flanger

Definition

A flanger is a human-made audio effect technique that produces a sweeping comb-filter 'jet' sound by summing a signal with a short delayed copy of itself whose delay length is slowly modulated by a low-frequency oscillator. Mechanism: the dry signal is mixed with a delayed copy at delay time tau(t); tau(t) is modulated by an LFO within a narrow band (roughly 0-20 ms, where the delayed copy stays correlated with the dry); the sum exhibits comb filtering — regularly spaced notches where the delayed wave cancels the dry — and as tau(t) sweeps, the notches sweep the spectrum, producing the characteristic whooshing jet sound. Parameters: (1) delay range / modulation depth (typically 0-15 ms; beyond ~20 ms the effect becomes chorus or echo and loses its jet character); (2) LFO rate (typically 0.01-10 Hz, commonly 0.1-0.5 Hz); (3) LFO waveform (sine, triangle, random); (4) wet/dry mix ratio; (5) optional feedback of the wet signal back into the delay line (regeneration), which deepens the comb notches. It is distinct from chorus (delay times of tens to hundreds of ms with per-channel detuning, thickening rather than jetting), from echo (delays of ~100 ms or more with audible repeats), and from time-stretching (which rescales the whole spectrum). Persistence mechanism: the technique is fixed by its algorithmic recipe (short delay line, LFO-modulated delay, wet/dry summation, optional feedback) and persists as reusable DSP code, effect plugins, and hardware units in audio toolkits and studio practice. [formal: flanger | substrate: behavior | horizon: hours | explicit: yes | epoch: 0.01]

Relations from this entry

modulationINSTANCE_OF →

A flanger is a specific audio modulation effect that mixes a signal with a delayed copy of itself where the delay time is varied by a low-frequency oscillator. Competent speaker test: flanger is a kind of modulation effect. Specific→general, nearest kind.

delayDEPENDS_ON →

Flanger mixes the input signal with a slightly delayed copy (0.1-20ms), where the delay time is continuously swept by an LFO to create the characteristic whoosh. Remove delay — both signals are identical and in phase — and the interference pattern disappears. The delay element is the core mechanism of flanging.

audio-effectINSTANCE_OF →

Flanger is a specific kind of audio effect: it mixes a signal with a delayed copy of itself, sweeping the delay time to produce a comb-filter 'swoosh.' Direction: flanger (newer, 1960s effect) INSTANCE_OF audio-effect (older, foundational). Nearest kind per Law 11e.

lfoDEPENDS_ON →

Flanger uses LFO to modulate the delay time of its feedback loop — this oscillation IS the flanging effect. Remove the LFO and the flanger stops producing its characteristic sweeping sound. The removal test passes: without lfo operating now, flanger ceases its function.

delay-lineDEPENDS_ON →

flanger DEPENDS_ON delay-line: A flanger operates by modulating the delay time of a delay-line, producing a moving comb-filter effect. Remove the delay-line construct and the flanger's core mechanism vanishes — it becomes nothing. The modulation of delay-time is only meaningful because a delay-line exists to be modulated. Removal test passes.

Relations to this entry

spectral-flanger← DERIVED_FROM

Law 7 which-came-first test: the delay-line flanger (dry + short LFO-modulated time delay) is the original effect; the spectral flanger realizes the same flanging delay in the frequency domain (modulated phase ramp across STFT bins) as a later derivative implementation, and its own definition names the classic delay-line flanger as the thing it is distinct from. Newer derives from older; direction spectral-flanger -> flanger.

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