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Info: Biography, Pictures, Discography of all CDs & DVDs |
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| December 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.This produces a swept 'comb filter' effect: peaks and notches are produced in the resultant frequency spectrum, related to each other in a linear harmonic series.Varying the time delay causes these to sweep up and down the frequency spectrum.Problems listening to the file?In general, the position of these peaks and troughs do not occur in a harmonic series.Origin
The name flanging comes from the original method of creation.The "flange" effect originated when an engineer would literally put a finger on the flange, or rim of one of the tape reels so that machine was slowed down, slipping out of sync by tiny degrees.As the weight of the tape built up on one reel, the pressure on the capstans could cause flanging during mixdown or dubbing.This was one of the problems faced by studio engineers in the sixties and seventies when recording large concept pieces, as explained by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull when recounting the studio challenges of recording Thick as a Brick.One of the first instances of the sound being used on a commercial pop recording was The Small Faces' 1967 single "Itchycoo Park", recorded at Olympic and engineered by Chkiantz's colleague Glyn Johns.Problems listening to the file?The tape was fed, left to right, across BOTH recorders and the identical signal was recorded on both channels of the tape; the signals were displaced approximately 18 inches from each other.During the recording, a screwdriver was wedged between the tape recorders to make the tape run "uphill" and "downhill."The first use of flanging effect in stereo is credited to producer Eddie Kramer who used the effect in the coda of Jimi Hendrix's song "Bold as Love" (1967).Kramer admitted in an 1990s interview that he read BBC Radiophonic Workshop technical journals for ideas and circuit diagrams.In the 1970s, advances in solid state electronics made the flanging effect possible using integrated circuit technology.The flanging effect in most newer digital flangers relies on DSP technology.Flanging can also be accomplished using computer software.Tape flanging requires bulky hardware and takes quite a knack to get right, but some consider the results to be well worth the time and effort.This page was last modified 19:41, 7 January 2008.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See Copyrights for details.December 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.Varying the time delay causes these to sweep up and down the frequency spectrum.Problems listening to the file?Flanging is one specific type of phasing.This results in constructive and destructive interference that varies with frequency, giving a series of peaks and troughs in the frequency response of the system.In both phasing and flanging, the characteristics (phase response and time delay, respectively) are generally varied in time, leading to an audible sweeping effect.If the frequency response of this effect is plotted on a graph, the trace resembles a comb, and so is called a comb filter.Originally, a signal would be recorded to two tape machines simultaneously.As the weight of the tape built up on one reel, the pressure on the capstans could cause flanging during mixdown or dubbing.This was one of the problems faced by studio engineers in the sixties and seventies when recording large concept pieces, as explained by Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull when recounting the studio challenges of recording Thick as a Brick.The development of the classic "flanging" effect is usually attributed to George Chkiantz, an engineer employed at Olympic Studios in Barnes, London.However there are competing claims for the first recorded use of the technique.American music industry veterans David S.Problems listening to the file?A, channel 1 of recorder B and the erase head of recorder B.The tape was fed, left to right, across BOTH recorders and the identical signal was recorded on both channels of the tape; the signals were displaced approximately 18 inches from each other.During the recording, a screwdriver was wedged between the tape recorders to make the tape run "uphill" and "downhill."The screwdriver was moved back and forth to cause the two signals to diverge, then converge.The first use of flanging effect in stereo is credited to producer Eddie Kramer who used the effect in the coda of Jimi Hendrix's song "Bold as Love" (1967).In the 1970s, advances in solid state electronics made the flanging effect possible using integrated circuit technology.The flanging effect in most newer digital flangers relies on DSP technology.Even today, though, many studio practitioners prefer the sound of analog tape flanging, finding the serendipitous nature of human intervention more interesting than the clinical perfection created by purely electronic means.This page was last modified 19:41, 7 January 2008.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.Flanger can support from one to four T1's or E1's per link.Flanger unit provides the capability for recovering
from data loss, without propagating the errors to following frames.This is most easily met by a private, dedicated radio system, or
