MP-100 Programs and Parameters
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Lexicon
Bank: Delay, Echo
The Delay, Echo programs include mono (5.5 seconds), stereo (2.7 seconds) and 6-voice multitap
effects. Each of the programs can be used for digital delay
or tape echo effects. When the Delay
parameter value is increased, tape echo effects are produced. (Each repeat is darker and softer.)
When the Delay parameter value is decreased, digital delay effects are produced. (Each repeat is
the same timbre, but softer.)
In the first eight programs, Delay Echo Feedback also sets the amount of feedback — with an
increasing number of repeats as the parameter value is increased. Delay time is set with Tap. Each
variation is preset with a different useful rhythm.
In the second eight programs, the amount of feedback is preset and Delay Echo Time controls Delay
time.
Delays and echoes are effects that repeat a sound a short time after it first occurs. The simplest (and
oldest) delay effect is tape slap — a single repeat about 100ms after the original sound. (It was often
used on Elvis’s voice and rockabilly guitar tracks.) Tape slap becomes tape echo when the output
of the tape is fed back into the input (feedback),turning a single repeat into a series of repeats —
each a little softer and a little darker than the last. This darkening of each repeat is characteristic
of the analog tape recording process. Digital delays don’t have this characteristic — each repeat
has the same exact timbre and the only difference from repeat to repeat is in loudness.
Digital delay and tape echo are both useful, but they are different. Tape echo is warmer and allows
the original sound to stand out more, while digital delay can present a “perfect” copy of the orignal
sound.
