Various kind of delay effect units

"Block diagram of the signal-flow for a typical simple delay-line," tied to an electric guitar for example. Dotted line indicates variable component.^[1]

Delay is an audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time.^[2] The delayed signal may either be played back multiple times, or played back into the recording again, to create the sound of a repeating, decaying echo.

Early delay systems[link]

The first delay effects were achieved using tape loops improvised on reel-to-reel magnetic recording systems. By shortening or lengthening the loop of tape and adjusting the read and write heads, the nature of the delayed echo could be controlled. This technique was most common among early composers of Musique concrète (Pierre Schaeffer), and composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen, who had sometimes devised elaborate systems involving long tapes and multiple recorders and playback systems, collectively processing the input of a live performer or ensemble.^[3] Audio engineers working in popular music quickly adapted similar techniques, to augment their use of plate reverb and other studio technologies designed to simulate natural echo. Tape echos became commercially available in the 1950s.^[4]

Analog delay[link]

Echoplex EP-2

Before the invention of audio delay technology, music employing a delayed echo had to be recorded in a naturally reverberant space, often an inconvenience for musicians and engineers. The popularity of an easy-to-implement real-time echo effect led to the production of systems offering an all-in-one effects unit that could be adjusted to produce echoes of any interval or amplitude. The presence of multiple "taps" (playback heads) made it possible to have delays at varying rhythmic intervals; this allowed musicians an additional means of expression over natural periodic echoes.

Many delay processors based on analog tape recording, such as Ray Butts' EchoSonic (1952), Mike Battle's Echoplex (1959), or the Roland Space Echo (1973), used magnetic tape as their recording and playback medium. Electric motors guided a tape loop through a device with a variety of mechanisms allowing modification of the effect's parameters.^[5] In the case of the popular Echoplex EP-2, the play head was fixed, while a combination record and erase head was mounted on a slide, thus the delay time of the echo was adjusted by changing the distance between the record and play heads. In the Space Echo, all of the heads are fixed, but the speed of the tape could be adjusted, changing the delay time. Thin magnetic tape was not entirely suited for continuous operation, however, so the tape loop had to be replaced from time to time to maintain the audio fidelity of the processed sounds.

The Binson Echorec, another popular unit, used a rotating magnetic drum as its storage medium. This provided an advantage over tape, as the durable drums were able to last for many years with little deterioration in the audio quality.^[6] Other devices used spinning magnetic discs, not entirely unlike those used in modern hard disk drives.

Robert Fripp used two Revox reel to reel tape recorders to achieve very long delay times for solo guitar performance. He dubbed this technology "Frippertronics", and used it in a number of recordings. John Martyn is widely acclaimed as the pioneer of the echoplex. Perhaps the earliest indication of his use can be heard on the songs Would You Believe Me and The Ocean on the album Stormbringer released in February 1970. This was a first taste of things to come from Martyn’s interest in electronics and the boundless possibilities of electric music. Glistening Glyndebourne on the album Bless The Weather (1971) showcased his developing technique of playing acoustic guitar through the echoplex to stunning effect. He later went on to experiment with a fuzz box, a volume/wah wah pedal and the echoplex on highly acclaimed Inside Out (1973) and One World (1977). Martyn is cited as an inspiration by many musicians including U2's The Edge.

Often incorporating vacuum tube-based electronics, surviving analog delay units are sought by modern musicians who wish to employ some of the timbres achievable with this technology.

Solid state delay units using analog bucket brigade delay circuits became available in the 1970s and were briefly a mainstream alternative to tape echo. Though solid state analog delays are less flexible than digital delays and generally have shorter delay times, several classic models such as the discontinued Boss DM-2 are still sought after for their "warmer", more natural echo quality and progressively decaying echos.^{[citation needed]} Additionally, several companies make new analog delays. Old delay systems like the Roland Space Echo and Echoplex are still highly regarded and used with some frequency by modern bands.