by a private LAN.E1 transport across distances of up to two miles, or 20
miles using Canopy's passive reflectors.MemoryLink is in the process of evaluating Flanger operation with other types of wireless and
wired links, and will support such links in the future.Flanger transports the full T1 bandwidth (1.Mbps) plus 256 Kbps of
overhead in each direction, thus occupying a total of 3.Mbps version of Canopy can be utilized.The Flanger project was founded in 1998 by Uwe Schmidt (aka Atom Heart)and Bernd Friedmann (aka Burnt Friedman),who have both been active in the music business since the early 1990s.The success of this debut album convinced Flanger to do a second LP,which was recorded in Santiago de Chile, in March 1999.The release of "Midnight Sound"prompted Uwe Schmidt and Bernd Friedmann, who are renowned for their very special shows, to consider the idea of live Flanger presentations.BoardsFan SitesRelated ArtistsSimilar ArtistsCinematic OrchestraThelonious Monk QuartetJim NoletJohn MedeskiMr.Atom Heart's and Bernd Friedmann's Flanger project is produced by the combination of traditional jazz elements with experimental filtering and editing techniques.For the 1999 album Templates, Flanger used drums, bass, piano, and vibraphone, then put the product through their own editing process with the end product of unrecognizable instruments.Ninja Tune Records, home of artists including Kid Koala, DJ Food, and Funki Porcini.By: Credited Role:Main PerformerSong List: Funeral March, Crime in the Pale Moonlight, How Long Is the...Great selection of guitars.Browse and compare great deals on flanger.Get Instantly Ringtones to Your Phone.Build your own online store or Advertise with us.Current Advertisers Sign InHelp improve Yahoo!Shopping APIs, now powering Yahoo!Information about prices, products, services and merchants is provided by third parties and is for informational purposes only.Delay Lines and Effects
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flangerchorusphaser
losses whose magnitude is dependent on the fractional length of the delay line.As the delay length is varied, these variable losses give an amplitude distortiondue to amplitude modulation of the various frequency components.Coupled toamplitude modulation, there is also phase modulation due to phase nonlinearityof the interpolator, in both cases of FIR and IIR interpolation.The terminology used for audio effects is not consistent, as terms such as
flanger, chorus, and phaser are often associated with a large variety of effects,that can be quite different from each other.FIRcomb filter whose delay length is sinusoidally modulated between a minimumand a maximum value.This has the effect of expanding and contracting theharmonic series of notches of the frequency response.Each notch is controllable inits frequency position and width.This should simulatethe deviations in time and height that are found in performances of a choirsinging in unison.For the flanger the suggested nominal delay is 1msec andfor the chorus it is 5msec.In this way, when both the pointers are at the nominalposition, the structure does not introduce any coloration for stationary signals.Introduction
Flanging has a very characteristic sound that many people refer to as a "whooshing" sound, or a sound similar to the sound of a jet plane flying overhead.Sound Set 1 presents a basic dry drum loop and that same drum loop with flanging applied.K)
Sound Set 1: A drum loop dry, followed by the same loop with flanging applied.As will be shown below, flanging creates a set of equally spaced notches in the audio spectrum.Phasing uses a set of notches as well, but the spacing of them can be arbitrary and the notches in a phaser are usually created using allpass filters.This isn't difficult to produce with standard audio equipment, and it is believed that flanging was actually "discovered" by accident.The rim of the reel is also known as the 'flange', hence the name 'flanging'.Most modern day flangers let you shape the sound by allowing you to control how much of the delayed signal is added to the original, which is usually referred to as a 'depth' control (or 'mix').Figure 1 is a diagram of a simple flanger with this depth control.Figure 1: Diagram of a simple flanger.The delay changes with time.When we listen to a flanged signal, we don't hear an echo because the delay is so short.Points at which the frequency response goes to zero means that sounds of that frequency are eliminated, while other frequencies are passed with some amplitude change.Figure 2: The frequency response of a simple flanger with two different delay times (both with a depth of 1).The plot on the left would be for a flanger with a smaller delay than that on the right.These notches in the frequency response are created by destructive interference.At one extreme, where the delay is such that the signals are perfectly out of phase, as one signal increases, the other decreases the same amount, so the entire signal will disappear at the output.In the flanger, you can control how deep these notches go by using the depth control.When the depth is at zero, the frequency response is flat, but as you increase the depth, the notches begin to appear and extend downward, reaching zero when the depth is one.Even if the notches do not extend quite all the way to zero, they will still have an audible effect.The characteristic sound of a flanger results when these notches