PSP StompDelay takes you on an infinite tape loop
I do like an interesting delay. The StompDelay from PSP promises some vintage-style tape loop action all wrapped up in what looks like a lot of knobs for a stomp box GUI. They say it’s designed to provide a wide range of sounds from lush analog tape delays through vibrant loops, from classic ping-pong to scratchy pitch shifts.
The main controls at the top give you your delay time, which can be free between 0.1 ms and 4 seconds or synced to tempo, and a similarly sized knob for LFO. Now I may be being a complete idiot but I can’t find anything to tell me what the LFO is controlling. PSP have made it a major parameter on the GUI and it’s the reason why there’s such a range of sound coming out of this box. So what is it modulating? My assumption, through what I can hear, is that it’s varying the pitch of the delay taps – the sound is as if it’s changing the speed of the tape because you’re getting that emulated tape movement – and it sounds amazing. The focus on the tape is what makes this an interesting delay. Every time you move a parameter the sound responds just like it would if it was tape based. It’s wobbly, warped and very satisfying.
The slider across the middle of the plug-in gives you another way to play with delay time and you can change the resolution of the strip to give you very fine control. You can use it to mess with the sounds coming through and take it into some really weird and spacey places – somehow it’s much more fun and creative to use than a knob.
One of the nicest features is the infinite tape loop button. This takes the last bunch of taps and repeats them forever. It gives a great stutter effect on short delays but give it a couple of bars and you can put down a phrase and then play over the top – I can mess about with that for hours. It comes with a whole raft of presets with interesting names like “Meadow of Weasels” and “Crazy Police”.
You can try PSP StompDelay for free for 14 days after which it’s $69 to add it to your collection or $49 if you buy it before the 3rd April. It’s available for OSX and Windows in VST, AU, AAS and RTAS formats.
More information: http://pspaudioware.com/plugins/delays/psp_stompdelay/
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