Topic 2.5 Numeracy · 1.12 Delay
Tape & Heads
In an Echoplex, the delay isn't a number — it's the gap between the record head and the playback head. The tape carries each hit from one to the other, and the distance is the delay time.
● Live · TR-1600
Tape transport · AUDIOTECH TR-1600120 BPM · 7½ ips
Head distance — what the formula looks likeQUARTER · 500 MS
500 ms
①Erase
②Record
③Playback
0
250ms
500ms
750ms
1000ms
60,000 ÷ 120 × 1 =
500MS
4-on-the-floor at 120 BPM
1Kick
2Snare
3Clap
4Rim
5Vox
6Pluck
Tempo
120BPM
Note value
Whole
2000ms
Half
1000ms
Dot · 1/4
750ms
Quarter
500ms
Dot · 1/8
375ms
Eighth
250ms
1/8 Trip
167ms
Sixteenth
125ms
Try thisHit the snare pad and watch a glowing flux mark fly across the rail from record to playback. Drag BPM down — playback slides right, the bracket widens, the wet hit arrives later. Pick an eighth — the head jumps left, the gap halves. The maths and the geometry are the same idea.