Someone Explain Phaser to Me

[X_Soda]

Okay, so I'm familiar with the basic concepts of phasing and the sounds that slight phase offsets create, as well as the fact that a 180 degree offset will make two identical sounds cancel each other out. But when it comes to Ableton's Phaser effect, I'm a bit lost. I know I can automate it and make some cool sounding shit, but I really would like to know what exactly is going on with it. And no, Ableton's 1.5 pages dedicated to the effect in the manual do not help, and there seems to be very little information floating around the web regarding the theory behind the effect. Any assistance would be immensely appreciated.

[perplex]

have you been by wiki yet?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaser_(effect)

[Angstrom]

I'm not sure what you need to know really. For years guitarists got by with a Phaser pedal and knew nothing more than it "sounds whooshy!". And really, unless they were on an electrical engineering course that was all they needed.

Do you really need to know about allpass filters and how a phaser effect works?

here's a vaguely informative article on phasers http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/p ... phase.html

Note: your comment about phase inversion is not specifically relevant to the Phaser effect itself, the thing is called a 'Phaser' more for historic reasons than any implied use as a waveform phase-shifting utility tool (for that look more at Utility). Don't go trying to use a phaser to fix some mic placement issues!

think of it as a 'whoosher'

Synthesis Tip: I use a stuck Phaser (not moving) when making synthetic cymbals, it adds a nice spectral sheen to the traditional white noise/ring mod sound

[oblique strategies]

Some superb, liquid Mu-Tron Bi-Phase work by Lee Perry, one of the grand masters of the phaser.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAYpmYSXaFs

Lots of Lee Perry's mid to late 70's Black Ark productions feature prominent phasing.

Here's another song featuring the square wave setting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdM6fIf8EfY
Forward to +3:30 to the Dub where you can hear the effect more clearly.

[Angstrom]

My favourite phaser was on my Ensoniq DP4 , it's sat in a digital coma now because it needs a battery for its mind.

but that Phaser is world-class, the distortions are great fun too. But I digress.

[ARDJ]

My favourite phaser was on my Ensoniq DP4 , it's sat in a digital coma now because it needs a battery for its mind.

but that Phaser is world-class, the distortions are great fun too. But I digress.

:: turns on dusty dp4 ::

[3dot...]

Some superb, liquid Mu-Tron Bi-Phase work by Lee Perry, one of the grand masters of the phaser.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAYpmYSXaFs

Lots of Lee Perry's mid to late 70's Black Ark productions feature prominent phasing.

Here's another song featuring the square wave setting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdM6fIf8EfY
Forward to +3:30 to the Dub where you can hear the effect more clearly.

KUDOS FOR THE AWESOME EXAMPLE !!!!

[3dot...]

the phaser is usually used to add an 'airiness' quality ..
it fucks with your head a bit...
a modulated delay based effect (kindof like the 'flanger' and 'çhorus')

[Mage2k]

here's a vaguely informative article on phasers http://www.geofex.com/Article_Folders/p ... phase.html

That's a good article, thanks for the link! I've always had the understanding that both flangers and phasers work by phase shifting a copy of the signal and then mixing it back in with the original, thereby creating notches in the resultant signal. However, I've never really had a firm grasp of the difference of how the two effects do it. So, do you think this would be a good summary: "A flanger works by introducing a variable time based phase shifted signal to the original whereas the phaser works by introducing a variable frequency based phase shifted signal to the original"?

[oblique strategies]

Some superb, liquid Mu-Tron Bi-Phase work by Lee Perry, one of the grand masters of the phaser.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAYpmYSXaFs

Lots of Lee Perry's mid to late 70's Black Ark productions feature prominent phasing.

Here's another song featuring the square wave setting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdM6fIf8EfY
Forward to +3:30 to the Dub where you can hear the effect more clearly.

KUDOS FOR THE AWESOME EXAMPLE !!!!

[oblique strategies]

Lee Perry in the Black Ark Studio moshin' it up with his bi-phase:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMdGeJVHEGU