Arse! the profanity delay... for Windows PCs

Arse! is simple to use, but packed with powerful features and flexible setup options.

You'll have seen profanity delays before - maybe like us, you've lived with them from the early days of tape loops stretched across reel to reel machines, through the modern, but hardly much more advanced, electronic boxes.

Arse! brings clever ideas and new thinking to the profanity delay... making it feel more like someone just handed you a way to 'edit' a live programme!

On this page, we outline the key features of the product, whilst on the Arse! in use page, there's a step-by-step guide to working with the product.

The user interface

The user interface is simple, clean and clear. The PC screen allows you to see the current system status at all times, with audio meters, delay status and other operational detail laid out in large clear areas.

Despite the advanced functionality of Arse! During a show, the operator only every needs to use two buttons. This makes the system incredibly easy to use - for both DJ/Self-op setups and control room use.

 

Operate Arse! with a standard mouse, or assign your own hotkey to each function for even quicker access. Your chosen hotkey will be shown directly above the corresponding button.

Large meters with peak indicators and dB scale show the input and output (delayed) signal level.

Two large indicators show the current mode and delay in seconds. The coloured bar behind the Delayed Time display makes it easy to see where you are at a glance.

Use it your way...

No two programmes are the same - and so Arse! can be configured to work in the way that's perfect for you.

You can get into delay in one of three ways:

• Manually - as you would with a conventional profanity delay, normally by playing a jingle from a cart/minidisc/playout system to fill the gap.
• Arse! can play your jingle for you (from a standard .wav file on your PC) to fill the delay period
• Using Arse's high-quality delay-build system - this can build up a delay for you during an earlier segment of the programme by un-noticably stretching the audio. There are even two algorithms to do this - one is optimised for speech, and the other for music/speech mixed programming.

During the show, if you need to use the delay to get you out of trouble:

• You can Drop (dump) the delay - as with a standard profanity delay system
• Pressing and releasing the Wipe button drops a pre-set amount of your delay - anything from 1 second to the full delay time
• Pressing and holding the Wipe button drops an amount of audio that corresponds to the time you operate the button for... so if someone just swore, hold the wipe button for a second or two and it will be 'edited out'. This is like removing words from the end of a sentence.

Whether you use the Wipe or Drop facility, Arse! will start to rebuild the lost delay right away using the delay-build system, or by playing a jingle for you (Drop delay only).

The cue window

If you choose to build delay using a jingle, Arse! will shows a cue window while it is playing. The cue window will open five seconds before the input goes live and will count down to zero - at which point the input will start recording again. This means that your jingle can be longer than the delay time you are building to give the presenter a breathing space!

This is just a small feature - but it makes life in the studio so much easier! It allows the presenter to continue without any awkward silences.

The computer hardware

Arse! the profanity delay runs on any standard PCs. It simply requires a standard sound card - from cheap on-board devices up to high quality professional audio cards. We recommend a good quality sound card as your entire programme output passes through the card whilst the delay is in circuit.

Minimum Specifications: