Flanger block

Available on which products

• Axe-Fx III, FM9, FM3: 2 blocks
• VP4: 4 blocks
• Axe-Fx II, FX8: 2 blocks
• AX8: 1 block

Channels or X/Y

• Axe-Fx III, FM9, FM3, VP4: 4 channels
• Axe-Fx II, FX8, AX8: X/Y

About the Flanger block

Flanging originated from pressing on the flange of a tape reel of two tape decks that were synchronized. This causes a small delay between the two decks, creating the famous whooshing sound.

For more information see these pages:

• Wikipedia's Flanging article
• Premier Guitar's Behind the Bucket Brigade
• Ralf Metzger's The Mistress Mystery Page
• Reverb.com's The Flanger: Your Most Versatile Modulator
• Gilmourish's Electric Mistress Flanger/Filter Matrix

Eddie Van Halen's flanger settings:

• Guitar World's Eddie Van Halen on How He Created His Signature Sound Using MXR's Phase 90 and Flanger Pedals
• A photograph of his pedalboard
• The forum's TC-1210/TC SCF discussion.

Firmware Ares 12 for the Axe-Fx III

Firmware Ares 12 completely overhauled the Flanger block.

Release notes:

1. The Delay parameter on the Basic page has been replaced by a "Manual" knob. It functions the same as a typical pedal/rack flanger. To manually control the flanging set Depth to zero. The sensitivity of the Manual control is inversely proportional to Depth and the Manual control is disabled when Depth is at maximum.
2. The Depth control mixes the LFO and Manual controls. When Depth is at minimum the delay time is controlled entirely by Manual. When Depth is at maximum the delay time is controlled solely by the LFO.
3. There are now separate Minimum Time and Maximum Time parameters. These set (not surprisingly) the minimum and maximum delay time when the Depth is at maximum and Manual is at minimum. These are updated when the type is changed. The Flanger block now allows minimum delay times as short as 340 microseconds. If one of the Thru-Zero modes is selected the dry path is delayed accordingly resulting in a net minimum delay time of zero.
4. The "Focus" parameter cuts the bass in the wet path but unlike a low cut compensates the dry path so the net frequency response is flatter.
5. There are three "VCO Curve" types. Linear yields a linear delay time vs. LFO. Exponential gives an exponential response which can be more "musical" because the notches will move more linearly with the logarithm of frequency. Square-law is sort of in-between and is what the old A/DA flanger used.
6. The "Exponent" parameter controls the exponent for the Exponential type. A value of 1.0 is "ideal" and results in the notches sweeping linearly with log(frequency). Higher values cause the delay time to dwell at shorter times and then increase rapidly towards the longer times. Lower values cause the delay time to dwell at longer times.
7. There are five new types based on classic pedals. The MXF-117 is based on the MXR 117, the BBF-2 is based on the Boss BF-2, the Electric Mystery and Deluxe Mystery are based on the Electric Mistress and the D/AD 185 is based on the aforementioned A/DA flanger.
8. There are two Thru-Zero modes: AUTO and MANUAL. AUTO automatically adjusts the thru-zero so that the zero-point is mid-sweep regardless of the Manual value. MANUAL is intended to replicate manual tape flanging. To use MANUAL set the Depth to zero and vary the Manual control to simulate pressing on the tape flange. If Dry Delay is 50% the zero-point on the Manual control is 5.0. Lower values of Dry Delay will shift the zero-point down and vice-versa. Set Thru-Zero to MANUAL and attach an expression pedal to the Manual parameter for the "Ultimate Tape Flanger".
9. The LFO Monitor graph allows monitoring the LFO waveform in real time. Note that for some models the LFO waveform will be distorted due to the nonlinear filtering that occurs. This tends to make a triangle wave look like something in between a sine wave and a sawtooth.

FRACTAL AUDIO QUOTES

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[1] The core flanger algorithm is a delay with feedback. Very little difference between using the delay block as a flanger and using the flanger block.

[2] […] It is basically the same as the delay block but with finer control over the base delay time. It's essentially the same algorithm.

[3] […] I think the problem is people set the Depth too high. For slow rates the Depth should be between 10 and 20%.

[4] The temptation is to turn Depth up but that can actually decrease the intensity of the effect. Depth controls the sweep depth but if you turn it up you'll sweep too much and ruin the effect. Always start very low and bring it up gradually. In retrospect the Depth control probably has too much range. I should look into reducing it.

