Effects & processing
Flanger
A flanger mixes a signal with a copy of itself delayed by a few milliseconds, and moves that delay. The interference produces a metallic jet-engine sweep — the same idea as a phaser, far more aggressive.
In practice
A flanger is the aggressive cousin of the phaser: a few milliseconds of delay, swept, and it eats the top end.
Bring it in and take it out — it does not reward being left on. The feedback control is what turns it from a sweep into a scream, so it is the one to move last and the first to pull back. On an exit it works because it makes the outgoing record sound like it is being removed rather than turned down, which is a more interesting way to lose something than the fader.
1–10 ms
The delay that makes it
Feedback
What makes it scream
Short bursts
How long to leave it on
Where these come from: Conventional effect settings, not catalog figures. For what we can measure, see the subtler version.
Why it matters
A flanger is a statement. Where a phaser adds motion you can leave running, a flanger is heard immediately and takes over whatever it is on, which makes it a transition tool rather than an ambience one.
It also eats the top end, because the comb of cancellations sits densest where the cymbals and the air of a record live. That is why a flanger across two playing tracks can make both sound smaller even as it makes the mix louder.
Frequently asked
What does a flanger do?+
It combines a signal with a slightly delayed copy of itself and modulates the delay, producing a moving comb of cancellations that sounds metallic and swooping.
Is a flanger the same as a phaser?+
No. They are built differently and sound different: a flanger produces many evenly spaced notches and reads as metallic, a phaser produces a few and reads as hollow.
How do DJs use a flanger?+
In short bursts, usually across a transition. It is loud enough as an effect that leaving it running makes the mix sound processed rather than moving.
Related terms
Phaser
A phaser sweeps a set of notches through the frequency spectrum, cancelling thin bands as it moves. The result is a hollow whoosh that circles rather than rising, and it never quite arrives anywhere.
Sweep
A sweep moves a filter across a sound so its brightness travels — up towards a moment or down away from one. It works as an arrangement element inside a track and as a live move on a mixer.
Colour FX
Colour FX are the per-channel effects on the knob above each channel — filter, noise, crush, echo. Centred is off; turning either way engages the effect on that deck alone.
Noise FX
Noise FX add broadband hiss, usually filtered and swept, on top of whatever is playing. They cover a transition rather than shaping it, filling the join with sound the ear is willing to accept.
Explore: Mixing guides · Phaser · Score a transition · All DJ terms