It would be great to have some multi-tap options in the delay.
Also, maybe more importantly, some beat-synced delay times (whole, half, quarter, dotted/tuplet)…either via toggle in the delay plugin or just auto-switching when time/beats is selected in the transport.
What do you mean by “multi-tap” options? I’m not familiar with that term in this context.
You can already quantize an instrument to start on the beats or bar in the instrument’s trigger behavior drawer. Is that the kind of feature you’re looking for, or are you looking for something different?
Hi Joseph, sorry I didn’t mention that I’m talking about the delay plugin in the track effects.
In most DAW apps, the delay plugin has a few more options. Since Fmod sort of straddles the domain between sound design and music, I think this would be a great help for us composers, who tend to think of things from the musical perspective.
Multi-tap allows you to set several “taps” or separate echoes. So, for example, after your initial impact of, say, a drum on beat one, the first “tap” or echo would hit wherever you specify. The 2nd/3rd/4th, etc taps can all land independently (sort of like the Scatter in Fmod, but more musical and more specific controls). In other words, not relying on one set timing like 350ms or “quarter-note”, etc. So 1st tap might be 100ms, 2nd 198ms, 3rd 354ms, and so on…this allows you to create unique rhythms and effects that are more staggered/glitchy than “marching” like a singular delay. And unlike the Scatter instrument, each tap has a specific setting, not randomized.
The second part of my FR was for the delay times to be tied to the tempo (as a toggle option vs milliseconds). This would allow us to have the echoes synced to beat no matter what tempo we have set, and we don’t have to do the calculations to translate from milliseconds to quarter notes or dotted half notes, etc. The tempo/beat sync would also be beneficial within the Chorus, Flanger, and Tremolo effects. Though we usually do these things from within the DAW, having the effects in Fmod behave the same way as their DAW counterparts is super helpful.
The attached image shows a typical delay plugin…if you look in the center, you can see there is a choice of either bpm or millisseconds for the delay sync. (modulation, filters, and ping-pong seen in the pic are also pretty typical options for delay plugins).
Thanks for the detailed explanation! I’ve added “multiple echoes for the delay effect” and “the ability to define delay effect delay in terms of beats and bars as well as in milliseconds” to our feature/improvement tracker.
In the mean time, you might be able to simulate certain types of multi-tap delay by using multiple delay effects.
Thanks, great! Here’s another example from Echo Boy, definitely an industry favorite delay…the milliseconds vs bpm, and bpm divisions are all sorted with this simple dial/button situation. I think I’ve seen some that are even just the dial that flips through the beat divisions in order, from 16ths to dotted 16ths to 8ths to dotted 8ths, etc.
You might be able to simulate multitap via multiple send tracks with delays…if you put them on the same track, I think it will have more of a A + AB + ABC kind of progression rather than Aaa + Bbb + Ccc independent delay lines.
I don’t know how you guys go about the process of adding these things via FR, but you may want to make a small adjustment and mention specifically “multi-tap” delay, since it’s a standard construct in audio that is well documented.
Thanks, Joseph!
Don’t worry, I’ve made sure to use the term “multi-tap” in the tracker entry.
@dbtothafmod I found your post when I was looking for ways to enhance the FMOD Delay. I agree on your points, the current Delay is much too limited. I’ve had to use multiple Delays and Panners etc. all of which feels unwieldy compared to, say, the amount of control we can get with the current Reverb even. Also concur about tempo-synced delays.
It appears this hasn’t changed in the time since this post some years ago, but @joseph since you continue to be so on top of things, can you please add my vote of support for this too? I believe it’d be broadly useful and isn’t just a “niche” request.
I’ve added your name to both feature requests.
