Wave of the future

Time Travel out now!

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:04:00 +0000

EHX Deluxe Memory Boy - first look

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:26:00 +0000

Micah admires my blog!

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 13:02:00 +0000

I just wanted to share this lovely comment I received from Micah about my blog:

"I absolutely admire your blog.I can see you are putting a lot of effort and hard work on your posts, I'm sure I'd visit here more often. You may also want to visit my site. It's about impersonator, acrobatics, unicycling, mentalist and a lot more about other forms of entertainment. Just check it out... "

Oh yeah, and she was also kind enough to include various links to an Australian Entertainment directory. Thank you for your contribution, Micah!

My new love

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 02:16:00 +0000

Okay, well we haven't met yet, but we're being formally introduced in a few days at NAMM (okay, well I won't be there, but I'll be watching through the miracle of the internet)

(I've actually been gazing at this picture at random intervals throughout the day. That's not healthy, is it?)

With that out of the way, I present you with the reasons why I'm so excited about the Electro-Harmonix Deluxe Memory Boy:

analog delay
tap tempo
modulation
expression pedal input
tempo subdivisions
modulation shapes
true by-pass (assuming I actually turn it off at some point)
effects loop
apparently, a price point of less than $200 USD

The only reason I'm running a digital delay right now is because I didn't feel like dropping $600 on the Memory Lane 2. Truth be told, I went with the digital Memory Man is because it has tap tempo and can do a fairly convincing modulated analog delay (minus the spaceship take-off). Unfortunately, I think it's just a couple weeks away from retirement.

More to come...

P.S. I still love you too Angie, even if you're not an analog delay pedal.

Exporting seamless loops from FL Studio

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:50:00 +0000

FL Studio is half-decent at exporting seamless loops when you've got the render mode set to "Wrap". I say half-decent because while it will account for delay or reverb tails, it seems to have trouble with the release phase of instruments (audio)

Here's a pretty straight-forward technique I've come up with to get around this. (In my case I'm using an older version of Sound Forge but any decent audio editor should do)

Step 1. Export what you want to loop, plus a tail of the same length (audio):

Step 2. Load the file in your editor

Step 3. Select the second half of the wave. In Sound Forge I do this like so:

A. Double-click the loop point that FL added to the wave:

B. Set the "Input format" to "Measures & Beats":

C. Change the selection from 16 to 8 and click OK:

D. Double-click the second half of the wave

Step 4. Cut the selection

Step 5. Paste the clipboard at the start of the wave in "mix" mode:

Et voila!

Fun with Ableton

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:51:00 +0000

So I've spent the past few days setting up a live set using Ableton and my Novation X-Station. So far it consists of 7 audio channels, most of which have a dedicated effect, with a bunch of stuff pre-mapped to the X-Station.

Here's the channel breakdown as it stands now:

1: Beat repeat, EQ3 & auto filter
2: Dry
3: Saturator
4: Phaser
5: Grain delay
6: Dry
7: Auto filter
Send A: filter delay, compressor
Master: compressor

Channels 1 & 2 are used for drums, and channel 3 for bass. Everything else is used for whatever.

I've mapped 7 of the sliders on my X-Station to the channel volumes, and the buttons above to the mutes. The rest of the knobs and buttons control various effects parameters. Here's the template from the Novation X-Station editor so you can see what I mean:

Here's a run-down by section:

OSCS-MIXER

SEND A: send A level (ch1)
REPEAT: toggles beat repeat (ch1)
LOW CUT: cuts the low on EQ3 (ch1)
S. LEVEL: saturator dry/wet (ch3)
S. BASE: saturator base level (ch3)
P. LEVEL: phaser dry/wet (ch4)
P. RATE: phaser rate (ch4)
G.D LVL: grain delay wet/dry (ch 5)

FILTERS
The filters section is mapped to the auto filters on channels 1 & 7 (toggled via the 1-2 button). Ideally I'd have a separate controller for each filter, but this should do for
now.

F. FREQ: filter frequency
FLT. RES: filter resonance
F.E. AMT: filter envelope amount
F.L. AMT: filter LFO amount (filter 1 only)
F. TYPE: filter type

LFOS

FLT. RTE: controls the filter rate for filter 1

EFFECTS

SEND A: feeds send A back to itself
F.D. FRQ: filter delay filter frequency

As you can see, I still have a few more sliders I could map to an 8th and 9th channel. I'm thinking about adding one channel for MIDI clips, and one for general effects (swooshes, etc.) that I could trigger from different keys. I was also thinking about setting up some side-chain compression, say, take the low-end from channels 1 & 2 (beats) and use it to side-chain the bass channel and possibly my "swoosh" channel.

