The Flanger Guitar Pedal

 There are a lot of examples in classic rock where the use of a flanger guitar effect pedal is prevalent. Three of the more iconic uses of flanger pedals include Heart’s ‘Barracuda’ opening riff, ‘Spirit of Radio’ by Rush, or The Doobie Brothers' middle riff of ‘Listen to the Music’. Anyone who starts building their collection of guitar pedals Australia, will soon have at least one flanger in their pedalboard.

How do flanger pedals work?

Whether you use analogue or digital the effect of flanging is created by combining two audio signals that are identical but adding a slight delay to one of those signals, and then continuously and slightly varying that delay time. The mixing of two exact audio waveforms but with a small time delay creates an interference pattern where the loudness of some frequencies is increased while others are reduced. Visually, this looks like a series of matches and peaks that resembles a comb, hence the term comb filtering. With the delay time being continuously swept or varied, a swept comb filter and sound is the harmonic content changing in timbre continuously. That is the sound flanger pedals create.

Flanging in days gone by

Before the creation of the flanger pedal, guitarists and sound engineers still found ways to create a similar sound. In studios, flanging was a sound experimented with, all the way back to the 1950s. A very famous and clear example of the sound is with Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Gypsy Eyes’ on his album from 1968, ‘Electric Ladyland’. The engineers in the studio, Kellgren and Kramer, mixed audio outputs from two identical recordings on tape decks and then they varied the pressure against the flange on one of the reels to slow it down.

The basic difference between a Flanger and a Chorus?

Both chorus and flanger pedals use delay in a way that is similar, acting as modulation effects. The main difference between the two is that compared to the chorus, the flanger uses a shorter delay time. This then means the longer delay time of the chorus effect pedal does not lead to the same kind of comb filtering effects that you find with flanging. Another difference is that a flanger has regeneration or delay feedback, and a chorus does not. You can also slightly modulate the pitch when you modulate the delay times with chorus, so you get the sound of two or more voices or instruments that are the same but at different pitches. When you use chorus more extremely and at faster speeds, you can get discover some more unique sounds.

Conclusion

There is a range of guitar pedals Australia that you can choose from to add to the sound you are creating. A flanger guitar pedal is just one of them and might be something you want to explore. You can get different pedals for different costs, so look around and find something that suits your budget.