Other web Sites
Harmonica Blues  Harmonica Amps
Harmonica Links Harmonica Pages
• Archives Home
• Years
 · 1992
 · 1993
 · 1994
 · 1995
 · 1996
 · 1997 		 · 1998
 · 1999
 · 2000
 · 2001
 · 2002
 · 2003
 
Web HarpL
Ebay Searches:
Amps:
Microphones:
Effects:
Harmonicas and Gear:
Harmonica Music and Instruction:

 

 

Harp-L Archives

[Previous Message] [Next Message]
[Previous in Thread] [Next in Thread]
[Start of Thread] [End of Thread]

From: Pete Brunelli
Date: Mon, 07 Oct 1996 10:53:29 -0400
Subject: Re: Digital Delay

At 12:24 AM 10/4/96 -0400, you wrote:
>Fellow harp-lers:
> Does "digital delay" effect tone and how much can
>tone be improved by its use. Do alot of harpists use one. Some pedals have
>wider"band width" of 12.5 to 800 m.s. Does this matter? Others have "Digital
>Reverb/Delay" or "Digital Pitch Shifting/Delay. Is this difference
>significant?
> I'm just a two-year player but have a voracious harp
>appetite. I have little tone and am probably just too eager. Or what?
> Sincerely John User3434~ol.com

John,

Yes, a digital delay can have an effect on tone. I would describe the
effect as "thinner" but "bigger". The improvement is best determined by the
player, because, as we have seen here on harp-l lately, tone is very
subjective. Yes, alot of harpist do use them, but you can hear excellent
delay on vintage recordings and it is totally acoustic. That slapback sound
on Muddy tunes is often a slight delay from reflections in the studio.

The "bandwidth" that you mention is delay time, as in how long between the
straight signal and the delayed signal. Small delays can give a great
"thick" sound, while long delays can sound a little fake.

The reverb/delay combo can be great. I like to run a delay into an amp with
a spring reverb, this gives a good harp sound and makes it very roomy.
Unfortunately, I have not seen a good stand-alone spring reverb unit lately.

The pitch shift may be a type of chorus, flange (pitch/time shift) or
harmonizer. These may get in the way when playing with lead instruments, as
you are adding weird partials, or forcing intervals on the lead. I use the
built in chorus on a Roland JC-120, and it is great for melody stuff, but
doesn't help my blues sound. The flange sounds like a wah-wah with pitch
shift synched with tone shift, and the harmonizer generates a second signal
shifted to another key, digital transposition. Bigggg sound.

I am in the same boat of being an intermediate harper, but technical
expertise on the harp is not a prerequsite for experimentation with
amplified playing. Too eager!?!

Having control over effect level and input/output levels is a must for
control over the final sound. The only generalization that i like to use
when implememting these effects is that "less is more". IMHO, Nothing
stinks like harp thru a big room sound on a midiverb, or the equivalent.
Unless you are the John Tesh of the harmonica ;-P

Good Luck,

_____________________________
.../ pete brunelli /\...
/ / http://www.connix.com/~pcb / //
/ /............................./ ///
/.................................\..///
/....[].[].[].[].[].[].[].[].[].[]...//
/..................................../
\............................/