Rather than settling on one static setting, automate or modulate filters, feedback, mix level, etc, to make sure the delay effect contributes appropriately to the overall energy flow of the track. By making the delay timing just slightly slower than the BPM of your track, you'll actually avoid delay echoes landing concurrently with dry elements in your track, giving more space and clarity to the instruments, and bringing a greater sense of depth and size to the overall mix. An often overlooked trick is to set the timing in milliseconds, rather than sync it the project tempo. To take filtering further, helping 'what's being delayed' to stick out over 'the delay itself', gently scoop out muddy frequencies with an EQ in the delay chain. When using delay effects, you'll probably have more luck using their built-in filters compared to those built into reverb plugins. It's quite common to use pre-delay times in excess of 100ms for lead synths. For obnoxious big room synths, you may find you need more extreme filtering.Īlso, use as much pre-delay as you can get away with, as this helps with the sense of size and clarity. Most good reverbs have built-in filters, but they tend to be quite gentle, suitable for working with vocals or acoustic instruments.
For instance, it's a good idea to precede reverb send effects with high- and low-pass filters. This starts right at the beginning, by choosing your plugins and presets carefully - but there are also things you can do to make sure your use of reverb doesn't result in a cloudy mix. Speaking of reverb, you'll need to make sure any reverb used sounds nice and clear.