Colour Copy

Found in almost any genre of music, delay is an effect that you can use subtly to add presence to your audio, ostensibly to create an echoing ambiance and even more ostensibly to create some very weird stuff. Versatility is probably one of the main reasons why delay is so popular, but keep in mind that it comes in many types, some of which you’ll already find in your digital audio workstation.

If and when you decide that you need more to enhance your creativity, you can always try an external plugin like Colour Copy.

Donning an analog-style interface, Colour Copy is modeled after the classic bucket-brigade devices (or BBD for short). These delay units would work by moving the analog signal along a line of capacitors, one step at each clock cycle. This has drawn comparisons to how people in a long line pass buckets of water, so the term bucket-brigade was used to name the device.

In terms of sound, Colour Copy is very versatile. The plugin’s name comes from its ability to change the color of the feedback by just turning a knob. You can also add ducking to create a dynamic delay (as opposed to one that is constant for the whole track), and also use the Modulation section, which is basically an LFO that can help you design some unusual sounds.

The effect unit comes with a lot of presets, but browsing through the section is made easy thanks to the directories, tags, and search function. Some of the presets come with helpful descriptions, so you probably won’t spend too much time on trial and error.

Still, for all its power, the plugin is quite intuitive, and it won’t be long before you start creating your own effects. This is why I consider Colour Copy a good choice for anyone who wants to use an analog delay plugin.