[5] The key is getting the depth and time right. The basic algorithm IS a delay. Chorus and flangers are basically delays. If you can do it with the delay block then you can do it with the flanger block UNLESS the base time is greater than 10 ms. I've never seen a flanger have more than 10 ms of delay since then it's really not a flanger anymore but a chorus.

[6] The ideal mix is 50% as this will create the most intense effect but sometimes a little more or less is desirable. If you deviate from 50% you'll reduce the depth of the notches caused by the comb filtering. This can make the effect more subtle but perhaps more "organic". Deep notches aren't always desirable.

Depth controls the sweep depth. Time controls the minimum delay time of the wet signal. Depth controls the maximum time, up to 10 ms beyond the minimum time. If you set Time to 1 ms and Depth to 100% the delay sweeps from 1 ms to 11 ms.

Personally I like around 1 ms for the time and 10 - 20% for the depth.

The issue isn't the algorithm. It's understanding the parameters and how to adjust them. Obviously things are too confusing for some people and I will have to give some thought on how to make the effect easier to adjust or clarify the controls. If anything, the flanger block is superior to the delay block for flanging because you have more precise control over the time. The delay block is quantized to 1 ms increments.

PREVIOUS GENERATIONS

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From the FX8 v.17.00 release notes:

[7] […] The Flanger block has been completely rewritten. The new algorithms now model the behavior of classic bucket-brigade device (BBD) units (except they are true stereo). The Depth parameter works somewhat differently now and sets the maximum delay time (up to 20 ms). When Auto Depth is not off the maximum delay is reduced as the rate is increased. There are now three Auto Depth values: Low, Medium and High. Turning Auto Depth to Off allows complete control over the delay time. The minimum time is set by the Delay parameter and the maximum time is set by the Depth. Several new Flanger types have been added which demonstrate the new algorithms.

Dry Delay Shift has been renamed to Dry Delay and works differently (and more intuitively). The parameter now sets the delay time of the dry signal as a percentage of the maximum delay time of the wet signal. For classic thru-zero flanging this parameter should be set to 50%. For interesting new sounds experiment with lower or higher values. Note that this parameter has no effect if Through Zero is set to Off.

Flanger block diagram

Flanger types

1. Digital Mono
2. Digital Stereo
3. Analog Mono
4. Analog Stereo
5. Thru-Zero
6. Stereo Jet
7. Zero Flanger
8. Pop Flanger
9. MXF-117: based on the MXR 117
10. BBF-2: based on the Boss BF-2
11. Electric Mystery: based on the EHX Electric Mistress
12. Deluxe Mystery: based on the EHX Deluxe Electric Mistress
13. D/AD 185: based on the A/DA flanger
14. Manual Thru-Zero Flanger
15. Step Flanger
16. FAS Flanger: custom model
17. Binary Flange
18. Cancel Flange: through zero-flanging
19. Count of Flanging: based on Dream Theater's Count of Tuscany
20. Cuda Flange: Based on Barracuda by Heart
21. Harmonoflange
22. Hemisflange: based on Hemispheres by Rush
23. Lofty Flange
24. Melodic Flange
25. 80's Rack Flanger
26. Scion Stereo Flange
27. Spirit Flange: based on The Spirit of Radio by Rush
28. Starship Flanger: based on Starship Trooper by Yes
29. Trippy Flanger
30. Tubular
31. Vowel Flanger

Flanger block position on the grid

The Flanger block can be placed before or after the Amp block.

In traditional rigs, the Flanger pedal usually goes in front of the amp, before distortion.

For a more pronounced effect, place the Flanger after the Amp block. As demonstrated in factory presets such as TZF FLANGER and JET FLANGER. This also allows it to operate in stereo.

Mono or stereo

Flanger is mono or stereo. It defaults to mono to prevent phase problems when used before an Amp block.

To make it stereo, adjust LFO Phase.

Avoid Phase cancellation.

Parameters

Manual

The Manual control functions the same as a typical pedal/rack flanger. To manually control the flanging set Depth to zero. The sensitivity of the Manual control is inversely proportional to Depth and the Manual control is disabled when Depth is at maximum.

Depth and Time

Prior to firmware Ares 12:

The Depth parameter sets the maximum delay time (up to 20 ms). When Auto Depth is not off, the maximum delay is reduced as the rate is increased. There are three Auto Depth values: Low, Medium and High. Turning Auto Depth to Off allows complete control over the delay time. The minimum time is set by the Delay parameter and the maximum time is set by Depth.

