Delay (audio effect)

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. 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. Delay effects range from a subtle echo effect to a pronounced blending of previous sounds with new sounds. Delay effects can be created using tape loops, an approach developed in the 1940s and 1950s; analog effects units, which were introduced in the 1970s; digital effects pedals, introduced in 1984; and audio software plugins, developed in the 2000s.

Early delay systems

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.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.

Delay

Delay may refer to:

Law

Science and technology

Entertainment

Audio signal processing

Audio signal processing, sometimes referred to as audio processing, is the intentional alteration of auditory signals, or sound, often through an audio effect or effects unit. As audio signals may be electronically represented in either digital or analog format, signal processing may occur in either domain. Analog processors operate directly on the electrical signal, while digital processors operate mathematically on the digital representation of that signal.

History

Audio signals are sound waves—longitudinal waves which travel through air, consisting of compressions and rarefactions. These audio signals are measured in bels or in decibels. Audio processing was necessary for early radio broadcasting, as there were many problems with studio to transmitter links.

Analog signals

"Analog" indicates something that is mathematically represented by a set of continuous values; for example, the analog clock uses constantly moving hands on a physical clock face, where moving the hands directly alters the information that clock is providing. Thus, an analog signal is one represented by a continuous stream of data, in this case along an electrical circuit in the form of voltage, current or charge changes (compare with digital signals below). Analog signal processing (ASP) then involves physically altering the continuous signal by changing the voltage or current or charge via various electrical means.

Audio

Audio may refer to:

Sound

Entertainment

Computing

See also