Effects & processing
Ping-pong delay
A ping-pong delay alternates its repeats between the left and right channels, so each echo bounces across the stereo field instead of stacking in the middle where the record already is.
In practice
Ping-pong widens as it repeats, which is why it survives a busy mix — the echoes sit where the track is not.
Use it on the parts of a record that are already off-centre: a top line, a hat pattern, a vocal chop. Keep it away from anything below the low mids, because the width that makes it work is exactly what a mono system cancels. A half-beat or beat division and a modest number of repeats is plenty — the effect reads as movement, and adding feedback turns movement into clutter.
1/2 or 1 beat
The divisions that read
Top end
Where to point it
Low
How much feedback
Where these come from: Conventional effect settings, not catalog figures. For what we can measure, see the beat-division arithmetic behind it.
Why it matters
It is the delay that survives a busy mix. A centred repeat competes with the kick, the bass and the vocal — all of which live in the middle — while an alternating one sits in the space either side of them and stays audible at a much lower wet level.
The catch is the reason to keep it off the low end. Anything that exists mainly as a difference between left and right is the first thing a summed system removes, so a ping-pong on a bassline can be enormous on headphones and absent in the room.
Frequently asked
What does ping-pong delay do?+
It sends each successive repeat to the opposite side of the stereo field, so the echoes alternate left and right rather than sitting on top of the original signal.
When should a DJ use ping-pong delay?+
On material that is already off-centre — top lines, hats, vocal chops — and in the second half of a blend where the middle of the mix is crowded and a centred repeat would have nowhere to go.
Why does ping-pong delay disappear on a club system?+
Because much of it exists as a difference between the channels, and a system that sums to mono cancels that difference. Keep it off the low end, where summing is most likely.
Related terms
Delay
Delay repeats a sound after a set time. On a DJ mixer that time is locked to the detected tempo, so the setting is a beat division rather than a number of milliseconds and the repeats land on the grid.
Mono sum and phase
Summing to mono adds the left and right channels together. Anything out of phase between them cancels rather than adding, which is why a wide stereo bass can lose most of its weight on a mono system.
Tape echo
Tape echo is a delay modelled on a tape machine: each repeat comes back darker, slightly unstable in pitch and a little saturated. It degrades as it repeats rather than copying cleanly.
Wet/dry
Wet is the processed signal, dry is the untouched original. The wet/dry control sets how much of each you hear, and on most DJ effects it is the only depth control there is.
Explore: Delay · Mixing guides · Beats-to-time calculator · All DJ terms