In the days before digital, achieving delay effects either required “bucket brigade” analog circuits, tape delay or simply sending audio down a long pathway (hallway, stairwell, etc.) and capturing the result with a microphone at the other end.

Seeking an alternative, in 1971 Bill Putman of Universal Audio/UREI and Duane Cooper collaborated to create the first mechanical delay device which routed audio down a garden hose housed in an enclosure with microphones placed at different points, yielding a choice of 14, 16 or 30 milliseconds of delay time.

The device had its own unique delay and doubling effects and sound and found its way onto many hit songs, including “Tell Me Something Good” by Rufus and War’s “Low Rider.” Few units were made (and fewer exist today), yet its classic sound lives on as the “Cooper Time Cube Mk II,” a Universal Audio software plug-in version that updates the original with modern features like tempo sync, pan, and EQ.