Digital delay[link]

Ibanez DE-7 delay pedal

The availability of inexpensive digital signal processing electronics in the late 1970s and 1980s led to the development of the first digital delay effects. Initially, they were only available in expensive rack mounted units but eventually as costs came down and the electronics grew smaller, they became available in the form of foot pedals. The first digital delay offered in a pedal was the Boss DD-2 in 1984. Rack mounted delay units evolved into digital reverb units and on to digital multieffects units capable of more sophisticated effects than pure delay, such as reverb and Audio timescale-pitch modification effects.

Digital delay systems function by sampling the input signal through an analog-to-digital converter, after which the signal is passed through a series of digital signal processors that record it into a storage buffer, and then play back the stored audio based on parameters set by the user. The delayed ("wet") output may be mixed with the unmodified ("dry") signal after, or before, it is sent to a digital-to-analog converter for output.

Many modern digital delays present an extensive array of options, including a control over the time before playback of the delayed signal. Most also allow the user to select the overall level of the processed signal in relation to the unmodified one, or the level at which the delayed signal is fed back into the buffer, to be repeated again. Some systems today allow more exotic controls, such as the ability to add an audio filter, or to play back the buffer's contents in reverse.

As digital memory became cheaper in the 80s, units like Lexicon PCM84, Roland SDE-3000, TC Electronic 2290 offered above 3 seconds delay time, enough to create background loops, rhythms and phrases. The 2290 was upgradable to 32 seconds and Electro-Harmonix offered a 16-second delay and looping machine.

A sample setup of loop music

From delay to loop[link]

Gibson Echoplex Digital Pro

While the mentioned long delay units were a bit clumsy to create loops, the Paradis LOOP Delay,^[7] created in 1992, was the first unit with dedicated looping functions Record, Overdub, Multiply, Insert, Replace, ... Gibson manufactured a slightly improved version as Echoplex Digital Pro ^[8] until 2006. Its software Aurisis LOOP is also the last loop tool based on a continuous memory structure as used by tape and digital delays. Most following loopers repeat samples and thus have little in common with a digital delay, the exceptions being Maneco's early loopers, the Boss DD-20 in digital delay mode and the Pigtronix Echolution.

Computer software[link]

Steve Harris' Delayorama software

A natural development from digital delay-processing hardware was the appearance of software-based delay systems. In large part, this coincided with the popularity of both professional and consumer audio editing software. Software delays, in many cases, offer much greater flexibility than even the most recent digital hardware delays. Abundant system memory on modern personal computers offers practically limitless storage for the audio buffer, and the natural efficiency of audio delay algorithms has made the implementation trivial for delays offering shifting or random delay times, or the insertion of other audio effects during the feedback process. Many authors of software plugins have added functionality to emulate the sounds of the earlier analog units.

Software-based delays are most popular today among musicians in electronic genres or those who prefer to audition the effect in a digital audio editing and mixing environment.

Uses[link]

In popular and electronic music, electric guitarists use delay to produce densely overlaid textures of notes with rhythms complementary to the music. Vocalists and instrumentalists use it to add a dense or ethereal quality to their singing or playing. Extremely long delays of 10 seconds or more are often used to create loops of a whole musical phrase.

Echoplex is a term often applied to the use of multiple echoes which recur in approximate synchronization with a musical rhythm, so that the notes played combine and recombine in interesting ways. In fact, it was the name of a particular delay unit, the Maestro Echoplex.^[9]

Doubling echo is produced by adding short-range delay to a recorded sound. Delays of thirty to fifty milliseconds are the most common; longer delay times become slapback echo. Mixing the original and delayed sounds creates an effect similar to doubletracking, or unison performance.

Slapback echo uses a longer delay time (seventy-five to 250 milliseconds), with little or no feedback. The effect is characteristic of vocals on 1950s rock-n-roll records, particularly those issued by Sun. Irish guitarist The Edge was also well known for popularizing the use of slapback delay as a melodic device in the 1980s. It is also sometimes used on instruments, particularly drums and percussion. Slapback was often produced by refeeding the output signal from the playback head of a tape recorder to its record head, the physical space between heads, the speed of the tape, and the chosen volume being the main controlling factors. Analog and later digital delay machines also easily produced the effect.

Flanging, chorus and reverberation (reverb) are all delay-based sound effects. With flanging and chorus, the delay time is very short and usually modulated. With reverberation there are multiple delays and feedback so that individual echoes are blurred together, recreating the sound of an acoustic space.

Straight delay[link]

In sound reinforcement systems, a straight delay is used to compensate for the passage of sound through the air. Unlike audio delay effects devices, straight delay is not mixed back in with the original signal. The delayed signal alone is sent to loudspeakers so that the speakers reinforce the stage sound at the same time or slightly later than the acoustic sound from the stage, approximately 1 millisecond of straight delay per foot of air or 3 milliseconds per meter, depending on the air temperature's effect on the speed of sound. Because of the Haas effect, this technique allows audio engineers to use additional speaker systems placed away from the stage and still give the illusion that all sound originates from the stage. The purpose is to deliver sufficient sound volume to the back of the venue without resorting to excessive sound volumes near the front.

Straight delay is also used in audio to video synchronization to align sound with visual media if the visual source is delayed. Visual media can become delayed by a number of mechanisms, in which case the associated audio should be delayed to match.

See also[link]

• Broadcast delay — other analog and digital implementations of delay for radio and television broadcasting
• Chorus (audio effect)
• Echo machine — early equipment
• Flanging

Samples[link]

	Delay effect (1) A short spoken passage, followed by the same passage processed using various delays
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

	Delay effect (2) A short passage on flute, before and after the application of a multi-tap, multi-channel delay
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

References[link]

Look up delay, delayed, or delaying in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Delay may refer to:

Generally[link]

• Latency (disambiguation)
• Response time (disambiguation)

Law[link]

• To delay payment of a debt, a crime in the United Kingdom

Telecommunications and broadcasting[link]

• Broadcast delay, a practice of time-shifting transmissions
• Delay encoding, a radio transmission technique
• Network delay, the delay of an IP packet within an IP network
• Lag, a term used when a real-time application fails to respond in a timely fashion

Physics and electronics[link]

• Propagation delay, a measurement of the time for a signal to reach its destination
• Delay line (disambiguation) (multiple meanings), one of any technologies for shifting a signal in time

Audio[link]

• Delay (audio effect), a technology for producing delayed playback of an audio signal

Computer science[link]

• Delay (programming), a programming language construct for delaying evaluation of an expression

Sports[link]

• Delay (game), official ruling to abnormally stop a sporting event once it has begun due to circumstances that prevent fairness of play, such as inclement weather.

See also[link]

• Tom DeLay, politician

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

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Marcus Miller
Miller in Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium, 2007
Background information
Birth name	William Henry Marcus Miller Jr.
Born	(1959-06-14) June 14, 1959 (age 53) Brooklyn, New York, United States
Genres	Jazz, jazz fusion, rhythm and blues, rock, funk
Occupations	Musician, composer, producer
Instruments	Bass, double bass, guitar, vocals, saxophone, clarinet, keyboards, recorder
Years active	1975–present
Associated acts	SMV, Miles Davis
Website	www.marcusmiller.com
Notable instruments
Fender Jazz Bass

Marcus Miller at Stockholm Jazz Fest 2009

Marcus Miller (born William Henry Marcus Miller Jr., June 14, 1959, Brooklyn, New York) is an American jazz composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. Miller is best known as a bassist, working with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonist David Sanborn, as well as maintaining a prolific solo career. Miller is classically trained as a clarinetist and also plays keyboards, saxophone and guitar.

Life and career[link]

Early life[link]

Miller was born in 1959 and raised in a musical family that includes his father, William Miller (a church organist and choir director) and jazz pianist Wynton Kelly. By 13, Marcus was proficient on clarinet, piano and bass guitar, and already writing songs. Two years later he was working regularly in New York City, eventually playing bass and writing music for jazz flautist Bobbi Humphrey and keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith. Miller soon became a first call session musician, gracing well over 500 albums, a short list of which includes Michael Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Mariah Carey, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Frank Sinatra, Dr. John, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Grover Washington Jr., Donald Fagen, Bill Withers, Chaka Khan, LL Cool J, Me'shell Ndegé Ocello and Flavio Sala.