sweep up and down the frequency axis over time.Picture the notches compressing and expanding like a spring between the two plots in Figure 2.If you have Quicktime installed on your computer, you can try a quicktime movie of a flanger (383K) that demonstrates the sweping with an audio track.You may want to have your player loop the movie.The sweeping action of the notches is achieved by continuously changing the amount of delay used.As the delay increases, the notches slide further down into the lower frequencies.The manner in which the delay changes is determined by the LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) waveform (discussed below).Picture a flanger created by two tape reels running the same audio signal.As you may know from experience, as you slow down a tape, the pitch drops.Of course only the delayed copy of the sound has this pitch change, which is then mixed in with the unaltered signal.The larger the depth, the more pronounced the notches in the flanger.In multieffects units, the depth may only be controllable in the mixer section, and not available within the flanging processor.In some cases, the delay parameter can be set to zero, in which case the notches will sweep the uppermost frequency range, and essentially disappear momentarily.In other cases, you may not be able to control delay parameter.K)
Sound Set 2: The drum loop flanged with a delay of 1 ms.Figure 3: The relationship between the sweep depth and delay parameters.The flanger needs to read even faster or slower to change the delay in the same amount of time.K)
Sound Set 3: A plucked electric guitar string, first flanged with a depth of 2 ms.Note that the latter varies more in pitch.Note that when you vary the delay parameter, both the upper and lower limits of the first notch are changed, but when you adjust the depth, only the lower limit is affected.So when you are setting up a flanger to sweep over a particular range, first set the delay so that the high point of the sweep is where you want it, and then adjust the sweep depth to set the low point of the sweep.Remember that the parameters you set are controlling the delay, and that the notches result from this delay.As the delay increases, the notch frequencies decrease.LFO Waveform
Some flangers will allow you to choose the LFO waveform.This waveform determines how the delay in the flanger varies in time.The triangle is probably the more common choice in flangers.Regeneration
Some units will give you an option for taking a portion of the flanger's output and routing it to the input.In some cases, you can also specify whether to add or subtract the feedback signal.Of course as the feedback gain approaches one, the system can be come unstable, possibly resulting in overflow or clipping.K)
Sound Set 4: Flanging with heavy feedback applied to a strummed chord.Figure 5: The more complex flanger including a feedback path and LFO control over the delay.By increasing the speed, the flanger will have to sweep through the depth in less time.Implementation
Analog
The most familiar analog delay method is the recordable tape loop, but the amount of delay needed in a flanger is so small that it would be impractical.Since the samples are always taken one sampling period apart, you can't create a delay line whose delay is not an integral multiple of the sampling period.In this case, we have two samples and we want to get a value in between them.Other Notes
Disappearing Instruments
There is an interesting possibility when using a flanger with a musical instrument.In practice, an instrument won't disappear entirely, but there can be severe amplitude modulation.The notch effect is much clearer).In fact, flanging is often used on an entire mix, rather than a specific instrument within a mix.Stereo Flangers
One method for creating a stereo flanger is to use two monophonic flangers in quadrature phase.Sound Set 5 presents a mono source file processed by a flanger with stereo outputs.If you are having trouble hearing any difference, make sure your computer is generating a stereo output, and use a pair of headphones.K)
Sound Set 5 (Stereo): A stereo flanger applied to the opening drum loop.From Flangers to Chorus
The basic structure of the flanger is very similar to that of a chorus effect.Chorusers generally do not have any feedback though.If you want to get your hands dirty and play around with flangers, here are a few sources.If your computer is equipped with a Windows Sound System (WSS) or want to get your hands on some C source code, download the file audio.Dobb's Journal cited below).The program can be found on sound.There are a couple of Csound orchestras that were used for experimentation and used for some of the sounds in this article.Neither is truly a correct flanger, but it does work to some extent.New York: Schirmer Books, 1984."An Allpass Approach to Digital Phasing and Flanging," Proceedings of the 1982 International Computer Music Conference.Mailing List,17 November 1995.SiteCatalyst code version: H.You may give each page an identifying name, server, and channel on
the next lines.The two albums that followed on from this amazing debut failed to recapture the same fresh spark, instead settling for a less daring approach to largely familiar material.BRAUN (AND THE MOB)
As the veneer of dumbness starts to fade....KIERAN HEBDEN AND STEVE REID
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