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Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 3:08 am
by ancientbones
I've been kind of debating adding a phaser or a flanger to my setup for a nice wooshy sound for shoegaze stuff. I really only want to pick one.

I'm going for a really subtle woosh sound, not like a jetplane or something.

Right now I'm leaning towards flanger, but I'm still on the fence. I've really only recognized phaser on more psychedelic stuff rather than shoegaze stuff.

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 4:01 am
by goosekevin
Flanger is a lot more versatile, especially with 4 knobs
I found my bf2 way better than my small stone, simply because it could do a tonne more sounds and could be as in your face or as subtle as you want

There is something sweet about a nice phaser though, you can't go wrong :)

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 4:22 am
by tremolo3
Robin Guthrie did very good stuff with flangers.

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 5:45 am
by frigid midget
I'm kina on the fence myself. I *would* think a good phaser adds all the swoosh I need, without the harsh metallic artifacts or whatever. The jet plane thing is cool to mess with and all, but I don't know a lot of examples of it being usefull or beatiful in any of the bands/songs I like :idk:

There's always pedals like the Strymon Mobius or Source Audio Hot Hand, which do both flanger and phaser effects. And probably more actually.
But I guess as far as size and price go, it'll be pretty much the same as if you'd go with two seperate analog phaser/flanger peds:idk:

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 7:40 am
by Ro_S
Well, 'shoegaze' isn't a very consistent sub-genre imo, it can vary quite a bit, so it doesn't necessarily imply one type of modulation. It depends what you mean by 'shoegaze'. Specifying bands is more useful.

A more 'musical' sounding flanger - ones that don't sound so typically flanger or jet-like flanger. And ideallyanalogue. The Hartman is excellent but expensive. Or, for something cheaper, look out for the Japanese brands of the 80s (eg. boss bf2, tokai, ibanez L series, yamaha, pearl) - they're all analogue have and tend to have 4 knobs.

And the more versatile/tweakable choruses too - e.g. Visual Sound Liquid Chorus.

The old TC SCF+ does flanger and chorus.

Phaser also.

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 8:59 am
by backwardsvoyager
Ro_S wrote:...look out for the Japanese brands of the 80s (eg. boss bf2, tokai, ibanez L series, yamaha, pearl) - they're all analogue have and tend to have 4 knobs.
Yeah, this. Old 4-knob flangers made in Japan can do no wrong. Set the rate slow and resonance really low and that will probably get you there. Anything less than 4 knobs on a flanger is heresy.

I think if you're going for subtlety though, anything with a MIX knob will be really useful. It's not as common on older pedals so your best options are probably on the expensive side. The subdecay quasar dlx is a fucking fantastic phaser with a blend but it's definitely overkill and expensive if you just want subtlety. If you got something like the mobius also there would be a million different subtle swooshy sounds to tweak, but again, very expensive just to use for one sound.

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2014 9:37 am
by Chankgeez
backwardsvoyager wrote:
Ro_S wrote:...look out for the Japanese brands of the 80s (eg. boss bf2, tokai, ibanez L series, yamaha, pearl) - they're all analogue have and tend to have 4 knobs.
Yeah, this. Old 4-knob flangers made in Japan can do no wrong. Set the rate slow and resonance really low and that will probably get you there. Anything less than 4 knobs on a flanger is heresy.

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:24 pm
by Meta-
Psilocybe phaser juicy and swooshy

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 7:34 pm
by Casavettes
blackout sibling had a nice wooshy sound to it after fuzz

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:22 pm
by Ghost Hip
Ibanez PM7 is what I use. I don't like intense phasing unless I am trying to hurt people. Really, anything with two or more knobs will do the trick.

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 12:29 am
by GardenoftheDead
Boss BF-2 is the last word on subtle flangers in my opinion.

And flanging in general cause everything else is gross.

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 12:30 am
by GlitteryChunks
Phaser is best because not only is it an effect but you can set it on 'stun' or 'kill'.

Hence, flanger fails

Slight derail...I feel like this board's members all fall into one of three groups.

Phaser, Flanger, or Chorus

Now of course there will be interloping, which is fine, but I think everyone has a favorite.

SOOOO getting thread back on track, I think you can just pick the sound quality you like the best and as long as it's a well made/forward thinking pedal it's all gravy from there.

:thumb:

Edit: Oh yeah, I use the faye sing...it's pretty cool

:thumb:

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 1:04 am
by backwardsvoyager
GlitteryChunks wrote:Phaser is best because not only is it an effect but you can set it on 'stun' or 'kill'.

Hence, flanger fails
Did you just

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 1:32 am
by goroth
GlitteryChunks wrote:Phaser is quite okay because not only is it an effect but you can set it on 'stun' or 'kill'.

Hence, flanger.
Nah, he didn't.

Re: Flanger or Phaser for shoegaze subtle wooshy sound?

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2014 3:18 am
by rfurtkamp
Chorus I'm in the "set it on so you can tell when I turn it off" camp generally, so it's not even an effect how I use it.

Phase or flange or both together if you're talking 90s stuff - think "I have a rack that lets me do both" for some of it or "flange/phaser on the rack into the venerable Jazz Chorus" combo is common as well.