Professional career[link]

Miller at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, 2007

Miller spent approximately 15 years performing as a sideman or session musician, observing how band leaders operated. During that time he also did a lot of arranging and producing. He was a member of the Saturday Night Live band 1978-1979. He wrote the intro to Aretha Franklin's 'I Wanna Make It Up To You'. He has played bass on over 500 recordings including those of Luther Vandross, Grover Washington Jr., Roberta Flack, Carly Simon, McCoy Tyner, Bryan Ferry and Billy Idol. He won the "Most Valuable Player" award, (awarded by NARAS to recognize studio musicians) three years in a row and was subsequently awarded "player emeritus" status and retired from eligibility. In the nineties, Miller began to make his own records, putting a band together to take advantage of touring opportunities.

Miller's proficiency on his main instrument, the bass guitar, is generally well-regarded. Not only has Miller been involved in the continuing development of the technique known as "slapping", particularly his "thumb" technique, but his fretless bass technique has also served as an inspiration to many, and he has taken the fretless bass into musical contexts and genres previously unexplored. The influences of some of the previous generation of electric bass players, such as Larry Graham, Stanley Clarke, and Jaco Pastorius, are audible in Miller's playing. Early in his career, Miller was accused of being simply imitative of Pastorius, but has since more fully integrated the latter's methodology into his own sound.

Miller has an extensive discography, and tours frequently and widely in Europe and Japan.

Between 1988 and 1990 he appeared in the first season and again toward the end as both the musical director and also as the house band bass player in the Sunday Night Band during the two seasons of the acclaimed music performance program Sunday Night on NBC late-night television.^[1]

As a composer, Miller wrote "Tutu" for Miles Davis, a piece that defined Davis's career in the late 1980s, and was the title track of Davis's album Tutu, upon which Miller wrote all the songs with only two exceptions, and one of those was co-written with Davis. He also composed "Chicago Song" for David Sanborn and co-wrote "'Til My Baby Comes Home", "It's Over Now", "For You to Love", and "Power of Love" for Luther Vandross. Miller also wrote "Da Butt", which was featured in Spike Lee's School Daze.

Personal life[link]

Miller has a wife and four children: two daughters and two sons, one of whom, Jon, recently graduated from Columbia University and now works for radio and television host Glenn Beck.

Grammy Awards[link]

Miller has won numerous Grammy Awards as a producer for Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chaka Khan and Wayne Shorter. He won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 1992, for Luther Vandross' "Power of Love" and in 2001 he won for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for his fourth solo instrumental album, M2.

Miller currently has his own band. In 1997 he played bass and bass clarinet in a band called Legends, featuring Eric Clapton (guitars and vocals), Joe Sample (piano), David Sanborn (alto sax) and Steve Gadd (drums). It was an 11-date tour of major jazz festivals in Europe.

In addition to his recording and performance career, Miller has established a parallel career as a film score composer. He has written numerous scores for films featuring Eddie Murphy, L.L. Cool J, Chris Rock, Matthew Perry, Samuel L. Jackson and others. He composed the musical score for the Chris Rock-created sit-com, Everybody Hates Chris, now in syndication on Nick-At Nite.^[2]

Instruments and gear[link]

He plays a 1977 Fender Jazz Bass that was modified by Roger Sadowsky with the addition of a Bartolini preamp so he could control his sound in the studio. Fender currently produces a Marcus Miller signature Fender Jazz Bass in four- (made in Japan) and five-string (made in U.S) versions.^[3]

Discography[link]

Solo period (1982–present)

• 1983: Suddenly
• 1984: Marcus Miller
• 1993: The Sun Don't Lie
• 1995: Tales
• 1998: Live & More
• 2000: Best of '82-'96
• 2001: M² (2002 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album)
• 2002: The Ozell Tapes - Live 2001
• 2005: Silver Rain
• 2007: Free
• 2008: Marcus^[4]
• 2008: Thunder (as SMV, with Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten)
• 2010: A Night in Monte Carlo - Live 2009
• 2011: Tutu Revisited - Live 2010
• 2012: Renaissance

