2 or a bar | Long, dramatic throws for intros and breakdowns. |
Reverb that keeps words clear
- Pick the spacePlate for a bright, smooth vocal tail. Hall for big and wide. Room for a short, natural sense of space that keeps rap up front.
- Set the decay to the songStart with a tail that dies away in about a bar at the song's tempo. Shorter for fast verses, longer for slow hooks.
- Add pre-delay1/64 or 1/32 before the reverb starts lets each word land dry first, so it stays clear.
- Filter the returnHigh-pass the reverb so it doesn't muddy the low end, and roll off some top so it doesn't hiss.
Delay that doesn't get in the way
- Feedback low (two or three repeats) for a constant delay; higher for a single dramatic throw.
- Filter the repeats: cut lows and some highs so they sit behind the lead.
- Duck the delay with the dry vocal as the sidechain, so echoes only bloom in the gaps.
- Automate throws instead of leaving a loud delay on the whole verse.
- A ping-pong (left-right) delay adds width without widening the lead itself.