Creating a big echo effect on the very last note of a run

guitarjim

guitarjim

Experienced
I know I'm missing something simple, but I am having trouble getting this to work out like I want it. We have a song that ends with a guitar lead and the drummer plays through to begin the next song. I want the very last note of the lead to linger on in a big cavernous echo for a couple of measures, but I don't want that big echo going on while I'm playing the notes leading up to it (which already has delay on it). I tried assigning a second delay to a swtich, but there's no way I can time it perfectly as the lick leading up to the final note is pretty quick (for me at least).

I was hoping someone could give me some ideas of other approaches to try.
 
Yup, Either ducking delay or, what I do, I have a pedal assigned to input gain of the delay block. I can hold back on the delay until the part I want.
 
well it's input gain that you want to control. you've either got to step on a pedal to bump that parameter from zero to 100%, but if that's hard, then you might try using "pitch" to control the level of input gain. in axe edit, right click on the input gain of your delay and then select pitch from the dropdown of available controllers. you'll need to tweak the curve, so that you don't get any delay on the lower notes, so make it really steep. you can then engage the delay a couple of beats before you need it without worrying about the timing. i'm assuming here, that your last note is higher than the ones in the run preceding it. if that's not the case, then this won't work. you'll just have to practice hitting the pedal in time. :)
 
simeon said:
well it's input gain that you want to control. you've either got to step on a pedal to bump that parameter from zero to 100%, but if that's hard, then you might try using "pitch" to control the level of input gain. in axe edit, right click on the input gain of your delay and then select pitch from the dropdown of available controllers. you'll need to tweak the curve, so that you don't get any delay on the lower notes, so make it really steep. you can then engage the delay a couple of beats before you need it without worrying about the timing. i'm assuming here, that your last note is higher than the ones in the run preceding it. if that's not the case, then this won't work. you'll just have to practice hitting the pedal in time. :)
Click to expand...

A pedal should be easier to control so that might work well for me...

But using the pitch to control it???? Well that's just mad science and I simply have to try that out.... Thanks!
 
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I have a patch that does this. I had use a volume block in front of the delay to control the pitch. This keep the delay on at 100% and the volume block just let's signal pass when I go above the a certain point. I use it for songs where the solo and chords are separated enough. Works great on Separate Ways. I can post a patch tonight when I get home. I would be interested if anyone else comes up with creative ways too.
 
The pitch control seems to work GREAT and it is a VERY cool idea. I end the solo on a high A, but I use a high G in other places. Still, I was able to set the curve so that high G doesn't engage, but high A does. Very sweet.

One followup question though....

Originally, I followed your advice and put the modifier on Input Gain. But, I had to put the delay on a separate track because I have a pitch block in the preset that raises 1 octave up and, naturally, that was triggering the pitch control of the delay. When I did that, the delay was affecting my tone and level (I want a volume burst as well as the delay on that last note, so I upped the level 5 db on the delay block). So, I employed the same modifier but put it on Bypass Mode, with a setting of Mute In so I still get the delay tail. You specifically stated that I should use Input Gain so I was wondering if there are some negatives to using this on the Bypass Mode. It seems to work fine from my early testing.

Thanks again for the lesson.
 
if it works for you with bypass, then go with that. i don't know what else you're using the patch for, or if your're using scenes etc, so it seemed like the safest option. using bypass is pretty good, especially with mute fx in, because it won't capture any of the earlier notes...just the high A that you want. if the delay is in parallel, make sure the mix is at 100%, btw
 
Your harmonizer should not be triggering the pitch. The pitch detector listens at the input before all effects.

I wouldn't trust pitch detection for this unless my playing was extremely "on the rails."

I'd personally connect a momentary footswitch, to be precise I'd use one of those flat box electronic piano sustain pedals.
Set it up as an external controller. Map it to Input Gain on a delay as everyone else described.

Bypass mode is a hard switch. With input gain, you can "ease the edges" a bit by using damping (10ms should do but I can imagine wanting it greater).
 
simeon said:
if it works for you with bypass, then go with that. i don't know what else you're using the patch for, or if your're using scenes etc, so it seemed like the safest option. using bypass is pretty good, especially with mute fx in, because it won't capture any of the earlier notes...just the high A that you want. if the delay is in parallel, make sure the mix is at 100%, btw
Click to expand...

I pretty much have a different preset for every song because I play covers and try to get as close as possible to tone of the original (apologies to the scene purists), so I have a blank canvas to work with. It's just that I need a pitch block in the preset as well for this particular song. Thanks again.
 
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