Jump to content

Does tap tempo really matter?


hugbot

Recommended Posts

  • Members

Today I was jamming with a band with my DD20 and I ended up neglecting the tempo tap feature altogether and just eyeballing it, I find you can get more or less in the same ballpark as the song anyway and thats close enough for the music we were playing.

 

I've been considering bringing my pedalboard down to basically nothing, which means one delay, probably a carbon copy.

 

I was just wondering what other people thought, is it an essential feature to you?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 62
  • Created
  • Last Reply
  • Members

i've never had a delay with tap tempo and i can't say i've felt the need. i don't really need the repeats to be in time with the song at all. i've done it during recording but i've just spent a few minutes fine tuning the delay time to fit the tempo; no biggie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Completely essential. You can really lock in the delays/other with it. Otherwise, they're literally playing out of time. Nobody wants that. ALthough, with some of my high gain patches, I don't care 'cause it's 'delaying' faster than the tempo and pretty quiet anyway.

 

Yea, not having a tap tempo is almost as bad as an envelope filter without a pedal. But people do that all the time so who am I to say. I like to drive manuals, pedals are no exception I guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Yeah, if it's part of the guitar part rather than as an ambient effect, I think it's important to have a tap tempo. But if it's ambient effect, I think tap is detrimental because it brings the delay into focus too much.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

i've never used it. i've always wondered why it's such a big deal around here.

 

 

I don't think it's an essential option for some players or types of music. Plenty of people just like a little slapback or ambience out of their delay... which doesn't require a locked in tempo. Other people

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

Yeah, if it's part of the guitar part rather than as an ambient effect, I think it's important to have a tap tempo. But if it's ambient effect, I think tap is detrimental because it brings the delay into focus too much.

 

 

Exactly this.

 

I wrote a lot of my "lead" lines in my last band with precise quarter not repeats in mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think tap tempo is an extremely useful feature. Can you get by without it - sure... but it's like air conditioning in Arizona; if you're used to having it, and suddenly don't, you're going to miss it. ;)

 

If you rarely change tempos, or mostly use your delay for a bit of slapback, then tap tempo may not be that crucial. Likewise, if you are mostly in the studio, where you have a few seconds to dial up the precise tempo you want, it's less essential (although still very useful due to the speed and precision)... but for live use, if you use long delays and want to tempo match, they're the only way to go.

 

Given a choice, It's a feature I'd rather have than not; I consider it pretty important due to its usefulness.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I think tap tempo is an
extremely
useful feature. Can you get by without it - sure... but it's like air conditioning in Arizona; if you're used to having it, and suddenly don't, you're going to miss it.
;)

 

you will die if you don't have ac in phx. iirc, that's what killed the buffalo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I never needed it, but on my last record I had a song with a break and I wanted/needed the repeats to be in time so we could come crashing in on time, and another song that was really groove oriented and I wanted to make sure the tempo was right. Otherwise, I'd gone 15 years before needing tap. -E

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Like others have said... It just depends on you.

 

I used to be hooked on tap. I started using one without T.T. about 6-7 months ago and haven't thought about tap since.

 

Why does that sound like a recovery meeting speech?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Tap tempo is just super useful. When I'm out playing live it's nice to be able to change things on the fly with ease; I don't have the time to mess with it. Though, on some pedals you have to settle.

 

 

Preference, as said before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

It's really, really, really nice to have, but no, not REQUIRED for me.

 

 

That said... the majority of delays have tap tempo now anyways, analog and digital.

 

I'm looking between a TC Flashback, and a Vintage Mod. Super Delay. HUGE difference in price, but other than the preset capability on footswitch control on the SD, they have alot of the same features (though not quite the tweakability on the Flashback).

 

I'm going to be comparing the tape and analog modes primarily, and then comparing between the better looper on the TC, and the preset selection on the SD.

 

But for less the half the price, I feel like the Flashback has everything I want. It's the sound that matters though, and if it can't step up to the SD... well, price is no matter when it comes to toanes

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Nope, don't use it. I found that tapping everything down screwed my playing and distracted me too much. Although that may have been caused by the lack of training..

 

I usually use ~150-300ms delay times so tap tempo is also kind of redundant to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...