More to come on this as it evolves :)

Windows 7, episode 5

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:40:00 +0000

And now, the exciting conclusion of my Windows 7 upgrade adventure...

I found the Windows 7 beta drivers for the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 here:
http://forums.m-audio.com/showthread.php?t=10175

I uninstalled the old Vista drivers and gave these a try. So far so good - I'm able to go into standby and I'm not hearing any pops or clicks in the audio.

Update: spoke too soon, still getting pops and clicks, but at least I can go into standby. Really looking forward to non-beta Windows 7 drivers!

I also picked up a video card with DirectX 10 support and all the Aero stuff is working now. The moral of the story here is to run the upgrade advisor if you can! Unfortunately in my case I couldn't, since I couldn't boot my previous Windows installation.

In the end, the only real issue that I have yet to explain is the blank screen that I encountered at the start of the installation process. I may try booting from the Windows 7 disc with my new video card and see if the results are any different. If so I will post my findings.

Overall I would say my Windows 7 upgrade experience went relatively smoothly, all things considered. If you're running XP and things are stable for you then I'd suggest waiting until you want/need to do a fresh install, as it's the only way to upgrade from XP. If on the other hand you are running Vista, I'd say go for it!

Windows 7, episode 4

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 13:23:00 +0000

Hit another snag in my Windows 7 adventure:

None of the drivers I've been able to find for my video card seem to be "fully" compatible with Windows 7. Either that, or my card (NVIDIA GeForce 6200 TurboCache) is not supported by Windows 7. Either way, the end result is that I'm not able to use any of the Aero effects, nor can I play back any video in Windows Media player.

Windows Media player error:

Aero troubleshooting results:

(the service is in fact running)

So another recap of issues I've hit so far:

Vista audio driver compatibility (power management issues, occasional pops & clicks)
black screen at start of install process
video card or drivers not supported or compatible (update: my card was not DirectX 10 compatible. I picked up one that is and things are working well now. Check episode 5 for more info)

On another note, I've started familiarizing myself with the new features in Windows 7. Some of them are pretty obvious - like task bar pinning and jump lists - others less so. For example, snap (some of you may know it as "docking") is a quick way to view two windows side by side.

I'm still getting used the "combined" task bar. Basically, if you've got something pinned, any instances of that app will show up under its task bar icon. It means more real-estate on the task bar, but it's less obvious what windows you have open since you need to hover or click on the pinned icon to see.

Windows 7, episode 3

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:14:00 +0000

As I mentioned in episode 2, the Vista drivers for my M-Audio Audiophile 2496 are not 100% compatible with Windows 7 - they prevent me from shutting down or going into standby (without first disabling the device).

Little did I realize that the default power management settings in Windows 7 are to put the computer into standby after 30 minutes. So of course, I was arriving at my computer every so often only to find it completely off, and upon restarting I was greeted with the "Windows has recovered from an unexpected error" message.

Only after looking at the mini dump did I start to clue in:


DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE (9f)
A driver is causing an inconsistent power state.
Arguments:
Arg1: 00000003, A device object has been blocking an Irp for too long a time
Arg2: 85a57640, Physical Device Object of the stack
Arg3: 82942ae0, Functional Device Object of the stack
Arg4: 85718518, The blocked IRP

DEFAULT_BUCKET_ID:  VISTA_DRIVER_FAULT

So I've adjusted the power settings so that it will never go into standby. Hopefully that will take care of this until M-Audio releases Windows 7 drivers, or I breakdown and buy a new audio card (update: I found the Windows 7 beta drivers, check episode 5 for more info)

Meanwhile, I've been slowly reinstalling everything. I reinstalled most of my VSTs today and also copied over my contacts and Outlook data. I haven't hit any software compatibility issues at all.

So to recap, the only two issues I've encountered so far with Windows 7:

Vista audio driver compatibility (power management issues, occasional pops & clicks)
black screen at start of install process

Windows 7, episode 2

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:34:00 +0000

So I started installing Windows 7 last night. Here's what I was greeted with upon booting from the disc:

Yup. Absolutely nothing. I could hear the drive doing something, but that's it. Thinking maybe it was an issue with my DVD drive, I tried a different one. No difference. I then put the disc in my laptop to see if maybe there was an issue with the disc itself. I received a "Loading files" progress bar almost immediately. Hmm.

