Unlike the original Whammy, The Whammy DT’s controls are on both sides of the rocker. Previously the Harmony, Whammy, and Detune effects were on the right, now they’re on the left. The right side of the pedal is now completely dedicated to the Whammy DT’s wealth of Drop Tune effects. Keep in mind that Drop Tune in this unit does not indicate the ability to change the tuning of individual strings independently. But the unit offers an astounding 18 different Drop Tune settings from -7 semitones to +7 semitones, as well as Octave Down, Octave Down + Dry, Octave Up, and Octave Up + Dry. One footswitch (Drop Tune) turns this effect on while the other footswitch (Momentary) turns it on while the switch is held down.
The left side of the pedal is home to the traditional controls that Whammy fans have come to know and love—Harmony, Whammy, and Detune. A signal footswitch engages the preset selected on the left side of the pedal. The Harmony presets are the same nine available on earlier versions. Each preset contains two intervals, for instance 4th Up or 5th Up. At the toe up position on the rocker a 4th Up interval is blended with your dry signal. Depressing the rocker to toe down bends this interval to a 5th Up. In Whammy mode the toe up position is your unaffected dry signal. At toe down this note is bent up to the destination note. In Detune mode a Shallow or Deep chorus effect is intensified based on the position of the rocker.
Like its previous incarnation this unit enables MIDI control over all parameters, and it also has an optional footswitch input for hands-free preset switching.
Wham Bam…From a performance perspective, the Whammy DT is extremely flexible and easy to use. The Drop Tune function alone has numerous practical uses when you’re leaping between genres and tunings. But even within a single song or even phrase, use of the Drop Tune’s momentary switch can extend the range of your instrument and allow you to pave new fretboard highways on the fly.
On the expression pedal-controlled side of the unit the tried-and-true performance options are as interactive and wild as ever. The Whammy effect bends your pitch fluidly, much like a slide whistle or theremin. Adding a bit of vibrato to your foot will apply an elastic, rubbery, or cartoony sort of sound to your pitch. And imagine hitting the a climactic note in a solo with your band in a full crescendo, and imagine bending that note up another two whole octaves—or just as easily—plunging two octaves down.
True to PitchThe primary difference I noticed between the sound of the Whammy DT and previous Whammies is the clarity of pitch shifting. Older Whammies often struggled to produce drastic pitch bends that were free of digital artifacts. To some players that warbling artifact was a charming side effect of the older model. But if you’re looking for pristine pitch bending then you’ll be pleased that the Whammy DT’s processing sounds much more like a mammoth whammy bar radically working its way through a super-wide pitch range than a glitchy digital approximation—even at the most extreme settings.
The VerdictAfter nearly 20 years on the market Digitech’s Whammy pedal continues to evolve. And this latest version really does seem to sum the lessons of two decades and combine them into a very cool evolution in which the possibilities often seem limitless. The DT’s huge array of tuning options and the ability to mix and match these presets will ensure that you’re able to bend and harmonize your riffs, making them more colorful and unique accompaniments to your compositions—however radical or subtle.
Buy if...
you’ve been waiting for a more pristine sounding Whammy.
Skip if...
the idea of bending over three semitones makes your fingers and/or brain hurt.
Rating...
Street $299 - Digitech - digitech.com |
The pedal's design is inspired by the vintage Mercedes 300SL Gull Wing car, and the matte grey bronze/nickel casing with a red rubber foot traction pad makes for a handsome looking pedal that looks classic and ready for business. Aside from the typical input/output/power supply T-Rex kindly positioned a 9V battery compartment on the back that can be accessed with a flip of your thumbnail. No more taking the bottom of the pedal off, thank you! The section in front of the pedal itself has a Boost pot, a three-way toggle for voicing (Wah 1, Wah 2, Yoy Yoy) and a Slope knob. On the front of the pedal next to the output jack is a Move Hotspot button that changes the action of the foot pedal. The Gull has no wah potentiometer, instead, the treadle is equipped with a magnet.
Full ThrottleI checked out the Gull with a classic combination of Les Paul, Stratocaster, and Marshall Superlead as well as a more modern setup of a Stiff Amplification DirtHead and Mills Acoustics 4x12 loaded with Eminence Swamp Thangs and Texas Heats. In Wah 1 mode with the boost and sweep turned down you’ll get a classic, thinner but cutting sound, which makes the wah effect more pronounced, though at the expense of a little fullness. Bringing the Sweep up to noon thickened up the tone considerably, though the highest setting brought about a brash and papery quality to the wah that would probably be ideal for cutting through a funk track.
