Delay Pedal Settings for "Ambience" when Playing Live

exocet

I own a couple of delay pedals (Deep Blue Delay Clone & TC Flashback) but don't use them.

When playing at home, I use Reverb to give a nice bit of ambience - to the extent that I now don't like playing without Reverb.

I know that Reverb use can be "counter productive" when playing live ( I don't Mic up my amp) in so far as you / audience either can't hear it or it "muddies" the tone. 

I was playing a gig on Saturday - it was outdoors (Marquee with open sides) so the acoustic was completely "dead".

I became very aware that the sound from my amp was completely dry (reverb was off - for other technical reasons). It got me thinking about adding some delay into the signal path to give some ambience.

Trouble was - 'cause I don't use delay, I didn't even have the pedals with me to try . 

So - what sort of delay settings work for this sort of thing i.e. how much delay time / how many repeats and repeat levels?

I understand that the appropriate delay time may vary according to tempo of music but in order to give some ambience. what do people here use?

When playing at home, I find the delayed sounds to be off putting - I have no interest in using delays for "The Edge"  style of playing but I'm thinking that I might have to "adapt" my acceptance of a delayed tone in order to have something that sounds a little more "alive" from an audience perspective.

steamabacus

I've used an Arion SAD-1 analogue delay for 'always-on ambience' for the last 20 years or so. I set it to maximum delay time (approx 300ms) but minimal level and feedback. I just gives a nice thickening effect that is very subtle but which, after all these years, I miss when it's not there. And I don't really use reverb live, either, unless it's for some kind of 'special effect'.

I have the settings on the Arion SAD-1 (the one at the back on the right) in this pic....

exocet

That's a feast of delays you have there! Thanks for the suggestions, I'll give the Flashback another go with a 2 - 300 mS delay dialed in - see what happens.

steamabacus

I like delays!

hugbot

If you want to use reverb but you're worried about mudding up your tone I've been quite fond of reverbs with a long predelay recently.

For ambient delay I like the deep blue delay (clone) just because it sounds good pretty much anywhere, surprised you're not using it. I have like 1, 2 repeats at 30% mix. Time I fiddle with to taste.

viz

I also use an analoge delay set to 300ms max, 1 repeat at v low volume. I like it.

Branshen

I'll echo viz's advice. That's exactly what I use whether clean or dirty. I reckon a darker analogue delay sounds more natural in this case because in real life, echoes lose alot of the high frequency when they bounce off the walls.

Gassage

One other option is to get your chorus, crank depth, no speed. Lovely tone

therose789

I have an eventide timefactor which i use for big delays however for an 'underneath your guitar' kind of sound i use a EHX memory toy. It just sits underneath my guitar without muddying it up. 

Cirrus

Yep, I came to say the Memory Toy. It's great for ambiance because the delays are so murky, they don't interfere at all with the actual part you're playing unless the mix is too high.

As a rule, if you want to avoid muddying a mix up delay is the best kind of reverb because it's discrete sounds rather than a smearing of one thing - you can have ambience on a part without making it sound like you're miles away in the mix.

exocet

Thanks for everyone's input on this. I had a rehearsal last week and I tried the Flashback again.

Didn't like the 2290 mode so I flipped to Analogue and set mix level low (8 o'clock) number of repeats to 2 or 3 and the delay time to about 10 o' Clock). It sounded pretty good.

richardhomer

I wouldn't worry about using reverb in a live situation.

If the acoustic sounds 'dead' - it is dead and will only become more so with an audience present.

I used to find a little reverb worked fine.