The Audio Expert, 2nd Edition

Chapter 11

Time Domain Processors

Echo

Everyone knows the “HELLO, Hello, hello” echo effect. In the early days of audio recording, this was created using a tape recorder having separate heads for recording and playback. A tape recorder with separate record and play heads can play back while recording, and the playback is delayed slightly from the original sound letting you mix the two together to get a single echo. The delay time depends on the tape speed, as well as the distance between the record and play heads. A faster speed, or closer spacing, creates a shorter delay. A single echo having a short delay time was a common effect on early pop music in the 1950s; you can hear it on recordings such as Great Balls of Fire by Jerry Lee Lewis from ...