Browsed the net a bit and found a few different suggestions - use a different output on the video card, don't connect any USB devices, try flashing the BIOS. I tried the first couple options to no avail. Didn't really see a point in flashing the BIOS since it's a fairly new board.

Frustrated, I just left it setting at the blank screen and walked away. When I came back about 20 minutes later, low and behold:

Go figure!

So now the fun task of reinstalling everything. I started off with:

AVG
Windows updates
FireFox
Windows Live
FL Studio 9

No issues so far. Now, time to install an audio driver.

I downloaded the Vista SP3 drivers for my audio card (M-Audio Audiophile 2496). Upon running the first time I received a "Your OS is not compatible" message. Here's where Windows 7 driver compatibility kicks in - I get a little pop-up asking me if I want to run it again with compatibility. Second time, works like a charm... until I go to shutdown, and it just hangs at the shutdown screen!

More Googling and I find threads about others experiencing the same problem. Here's a fix but it's not elegant - a logoff (or shutdown) script to stop the audio service. Note that this issue also affects the ability to go into standby, and the script does not correct this. As for the actual performance of the drivers in compatibility mode, I did notice some audible clicks but they were subtle (update: I found the Windows 7 beta drivers, check episode 5 for more info)

Next, I install my motherboard drivers. I grabbed the Windows 2003 drivers and they seemed to work just fine - I wasn't even prompted to run in compatibility mode. I also installed my on-board audio driver and set it as the primary audio device. I was hoping that doing so would stop the shutdown and standby issues imposed by the M-Audio drivers, but no, they're still present.

Windows 7, episode 1

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:17:00 +0000

So I lost my computer to a virus. Don't ask how. I have no idea. It's the first time something like this has ever happened in my 20 or so years of computing! I spent a couple evenings trying to save it before finally pulling the plug.

I didn't cry, but I did swear a lot, especially since I was in the middle of working on a CD. This will set me back at least a week! Anyways, I've decided I'm going to try the whole Windows 7 thing. A bit risky, of course, since I use a lot of very specific software for music production. Nevertheless, since I'm starting fresh, I figure I might as well give Microsoft's current offering a try.

Here's my plan:

install Windows 7 on a fresh drive
install all my audio drivers and primary audio software first
run some sanity tests
if everything checks out I'll install all the other stuff I use day to day and start migrating my settings and data from the old drive
if things go horribly wrong I'll either wipe and go back to XP, or install XP on a third drive and keep the Windows 7 one for a rainy day

No matter how things go down, I'm going to document my findings here (esp. with regards to software and driver compatibility) in the hopes that they may help somebody else (or keep them from making a huge mistake!)

God speed, little doodle.

Indexing MP3 CDs for DJing

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 12:46:00 +0000

So my fiancé and I DJed at her grandparent's 50th anniversary party last night. I decided to rent CDJs instead of doing the whole turntables + Final Scratch thing, mainly because my needles are not well suited to dance floors (I found this out the hard way at the last party I DJed).

I wanted to print out a spreadsheet with all the tracks, indexed by their number on the CD, so we could easily find them. Here's a quick way I came up with to build a numbered track list from a directory of MP3s.

You will need:

Notepad
Excel
Your MP3s named in the format of "Artist - Track name"

Steps:

Open a command prompt
Go to the directory containing your MP3s (cd\directory\with\mps)
Type: dir /b > list.txt
Open list.txt in notepad
Search/replace ".mp3 " with nothing
Search/replace " - " with ","
Rename list.txt to list.csv
Double-click it (it should open in Excel)
Insert a column
Type "=row()" in first row
Click the bottom right of the cell and drag all the way to the last row. Screenshot of this:

(An alternative to steps 10 & 11 would be to turn on "Row & Column headings" under File -> Page Setup -> Sheet tab)

Voila! You should now have a spreadsheet with track number in column A, artist in column B, and track name in column C. Technically the first 7 or so steps could be built into a batch file if you needed to do this on a regular basis.

Note: if any of the track names had commas in them then will need to clean them up. Alternatively, you could replace " - " with a different delimiter in step 6, though then the process to load the data in Excel would change slightly.

