The Flanger and Phaser effects now considered a modulation effect and sometimes as pitch modulating effects are still rooted as time based effects. While both effects are respectably similar they are obtained by different means.
FLANGER
The flange effect is created by placing the same sound side by side. Leaving one dry and adding delay to the other. When a minimal amount of delay is applied it can strengthen or reinforce the sound. Due to the cycling in and out of phase, you end up with a “swoosh” type of sound that has a metallic finish. In the end flanging uses an equal amount of delay on the entire signal. A low frequency oscillator (LFO) is the primary characteristic of a flanger and it’s amount and rate determine the intensity and speed of the sweep. The word “deep” is thrown around a lot when discussing electronic music. While there is no set definition, it’s often used to describe music that is atmospheric, warm, and subdued. Using a flanger on pads is a great trick for achieving this sound. They typically bring out the nuances of longer sounds, creating an “evolving” feel.
PHASER
The phase effect is created by the signal being passed through an all pass filter. Having a non linear phase response creates a phase difference on the output signal. The phase of a low frequency and a high frequency can be shifted by different amounts. Various signals are delayed in different amounts causing peaks in the output signal. Throwing a phaser on a growl patch can give it that throaty vocal sound. Take the LFO off or slow the rate down to a very slow speed. Play with the frequency, the number of poles and of course the wet/dry mix.
FLANGERS
So you know what the main controls are and how they operate we have included a definition of each of the most common knobs found on a flanger. While not all are the same they do share common functions that may be named differently.
- Rate/Speed
How quickly the delay point changes, or the rate of flanging. When the knob is all the way to the left this is disabled, or set at minimum. By increasing the amount you will hear the side to side sweep become faster.
- Range /Depth/Width
How wide the wet signal is shifted in time. This controls how powerful the effect is.
- Threshold
How much signal is needed for the effect to happen.
- Feedback
This control sets the level of feedback from the output to the input of the delay line.
Note that flanging provides only uniformly spaced notches. In normal terms this means that Depth is controlling notch depth, Speed is the speed of notch movement and Feedback is the feedback from output to input.
Now that you know about Flangers, how they operate, and how to control them lets look into some of the best free flangers out there.
We have recorded some audio samples of the presets of each plugin. If presets were not present we created our own and included the settings we used to obtain the sound.
*All audio samples originate from the same tone. Listen to original tone here*
Phat Noise Flanger
PhatNoise is designed with an extremely intuitive interface as it is intended to be the perfect inclusion for any beginners setup. Simply install it into your VST folder and just start turning the dials. Through its intuitive interface, you will instantly be moulding and pressing the sound into the PhatNoise shape you want, with minimal effort. PhatNoise was also designed to be highly optimized, so CPU usage is minimal, allowing for multiple instances to be used in a project.
Controls
- Depth
- Output Gain
- Feedback
Range
- Depth 0% to 100%
- Output Gain 0.00Hz to 5.00Hz
- Feedback 0% to 100%
Presets = 16
Audio Samples of Presets
Syncersoft Flanger
Flanger VST is a classic Flanger with analog and tube emulation designed by Syncersoft. The plug-in contains a Tube section and Flanger section. Preset buttons only worked on 3 presets. Selecting them manually did nothing as well. All controls work and give a lot of control and functionality.
Controls
- Rate
- Phase
- Depth
- Dry/Wet
- Min
- Feedback
- Tube
Range
- Rate 0Hz to 10.00Hz
- Phase 0 to 180
- Depth 0ms to 10.00ms
- Dry/Wet 0% to 100%
- Min 0ms to 10.00ms
- Feedback 100% to 100%
- Tube - On/Off
Presets = ?
Custom Preset
- Rate 0.09
- Phase 124.7
- Depth 9.30ms
- Dry/Wet 100%
- Min 3.79ms
- Feedback -84.2%
- Tube On
Classic Flanger
The free Classic Flanger by Kjaerhus Audio will give your guitars that subtle and highly sought-after swirling effect. Due to a tightly controlled feedback path, it is possible to boost the flanging effect to maximum without getting unwanted side effects. The Classic Flanger plugin features host synchronization, stereo spread and it supports sampling rates up to 96kHz. With a sound that resembles the old Boss HF-2 flanger unit, the Classic Flanger will give your guitar the true mid 80's sound in no time.
Controls
- Delay Section
- Time
- Modulation Section
- Rate
- Depth
- Feedback
- Sync
- Spread
- Output Section
- Mix
- Level dB
Range
- Delay Section
- Time 00ms to 10ms
- Modulation Section
- Rate 0.05Hz to 10Hz
- Depth 0 to 100
- Feedback -100 to +100
- Sync On/Off
- Spread On/Off
- Output Section
- Mix Dir to Eff
- Level dB -24 to +6
Presets = 12
Audio Samples of Presets
Custom
- Time 4.0
- Rate 3.12Hz
- Sync On
- Spread On
- Depth 100%
- Feedback +50%
- Mix 0.48:1:5
- Level 0.9db
DD Flanger
From Dead Duck the DD Flanger is a multi stage stereo flanger with optional tempo-sync.
