This Week’s Preset: TimeLine – Thanks a Million

In the spirit of the Giving Thanks for Music giveaway, here is a TimeLine preset with a thankful vibe! I used the Ice delay machine for this one. Check out the audio clip below to hear what it sounds like.

Listen here:

Preset details:

The image below shows the knob settings and parameters that I used in the audio clip.

The Ice delay machine slices up the input signal and plays back the slices after pitch-shifting them at selectable intervals. For this preset, the slices are being pitched up one octave. I have the BLEND between the Ice delay lines and the dry delay lines set just about in the middle. You might want to experiment with setting the BLEND closer to left to hear more of the dry delay lines, as this can result in an even thicker, richer sound. Set as it is in this preset, though, I really like the way the octave-shifted Ice delay lines sound, especially on the high strings up above the 12th fret. (I didn’t play up that high in the audio clip, but if you try it you’ll hear what I mean!)

I’ve turned up the modulation SPEED and DEPTH knobs to add some gooey goodness and stereo lushness to the dry delay lines. (The Ice delay lines are not affected by the MOD SPEED and DEPTH controls.) You’ll also notice that I have the SMEAR parameter set at maximum to soften the attack of the repeats.  I have the FILTER knob cranked all the way to the right, resulting in an EQ curve similar to that of a Tape delay, with smooth but still present highs, and somewhat reduced lows. I’ve also dialed in some GRIT.

Finally, some notes about my signal chain. To let you hear the unadulterated stereo output of TimeLine for the audio clip, I recorded direct (without an amp or mic’d speaker cabinet). To get a direct guitar tone that felt good to me, I connected my guitar to OB.1 for optical compression and signal boost (with the boost eq curve set for midrange boost), then out from OB.1 to the input of Deco, which I used to add some tape saturation, and then out from Deco into BigSky. For BigSky, I did not have an active preset, so the reverb was bypassed, but I had the Cab Filter switched in on the back of the unit to add speaker cabinet emulation. Finally, out from BigSky into TimeLine, and out from TimeLine to my audio interface.

Download the preset:

Using the Strymon Librarian? Download the “Thanks a Million” preset and load it into your TimeLine.

What do you think?

Made your own tweaks to this preset? Post them below or tag them #StrymonPreset online. Are there other preset types that you’d like to see in upcoming blog posts? Let us know what you think. Thanks!

Enter the giveaway!

If you’re reading this sufficiently prior to 11:59PM PST, December 8, 2015, there’s still time to enter!  If you win, you’ll receive a TimeLine delay, AND we will donate a TimeLine to your favorite music education non-profit charity. You can find out more about the giveaway and enter it here.