The Wah 2 setting is distinctly grainier, and with a Les Paul the Gull copped some classic vintage wah tones. Kicking on the Boost helped goose the front end of the amp and get a nice volume kick for solos, which sounded much more Clapton-with-Cry Baby that the cleaner settings on Wah 1. The thicker qualities of the Stiff Dirthead helped tame some of the brightness of the Gull, and in general the Gull seemed to prefer the higher gain environs of the Dirthead over the more biting and mid-centric Superlead.
The Yoy setting adds another tone dimension through use of a dual filter. And with the Dirthead in high gain mode and my Les Paul I got super-muscular, Zakk Wylde-style tones with ease. In the end I found myself hanging out in the Yoy setting the most and really enjoying (or should I say en-yoy-ing) the full-throated and vowel-y qualities of the setting.
The only real shortcoming I could identify in the Gull’s performance is that the first half of the sweep on the foot pedal produced little-to-no audible change in tone—even with adjustments to the Hotspot control. The wah filter only really kicks in past the halfway point. And the reduced range sometimes found me struggling to precisely control the sweep because little movements can translate to major shifts in tone.
The VerdictThe Gull offers a lot of flexibility and options for the wah fanatic. It has a truly unique voice that’s still rooted in the classic Cry Baby vein, but adds a great boost and voicing control that can help you reshape things significantly. Some players might find it a tad bright, and the pedal travel often seems short. But with the right amp and settings this Gull is a killer waiting to take flight.
Buy if...
you want a wah with a lot of tone-shaping options.
Skip if...
a classic tone is all you need.
Rating...
Street $249 - T-Rex Effects - t-rex-effects.com |
Though there's a plethora of delay pedals on the market, the control scheme on a Boss DD-7 is very common.
This how-to guide will cover the aforementioned effects, as well as fundamentals like the function of typical delay controls, and where to place your unit in an effects chain. Although there are countless delays on the market—many of which have mind-boggling features—we're going to use a basic delay pedal setup similar to what you'll find on a Boss DD-7 as our reference point. We've also provided some sample settings so you can get the most out of your delay pedal right away.
Delay Pedal Controls
Three controls are common to virtually all delay units: Time, Feedback (sometimes labeled "Repeat" or "Regeneration"), and Level (or "Mix").
Time controls the length of time between any two repetitions of your signal. It is most often measured in milliseconds (ms). Most delay pedals don't have a delay-time readout that would enable you to determine exact delay times in milliseconds, so you typically just adjust the Time knob to get an approximate time based on the unit's available range. For instance, the Boss DD-7 (street $179) has a Mode knob that selects between four time ranges—up to 50 ms, 51–200 ms, 201–800 ms, and 801–3200 ms—and the Time knob then adjusts the setting within the selected range.
Feedback determines the amount of repetitions. At its minimum setting, Feedback outputs a single repetition of the original signal. From that point on, as you turn up Feedback you get more repeats. Some delay units allow infinite repeats when this control is maxed.
Level controls the volume of the repeats. When Level is at its minimum setting, you won't hear any repeats. When it's all the way up, the repeats should be as loud as the original signal.
Signal-Chain Placement
If you plan to use your delay in conjunction with other stompboxes, it's important to consider where to place these effects in the chain—especially if you're using an overdrive, distortion, or fuzz pedal. The most common setup is to place dirt before delay. This is important because it means you'll be delaying the distorted signal as opposed to distorting a delayed signal, which will sound mushy and indistinct. Because a distortion pedal has the strongest impact on your fundamental tone, it's typically placed early in the chain, whereas delay is usually placed toward the end of the chain so it can produce repeats of all of the effects added to your guitar sound. Of course, you should experiment for yourself to see what you prefer.
If you're taking the dirt-before-delay with the distortion from your amp, then you'll want to insert your delay into your amp's effects loop (if it has one) so that it comes in the chain after the preamp gain. For recording, it's less of an issue because you can just record the amp without any effects and then add delay during post-production.
Doubling and Modulation
The term "doubling" refers to the process of using a subtle delay to thicken your sound. To get a doubling effect, set Time between 50 and 100 ms, Feedback for minimal repeats (one or two), and Level all the way up. Because the repeat happens so quickly, it creates the illusion of another guitar playing in unison with the original signal rather than sounding like an echo. If you use a lower delay time (20 to 50 ms), you can also get pseudo chorusing and flanging sounds.
Doubling and Modulation Example
Slapback Echo
Slapback is a single short repeat similar to a tape slap (the time delay between the record and play heads in an analog tape recorder), and it is most often heard in rockabilly and country. To achieve a slapback effect, keep the Time short (between 80–140 ms), Feedback at 0 (so you only get one repeat), and Level at about 50 percent.