FRACTAL AUDIO QUOTES

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[8] The key is getting the depth and time right.

[9] For slow rates the Depth should be between 10 and 20%.

[10] The temptation is to turn Depth up but that can actually decrease the intensity of the effect. Depth controls the sweep depth but if you turn it up you'll sweep too much and ruin the effect. Always start very low and bring it up gradually.

[11] The ideal mix is 50% as this will create the most intense effect but sometimes a little more or less is desirable. If you deviate from 50% you'll reduce the depth of the notches caused by the comb filtering. This can make the effect more subtle but perhaps more "organic". Deep notches aren't always desirable.

Depth controls the sweep depth. Time controls the minimum delay time of the wet signal. Depth controls the maximum time, up to 10 ms beyond the minimum time. If you set Time to 1 ms and Depth to 100% the delay sweeps from 1 ms to 11 ms.

Personally I like around 1 ms for the time and 10 - 20% for the depth.

Firmware Ares 12 and later:

The Depth control mixes the LFO and Manual controls. When Depth is at minimum the delay time is controlled entirely by Manual. When Depth is at maximum the delay time is controlled solely by the LFO.

There are now separate Minimum Time and Maximum Time parameters. These set (not surprisingly) the minimum and maximum delay time when the Depth is at maximum and Manual is at minimum. These are updated when the type is changed. The Flanger block now allows minimum delay times as short as 340 microseconds. If one of the Thru-Zero modes is selected the dry path is delayed accordingly resulting in a net minimum delay time of zero.

Feedback

To simulate the Odd/Even control on the original A/DA flanger, use positive/negative Feedback. [12]

With Feedback at zero, the Flanger is very similar to a chorus.

FRACTAL AUDIO QUOTES

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[13] […] The Axe-Fx time parameter sets the minimum time. The modulation is unipolar on top of the base time, up to 10 ms of modulation. So the maximum time is 20 ms which is longer than the A/DA.

Technically a flanger is a very short delay. "Flanging" came about by pressing on the flange of a tape reel of two tape decks that were synchronized. This caused a SMALL delay between the two decks.

Feedback was something that was added to "flangers" that were intended to emulate this effect but the original flanging technique did not have feedback. There is nothing to say a chorus can't have feedback as well. It just happens to not sound good so it's not done.

[14] Just use the flanger with zero feedback and modulate MANUAL. In some cases, the Flanger is now a better chorus than the chorus!

[15] Use the Chorus, which is the same thing as a flanger whose feedback is set to 0.
Put it after your amp and cab for stereo or in front of your amp for mono.
Here are some settings:

Delay

Prior to the Ares 12 firmware, the minimum delay time was set by the Delay parameter and the maximum delay time is set by Depth.

Ares 12 firmware release notes:

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[16] About the Flanger:

1. The Delay parameter on the Basic page has been replaced by a "Manual" knob. It functions the same as a typical pedal/rack flanger. To manually control the flanging set Depth to zero. Higher values of Manual increase the minimum delay time and reduce the LFO sensitivity.

2. There are now separate Minimum Time and Maximum time parameters. These set (not unsurprisingly) the minimum and maximum delay time when the Depth is at maximum and Manual is at minimum. These are updated when the type is changed.

3. The "Focus" parameter cuts the bass in the wet path but unlike a low cut compensates the dry path so the net frequency response is flatter.

4. There are three "VCO Curve" types. Linear yields a linear delay time vs. LFO. Exponential gives an exponential response which can be more "musical" because the notches will move linearly with the logarithm of frequency. Square-law is sort of in-between and is what the old A/DA flanger used. The previous firmware was always Exponential.

5. There are five new types based on classic pedals. The MXF-117 is based on the MXR 117, the BBF-2 is based on the Boss BF-2, the Electric Mystery and Deluxe Mystery are based on the Electric Mistress and the D/AD 185 is based on the aforementioned A/DA flanger.

FRACTAL AUDIO QUOTES

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Delay range: 0 to 10 ms. Technically the block is capable of 0 to 20 ms but I've never found any use for that. Just sounds strange to me.

Focus

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The "Focus" parameter cuts the bass in the wet path but unlike a low cut compensates the dry path so the net frequency response is flatter.

VCO Curve

From AXE-FX III Firmware 11.02 Flanger Update:

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There are three "VCO Curve" types. Linear yields a linear delay time vs. LFO. Exponential gives an exponential response which can be more "musical" because the notches will move more linearly with the logarithm of frequency. Square-law is sort of in-between and is what the old A/DA flanger used.

