Hi All,
I've lost hours on this one ... We do one U2 cover in our set list and need a dotted eigth delay. I have a Boss DD8 which states that it does do this. Manual isnt great so have been on YT videos and I'm pretty sure I've followed the instructions to a tee and I'm still only getting a single delay with no dotted eigth. e.g.
Possibly I'm missing somethign with tap tempos?
Before I admit defeat and replace it with a Joshua Tree delay, has anyone worked out how to do it ? Or am I wasting my time because mid set, its unlikely I'm going to faff around with unplugging input A, plugging a jack into input B, dancing on tap tempos etc ?
Thx Steve
Comments
I don't bother with that: leave it set to quarter notes and learn to tap a dotted eighth (I find it easier with an external switch like this one: https://brightonion.co.uk/products/micro-boss-tap-tempo-switch ).
So if I'm reading that correctly, doing the whole Input B > Press > Input A thing turns the mode knob into a tap division knob, so you have to select 'Warm', and then save. Presumably, once it's saved, the the tap works as a dotted eighth on whichever mode you then choose.
But yeah, what a palaver. No way anyone's going to do that in a live scenario.
As for "when am I ready?" You'll never be ready. It works in reverse, you become ready by doing it. - pmbomb
So you leave the pedal on quarter notes...you tap something rhythmic other than quarters...in this case a dotted eighth. I suppose you're 'fooling' the pedal into thinking it's doing quarters at a different tempo.
Dotted rhythms are slightly more confusing than wholes/halfs/quarters etc. If you wanted a half-bar delay, you'd tap on every other quarter...if you wanted a full eighth note delay, you'd tap twice for every quarter, i.e. on the beat and on the '&'. Same principle for dotted eighth. Taken to extremes, two rapid taps gets you into slapback territory...that's probably around 125ms which is a 16th at 120bpm.
It's easy to do than to describe:
- I'll do this on-the-fly but it's easier when you're not playing anything tricky
- Start feeling the 16th note pulse...you're going to need three of them: dotted eighth = three sixteenths
- Tap on the beat then again on your third sixteenth note
- If things are moving rapidly, think of it like preempting the next quarter note
- Usually only need to two taps...but you can do more if you get used to feeling that 3-against-4 rhythm
Hope that makes sense.n.b. this is why I like a dedicated tap button
Unless I've misunderstood. But yes I agree it's a faff to set it up, but if that's the only time you need it in the set, then it should work okay.
(Edit: I have misunderstood a bit because I thought for some reason the video was the OP demonstrating it.)
But isn't the OP saying that he can't get dotted 8ths to work at all?
(Edit: I have misunderstood a bit because I thought for some reason the video was the OP demonstrating it.)
I went straight to suggesting a workaround: even if the OP was changing the tap mode successfully, it's a ball-ache on-the-fly.
And yes I agree with @digitalkettle that an external tap tempo switch would be very useful.
Mind you, the Edge never had tap tempo for his Deluxe Memory Man when he created all those brilliant delays in the early days of U2. (Obviously I like to have the tap tempo option these days!)
I’ve got a Timeline now, so it’s easy to set a precise bpm. I still tend to set it manually rather than having a preset with dotted eighths, or by tapping on the fly. Old habits die hard I guess.
Bandcamp
But you are right, they probably won't notice. It's one of the many benefits of beer :-)
If you're setting up the kind of delays needed for U2 songs and you're not in time, yes.
Don't get me wrong, I'm generally quite sympathetic to the "audience won't notice" argument, but you have to mix your delay pretty high to get the U2 "cascade" thing, and a loud delay repeat out of time with what your playing will sound like an absolute car crash.
Don't talk politics and don't throw stones. Your royal highnesses.
Sounds like the DD8 compromised things a bit