Slapback Example
Faux Reverb
A reverb-type effect can be achieved by modifying some of the settings used for slapback. Set the Time between 100 and 200 ms, Feedback for about 5 repeats, and Level at about 50 percent.
Faux Reverb Example
Tempo Matching
Most delay pedals do not have precise delay time readings on their knob panels. This isn't a crucial issue when you're using shorter delay times or when precise timing of the repeats is not integral to the performance. However, if you're playing to a fixed beat source (say, a band or rhythm track) with a delay time of more than 200 ms and a fairly high Level setting that gives the repeats a distinct note, it will sound best if you dial in a precise delay time that matches the tempo of the band or rhythm track. Otherwise, the repeats will be out of time against the underlying beat. If your music is delay based, delay pedals such as the Providence DLY-4 Chrono Delay (street $449), TC Electronic ND-1 Nova Delay (street $259), and Strymon Timeline (street $449)—all of which feature LED readouts of the delay time—are worth considering.
Newer digital delays such as the Providence DLy-4 Chrono Delay, TC Electronic ND-1 Nova Delay, and Strymon Timeline feature exact millisecond readouts for players who need very precise delays for tempo-matching purposes.
Many delay pedals from the last decade or so offer a happy middle ground with tap-tempo functionality (some designs require using an aftermarket external footswitch to access this). If you're familiar with the term but aren't quite sure exactly how it works, here's the scoop: Though many players don't know the exact tempo they need in terms of beats per minute (bpm), most have an innate sense of the tempo they wish to play at, so tapping it out on a delay pedal's tap-tempo footswitch is an easy way to get the sort of tempo matching we've been talking about. If your delay doesn't have tap-tempo functionality, or if you want a formulaic approach to calculating the delay time, see the "Calculating MSfrom BPM" sidebar.
Dotted-Eighth Rhythmic Repeats
Guitarists like Eddie Van Halen, the Edge, and David Gilmour took delays to new heights by making them an integral part of compositions like Van Halen's "Cathedral," U2's "Where the Streets have No Name," and Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1." They popularized a trick using dotted-eighth-note delay repeats to create the illusion that they were playing more notes—and faster—than they really were.
Dotted-Eighth Rhythmic Repeat Example
To do this, set your delay to repeat everything you play a dotted-eighth-note (three 16ths) after you play the original note, and then pluck continuous eighth-notes. After the delay's initial entrance on the last 16th of the first beat, it will fill in the second and fourth 16th-note of every successive beat—as long as you continue to play eighth-notes (newly picked notes will cover the first and third 16th of every beat). To make this sound as natural as possible, set your delay pedal's Level knob all the way up so it matches the volume of the original signal, and try to keep the notes as precise and short as you can to avoid having a picked note overlap with a delayed note.
Delays such as the Line 6 Echo Park feature dotted-eighthnote modes that make it a cinch to create rhythmic parts in the style of U2's the Edge or Pink Floyd's David Gilmour.
Some delays, such as the Line 6 Echo Park, have rhythmic subdivision modes built in, so dotted-eighth repeats won't be a problem to set up. However, if your delay doesn't offer subdivisions, you'll have to do some math to get the Time setting right. Here, again, the "Calculating MS fromBPM" sidebar will be a big help.
Delay as Harmonizer
Some delays, such as the Line 6 Echo Park, have rhythmic subdivision modes built in, so dotted-eighth repeats won't be a problem to set up. However, if your delay doesn't offer subdivisions, you'll have to do some math to get the Time setting right. Here, again, the "Calculating MS fromBPM" sidebar will be a big help.
One caveat with using a delay to perform harmonized lines is that you won't be able to easily start both parts simultaneously. You might try using a volume pedal to mute the opening line and bring the volume up when the harmony begins, but the more common approach is to just start a line and opt for a staggered entrance of the harmony line. In fact, some songs were written with staggered harmony parts. For instance, the intro to Iron Maiden's "The Trooper" has a built-in layered entrance of a harmonized line and can be pulled off by a single guitarist using a delay pedal.
Delay as Harmonizer Example
If you're new to harmonizing, here's a quick overview on creating harmony parts. Typically, the intervals of a harmony part are fixed (i.e., the part uses the same interval, shifting between its major or minor form to accommodate diatonic notes) throughout the duration of the line, with thirds and sixths being the most common choices (although fourths, fifths, and octaves are also frequently employed). Of course, there are exceptions to every rule, and different intervals can be used throughout a line. For a more in-depth exploration of harmonized lines, consult a book such as A Player's Guide to Chords and Harmony: Music Theory for Real-World Musicians by Jim Aikin or David Baker's Arranging and Composing for the Small Ensemble: Jazz, R&B, Jazz Rock, an advanced workbook with a forward by Quincy Jones.
