Converting delay time in MS to frequency

[swilow11]

So, I'm trying to tune a delay in ms to hit a particular note. Say F1. I know the frequency of F1, how do I work out how to convert that into a delay time in ms?

I think it could 1/note frequency x 1000. Not sure if that's correct. I am terrible at maths. Please help

[foosnark]

That's right, (1/frequency) * 1000 = delay time in ms. (Or 1000/frequency).

[swilow11]

Okay, right. I guess there's some other reason why it sounds like shit when I do it. There must be a delay that does this in a more musical way- I am using Replica but it sounds like ass in this use case.

[enroe]

Okay, right. I guess there's some other reason why it sounds like shit when I do it. There must be a delay that does this in a more musical way- I am using Replica but it sounds like ass in this use case.

Mmmh, what do you want to achieve with this? What effect do you think you will get?

[sqigls]

use SCAL for Windows http://www.expdigital.co.uk/legacy2/freeware.htm
or for Mac get a lovely app called Music Math

[BertKoor]

The calculations you're looking for, I wrote a calculator for that in JavaScript and you can use it via this page:
https://www.bertkoor.nl/MusicCalc.html

What use is a tuned short delay? Good question, I'm glad someone asked.

In order to hear it, you probably need to add some feedback to the delay. It will then resonate.
Add a LFO to it to change the delay time, and presto! You've made yourself a flanger!

[Karbon L. Forms]

u-he MFM2 even gives you a keyboard that calculates the delay to create the note you want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ez3IiXkaFOI

[foosnark]

If you're using it as a resonator, I think the main thing is, be careful of too much gain and too much resonance. If you're tuning it the same pitch (or a harmonic) of an input signal you need less feedback and less input gain, or less sustain in the input signal to give less chance for resonance to be overwhelming, etc. Also tuning it to a harmonic instead of the fundamental seems to be both more interesting and less easily overwhelmed.


If you're feeding sustained white noise into a delay to get it to resonate, level is super important. You need to crank the feedback as much as possible so that the tone dominates above the noise itself, and that means keeping a relatively low input level. Also filtering/EQing the noise (at both low and high ends) can make an enormous difference.


If you're doing Karplus-Strong synthesis, I generally find that:

- The envelope of the impulse you're using to excite it makes a HUGE difference. Generally I would keep the attack as absolutely short as possible and the decay time less than the delay length, but sometimes you can get away with a bit longer.

- White noise seems to be the worst thing to use as an exciter. Pink noise or an oscillator, or literally just the envelope signal itself. (But pink noise has the advantage of every pluck being slightly different, and an oscillator lets you do sync-like stuff by changing the frequency.)

- Use a lowpass filter on the exciter signal before the delay; it sets the overall timbre of the pluck sound as well as the initial clickiness.

- Lowpass filtering inside the feedback loop damps the string and sounds better than not doing it. Sometimes in a feedback loop you also want a highpass filter, so that a small DC offset doesn't build up and kill your feedback headroom -- keep that in mind if patching anything external to the delay itself.

[swilow11]

Okay, right. I guess there's some other reason why it sounds like shit when I do it. There must be a delay that does this in a more musical way- I am using Replica but it sounds like ass in this use case.

Mmmh, what do you want to achieve with this? What effect do you think you will get?

Using a short pluck of pink noise as a percussive sound with some use of phaser, and the delay with significant feedback to add a glassy tone in the same key as my song. Its a common sound in various psytrance genres. I'm actually getting better results using a comb filter. But it doesn't match the idealised tone I have in mind. I think I need to experiment with a different impulse for this to work.