Legendary Space-shaping Power Meets Modern Musicality
With its Tel-Ray Variable Delay plug-in, Avid taps into an illustrious history of sound-sculpting character, inspired by the legendary analog effects unit that emerged more than 50 years ago. This plug-in’s streamlined interface conceals a depth of spatial contouring, supporting delay timing from 0.06 to 0.3 seconds, while the synthesizer-inspired feedback control of the Sustain parameter yields iconic warmth as you define the cooldown of your delay. What’s more, the Variation control conjures the history of the physical unit’s fluctuations across production, enamoring Sweetwater’s sound scholars with its ability to hone the warbling and wobbling of your effect. Finally, the dual-mode Echo-Doubler simulates the engagement of a second record head, allowing you to instantly duplicate your echoes and reverberations and transform the tones of any vocal or instrumental audio fed into the Tel-Ray Variable Delay.
The story behind the sound: “Tell Ray!”
Dating back to the early 1960s, a small company of technicians experimented with various technologies and emerging electronics, in a bid to give the likes of NASA or IBM distinct, tailored solutions to the unique hurdles arising in the post-war growth period. Whenever exciting inventions came to fruition, the technicians would have the same reaction: “Tell Ray!” — their boss. Across tuna cans, motors, and medically dubious oils, an electronic memory unit that would transform the music-making landscape was born, aptly named the Tel-Ray. Though it never made it to the moon, the technologies undergirding the Tel-Ray’s distinctive effect became a staple of guitarists’ rigs, having been licensed to virtually every major amp manufacturer. There may not be any virtual tuna cans in the Tel-Ray plug-in, but Avid’s dedication to sonic fidelity and accurate history led to testing so many units that the natural variation among them made the onboard Variation control a necessity. From polished and pristine to disrepair and detritus, the Tel-Ray Variable Delay plug-in does it all.
Avid Tel-Ray Variable Delay Features:
- Meticulous testing and research of legendary, analog delay units gives you a suite of malleable sound-shaping FX
- Variation control allows you to seamlessly hone the warbling and wobbling of time-worn physical FX
- Echo-Doubler parameter lets you toggle a simulated engagement of a 2nd record head for transformative stereo-sculpting possibilities
- Adjustable delay time gives you a healthy range of 0.06–0.3s
- Sustain control defines the cooldown window via feedback that’s reminiscent of classic analog synthesizers
- Sleek interface and straightforward controls make refining sounds and saving and recalling presets a breeze
