Flanging
Flanging
Part of the output signal is usually fed back to the input (a re-circulating delay line), producing a resonance effect that further enhances the intensity of the peaks and troughs. The phase of the fed-back signal is sometimes inverted, producing another variation on the flanger sound.
Origin
As an audio effect, a listener hears a drainpipe or swoosh or jet plane sweeping effect as shifting sum-and-difference harmonics are created analogous to use of a variable
Despite claims over who originated flanging, Les Paul discovered the effect in the late 1940s and 1950s; however, he did most of his early phasing experiments with acetate disks on variable-speed record players. On "Mammy's Boogie" (1952) he used two disk recorders, one with a variable speed control.[3][4] The first hit song with a very discernible flanging effect was "The Big Hurt" (1959) by Toni Fisher.[5]
Further development of the classic effect is attributed to
Others have attributed it to
The first stereo flanging is credited to producer Eddie Kramer, in the coda of Jimi Hendrix's "Bold as Love" (1967). Kramer said in the 1990s that he read BBC Radiophonic Workshop journals for ideas and circuit diagrams.[citation needed]
In 1968, the record producer for the Litter, Warren Kendrick, devised a method to precisely control flanging by placing two 15 ips (inches per second) stereo Ampex tape recorders side by side.[8] The take-up reel of recorder A and supply reel of B were disabled, as were channel 2 of recorder A, channel 1 of recorder B and the erase head of recorder B. The tape was fed left-to-right across both recorders and an identical signal was recorded on each channel of the tape, but displaced by approximately 18 inches along the length of the tape. During recording, an ordinary screwdriver was wedged between the recorders to make the tape run "uphill" and "downhill." The same configuration was employed during the playback/mixdown to a third recorder. The screwdriver was moved back and forth to cause the two signals to diverge, then converge. The latter technique permits zero point flanging; i.e., the lagging signal crosses over the leading signal and the signals change places.[9][10][11][12]
A similar "jet plane-like" effect can occur naturally in long distance shortwave radio music broadcasts. In this case the delays are caused by variable radio wave propagation time and multipath radio interference.
Artificial flanging
In the 1970s, advances in
The original tape-flanging effect sounds a little different from electronic and software recreations.[21][22] Not only is the tape-flanging signal time-delayed, but response characteristics at different frequencies of the tape and tape heads introduced phase shifts into the signals as well. Thus, while the peaks and troughs of the comb filter are more or less in a linear harmonic series, there is a significant non-linear behaviour too, causing the timbre of tape-flanging to sound more like a combination of what came to be known as flanging and phasing.
"Barber pole" flanging
Also known as "infinite flanging", this sonic illusion is similar to the
Comparison with phase shifting
Flanging is one specific type of
In contrast, flanging relies on adding the signal to a uniform time-delayed copy of itself, which results in an output signal with peaks and troughs which are in a harmonic series. Extending the comb analogy, flanging yields a comb filter with regularly spaced teeth, whereas phasing results in a comb filter with irregularly spaced teeth.
In both phasing and flanging, the characteristics (phase response and time delay respectively) are generally varied in time, leading to an audible sweeping effect. To the ear, flanging and phasing sound similar, yet they are recognizable as distinct colorations. Commonly, flanging is referred to as having a "jet-plane-like" characteristic. In order for the comb filter effect to be audible, the spectral content of the program material must be full enough within the frequency range of this moving comb filter to reveal the filter's effect. It is more apparent when it is applied to material with a rich harmonic content, and is most obvious when applied to a white noise or similar noise signal. If the frequency response of this effect is plotted on a graph, the trace resembles a comb, and so is called a comb filter.[27]
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 0-330-34210-X.
- ISBN 9781848569508. Retrieved 25 May 2022.
- ^ Bode, Harald (October 1984) "History of Electronic Sound Modification". Journal of the Audio Engineering Society. Vol. 32, No. 10, p. 730. (Convenience archive[permanent dead link]).
- ISBN 0-87930-479-0
- ^ Lacasse, Serge (2004) 'Listen to My Voice’: The Evocative Power of Vocal Staging in Recorded Rock Music and Other Forms of Vocal Expression.
- ^ Lewisohn, Mark. The Beatles: Recording Sessions (New York: Harmony Books, 1988), page 70.
- ISBN 978-1-4411-5607-5. Interludes between chorus and verse at 0:50–1:07, 1:40–2:05, and 2:20–2:46.
- ^ Diagram by Warren Kendrick – 'K-Tel Reissue CD 10002 (1991)'
- ^ "Thru-Zero Flanger - Classic tape-flanging simulation". smartelectronix.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "Liquid by Audio Damage - Modulation (Flanger / Phaser / Chorus / Tremolo) VST Plugin and Audio Units Plugin". kvraudio.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "Flanger Effect in Audacity - All". instructables.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "Google Groups". google.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "50th Flashback #5: FL 201 Instant Flanger". Eventide Audio. Retrieved 20 May 2021.
- ^ "Music Software Review: Fix Flanger and Doubler by Softube". filmandgamecomposers.com. 27 May 2016. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "Realtime audio processing, part 4: Comb filters, Flangers and Chorus effects – a bit of theory - philippseifried.com". philippseifried.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "Flanger [Analog Devices Wiki]". analog.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "Blue Cat's Flanger - Classic Flanging Effect Audio Plug-in (VST, AU, RTAS, AAX, DirectX) (Freeware)". bluecataudio.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "TAL - Togu Audio Line: TAL-Effects". tal-software.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "Azurite by Distorque - Chorus VST Plugin". kvraudio.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "Software Synthesis". basicsynth.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "Authentic Tape Flanging in REAPER. - Cockos Incorporated Forums". cockos.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ REAPER
- ^ "The Sonic Barber Pole: Shepard's Scale". at cycleback.com.
- ^ "Barberpole Flanger by Christian Budde - Modulation (Flanger / Phaser / Chorus / Tremolo) VST Plugin". kvraudio.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "audio software by oli larkin". Olilarkin.co.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
- ^ "Q. What's the difference between phasing and flanging?". soundonsound.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
- ^ "Blue Cat's Freeware Plug-ins Pack II". bluecataudio.com. Retrieved 17 April 2017.