The "Exponent" parameter controls the exponent for the Exponential type. A value of 1.0 is "ideal" and results in the notches sweeping linearly with log(frequency). Higher values cause the delay time to dwell at shorter times and then increase rapidly towards the longer times. Lower values cause the delay time to dwell at longer times.

Mix

FRACTAL AUDIO QUOTES

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The ideal mix is 50% as this will create the most intense effect but sometimes a little more or less is desirable. If you deviate from 50% you'll reduce the depth of the notches caused by the comb filtering. This can make the effect more subtle but perhaps more "organic". Deep notches aren't always desirable.

LFO Bypass Reset

This resets the LFO whenever the block is bypassed. This allows synchronizing the sweep to the engagement of the effect.

LFO Phase

This sets the stereo field of the Flanger. 0 is mono.

Dry Delay

For classic Through-Zero flanging, this parameter should be set to 50%. For interesting new sounds, experiment with lower or higher values. If Dry Delay is 50%, the zero-point on the Manual control is 5.0. Lower values of Dry Delay will shift the zero-point down and vice-versa.

This parameter has no effect if Through Zero is set to Off.

Through-Zero

From Axe-FX III Firmware 11.02 Flanger Update:

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[…] There are two Thru-Zero modes: AUTO and MANUAL. AUTO automatically adjusts the thru-zero so that the zero-point is mid-sweep regardless of the Manual value. MANUAL is intended to replicate manual tape flanging. To use MANUAL set the Depth to zero and vary the Manual control to simulate pressing on the tape flange. If Dry Delay is 50% the zero-point on the Manual control is 5.0. Lower values of Dry Delay will shift the zero-point down and vice-versa. Set Thru-Zero to MANUAL and attach an expression pedal to the Manual parameter for the "Ultimate Tape Flanger".

The only difference between the Thru-Zero and Zero flanger types is the Phase Reverse setting.

A through-zero flanger increases processing latency.

FRACTAL AUDIO QUOTES

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[17] It depends on the flanger type. If it's a thru-zero flanger it necessarily adds latency because you have to delay wet and dry for that to work.. Otherwise it does not.

Tape flanging

From AXE-FX III Firmware 11.02 Flanger Update:

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[…] The MANUAL Thru-Zero mode is intended to replicate manual tape flanging. To use MANUAL set the Depth to zero and vary the Manual control to simulate pressing on the tape flange. If Dry Delay is 50% the zero-point on the Manual control is 5.0. Lower values of Dry Delay will shift the zero-point down and vice-versa. Set Thru-Zero to MANUAL and attach an expression pedal to the Manual parameter for the "Ultimate Tape Flanger".

For authentic results, put the Flanger at the end of the chain.

Current firmware includes the Tape Flanger type in the Chorus block.

Stereo Spread

Values beyond +/-100% increase the apparent image beyond the stereo field.

Tips, tricks and troubleshooting

Factory presets

The Flanger block is showcased in many factory presets. Search the Factory presets page for flanger.

The ANDY MESSAGE factory preset features different kinds of flanging based on Electro-Harmonix devices.

Andy Summer's sound (The Police)

Admin M@ shared settings for the sound of a Electric Mistress Deluxe.

Boss CE-1

It's possible to emulate the Boss CE-1 using a LFO-driven Flanger block.

Fixed flanger effect

Set Rate at zero or use the Resonator block.

FRACTAL AUDIO QUOTES

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The Resonator block is basically a type of fixed flanger. Well, four of them in parallel actually.

Dynaflanger effect

The Axe-Fx III, FM9 and FM3 have presets showcasing the DynamoFlanger, which produces the Ibanez Dynaflanger sound effect, as used by Frank Zappa.

To find these, search the Factory presets page for dyna.

Contour the taper

FRACTAL AUDIO QUOTES

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[18] […] If you want to contour the taper of a flanger, try this trick:

Place a modifier on the TIME. Set the source to SEQUENCER. Add a little damping. Now you can craft any kind of sweep shape you want. Use MIN and MAX in the modifier to set the depth.

You can also do this with the DELAY block MONO TAPE algorithm. It has a different sound than the Flanger block. Modify MOTOR TIME using an LFO or the trick above.

Use other effects for flanging

The Multitap Delay block and Delay block can be used to create flanging effects.