Controls
- Sync
- Rate
- Delay
- Range
- Feedback
- Depth
- Bypass
Range
- Sync On/Off
- Rate 0.1Hz to 20Hz
- Delay 0.10ms to 10.00ms
- Range 0% to 100%
- Feedback 0% to 100%
- Depth 0% to 100%
- Bypass On/Off
Presets = 0
Custom Presets
- Sync On
- Rate 1/2
- Delay 3.49ms
- Range 45.5%
- Feedback 0%
- Depth 94%
- Bypass Off
- Sync On
- Rate 1/32
- Delay 10.00ms
- Range 0%
- Feedback 100%
- Depth 100%
- Bypass Off
PHASER
The phaser sound comes from a signal processor that receives input and breaks it down into two parts. The first part of the signal passes through a series of all-pass filters, called “stages”, while the second part is kept dry. At the end of the signal the two parts are then rejoined creating an output with an in-phase signal and an out-of-phase signal.The all-pass filters or “stages” will vary depending on what type of phaser you have.
So you know what the main controls are and how they operate we have included a definition of each of the most common knobs found on a phaser. While not all are the same they do share common functions that may be named differently.
- Depth
The depth knob controls the depth of the effect.
- Rate
Controls the oscillation speed.
- Feedback
Enables extremely pronounced phaser sounds.
Big Cat’s Phaser
Modeled after vintage analog phaser circuits, Blue Cat's Phaser reproduces this old vintage phasing effect that you can find on so many recordings, but with the precision of modern digital processing techniques.
Controls
- Bypass
- Opacity
- Show control Settings
- Undo
- Redo
- Preset Menu
- Manual
- About
- Gain
- Stages
- Depth
- Rate
- Spread
- Dry
- Wet
- Feedback
- Shape
Range
- Gain -20db to +20db
- Stages 0 to 32
- Depth 0% to 100%
- Rate 0.00Hz to 20.00Hz
- Spread 0% to 100%
- Dry 0% to 100%
- Wet -100% to +100%
- Feedback -100% to +100%
- Shape Triangle and Sine
Presets = 19
Audio Samples of Presets
DD PHASER
From Dead Duck Software is the DD Phaser. A multi stage phaser with optional tempo sync.
Controls
- Sync
- Rate
- Range
- Stages
- Feedback
- Depth
- Bypass
Range
- Sync On/Off
- Rate 0.010Hz to 10.00Hz
- Range 500Hz to 5000Hz
- Stages 4 to 12
- Feedback 0% to 100%
- Depth 0% to 100%
- Bypass On/Off
Presets = 0
Custom Settings
- Sync On
- Rate 1/1D
- Range 1310Hz
- Stages 10
- Feedback 75.5%
- Depth 66.5%
- Bypass Off
Phat Noise Phazer
The PhatNoise Phaser is one in our series of easy to use vst plugin software for music making. Phazor is a free effect plugin, which emulates the phaser effect. The plugin is highly optimized and its CPU usage is minimal, allowing for multiple instances to be used in a project.
Controls
- LFO Type
- LFO Phase
- Rate
- Depth
- Increase
Range
- LFO Type Sine,Saw, Triangle, Square
- LFO Phase Norm and Quad
- Rate 0.0Hz to 10.00Hz
- Depth 0% to 100%
- Increase 0% to 100%
Presets = 15
Audio Samples of Presets
Supa Phaser
SupaPhaser by Smart Electronix is a Virtual Effect Audio Plugin. It functions as a VST Plugin and an Audio Units Plugin.
Controls
- ENV/LFO
- Attack
- Release
- ENV Min
- ENV Max
- Frequency
- Stereo
- LFO Min
- LFO Max
- Extend
- Distortion
- Feedback
- Stages
- Gain
- Dry/Wet
Range
- ENV 0-100%
- LFO 0-100%
- Attack 0ms to 400ms
- Release 0 to 1000
- ENV Min 0 to 100
- ENV Max 0 to 100
- Frequency 0 to 2.000hz
- Stereo 0 to 360
- LFO Min 0 to 100%
- LFO Max 0 to 100%
- Extend On/Off
- Distortion 0 to 10
- Feedback 0 to 100
- Stages 0 to 23
- Gain -200 to 10.0
- Dry/Wet Mix
Presets = 50
Sound Samples of Presets
Violent Phaser
Violent Phaser is a synchronizable phaser. The phaser shifts the timing of the audio sign, and changes the rate of the dominant and emphatised frequency range in the time-range given by the user. This is how the special/peculiar tune is created.
Controls
- Switch
- Manual/Auto
- Wet/Dry
- Speed
- Gain
- Feedback
Range
- Switch On/Off
- Manual/Auto Switch 1/16 to 16/4
- Wet/Dry 0 to 1.0
- Speed 0 to 256
- Gain 0 to 256
- Feedback 0 to 256
Presets = 5
Audio Samples of PresetsAnd so we wrap up another lesson in audio production by covering the use of a Flanger or Phaser. When applied to any instrument this can add some real diversity and a definitive uniqueness. If you know of other awesome Flanger or Phaser plugins not mentioned here, please share in the comment section below.
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