Also note: be sure to do this after you've burned the CDs. Some CD burning software (i.e. Nero) has a different idea of "sort by name" than Windows! (apparently upper case M comes way before lower case M, 10 comes before 2, etc.)

New website is up!

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:43:00 +0000

I've built a new website to try to "sell my services" and promote myself a little more. My goal is to start taking on more music projects and perhaps eventually start working my day job a little less (don't tell my boss :) I've also updated my bio in the process so if you are interested in my history, my music, or want to know more about my services, check it out: snugsound.com

Sub bass in your head

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:20:00 +0000

I can do this thing where I make my ears pop and then hum and it makes this crazy sub bass that fills my entire head. Now if only I could record it and use it in a track...

The Wax in Ottawa August 12th, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 11:40:00 +0000

If you're in Ottawa come check out The Wax at Cafe Dekcuf on August 12th! We'll be playing with The Panama and one The Amalgamation

For updates check the MySpace or Facebook pages

Drum recording with electronic drums

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:22:00 +0000

Sometimes you need to record a drum track but it's just not feasible (bad acoustics, bad neighbours). Or sometimes you just want the flexibility to be able to play around with the drums after they've been recorded (quantize them, try a different snare, etc.). Enter the world of electronic drums.

What you'll need:

electronic drums (surprise!)
computer equipped with a sound card and MIDI interface
software sequencer
drum VST instrument (optional but highly recommended)
a drummer :)

Step 1: choose your e-drums

What to look for:

Multiple trigger zones per pad: you'll probably want at least two (the rim and the head)
Mesh pads: these feel much more natural than rubber pads. Try to get at least a mesh snare.
MIDI: this should be fairly standard
Playability!

If you don't have $1k+ to drop on a decent kit you may be able to rent a kit at your local music store (I rented a Roland TD-6 kit for about $100/month)

Step 2: choose your plug-in (optional)

I have yet to hear a set of e-drums that sound believable. The sample sets are usually pretty small and you'll get only a few highly-processed multi-samples per drum. Of course as you spend more, this becomes less of an issue, but I've found the best bang for your buck is to use a VST plug-in. With VST plug-ins you just use the e-drum kit as a controller to trigger the plug-in via MIDI.

There are a number of options out there: Addictive Drums, EZ Drummer, BFD, etc. I'd recommend Addictive Drums - they offer a freely available demo (one kick, snare, hihat and crash) with no time limitations. Even the demo alone is enough to lay down some basic tracks.

Step 3: Setting everything up

Connect the MIDI out on the e-drums to the MIDI in on your MIDI interface and fire up your sequencer.

If you're using a VST plug-in, you'll now need to map the e-drums to your sequencer. You may need the manuals for this :)

Create a new preset on your e-drums
For each trigger zone, decide what exactly you want to trigger. You'll probably want the snare head to trigger a straight snare hit, the rim to trigger either a cross stick or a rim shot, etc.
Map the MIDI note for the pad/zone to the corresponding note on your VST plug-in, i.e. if the straight snare hit is C3, configure the snare head trigger zone to send MIDI note C3. This part can get a bit tedious.
Save your preset!

Note you may also be able to do the exact opposite of what I've said above: instead of mapping your e-drums to your plug-in, you may be able to map your plug-in to your e-drums. It depends on the plug-in.

Keep in mind that most plug-ins have many different types of hit per drum (i.e different locations on the drums). You'll probably have way more hits in your plug-in than trigger zones on your e-drums. For this reason you may want to create multiple presets, or map multiple pads to one type of drum (i.e. pad 1 triggers straight snare and cross stick, pad 2 trigger rim shot)

Step 4: Recording

Now it's time to record:

create a new MIDI track in your sequencer and map it to whatever channel the e-drums are sending to
adjust the tempo
turn on the click track
record!

If you're not using a drum plug-in you'll need to connect the MIDI out of your interface to the MIDI in on your e-drums so you can actually hear what you recorded. You'll also need to connect the audio output on your e-drums to an audio interface when you actually want to record a "final mix" of the drums.

In closing...

The major downside to recording drums this way is that you lose some of the subtleties and nuances of recording an acoustic set. For some styles or techniques this just won't work at all - brushes for example. Otherwise, if the e-drums can capture it, then go for it. I think you'll be happy with the results.

We actually regret not having done this for The Wax EP, and are contemplating taking an afternoon to re-record with a e-kit!

Blocksmith

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 22:14:00 +0000

Hey gamers,

Blocksmith is a previously unreleased puzzle game I made 5 years ago. I figured I might as share it with the world rather than have it collecting dust on my hard drive.

Please post your comments below, whether good, indifferent or bad (if bad please try to keep it constructive :) If enough people enjoy it I will polish it, add some new features, tune the gameplay, etc. For example:

audio (sound FX, Snug BG music!)
allow players to start with a greater difficulty level
UI tweaks (make it more obvious that you can only undo once, the game has ended, etc.)
high score board
perhaps new gameplay elements?

Enjoy!

E-mail etiquette

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 13:10:00 +0000

You know what really grinds my gears? People who don't seem to be able to grasp the simple but apparently subtle ways of electronic mail.

The boy who cried wolf
If you send every e-mail with with "Urgent" priority, how can I tell what's actually urgent? Eventually I'm just going to tune out all of your e-mails. It's like going to a party and talking over everyone. You're only going to have people's attention for so long before you're shunned.

Punctuate this!

Hey guys........what do you think about this?????? I think it would be awesome!!!!!!!!

Every time I see something like this I die a little inside.

If you need to put a pause in your sentence, put 3 dots. It's called an ellipsis.

If you have a question, is one question mark not obvious enough? Is the question so burning that you need to fill my screen with obnoxious characters to the point where they lose all meaning?

I recently heard an interview on the radio with David Shipley, the author of Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home. He made the point that e-mail can come across as cold, and that throwing in the occasional exclamation mark can give things a more positive tone. I'm with him 100% on this. Consider the following.

Thank you for having us for dinner.

It seems like it's sincere... probably... I think?

Thank you for having us for dinner!

Wow, he must have really enjoyed it! Dude is totally sincere!

Unfortunately David went on to say that people are equally, if not more receptive to multiple exclamation marks.

Thank you for having us for dinner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you ask me, this comes across as if the sender just had a lobotomy.

No subject
Everything has a subject. If your e-mail is to say hello, then the subject is "Hello". If the e-mail is about a meeting, then the subject is "Meeting". If your e-mail has no subject then I also assume it has no content. Delete!

The Wax in Montreal August 8th, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:35:00 +0000

It's official! The Wax will be playing in Montreal on Saturday August 8th at La Sala Rossa, 4848 St-Laurent. Looks like a cool place.

Update: We'll be playing with The Naked Light, Tallest Trees and local band Ghetto Pony

We're going to try to setup some shows around the same time (i.e. Ottawa, Quebec City). More details to come.

Harmonic mixing 101

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:08:00 +0000

Harmonic mixing is where you mix two songs either in the same key, or in complimentary keys. When I used to play vinyl I did this by ear. Now that I'm using Final Scratch I actually index all my MP3s by key.

The nice thing about Final Scratch is that I can "lock" the pitch, so if I'm playing one record at -4% and another at +6% they'll still match. With vinyl I had to account for the pitch difference, so it took much more effort to work out harmonic mixes.

Here's the basic process that I follow with my digital collection:

1. Whenever I buy a new MP3 I'll play it back and try to identify the key using a softsynth. You have to have a bit of an ear for this. Basically, you're looking for the root note. Typically this is the note that the bass line revolves around. I'd say something about being able to differentiate between major and minor keys, but it hasn't come up with any of the electronic music I've bought (it's all minor!)

2. Once I've identified the key I'll stick it in a few different places:

At the start of the filename (i.e. A#_song.mp3). This allows me to find complimentary tracks without having to even load them up.
In the ID3/4 comment tags
At the end of the song title, i.e. Title (A#)

3. When I load everything in FS I just sort on the comment, and when I'm playing a track I can see the key in the title at the top. Yes, there is a place to put the "key" in FS but it's not a standard ID3/4 tag so it doesn't get written to the MP3 AFAIK.

When mixing, I keep a spreadsheet open in the background with all the complimentary keys:

As you can see I've highlighted a few cells in yellow. This is because it can be annoying to move to and from sharp/flat keys, so I've highlighted where these transitions can happen. Lately I've been pitch shifting some songs to create more possibilities (more on this in another post)

An alternative to my technique would be to use the Camelot wheel, and index everything based on key code. This way, when sorted the complimentary tracks would appear side by side. Frankly I don't mind working with the keys though, because they're more meaningful from a musical perspective. It just means a bit more scrolling.

