Time-Based Effects - Posted on 2015-06-30 by Dillon Abell

Time-based effects are a great way to add amazing depth to your tracks, without having to be working out of a high class, professional studio. Unless you have access to gigantic church halls to record your vocals in, these plug-ins are a must have for any Audio Engineer. We use time based effects such as delay and reverb to add space and dimention to our tracks. They can help add presence to a vocal or horn track, but also do wonders for your snare or kick drum tracks by making them come out in a mix. In my opinion, time-based effects are the salt and pepper that add great flavor to an otherwise ordinary mix.

There are a few other time-based effects that have their part in the audio universe such as flanging, chorus and phaser effects. These time-based effects are not as crucial to a mix as delays and reverbs, but are some great tools for adding diferent effects and flavors to your tracks. Chorus is a common effect used on guitars because it has a pleasing, doubling effect. Flanging and phasers you will here commonly on vocal tracks, guitars, and string instruments, but they are not limited to this! You can use them for whatever you'd like, within reason.

I am a huge fan of old and moderm reggae music, and these are some of the most common effects you hear in this type of music. My own band's EP utilized some of these effects and it turned out great. I got a chance to utilize these type of plugins myself with a few of the songs the Recording Connection provided me to mix. There is a great flaging effect I used on the vocals of The Siege durring the verses. Also on the track Arise-Run Run Run, I was able to use lots of reverb and delay, adding lots of needed spacial effect, as well as snare hit delays, which sounded really cool. Both of these track are posted in the gallery portion of my Student Service Portal.