Nail The Dotted Eighth Delay Effect Every Time

Instructions on how to set your delay unit up for the dotted eighth delay effect every time for any tempo...

[@CovertOpsXX]

Probably the best video I’ve seen so far in terms of clear straightforward explanation. Thank you!

[@desertrain4026]

Thank you Tom! I've been wracking my brains trying to figure this out... Trying Delay Calculators online and some other not so useful tricks but, your example and method ar by far the best and easiest to use. Thanks X a Bazillion!

[@alexmurphy5289]

Wow finally a video for people without a tap tempo! Not all delays have them, and in my opinion some of the greatest delays ever never had them. Thank you. Some loopers have a metronome that goes along with the beat of the song so that may help too

[@postmortimer]

Alex Murphy Thanks. And just how many guys with a tap tempo can get the delay time juuuust right? Me either.

[@christophersire1731]

Great video man! Thanks for posting.

[@MauFerrusca]

Incredibly precise. Thanks for the straightforward and very clear mathematical explanation.

[@joyousmonkey6085]

100% spot on explanation! Thank you enormously.

[@postmortimer]

You are most welcome. Glad you dig it.

[@terryc5207]

Bryan Potvin is amazing. The things I do for money is one of THE best ever songs using Delay.

[@postmortimer]

Terry C totally agree my friend!

[@oig40203]

Early into my foray into dotted 8th, I discovered the Boss DD-5 which has a dotted 8th setting and simple controls. I use an external footswitch and I am off to the races!

[@dborg56]

Nice explanation. Thx

[@rayraysguitar]

that's so clear!thank you!

[@ole_rsl]

you saved my god damn ass :D

[@postmortimer]

Glad to be of service!

[@postmortimer]

A couple of things I should have mentioned: 1. At 4:45 I mistakenly said "beats per second" and I should have said "seconds per beat". 2. On slower songs when you are tapping the tempo it is easy to be actually tapping eighth notes and not quarter notes. If you do this your calculated echo will come out twice as fast as it should. If that happens to correct for this leave out the "divide by two" step. Enjoy and comment if you like.

[@dartmore10]

Nice job with the explanation - thank you Tom, this will help with my delay software which is limited! Simplifying the formula down, you can: 45,000 / Tempo. That's the same as (60 *1000 / 2 *1.5) / Tempo.

[@JammyGit]

I'm surprised that nobody has seemed to notice that this formula is easier to equate than the 1 in the video......but then again not many people use their own brains for things like mental arithmetic or grammar or spelling. Hell, people hardly use pens or write anymore It wouldn't surprise me if we start to get dumber as a species....in fact I'm sure it has already started happening 😆

[@biffelliotforpresident]

That's cutting to the chase my brother!

[@JG21596w]

Damm this is so helpful ❤️❤️❤️

[@jasona102]

VERY HELPFUL! Thanks!!!

[@ExposedVariant]

Awesome job man

[@kennrayy]

Excellent job

[@postmortimer]

Ken Landry thanks Ken!

[@trevornews]

What’s with your Drummer? I play both :) Great Video.

[@garystackhouse5787]

If you have tap tempo, the MUCH easier way to get a dotted eighths is to think of the "Bo Diddley" beat at whatever tempo you're at, then tap the first three notes (which are dotted eighths!) Your way has waaayyyy too much needless math, which is useless on stage because the drummer will not always play at the same tempo.

[@mattgilbert7347]

My pedal doesn't have anything like a display so you can set exact delay times. Just knobs. I don't see how I can do it.

[@nickspitzley8539]

Matt Gilbert then by ear with the tempo nob. Look into a tap tempo delay. And from there you can find videos for finding a dotted eighth with tap tempo

[@mattgilbert7347]

@@nickspitzley8539 It has tap tempo, but when I do it it just sounds like a mess. As for tempo, it's just what the drummer counts in. 4/4. But that's not tempo, eh? It's meter.

[@garystackhouse5787]

@@mattgilbert7347 Try this...think of the Bo Diddley beat at whatever tempo you want, then tap only the first three notes. (Alternatively, tap the snare beats of the "Robbing people with a... zip gun" part of "I Fought The Law" at whatever tempo you need.)

[@JammyGit]

Maybe I'm missing something here with the formula for calculating the dotted 8th tempo, but instead of 60×1000÷2×1.5, why not just multiply 60 × 500 at the beginning and save all that annoying unnecessary maths? That way you can simply change the end part as and when needed (the × 1.5) for using dotted 16th, dotted quarter, or whatever tempo you want. Or easier still, the other guy dartmore10's equation of 45,000÷song tempo seems a lot easier to compute....😎

[@postmortimer]

Jammy Git you are definitely not missing anything. The reason I laid the math out in these steps is to demonstrate the reasoning and logic behind the math. You can tell someone to multiply the tempo by 45,000 (which is 60x1000/2x1.5) but what happens if someone then asks "Where does the 45,000 come from?". Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day...

[@MauFerrusca]

@@postmortimer this is exactly what I loved from your video: the clear explanation, step by step of how and why.

[@mattgilbert7347]

A year on and I return to this. Maybe I'm dumb or something, but I just can't get this. Do you need computer software or something? My delay is T-Rex Replica. It has two subdivisions, I think one is "triplets". It has tap and MIDI (I don't understand or use MIDi) I still do not understand the math at all. I give up!

[@mattgilbert7347]

I also have the MXR Echoplex pedal because I like the sound of tape delay.

[@postmortimer]

I googled the Replica and from what I see there isn't a way to actually enter in an actual value in milliseconds for your repeat time so calculating the value won't do you much good. The best thing I can suggest is use the tap tempo.

[@garystackhouse5787]

Try this...think of the Bo Diddley beat at whatever tempo you want, then tap only the first three notes. (Alternatively, tap the snare beats of the "Robbing people with a... zip gun" part of "I Fought The Law" at whatever tempo you need.) MUCH EASIER.

[@sandrabecht4489]

👍🇩🇪

[@bruzzgravely3470]

That was speaking foreign language to me, didn’t help me none

[@garystackhouse5787]

Try this...think of the Bo Diddley beat at whatever tempo you want, then tap only the first three notes. (Alternatively, tap the snare beats of the "Robbing people with a... zip gun" part of "I Fought The Law" at whatever tempo you need.)