This post brought to you by the letter S

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:30:00 +0000

I've determined that approximately 30% of my song titles begin with the letter S. Do I have an affinity with the letter S, or are there just that many more words that begin with it? I tried to find some information on the subject to no avail. If you have any links please post them. Note that only about 5% of the words in this post start with the letter S, not counting "S" as a word. Curious.

If I hear one more commercial with a ripoff of Coldplay's "Clocks"

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 02:05:00 +0000

Seriously, it's been 7 years already. You'd think this would stop after 2, maybe 3. Was some sort of study done that shows that this song, or reasonable facsimiles, causes consumers to let their guard down? "Hey, this soothing melody sounds familiar, I think I'll go buy a car". Yeah right!

And on that note:

Drum recording for The Wax

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:19:00 +0000

So my indie pop/rock band, The Wax, has started recording a 6 song EP. We ripped through the drums in a weekend. Here's what we used for gear:

Overheads: Samson C02 pencil condensors
Kick mic: Shure Beta 52A
Snare: Shure SM57
Audio interface: ART Tubefire 8

We didn't have the best room so I tried out the Recorderman technique for the overheads. Overall I'm pretty happy with the results. Here's a clip of an early mix of one of the tracks.

Bi-annual update!

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 20:05:00 +0000

Well it's been quite a while since I've posted anything. I've been busy getting engaged, buying and moving into a house, recording, putting on shows, etc! I hope to start doing updates more regularly, mostly pertaining to my various music projects and what's going on with them. So without further ado here's the first one!

If you live in the Halifax region come check my indie pop/rock band, The Wax, at the Garrison Brewery on Thursday May 7th

We actually did a show there a couple months ago. Here are a few pics:

Choosing a delay pedal

noreply@blogger.com (Snug) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 15:18:00 +0000

I like delay, a lot, and when a like something a lot I generally get all obsessed with it and need to know everything about it - how it works, what the options are, how much they cost, etc. And so here we are!

Analog vs. digital:
In the audio world many seem to think that analog is better than digital. In some cases it may very well be, but in many it's just "different". I think delay is one of those cases. Some of the key differences between digital and analog delays:

Delay time: analog delays cannot achieve the same delay times as digital. Typical delay time for an analog pedal is around 500-600ms
Looping: to my knowledge there's no such thing in analog pedals (tape delay is whole other world though)
Reverse delay: ditto
Tap tempo: a very useful feature, but rarely one you'll find in an analog delay (and when you do, expect to pay a premium, i.e. Diamond Memory Lane 2 @ about $550)
Tone: with digital what you hear is what you get. With analog the delay is much more "coloured" - each repeat comes back a little "warmer" (less highs/more lows) and with less definition.
Cost: expect to pay more for an analog delay, and expect the price to increase alongside the delay time.

Other considerations:

Tone/filter control: very useful for making your delay warmer or brighter (boosting highs and/or cutting lows). In a digital pedal this will allow you to achieve a more analog-sounding delay.
Reverb: I've only seen this in one (digital) pedal (EHX Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai). It's pretty handy for making the delays spacier and transparent. It also allows you to achieve some basic reverbs by rolling back the repeats and delay time.
Modulation: that is, modulating the pitch of the delays to get a haunting chorus-like effect.
Multi-tap: this can have different meanings. In some cases it means multiple delay times (i.e. one delay at 300ms, and one at 600ms), in others it means "repeat exactly X times".
Expression pedal: some pedals will allow you to control certain parameters via an expression pedal. This can be handy if you like to play with feedback but don't want to break your back in the process.
Stereo: usually stereo outs equates to ping-pong delays (repeats alternating back and forth between left and right), but in some cases you may have more control over it. Unless you have two amps or plug directly into a PA, this is really only useful for recording.
Self-oscillation: this is when the feedbacks build up and start to resonate, resulting in a wacky "spaceship" sound. You'll hear this in some digital pedals, but it's inherent in analog.

If you're wondering, I personally own the EHX Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai. It's a great pedal that can get some fairly warm and transparent delays via the filter and reverb knobs. My second pick would be the Diamond Memory Lane 2, but I don't have $550 to drop on a delay. In a perfect world I would own both :)

If you're on a budget and want a decent analog delay check out the MXR Carbon Copy. No tap tempo, but it does offer modulation (you'll need to open it up to change the speed and depth though). For a good basic digital delay you can't go wrong with the Boss DD pedals (they're up to the DD-7 now).

I hope these points give you something to think about next time you're in the market for a new delay pedal. Happy shopping!