Through-Zero Flanging

[eLeSsDee]

Through zero sounds best with distortion/fuzz anyway to bring out the sound.

It was 3207 based so it might clip a little, but I believe Jack used a compander...

I remember some great TZF clips back when it was still available with fairly-clean TZFing. It was glorious.

[eLeSsDee]

Mod Zero is an additive through-zero flanger. The "over-the-top" sound, so the speak.
TunnelWorm is a subtractive through-zero-flanger. The "sucked-through-a-straw" sound, so to speak.

Both cool, but subtractive is much more dramatic.
The cancellations that occur by an additive process are frequency dependent, while those occurring by a subtractive process are frequency independent. The first article above touches on this behavior, but I wanted to keep them somewhat easy to read and detailing this difference is at least another article in itself.
The short answer is in the first two lines of this post.

So does the flanger hoax do both?

[Ghost Hip]

I don't even use flangers

What the fuck Jared...

IM SORRY, I MAKE DA PHASING PITCH BENDY DELAY VERBS. I ALWAYS WANT TO GET A BF-2 BUT IM AFRAID ID ONLY USE IT TO PLAY LOVE BY THE PUMPKINS.

[Jack Deville]

So does the flanger hoax do both?

I think so? Don't quote me on that though. I thought I remember it having a polarity selector for +/-...

[Jwar]

I'm not even sure what zero flanging is? I'm I blissfully ignorant here?

[bigchiefbc]

So does the flanger hoax do both?

I think so? Don't quote me on that though. I thought I remember it having a polarity selector for +/-...

It has a switch which is marked "Invert", which I think flips between positive and negative feedback, at least that's what it sounds like it does when I used to flip it back and forth.

[bigchiefbc]

I'm not even sure what zero flanging is? I'm I blissfully ignorant here?

I'm sure Jack could do a more technical explanation, but from a non-pedal-builder, here goes:

The best way to explain what through-zero means is to explain how a flanger works. Originally flanger was created by playing two copies of the same track, and slowing down the tape of one of them slightly (<10ms), and then letting it speed back up while slowing the other one down. You get a standard flanger comb-filter sound. But at the exact moment when the first one overtakes the second one, it creates this awesome unique cancellation effect.

Most pedal flangers emulate the flanger sound by delaying one line, modulating the delay time, and mixing it with the dry signal. But the delayed line can never overtake the clean one. It can't go "through zero" delay time (unless you invent a way to have negative delay time, i.e. travel into the future)

There are a few flangers out there that can go "through zero", by using TWO delays, and modulating them both so that one can overtake the other.

[D.o.S.]

Hot damn that sounds awesome.

[friendship]

Hot damn that sounds awesome.

It's a wonderful sound. Best heard in stereo.

[Twangasaurus]

One of the (many) reasons why I love Slowdive's Souvlaki so much is that they used real tape flanging. That shits incredible.

Also, the new Source Audio Orbital Modulator has a TZF algorithm as well. Not sure if it's any good but I know that the regular chorus and flange are nice from what I tried.

[amnesiac305]

As a long time owner of a TZF I have never quite understood the allure of through zero flanging. Don't get me wrong I love the TZF for the variety of sounds it makes but through zero flanging is not one of them.

[nightraven]

IMHO the TZF effect is very dull unless it has some unpredictable LFO shape or an ADSR envelope screwing it up.

The classic tape flanging sound wasn't the perfect up and down cycle that you hear in digital units or stompboxes or plugins. Seems the new Source Audio pedal features some fun ways to mess up the sweep Of course the Foxrox pedal has the envelope control and expression pedal inputs but the price is ridiculous.