PrimalTap

PrimalTap expands the Lexicon Prime Time concept into a dual-delay processor with flexible feedback routing. Its defining tradeoff is deliberate: Multiply lengthens the delay while reducing sample rate and bandwidth. The progressively darker sound is part of the effect, not a separate low-pass preset applied to an otherwise transparent delay.

Delay Select establishes the two tap times, while Adjust and the LFO change their timing smoothly for chorus, flanging, and pitch movement. Freeze captures the available delay memory as a repeating loop, allowing the buffered material to become a sustained performance element. This is distinct from simply increasing feedback until new input keeps accumulating.

The Tweak panel changes how the two channels feed one another, moving from the unstable character of Classic routing to independent, series, crossed, or ping-pong structures. Start with low feedback, decide whether the delays should follow milliseconds or beats, and choose Multiply for both time and tone. Add modulation and stereo placement next; use Freeze and automated timing changes when the delay itself should become part of the composition.

Manual, About PrimalTap, p. 4; The PrimalTap Control Panel, pp. 5–8; Tweak Menu, pp. 9–10.

Delay and capture

Delay Select A / B sets each tap in Time or Beats, allowing different timing approaches on the two channels. Moving these controls while audio plays creates intentional hardware-like discontinuities. Link makes B follow A when linked adjustments are made.

Multiply selects the time/bandwidth tradeoff: 1×, 2×, 4×, and 8× correspond to documented bandwidths of 12, 6, 3, and 1.5 kHz. Changing the factor during playback can produce pitch jumps and glitches.

Freeze holds the buffered audio in an indefinite loop until released. Its loop length is based on the available memory at the current Multiply setting, not simply whichever visible tap time happens to be shorter. Capture a useful phrase first, then manipulate the held material.

Smooth modulation

Adjust changes both delay times smoothly, unlike Delay Select. Rate sets the LFO speed, documented from 0.1 to 256 Hz; Depth sets its modulation amount. Slow, shallow movement can thicken an echo, while fast rates produce much less conventional textures.

Input, feedback, and output

In drives the input stage. Separate A / B Feedback faders control recirculation, and separate A / B Output faders balance the taps. Mix blends delayed and dry sound. Tempo Sync locks the delay timing to the supplied tempo reference. Low Cut / High Cut reduce unwanted bandwidth; their routing can be changed in Tweak.

Tweak Menu

• Classic mixes the two outputs back to both inputs, retaining the original design's easy buildup and distortion.
• Parallel keeps the channels and their feedback independent.
• Reverb mixes them in a way designed to avoid Classic's unstable buildup and support dense washes.
• Series feeds A into B while each retains its own feedback path.
• Criss-Cross feeds each channel's output back to the other.
• Ping-Pong uses crossed feedback but initially feeds A, producing alternating arrivals.

Individual Depth sliders and polarity switches change each tap's LFO contribution. Output Pan and its phase switches position and polarize the taps separately. Rolloff applies the filters to the full output or only to feedback. LFO Shape selects Triangle, Square, Sine, or Ramp.

High feedback, input saturation, and crossed routing interact strongly. Establish the routing at a safe level before increasing regeneration or capturing a long frozen texture.

Manual, Freeze, p. 5; Multiply/Delay Select, p. 6; Rate/Link/Adjust/Depth, p. 7; Filters, Feedback, Output, and Sync, p. 8; Tweak Menu, pp. 9–10.