Doc Q7.0
75
Flanger [FLG]
5.12
The sound of a
Flanger
can range from
subtle chorusing, to swooshing jet plane, to
robotic drainpipe. The effect was intended
to duplicate the sweeping comb-filter
sound created when one of two tape decks
playing synchronized material is shifted out
of time by pressing a finger on the “flange”
of the tape reel (hence the term). Great
examples of tape flanging can be heard in
“Itchycoo Park” by the Small Faces (hi
Justin!) or the "Listen to the Music" by the Doobie Brothers. The flanger effect has evolved through countless
variants, but almost all of them have a “feedback” control (sometimes called “regeneration” or “intensity”) which
returns some of the output signal to the input and intensifies the characteristic sweep. A regenerative flanger is a
real attention-getter. Each Axe-Fx II preset can use two fully independent
Flanger
blocks.
The
Flanger
block supports X/Y Switching. See p.
Basic Parameters
TYPE
– This control instantly sets other Flanger parameters for useful sound settings. Types include: DIGITAL
MONO, DIGITAL STEREO, ANALOG MONO, ANALOG STEREO, THRU-ZERO, and STEREO JET.
TIME
– Adjusts the delay time from 0—10ms. This changes the character of the effect. Low values give a
phaser-like sound whereas high values are more ringy and metallic. Adjust to taste.
RATE
– Controls the frequency of the Low Frequency Oscillator, which varies delay time to create the sweep.
Use low settings rate with high depths for slow-moving sounds. Increase the rate for vibrato effects. Set fully
counterclockwise to sync the Flanger LFO to global LFO1. When
RATE
is shown in parenthesis, it is being set
automatically by the
TEMPO
parameter (see below). Set the
TEMPO
to “NONE” for manual control.
DEPTH
– Sets the maximum delay variation. Higher depths increase the amount of detuning. Usually, the rate
and depth settings should be varied inversely, so an increase in rate warrants a decrease in depth. Unique
sounds can also be obtained by ignoring this convention and using other combinations of rate and depth.
FDBK
– Feedback sets the amount of wet signal fed back to the input. Extreme values give the flanger a more
intense quality as it produces sharp resonances in the frequency response. With negative
FEEDBACK
values, the
wet signals are out of phase with the dry, creating sounds with a different character than those created using
positive feedback.
Note that extreme feedback at minimum flanger
DRIVE
settings will cause a siren-like ringing oscillation.
MIX
– Sets the ratio of wet and dry (duplicated from the MIX page).
TEMPO
– Locks the flanger rate in rhythmic relation to the global tempo. For example, if the tempo is set to
“1/4” and the global tempo is 120 BPM, the rate will automatically be set to 2 Hz (BPM/60 = Hz). To ignore the
global tempo set the tempo control to NONE.
Figure 5-14 - The Flanger Block