Looping
Guitar legends such as Bill Frisell and David Torn have made looping an integral part of their live shows. At its most extreme, looping is almost like real-time multi-tracking: You can continually add layers of sound, starting with a bass figure, then a layer of chords, followed by a muted, single-note rhythm part, and then a solo on top. Pedals like the Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler (street $236), Boss DD-7, and Eventide TimeFactor (street $399) have built-in looping functionality and are good options for getting started with looping.
Many newer digital delays—including the Eventide TimeFactor (above), Boss DD-7, and Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler (bottom) —also feature built-in looping functionality.
One tricky thing with looping is that the start and end points of the loop have to be rhythmically precise: When you first record the loop, you have to start the loop on the first beat of the phrase, beat occurs again—thus cutting off the note's sustain to avoid overlap. In every loop, the last note will immediately flow into the repetition of the first note. Sometimes there might be a very slight lag before the effect is actually activated after you step on the pedal. We're talking milliseconds here, but you might feel it and may have to adjust the timing of your stomps accordingly.
If the maximum looping time available on your delay device is too short for some of your more ambitious looping applications, there are still good uses for it. For example, if you only had enough delay time to have one harmony or drone note sound, you could leave it on for infinite feedback and practice playing and hearing scales or patterns against the fixed tonal center. You could also use it to loop a note that you could tune the rest of your strings to if you don't have a tuner (at least you'd be in tune with yourself!). These may not be performance-critical uses, but they could certainly be helpful in your development as a musician.
Adventure Awaits … Awaits … Awaits
Although we've explored its most common uses, there are still many more sounds and textures that can be created with a delay pedal—in fact, the possibilities are nearly endless. And whether you arm yourself with a basic echo box or one of the newer units with a bunch of bells and whistles, learning to see and use the effect in a fresh new way— just as the Edge and Eddie Van Halen did—could make you the next sonic innovator whose sonic weapon is the delectable delay.
Calculating MS from BPM
A song's tempo is usually expressed in terms of beats per minute (bpm). But figuring out a song's tempo by counting beats for 60 seconds isn't especially practical. A more efficient way is to find a smaller multiple of 60 and use that as the basis for your calculations. For example, you can count how many beats go by in 15 seconds and multiply that by 4 (15 x 4 = 60 seconds or one minute) or you can count how many beats go by in 10 seconds then multiply that by 6. It can be hard to get a really accurate reading with this approach, but it will get you in the ballpark, if you're in a pinch.
However, while most musicians think of tempo in terms of bpm, most delay units represent delay time as milliseconds (ms). Studio guitarists used to carry conversion charts in their gigbags to make sure they could always lock in with tempos at a session, and we're including one for you below. If you ever find yourself in need of a beat-matched delay but don't have this chart handy, you can use some basic formulas to convert the desired bpm into ms and set your delay accordingly. The basis for the formulas is the number 60,000—the number of milliseconds in a minute. To convert bpm to ms, the formula is:
60,000/bpm = quarter-note ms
For example, 60,000/100 bpm = 600 ms. If you're playing to a track that is 100 bpm, you'll need to set your delay at 600 ms to get quarter-note repeats.
To get smaller subdivisions of the quarter note, there are two approaches. You can divide the quarter-note ms reading proportionately, as needed. For repeats in eighth-notes, divide the quarter-note ms by 2, and for repeats in 16ths, divide the quarter-note ms by 4. At a tempo of 100 bpm, quarter-note repeats are 600 ms, eighth-note repeats are 300 ms, and 16th-note repeats are 150 ms.
Or you can use these formulas:
30,000/bpm = eighth-note ms
15,000/bpm = 16th-note ms
For triplet-based music, the formula is:
40,000/bpm = quarter-note-triplet ms
For example, 40,000 divided by 100 bpm = 400 ms. You can divide the quarter-note-triplet ms reading to get values for eighth- and 16th-note triplets. To get eighth-note-triplet repeats, divide the quarter-note-triplet ms by 2, and to get 16th-note-triplet repeats, divide the quarter-note-triplet ms by 4. At a tempo of 100 bpm, quarter-note-triplet repeats are 400 ms, eighth-note-triplet repeats are 200 ms, and 16thnote- triplet repeats are 100 ms.
Or you can use these formulas:
20,000/bpm = eighth-note-triplet ms
10,000/bpm = 16th-note-triplet ms
To calculate ms for dotted-eighth-note rhythmic repeats,
the formula is:
45,000/bpm = dotted-eighth-note ms
For example at 100 bpm, you will need a delay time of 450 ms to get repeats in dotted-eighth-notes.
[Updated 8/30/21]
