[Bushman]

I don't consider myself a delay junkie, but I do have a slap back delay on my Carbon Copy, and echo on my H2o. Does that count? I have got used to using a slight delay all the time, it just seems very dry and flat sounding without it. Delay gives it much more depth.
That being said, I still don't have any experience running dotted eighth type delays which most of the music the OP was talking about. I still don't know if I'm missing out on the ultimate "Worship Sound" or not...

[dtaylorl]

I know this is the guitar forum, but... I think what we are talking about here is true about vocals as well. Adding a tap delay to your lead vocalist really makes the whole worship set sound a lot more hillsongish. Even if there is no electric guitar at all.

[to_be_released]

Originally Posted by Stratopastor

Meanwhile, seriously though folks, I can understand to_be_released's non-musican buddy enjoying the feeling of being somewhere cavernous. I don't know what kind building they worship in, but if a meeting's taking place in some unattractive multipurpose hall with a low ceiling, a bit of delay on some leading instruments must have a psychological impact....

I said non-guitarist, not non-musician. :P

It was actually from one of the worship leaders, who plays keys and sings and has a music degree. As for the building, it's a big old school two story auditorium with about a 7 second natural reverb, and acoustics design for unamplified voice to be audible (which provides interesting sound challenges). Maybe the delay emphasizes the cavernish feel, but I think it's more to do with what people are used to hearing in recordings.

Delay certainly does help with making atmospheric and textural sounds, and to be fair I do prefer these pad-esque sounds generated by guitars with delay than most of the ones I hear from keyboards.

Thing is, I usually find myself as the lead/main instrument for the singers to follow, so I usually prefer to play clearer, more rhythmically distinct guitar lines/chord progressions as they are easier to follow.

[Ax]

Wow, umm...

About my Edge comment...

It's really about that it fits the style. But it's very obviously that the bands that made the P&W genre what it is today were heavily influenced by U2. I mean, you can trace most of it back to Delirious? and I think we're all in agreement that Stu G was heavily influenced by The Edge

[lifesglorydead]

The beauty of delay is that even if Edge used it, made it popular, overused it, whatever... he didn't invent it and he doesn't own it. I never listen to U2, or Hillsong either, and yet I rarely play lead in worship without the old faithful DD-3. I'm all about ethereal, textural guitar parts- the delay is an mean to that end, nothing more.

Although I will say that Mike Cosper and James Duke (axemen of Sojourn and John Mark Mcmillan) have influenced my use of delay a LOT... just so it's established that I'm not some super original guitarist who thinks entirely for himself. Lol.

[cakirby]

I think a lot of it nowadays has to do with being a "worshipful" guitar player, without being bored or boring. I always have a delay of some kind on for worship, mainly because of the fact that it lays out textures and creates space in the music. It keeps you from being showy, makes the music very emotional sounding, and makes it so you don't have to play the same thing the leader is playing (chords).
This isn't the only way to fit into the above (see - David Crowder Band), but it's most likely (1) one of the most accessible ways to do this, and (2) it's the most popular right now. This style was introduced when Hillsong decided to look for a new unique kind of worship sound and found that sort of high up notes with dotted eighth delay, most likely off of Edge's sound (although Edge does not usually do a lot of higher notes). Thus, Hillsong United was born. However, it's possible they were not planning on going after the "Edge delay", considering the point of the new sound was to stem off of Hillsong's original sound.

[dailybeans]

Originally Posted by Ax

Yeah, it's a huge fad and a lesson in generic... I've seen worship guitarists with 3 delays on a board... I think it stems from some innate desire to sound like the Edge. It certainly fits the bill for "inspiring" sounding guitar.

Wouldn't tube amps, and telecasters, and guitar picks also be generic then?
It's not what you use, it's how you use it.

[tl_guitarnut]

The worship guitar mindset can be summed up with WWED...what would Edge do?

[daddyo]

Anyone familiar with this little guy?

TC Electronic Flashback TonePrint Delay Looper Guitar Effects Pedal at AmericanMusical.com

[jamforchrist123]

Playing in chapel at school this morning made me realize one of the main reasons i use delay. More often than not, I play in a group that is acoustic, electric, bass, and drums. When I'm playing chords it usually sounds really big, but if I switch to a lead line it sometimes sounds thin if I don't have delay. This morning I found myself using using just one very slight delay when I played rhythm and if I was playing lead I would switch a second, more prominent delay on as well as a slight boost. This really helped keep the overall sound big by adding a more "full" sound to the single note compared to the full chords.

[Almost Enough]

I'm pretty sure it's because God likes the electric guitar so much that he wants to hear it twice...and three times...and sometimes a fourth time, but really quiet.