Re: Reverb vs Delay
I'm going to start out by being a bit geeky, b/c it's part of how I approach guitar:
Delay is actually a larger term that applies to:
flanging
chorus
reverb
certain types of pitch shifting
echo (slap back, rhythmic, spacious)
certain types of looping
Granted it's iffy that this applies to spring or plate reverbs. But I'm focusing on pedals here.
And yes I do get that the vernacular use of "delay" usually refers to the echo portion of that list. But I'm talking about my own attitude.
I agree that there are reverb pedals that can be echo-ey, and there are delay pedals that can sound reverb-ey. It's handy to have something flexible, especially live.
I appreciate that for a lot of players, echo and delay are mainly used to add some depth or thickness to their sound, which may be more applicable in some settings than others. And in some cases it's just about using them in ways that certain styles require (slap back or the Edge thing).
But for me, effects are part of the overall music/sound palette, as much as the guitar, amp, or even notes and chords. Sometimes what I'm using the guitar for is to create a wash or wall of reverb, as opposed to using the reverb to "decorate" the guitar, and it's the reverb that is the actual music.
Also, I have a particular guitar piece that is all about echo. The notes coming from the echo are equally important to the notes I'm playing. I might then add reverb after the fact to put it in a more specific "space".
So, to keep it short, for me, reverb and "delay" (echo) are not interchangeable or competitive at all, and are often effects I use together