Luther Vandross period

• 1983: "Busy Body"
• 1985: "The Night I Fell In Love"
• 1985: "'Til My Baby Comes Home"
• 1985: "It's Over Now"
• 1986: "I Really Didn't Mean It"
• 1986: "Never Too Much"
• 1986: "She Won't Talk To Me"
• 1986: "Give Me the Reason"
• 1987: "Stop to Love"
• 1987: "See Me"
• 1988: "Luther In Love - Megamix"
• 1988: "Any Love"
• 1989: "The Best of Love"
• 1989: "Come Back"
• 1991: "The Rush"
• 1991: "Power of Love / Love Power (Uno Clio & Colin and Carl Remix)"
• 1991: "Power of Love / Love Power"
• 1991: "Power of Love"
• 1993: "Never Let Me Go"
• 1993: "Heaven Knows"
• 1995: "This Is Christmas"
• 1995: "Power of Love / Love Power (The Frankie Knuckles Mixes)"
• 1996: "Your Secret Love"
• 1996: "I Can Make It Better"
• 1998: "I Know"
• 2001: "Luther Vandross"
• 2003: "Dance With My Father"
• 2007: "Love, Luther"

Grover Washington jr period

• 1984: Inside Moves

David Sanborn period (1975–2000)

• 1977: Lovesongs
• 1980: Hideaway
• 1981: Voyeur
• 1981: As We Speak
• 1982: Backstreet
• 1984: Straight to the Heart
• 1987: Change of Heart
• 1988: Close-Up
• 1991: Another Hand
• 1992: Upfront
• 1994: Hearsay
• 1995: Pearls
• 1996: Songs from the Night Before
• 1999: Inside

Miles Davis period (1980–1990)

• 1981: The Man with the Horn
• 1982: We Want Miles
• 1983: Star People
• 1986: Tutu
• 1987: Music From Siesta
• 1989: Amandla
• 2002: The Complete Miles Davis at Montreux

The Jamaica Boys period (1986–1990)

• 1987: The Jamaica Boys
• 1989: The Jamaica Boys II: J. Boys

Film scores

• 1990: "House Party" (featuring Kid & Play)
• 1992: "Boomerang" (featuring Eddie Murphy)
• 1994: "Above the Rim" (featuring Tupac Shakur)
• 1994: "A Low Down Dirty Shame" (featuring Keenan Ivory Wayans)
• 1996: "The Great White Hype" (featuring Samuel L. Jackson)
• 1997: "The Sixth Man" (featuring Marlon Wayans)
• 1999: "An American Love Story"
• 2000: "The Ladies Man" (featuring Tim Meadows)
• 2001: "The Trumpet of the Swan" (featuring Reese Witherspoon)
• 2001: "The Brothers" (featuring Morris Chestnut)
• 2001: "Two Can Play That Game" (featuring Vivaca Fox)
• 2002: "Serving Sara" (featuring Matthew Perry)
• 2003: "Deliver Us from Eva" (featuring L.L. Cool J)
• 2003: "Head of State" (featuring Chris Rock)
• 2004: "Breakin' All the Rules" (featuring Jamie Foxx)
• 2005: "King's Ransom" (featuring Anthony Anderson)
• 2006: "Save the Last Dance 2" (featuring Izabella Miko)
• 2007: "I Think I Love My Wife" (featuring Chris Rock)
• 2007: "This Christmas" (featuring Idris Elba)
• 2008: "Thunder" (featuring Stanley Clark and Victor Wooten)
• 2009: "Good Hair" (featuring Chris Rock as SMV)
• 2009: "Obsessed" (featuring Beyoncé Knowles)

With Dizzy Gillespie

• Closer to the Source (Atlantic, 1984)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marcus Miller

• Official website
• HoneySoul interview
• Jazzitalia interview
• Jazz USA interview
• The Dude Pit interview
• NPR interview
• Podcast featuring GRP Records and Marcus Miller