Tape Echo
Tape Echo repeats the deck in time with the song, with the warm, darkening repeats of a tape delay. It sits after the crossfader, so its repeats ring on after a fader cut, and Freeze can hold the current loop indefinitely. It is the tenth unit in the effect rack. Its faceplate is the TE-3 Tape Echo, and its screen draws tape reels and the repeats fading away.
Controls
Section titled “Controls”| Control | Range | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | 1/16, 1/8T, 1/8, 1/8D, 1/4T, 1/4, 1/4D, 1/2, Bar, Free | 1/8D | Echo time as a note value. Free uses the Free knob instead. |
| Free | 10 ms to 2000 ms | 375 ms | Echo time in milliseconds, used when Time is Free. |
| Fdbk | 0 to 100% | 45% | How much of each repeat is fed back, and so how many repeats you hear. High values build up and saturate softly instead of running away. |
| Tone | 0 to 100% | 50% | Brightness of the repeats. Lower values make each repeat darker than the last. |
| Freeze | Off, On | Off | Holds the current echo loop: new sound stops going in and the repeats circle without fading. |
| Mix | 0 to 100% | 40% | Level of the echo added to the deck. |
Each repeat is also trimmed below about 90 Hz, so long echo trails don’t build up mud in the bass.
The strip’s readout shows the echo time, or FREEZE while the loop is frozen.
A send, not an insert
Section titled “A send, not an insert”Tape Echo is a send: the dry deck always passes at full level, and Mix only sets how loud the echo is. Switching the unit off stops new sound going into the echo, so the existing repeats ring out naturally instead of stopping. Stop all clears them.
Tape-style time changes
Section titled “Tape-style time changes”When you change Time or Free, or the song’s tempo changes, the echo doesn’t jump to the new time. It glides there over about 150 ms, bending the pitch of the repeats on the way like a tape machine changing speed. Turning the Free knob while repeats are playing gives the classic dub-delay pitch swoop.
Using it
Section titled “Using it”- Echo out a scratch. End a phrase with a final scratch and cut the fader: the repeats carry on in time after the deck is silent.
- Freeze a loop. Switch Freeze on just after a short scratch or stab to hold it as a repeating loop, scratch something else over it, then switch Freeze off to let it fade.
- Dub throws. Set Fdbk high, and switch the unit on only for the word or sound you want to echo, then off again. The repeats keep going on their own.