Brief Summary

Most flangers can’t ‘pass through zero’. This is a central element to the original effect but is more difficult to create as a real time effect than generic flange effects. This tip shows how to do it using real time plugins.

Going Deeper

Traditional audio tools are divided between two categories - gain and time based processes. EQ and compression manipulate the gain of signals. Time based processors like reverb, echo and chorus use delays to move audio later in time. Tremolo is a gain-based modulation effect but the fact that the various modulation effects like chorus, phasing and flanging can all be created using a delay was a revelation to me when I discovered this. However a delay can only move audio later in time and there is one effect which relies on the ability to also move audio earlier in time - Through Zero Flanging.

You can delay a live performance, but you can’t advance it. That would be time travel! The Reverse effect in Pro Tools is AudioSuite only for a good reason. But advancing sounds relative to each other after they have been recorded is straightforward and if you are willing to accept some latency you can create through zero flanging as an (almost) live effect.

But I Already Have A Flanger?

Flangers work by introducing their characteristic ‘swoosh’ by mixing a duplicate with the dry signal and moving it in time. This introduces complex comb filtering as cancellations occur between the two signals and the closer they align in time the more intense the effect becomes. However unless the duplicate can ‘pass through zero’ from delayed to advanced relative to the original (or vice versa) the most intense effect can never be achieved.

Luke Goddard gave an excellent demonstration and explanation of this process in his article How To Get Authentic Tape Flanging In Your DAW, the video from this article is included below.

However there are a few plugins which offer through zero flanging without the necessity to nudge audio up the timeline. Nudging avoids incurring additional latency and is an excellent solution but if you want to experiment it does place an inconvenience in the way.

We found this excellent video from Rick Carson, included with his permission, in which he uses a plugin from the originators of the digital delay, Eventide to create true, through-zero flanging quickly and conveniently. The reasons this works are twofold. Most importantly, the plugin can advance as well as delay the audio. Obviously this isn’t breaking the laws of physics here. The advancement is relative. the second is that the delay line doesn’t glitch or create zipper noise when being changed. Many delays do.

Cheating Time

You can move pre-recorded audio earlier in time as Luke does in his example. But it’s possible to create a similar effect by retarding all the other audio in a project. this happens every day in DAWs courtesy of their delay compensation schemes for managing plugin latency. We only notice them when they misbehave but they are there all the time.

Radio stations sometimes employ ‘profanity delays’. A delay line which allows the presenter to mute a phone in caller if they swear. By delaying everything (the broadcast) the DJ can ‘go back in time’ and mute the caller before the offending word is uttered. Real Time Through Zero Flanging works along similar lines.

In the video below Luke demonstrates his technique for creating true, through-zero flanging using just Pro Tools and a stock Mod Delay III.

Luke’s technique is authentic but the thing which isn’t possible is to manually create the flanging effect by slowing down and speeding up the duplicate track, in the way it was originally done with a pair of tape machines. This manual technique is possible using the Eventide Precision Time Align Plugin. A tool designed for manually aligning microphones. Check out Eventide’s video showing it used in this application.

The other plugin we’ve tried which offers this kind of manually controlled, through-zero tape flanging is Softube’s Fix Flanger. In the video below you’ll see how this plugin can be used to create effects from manual flanging all the way to tape stop effects.

Try It Yourself

If you’ve never tried this style of processing what are you waiting for? It’s simple to set up using stock tools available in any DAW. It’s such an attention grabbing effect that you wouldn’t use it often (unless your music is exclusively psychedelic 60 pastiche…) but for instant ear candy its hard to beat.

A Word About This Article

As the Experts team considered how we could better help the community we thought that some of you are time poor and don’t have the time to read a long article or a watch a long video. In 2023 we are going to be trying out articles that have the fast takeaway right at the start and then an opportunity to go deeper if you wish. Let us know if you like this idea in the comment